Replacement Theology as Anti-Semitism

Submitted by Ami Isseroff (Israel), Feb 25, 2007 at 22:20

Reader DeWayne's version of Christianity is that of Bishop Eusebius and the followers of St. Augustine. It is replacement theology, which is based on the premise that Jews are damned for having killed the Messiah. The doctrine that "Israel" was to be read as "the Church" could hold sway in Europe only until the Bible was translated into the vulgate and people could read the plain meaning of the texts, repeated in so many places. It was then that the doctrine of restoration of the Jews became popular.

I am not religious, and I do not intend to intervene in Christian theological doctrine. However, restoration theology has the advantage of being simple and consistent with the teachings of both the Old and New Testaments. It is not possible to hold the opposite view consistently, unless Mr DeWayne wants to believe that the prophets intended that the entire Christian population of the world would be "restored" to the tiny land of Israel in the end of days. As for the view that the prophecies referred to the restoration of the second temple, it is plausible, but then we must account for the use of the term "end of days" and we must also discount all those prophecies that refer to a Messiah. If the restoration was the 2nd temple, then the Messiah must have come then as well.

Restoration theology has an additional and overwhelming advantage as Christian doctrine - unlike replacement theology, it is not a source of hate, bigotry and persecution.

As for the "True Torah Jews," there is no basis for their theology other than an obscure and disputed Talmudic passage, a legend that was inserted to discourage rebellion in the time of the Romans. It has never been part of mainstream Jewish theology. Even the "True Torah Jews" however, who travel to Tehran to appear with David Duke at Holocaust denial conventions, do not stomach the odious doctrine that the Church has replaced the Jews as the "chosen." If DeWayne accepts the theology of the True Torah Jews, he will have to convert to Judaism if he wants to be one of the "elect."

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