Launch of Methodist Friends of Israel
Anglican Friends of Israel have just announced the following:
We are pleased to announce the launch of Methodist Friends of Israel. This comes at a critical time after the Methodist Church in Britain decided to boycott goods produced by Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
We look forward to co-operating with Methodist Friends of Israel on issues of common concern. We will bring more news on this as it develops.
For background information on the recent Methodist Church National Conference, in which they voted to boycott products from Israeli “illegal” settlements click: here, here, here, here, here, and here .
You can also view my guest post on this topic over at Harry’s Place
If you have stumbled onto this blog please do take a few moments to read the following piece:- Echoes of God
Tags: Church Life, Israel
July 25th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
In your article on Harry’s Place you wrote:
“The belief God will restore the Jewish people to the land is a theological one. It does not automatically translate into an “Israel right or wrong” position, or dictate any particular, specific, political position. Thus, one can be a Christian Zionist without this meaning a blank cheque for Israel to do as she pleases.”
I suspect that is where the majority of Methodists will stand. To be fair, I do know of some who hold a principled anti-Zionist position, but I know many more who (like myself) love Israel but cannot condone what they are doing to the Palestinians. I have been a friend of Israel since 1967, when I was a teenager confronted with a Middle Eastern war in which I had no idea who were goodies or baddies. Every other war I knew, I knew whose side I was supposed to be on. Watching Israel fighting for her life against the Arab nations surrounding her caught my imagination and my support. A few years later, I became a Christian, and Israel became part of my story. I have been captivated and fed by the Hebrew scriptures, and learning to read Hebrew was one of the richest blessings of my training.
Since then, I have been horrified by Israeli atrocities in Lebanon and Gaza. Of course I am just as angry about the continued attacks on Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah, but I didn’t expect anything better from them: they are hate-filled extremists. I expect rather more from the nation who gave us the prophets. When I translated and studied the prophets, I was struck by the emphasis on “zedek w’mishpat” – justice and rightness (please, not righteousness – that has become what I call stained-glass window religious language). I see little of that in current Israeli responses to Gaza or in building the Wall. It has become part and parcel of the long program of Israeli theft of Palestinian land – please read the Ha’aretz article on the latest theft of Palestinian land by the Israeli authorities: http://networkedblogs.com/64yzV.
I love Israel, and want them to find their place in God’s purposes. I do fear that by their policies, which drive people into an anti-Israel position, they may risk losing the Land for the third time (the first being 586 BC, the second being 70-136 AD). I am not in any way anti-Semitic, and I protest at the kneejerk reaction of those who have written off the Conference Report in such a simplistic way. I agree with your comment, which I quoted: to support the Jewish people does not mean I support all of Israel’s policies, neither does my criticism of Israel make me (or the Methodist Church) anti-Semitic.
July 27th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Since you quote CHS for unbelievers, you may be interested in his views on Israel, one helpful site is here:
http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/eschat2.htm