The Hagee Controversy

[Notindarkness]

http://www.rapturealert.com/2007/121207hagee.asp

What is this about? I have read a few books by Hagee and I don't see the connection. I'm reading In the Defense of Israel and I haven't come across any dualism of any kind. The CUFI meetings Hagee puts on is to honor Israel and not stand up there and preach to them, otherwise the Jews wouldn't come and see and meet christians as their friends. As of now Jews don't trust the Church because of our past and present persecutions of the Jews. I think Jan Markell is way off on this IMHO.

[Robbinson]

http://www.rapturealert.com/2007/121207hagee.asp

What is this about? I have read a few books by Hagee and I don't see the connection. I'm reading In the Defense of Israel and I haven't come across any dualism of any kind. The CUFI meetings Hagee puts on is to honor Israel and not stand up there and preach to them, otherwise the Jews wouldn't come and see and meet christians as their friends. As of now Jews don't trust the Church because of our past and present persecutions of the Jews. I think Jan Markell is way off on this IMHO.

See the most recent post on thie in the apologetics section - its a good summary by the OP re: the issue.

Regards,

[BlessedinHim]

THE HAGEE CONTROVERSY
One never wins a popularity contest by naming names even though it is biblical to do so. I wonder how the sheep are to avoid some wolves if names aren't used, but this one pains me.

I have appreciated the ministry of Pastor John Hagee. His books have been well written with good substance. He is a powerful preacher. And, he is an ardent friend of Israel, also known as a Christian Zionist. He heads what is known as "Christians United for Israel."
But can you ever be too much of a Christian Zionist to the point where you become an enemy of the Jews due to theology?

Pastor Hagee has been on record for holding to the theology known as "Dual Covenant." That is, in part, the belief that the Jews don't really need Jesus to be saved because they are God's chosen people. While they are, indeed, God's chosen people, there is no other way of salvation than through the shed blood of the Lamb of God--the Messiah Jesus. The Bible is so clear on this it isn't even debatable...except to John Hagee.

Pastor Hagee has at times renounced his "Dual Covenant" theology and then seems to return to it.
He has a new book out titled In Defense of Israel. I have been in ministry over 25 years and much of it has been Israel and/or Jewish-related. I have seen people and ministries "love the Jews to death." They deny them the gospel, emphasize humanitarian work, and even speak in churches suggesting that it is not wise to evangelize Jews.

But in Hagee's new book he almost goes beyond all of that. In the book he states,
(1) The Jewish people as a whole did not reject Jesus as Messiah;
(2) Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah;
(3) Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah;
(4) How can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered them?

He further states there was a "Calvary conspiracy" between Rome, the High Priest, and Herod. The conspiracy was to execute Jesus as an insurrectionist who was too dangerous to be allowed to live.

The clip of this can be heard here (http://www.olivetreeviews.org/articles/Spiritual_Deception.shtml#newsitemEEAyEAEuZZLsLDxT eu). If your dial-up connection will not allow you to see this, then find a DSL computer and watch it before you blast me out of the saddle.

To claim that Jesus never openly proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah is nonsense. He did it both privately (John 4) and publicly (Matthew 23:10).

As the head of Moriel Ministries, Jacob Prasch says, "He [Hagee] is a doctrinally confused man who is misleading others and such an irresponsible book does more to harm the cause of opposing the error of Replacement Theology and of enlightening the church about the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the Jews than it does to assist it. I am sad that a good friend of Israel with what I believe is a sincere love for the Jews has frankly made himself look like a theological charlatan in the eyes of any serious conservative Evangelical scholar."

But when the love of any ethnic group becomes so strong that we dare not offend them and we thus twist Scripture, we have hit a real bump in the road! Serious deception has entered in. I know of a few other pro-Israel organizations whose delegates actually fill church pulpits and tell congregations not to evangelize the Jews for varying reasons.

My own father came from an Orthodox Jewish home but someone dared to tell him the "gospel truth" many years ago. Had they not done that, since he passed away in 2001, he could be in eternal flames now. Someone had to risk "offending" him and tell him the truth: He needed Jesus as his Messiah. They had to risk and preach the solid gospel to him. Thankfully, he thus died a believer.

Messianic scholar Dr. Michael Brown says this about Pastor Hagee: "In the clarifying statements (that Pastor Hagee has made) he explained that Jesus came to be the suffering Messiah but not the reigning Messiah. But this statement introduces another nuance to the error, since nowhere in the New Testament is such a distinction made."

Brown also says, "Jesus is proclaimed as the Messiah of Israel, period, and because He is the Messiah of Israel, He is the Savior of the world."
How does a good and sincere man stray so seriously? Perhaps because we are in rampant days of deception. But in Hagee's case, I feel he so wants to please the Jews that he has compromised to the point of utter blasphemy to say that "Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah." There was no "Calvary conspiracy." It was God's plan of the ages that Jesus be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!

I believe Pastor John Hagee sincerely loves God but in this instance, he is sincerely wrong. It would be good if all reading this would pray for Hagee, that he would denounce this aberrant theology he now seems to embrace. We need his voice on behalf of Israel today, but not with the message as it stands now.

LIVE RADIO THIS WEEKEND: Nonie Darwish pays a return visit to "Understanding the Times." We air in several cities available here (http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio_stations.shtml) and we also podcast (http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/podcast.shtml). We air live out of AM980 KKMS, Minneapolis/St. Paul Saturday, 9 to 11 AM CST with a rebroadcast Sunday, 12 to 2 PM. You can always listen live (http://www.kkms.com/)at their Web site.

Dr. Paul Benware also is on hand to talk about the Judgment Seat of Christ which he calls "the believer's pay day." All programming goes up on our radio archives (http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/) on Monday. We have three years of radio programming at that link.



Awaiting His return,

Jan Markell

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[Butterflykisses]

Didnt JH retract and rewriting the book?

[BlessedinHim]

Didnt JH retract and rewriting the book?

only sorta from what I have read.

[dramama]

A Special Message from Pastor John Hagee Regarding His Book In Defense of Israel

Dear Friend:

I am writing to share with you some important news pertaining to my latest book In Defense of Israel. It has come to my attention that my choice of language and some of the interpretation being given that language in Chapter Ten has caused some confusion and actually led some readers to question whether I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If people are reaching such a conclusion, then I have clearly failed to communicate my views as well as I should have.

I have decided to release a new edition of In Defense of Israel with an expanded Chapter Ten. The new version will make the same point as the prior one, but using language which cannot mislead anyone about my bedrock belief that Jesus was and is Lord, Savior and Messiah.

I was surprised to learn that some people were interpreting my words as a rejection of this most fundamental Christian belief that Jesus came to earth as the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures. I have been preaching the gospel for half a century. Almost every Sunday for the past 50 years, I have stood in front of Christian audiences to clearly proclaim the glory of our Lord, Savior and Messiah, Jesus Christ. For the past 30 years, these weekly sermons have been beamed to millions around the world on Christian television.

Given my long years of preaching the gospel to so many, it simply never occurred to me that anyone would question my belief in the fundamentals of the faith. I chose to use challenging language that I hoped would confront the body of Christ to consider events from the Jewish and historical perspective and therefore develop greater empathy for our Jewish friends.

Over the centuries, Christians have been quick to condemn the Jews for failing to recognize Jesus as Messiah. This approach led to replacement theology and the viewpoint of some that God has rejected and broken covenant with the Jewish people. These ideas, in turn, opened the door to a vicious Christian anti-Semitism that led to the Crusades, the Inquisition and countless pogroms.

I tried to challenge this view by highlighting a distinction that has been long recognized in Christian theology between the role Jesus played in His first coming, and the role He will play in his second coming. Jesus came the first time as the suffering Messiah, as exemplified by His persecution, rejection and crucifixion. Jesus will come back as the reigning Messiah, who will rule the world from His throne in Jerusalem as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We Christians believe that the suffering Messiah was clearly foreshadowed in the writings of the Hebrew prophets. However, most Jews have never read the prophets in this way. The Jews were expecting the reigning Messiah. I know this, you know this, and our omniscient and omnipotent Savior knows this.

God could have sent His Son to earth as the reigning Messiah the Jews were expecting. Instead He chose to send Him as the suffering Messiah, who submitted to the Cross, and I thank Him every day that He did. But I also regret daily that this divine move has led so many of the fallen humans it saved to denigrate and persecute the Jewish people from whom our Lord sprang.

In the expanded Chapter Ten, I will make the same point with language that does not hide my own perspective on the matter. The primary change will involve how I use the word “Messiah.” In the expanded version, I will clarify the clear distinction between the “Suffering Messiah,” the Lamb of God and the “Reigning Messiah,” the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!

I am deeply grieved for any confusion my writing may have caused the body of Christ. It was never intended. I trust this letter and the expanded edition of In Defense of Israel will clarify what I believe. I also hope that we can return our focus to what I had anticipated to highlight all along, the fact that we Christians must shift from condemning the Jews for what they missed to thanking them for what they gave.

Blessings to you and those you love,

Pastor John Hagee

[Butterflykisses]

A Special Message from Pastor John Hagee Regarding His Book In Defense of Israel

Dear Friend:

I am writing to share with you some important news pertaining to my latest book In Defense of Israel. It has come to my attention that my choice of language and some of the interpretation being given that language in Chapter Ten has caused some confusion and actually led some readers to question whether I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If people are reaching such a conclusion, then I have clearly failed to communicate my views as well as I should have.

I have decided to release a new edition of In Defense of Israel with an expanded Chapter Ten. The new version will make the same point as the prior one, but using language which cannot mislead anyone about my bedrock belief that Jesus was and is Lord, Savior and Messiah.

I was surprised to learn that some people were interpreting my words as a rejection of this most fundamental Christian belief that Jesus came to earth as the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures. I have been preaching the gospel for half a century. Almost every Sunday for the past 50 years, I have stood in front of Christian audiences to clearly proclaim the glory of our Lord, Savior and Messiah, Jesus Christ. For the past 30 years, these weekly sermons have been beamed to millions around the world on Christian television.

Given my long years of preaching the gospel to so many, it simply never occurred to me that anyone would question my belief in the fundamentals of the faith. I chose to use challenging language that I hoped would confront the body of Christ to consider events from the Jewish and historical perspective and therefore develop greater empathy for our Jewish friends.

Over the centuries, Christians have been quick to condemn the Jews for failing to recognize Jesus as Messiah. This approach led to replacement theology and the viewpoint of some that God has rejected and broken covenant with the Jewish people. These ideas, in turn, opened the door to a vicious Christian anti-Semitism that led to the Crusades, the Inquisition and countless pogroms.

I tried to challenge this view by highlighting a distinction that has been long recognized in Christian theology between the role Jesus played in His first coming, and the role He will play in his second coming. Jesus came the first time as the suffering Messiah, as exemplified by His persecution, rejection and crucifixion. Jesus will come back as the reigning Messiah, who will rule the world from His throne in Jerusalem as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We Christians believe that the suffering Messiah was clearly foreshadowed in the writings of the Hebrew prophets. However, most Jews have never read the prophets in this way. The Jews were expecting the reigning Messiah. I know this, you know this, and our omniscient and omnipotent Savior knows this.

God could have sent His Son to earth as the reigning Messiah the Jews were expecting. Instead He chose to send Him as the suffering Messiah, who submitted to the Cross, and I thank Him every day that He did. But I also regret daily that this divine move has led so many of the fallen humans it saved to denigrate and persecute the Jewish people from whom our Lord sprang.

In the expanded Chapter Ten, I will make the same point with language that does not hide my own perspective on the matter. The primary change will involve how I use the word “Messiah.” In the expanded version, I will clarify the clear distinction between the “Suffering Messiah,” the Lamb of God and the “Reigning Messiah,” the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!

I am deeply grieved for any confusion my writing may have caused the body of Christ. It was never intended. I trust this letter and the expanded edition of In Defense of Israel will clarify what I believe. I also hope that we can return our focus to what I had anticipated to highlight all along, the fact that we Christians must shift from condemning the Jews for what they missed to thanking them for what they gave.

Blessings to you and those you love,

Pastor John Hagee

Thanks for the letter. :hug

[Cameron]

Is Pastor Hagee going to refund the cost of the original book or allow you to swap the old one for the new one? Or is he going to sell you TWO books$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Cameron]

Given my long years of preaching the gospel to so many, it simply never occurred to me that anyone would question my belief in the fundamentals of the faith.

Oopppppssss.. Those Bereans are at it again. :doh

[Paul M]

I have listened to the preaching of John Hagee for years and read some of his books. I have always found him to be bibically solid . I really think he has been misunderstood on this issue and has too quickly been labelled an apostate.

As Christians we have to be very careful. This man has been preaching the gospel for 50 years, no scandals, not even a hint of some of the garbage that goes on in other high profile ministries seen on TV. Being a berean includes not making snap judgements with little or debateable evidence.