Catholics & Israel / Zionism

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Bezant, Jewish scholars have indeed constructed formidable arguments against Christ’s claim to being the Messiah.
Which have largely gone unanswered, or poorly answered, by Christians. 😉
Although charity demands that we assume good intention of opponents in debates, we must also recognize that 2,000 years have gone by and the teachings of Judaism today are not necessarily the way they were interpreted at the time of Christ.

We are going to get a REALLY interesting window into that reality as the Dead Sea Scrolls become available to the common public. They will open a window in time on to what Judaism really believed in that time.
After 60 years after being found, the Dead Sea Scrolls have been well available.

That’s a rather bold claim you’re making.
As I recall from my (secular university) biblical archeology class, the scrolls contents are rather inconvenient for many of today’s Jewish scholarly traditions.
Perhaps for the premises of certain movements of Judaism, but I highly doubt any such differences, would be inconvenient for Judaism itself.
 
The majority of the Jewish community however does not reject Zionism and even among the Non-Zionist Jews the state of Israel is accepted as a secular state.
The interesting part is that Theodor Herzl’s books that founded Zionism talks about just that: Israel as a secular state and a home for Jews. Israel in its conception is not a theocracy, though it is a Jewish state. It is a secular state giving the same rights to non-Jewish citizens it is giving to Jewish citizens. The first Israeli administration had Arabs in them…
The majority of Jews are secular. That is why they do not reject Zionism. If you talk to any truly religious, orthodox Jews, they will, for the most part, reject secularist Zionism.

Also, it is interesting to note that many of the Israeli leaders were and are 32nd Degree Freemasons:

David Ben-Gurion - Freemason
Moshe Sharett
Levi Eshkol
Yigal Allon
Golda Meir - Co-Mason
Yitzhak Rabin - Freemason
Shimon Peres* - Freemason and Jesuit (Roman Catholic) trained
Menachem Begin
Yitzhak Shamir
Benjamin Netanyahu - Freemason
Ehud Barak - Freemason
Ariel Sharon - Freemason
Ehud Olmert** - Freemason

As you may or may not be aware, Freemasonry is completely condemned by the Catholic Church as a satanic organization and any Catholic who becomes a freemason is automatically excommunicated.

I see that you are Jewish and I am certainly not lumping all Jews into this. It’s like saying all Italians are responsible for the Mafia. But that does not take away from the facts, and I would think that as a Jew, you would also be aware that most Jews are not religious, and that is most especially true in the nation of Israel.
 
The majority of Jews are secular. That is why they do not reject Zionism. If you talk to any truly religious, orthodox Jews, they will, for the most part, reject secularist Zionism.

Also, it is interesting to note that many of the Israeli leaders were and are 32nd Degree Freemasons:

David Ben-Gurion - Freemason
Moshe Sharett
Levi Eshkol
Yigal Allon
Golda Meir - Co-Mason
Yitzhak Rabin - Freemason
Shimon Peres* - Freemason and Jesuit (Roman Catholic) trained
Menachem Begin
Yitzhak Shamir
Benjamin Netanyahu - Freemason
Ehud Barak - Freemason
Ariel Sharon - Freemason
Ehud Olmert** - Freemason

As you may or may not be aware, Freemasonry is completely condemned by the Catholic Church as a satanic organization and any Catholic who becomes a freemason is automatically excommunicated.

I see that you are Jewish and I am certainly not lumping all Jews into this. It’s like saying all Italians are responsible for the Mafia. But that does not take away from the facts, and I would think that as a Jew, you would also be aware that most Jews are not religious, and that is most especially true in the nation of Israel.
All this sounds like the kind of misdirection effort that a Mason would come up with to me.
 
God gave an entire vast piece of earth( in which there is Jerusalem) to Abraham in a Blood Covenant. God will never break a Blood Covenant.

This land belongs to the Jews.

Despite world politics, wars, hatreds, so-called “peace agreements”,popes or islamic mahdi’s, secular non-zionist american jews, it shall always belong to the Jews…

I stand for Israel as a jewish nation. With an undivided Jerusalem as her capitol.
 
God gave an entire vast piece of earth( in which there is Jerusalem) to Abraham in a Blood Covenant. God will never break a Blood Covenant.
Are you aware of traditional Christian interpretations of this issue, which differ with the one you have expressed?

Edwin
 
Are you aware of traditional Christian interpretations of this issue, which differ with the one you have expressed?

Edwin
I am fully aware . And , sadly, some of our “tradional Christian interpretations” were developed through a "Christ killers’ lens , replacement theology, and without accounting for and forgetting all the judiac foundations from which our faith comes.

I am not at all an expert on these things, so i am willing to read and listen to opinions. But, in this I know, what God says, God means.God has said that even when the Jewish people turn from Him (secularism) He will remain faithful to them.
 
God gave an entire vast piece of earth( in which there is Jerusalem) to Abraham in a Blood Covenant. God will never break a Blood Covenant.

This land belongs to the Jews.

Despite world politics, wars, hatreds, so-called “peace agreements”,popes or islamic mahdi’s, secular non-zionist american jews, it shall always belong to the Jews…

I stand for Israel as a jewish nation. With an undivided Jerusalem as her capitol.
Really now? Not only was the covenant fulfilled in the Catholic Church, not only is Judaism not a valid religion any more (no offense to Jews, especially those who hate and despise Zionism) but God’s promise that this land belongs to the Jews is not valid any more. He gave them the land of Israel in the Old Testament because they were His chosen people back then. Catholics are His chosen people now. Jesus never told the Jews to keep their land. Hell, if you think Jesus would tell the Jews to drive Arabs and gentiles out because they don’t 'belong on ‘their land’ means that Jesus was racist fascist whose aim was to spread worldly power.

Why don’t you put all the Zionist Jews in a bottle, lock them there and throw them into the ocean while your at it? Their heaven is to serve their selfish greed and to reign a horrible country where non-Jews don’t have rights and are inferior to them, a bottle given by God will serve just fine for a country, even though it literally is a piece of worthless rubbish now.

And don’t tell me that I am anti-semitic, that is ridiculous. I disagree with Judaism as a religion as much as I disagree with Protestantism and Islam. I want to convert the Jews and let them see the error of their ways, not kill them or put them in ghettos. But Zionism? Zionism isn’t even on the same level of Judaism. Even amongst the Jews who do support this empty cause, you’ll be hard pressed to find one who supports this modern apartheid, just as it is easy to find a Muslim who hates the Taliban’s guts. If you think Zionism represents all the Jews, you’re dead wrong, because orthodox Jews regard Zionism as a usurpation of their own god’s power; Zionists literally took problems into their own hands and declared that they are working through the hand of God, just as Luther did when he supposedly )and miserably failing at that) tried ‘reforming’ the Church. Proof can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=kh2mdPbYnZI&feature=related God bless them that they may find the right path but at the same time, may God forgive them for being so anti-semitic:mad:. Really, they’re anti-semitic, they hate their own race’s guts.

Why not put the Jews in a bottle? Thats what Zionists think about them, greedy people who are the master race. Its fitting they have a country where they can serve themselves and discriminate and even persecute ‘inferior’ races and a bottle can serve the same purpose that the land of Palestine does: its small, compressed but there’s plenty of space where Zionists can enjoy their greed.

In the end, all that matters is to love God, join the Catholic Church, spread the faith and be united with people in the love of God and Mary. Whats important (and Catholics listen to me here) is not having a state supporting your religion or your own stupid race (and yes, all races, be they African, Jewish, American, German, English, Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian, white, green, Na’vi, etc… are as insignificant as the color of our eyes and to fight over which race is better is to lie and play a huge and cruel practical joke to yourself). We must spread our Catholic faith but we mustn’t persecute people to do it, we must convince them to join it.

And to the poster with the bunny rabbit for an avatar, it is equally important to Jews which religion is real because if Judaism is a false religion and the Catholic one is the true one, wouldn’t that mean you’re outside the Church? I don’t want to discuss which is the true religion here, as there are numerous other threads disussing this and if you’re actually sicnere in your religion, you should investigate it further and see its own errors (however, if you want a Catholic perspective on Judaism and the Talmud, don’t read The Talmud Unmasked. I actually beleive dit at first but then I did my research and found that the book falsified many quotes. The Tlmud still has alot of questionable and sorry to say, insane content, but it never says that Jews should clean a jar because a gentile touched it, though it does teach that Jews are or can be superior to Gentiles because they are the chosen people. Kaballah teaches this too. Obvious really. The book was written by anti-semitic Lithuanian Priest who himself hardly knew any Hebrew and was a fraud. Its not and never was the general view of Christian on Jews).
 
…Why don’t you put all the Zionist Jews in a bottle, lock them there and throw them into the ocean while your at it? Their heaven is to serve their selfish greed and to reign a horrible country where non-Jews don’t have rights and are inferior to them, a bottle given by God will serve just fine for a country, even though it literally is a piece of worthless rubbish now.

And don’t tell me that I am anti-semitic, that is ridiculous. …
A guilty dog always barks first.

Equating Zionism with the Taliban? Othodox Jews don’t support an Israeli state? Maybe your refering to the vast MINORITY, Nutrei Kartai movement, which is about as accurate as saying the Westboro Baptist Church represents Baptists as a whole.

I would put the rights of any non-Jew living in Israel against those of a non-Muslim living anywhere in the region.

I support Israel, not out of any religious or theological sentiment, just that I want to see history’s underdog have a chance to live in peace and security.
 
The Hebrew Catholics have their site, and they have a book on Jewish Identity that you can download, that describes over 22 different Jewish associations in Israel. The Zionists are essentially non-religious and secular. I became an associate with them a number of years ago, and it is most enriching to relearn parts of your Catholic identity through a Hebrew Catholic scholar.

The site also has a series you can listen to or download regarding Israel and the Church.

www.hebrewcatholic.org
 
Hello to all,

Fascinating discussion. I see that quite a broad range of positions have already been presented, from the classical “the Church is Israel” supersessionist position to various philo-zionist positions.

As director of Catholics for Israel I could not resist throwing in my two cents. 🙂

The topic of Zionism is moving more and more to the forefront of theological discussions as the relationship between the Jewish people and Land of Israel increasingly becomes an unavoidable theological “hot potato.”

When Nostra Aetate 4 quotes St. Paul saying that
God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues (cf. Rom 11:28-29)
many Catholics still do not grasp the full implications of this statement, and the fact that among God’s irrevocable gifts to the Jewish people, the gift of the land of Israel occupies pride of place.

Often, remnant Catholic resistance to Zionism and to God’s action in the history of His chosen people stems from a confusion of several issues. Many associate Zionism with colonialism, or racism, or with a license for Israelis to carry out injustices against non-Jews living in the Holy Land. Others associate Zionism with hope for the rebuilding of the Temple and restoration of sacrifices, or with Protestant fundamentalism/ dispensationalism, or with mad apocalyptic fervor, or with a dual-covenant theology that would in some way undermine the unicity of Christ and the Catholic Church as source of salvation.

But none of these are an essential part of zionism or of the relationship between the Jewish People and Land of Israel.

At Catholics for Israel, we deal with these questions extensively. Recently we published an article called Israel between Past, Present and Future which attempts to sketch out a genuinely Catholic biblical and theological position on the role of Israel today and in salvation history, trying to see God’s faithfulness at work even through the messy politics of the Middle East and human sin that often obscure God’s action.

That article was published as part of an ongoing (and fascinating) dialogue with Fr. Carlo Colonna from Bari, Italy, a holy priest who has a very sharp and lucid vision of Israel’s role in salvation history and in relationship to the Church.

You may see the different parts of this dialogue in our section Israel and the Church (along with a number of other articles on the subject.)

Thanks for your attention, please come and visit us, and we look forward to your (name removed by moderator)ut!
Ariel
Catholics for Israel
 
In the end, all that matters is to love God, join the Catholic Church, spread the faith and be united with people in the love of God and Mary.
Amen, brother. I, and everyone else here, can see that love when you advocate putting all the “Zionists in a bottle and throwing it in the ocean.” Truly, I can think of no better way to “spread the faith” and “be united with people in the love of God and Mary” than by using that kind of language. You’re a wonderful ambassador for Catholicism.
 
…and PS: Disinherited claims that
I want to convert the Jews and let them see the error of their ways
but in fact, his antisemitic (or anti-zionist, if he prefers) supersessionist and triumphalistic attitude is a perfect example of the attitude that has kept Jews OUT of the Church for 2,000 years.

And I say this based on hundreds of conversations with Jews, as a Catholic living in Israel and enjoying full freedom of religion.

The conversion of Israel must first pass through a humble conversion of the Church. Sadly, Disinherited’s comments prove this amply.
 
A guilty dog always barks first.

Equating Zionism with the Taliban? Othodox Jews don’t support an Israeli state? Maybe your refering to the vast MINORITY, Nutrei Kartai movement, which is about as accurate as saying the Westboro Baptist Church represents Baptists as a whole.

I would put the rights of any non-Jew living in Israel against those of a non-Muslim living anywhere in the region.

I support Israel, not out of any religious or theological sentiment, just that I want to see history’s underdog have a chance to live in peace and security.
Yes, the Satmar Orthodox sect of Judaism and certain other Orthodox Jews, who form the Neturai Karta movement against Zionism, do not support an Israeli state due to its formation by people instead of according to G-d’s Messianic prophecy. However, you’re correct that the vast majority of Orthodox Jews (Traditional, Modern, Hasidic Haredi, and non-Hasidic Haredi) do support both Israel and Zionism, even though the Zionist movement is largely secular. Also, certain Reform Jews consider it ultra-liberal and chic to oppose Zionism. I’m a Reform Jew AND a supporter of the State of Israel.
 
Yes, the Satmar Orthodox sect of Judaism and certain other Orthodox Jews, who form the Neturai Karta movement against Zionism, do not support an Israeli state due to its formation by people instead of according to G-d’s Messianic prophecy. However, you’re correct that the vast majority of Orthodox Jews (Traditional, Modern, Hasidic Haredi, and non-Hasidic Haredi) do support both Israel and Zionism, even though the Zionist movement is largely secular. Also, certain Reform Jews consider it ultra-liberal and chic to oppose Zionism. I’m a Reform Jew AND a supporter of the State of Israel.
Thank you for the information. I’m partial to the Jewish faith due to its use of tradition, and history (which I see as analogous to Catholicism), but I support Israel for secular reasons.

Most mistakenly think of Judaism as monolithic. I’ve been learning quite a bit from a friend I have at a local Aish Ha Torah. I was surprised that Judaism has its version of “Bible only” believers, Karaite Jews.
 
Thank you for the information. I’m partial to the Jewish faith due to its use of tradition, and history (which I see as analogous to Catholicism), but I support Israel for secular reasons.

Most mistakenly think of Judaism as monolithic. I’ve been learning quite a bit from a friend I have at a local Aish Ha Torah. I was surprised that Judaism has its version of “Bible only” believers, Karaite Jews.
Oh yes, the Karaite Jews. I know something about them but never met any. They are, as you say, sola Scriptura. That translates to no lighting of Sabbath candles or affixing of miniature Torah scrolls (mezuzahs) on doorposts, including other practices not found in Scripture. I would guess they’re opposed to Zionism as well.
 
Hello to all,

Fascinating discussion. I see that quite a broad range of positions have already been presented, from the classical “the Church is Israel” supersessionist position to various philo-zionist positions.

As director of Catholics for Israel I could not resist throwing in my two cents. 🙂

The topic of Zionism is moving more and more to the forefront of theological discussions as the relationship between the Jewish people and Land of Israel increasingly becomes an unavoidable theological “hot potato.”

When Nostra Aetate 4 quotes St. Paul saying that

many Catholics still do not grasp the full implications of this statement, and the fact that among God’s irrevocable gifts to the Jewish people, the gift of the land of Israel occupies pride of place.

Often, remnant Catholic resistance to Zionism and to God’s action in the history of His chosen people stems from a confusion of several issues. Many associate Zionism with colonialism, or racism, or with a license for Israelis to carry out injustices against non-Jews living in the Holy Land. Others associate Zionism with hope for the rebuilding of the Temple and restoration of sacrifices, or with Protestant fundamentalism/ dispensationalism, or with mad apocalyptic fervor, or with a dual-covenant theology that would in some way undermine the unicity of Christ and the Catholic Church as source of salvation.

But none of these are an essential part of zionism or of the relationship between the Jewish People and Land of Israel.

At Catholics for Israel, we deal with these questions extensively. Recently we published an article called Israel between Past, Present and Future which attempts to sketch out a genuinely Catholic biblical and theological position on the role of Israel today and in salvation history, trying to see God’s faithfulness at work even through the messy politics of the Middle East and human sin that often obscure God’s action.

That article was published as part of an ongoing (and fascinating) dialogue with Fr. Carlo Colonna from Bari, Italy, a holy priest who has a very sharp and lucid vision of Israel’s role in salvation history and in relationship to the Church.

You may see the different parts of this dialogue in our section Israel and the Church (along with a number of other articles on the subject.)

Thanks for your attention, please come and visit us, and we look forward to your (name removed by moderator)ut!
Ariel
Catholics for Israel
In my opinion, based on my understanding and research Israel of today exists as a result of Dispensationalist, Evangelical Protestants and the United Nations. There is a need for the existence of the state of Israel that fuels the Evangelical propagation of beliefs and their understanding of Prophecy.

I am grateful to see that there is a Catholic Organization faithful to the magesterium in Israel doing what you are doing.

In my opinion, Jesus created this world and every speck of earth. He didn’t come to save geography or reconcile geography to himself. The moment the God/man set foot on this earth the Holy Land became the spot where the holiness of God touched for there is no boundary for God…His sanctity touched earth…could have been in Tijuana and the results would have been the same…Earth was sanctified…

The notion that there is some special place for the Israel created by the United Nations and Evangelicals as it regards prophecy leaves the issue open to discussion and as for me there is no discussion as it does not build my faith.

The Jews were God’s chosen, they were promised land and it was given to them…The Jews were chosen to be the light of the world as the oldest son for the sibling nations of the world to see what God was doing regardless of the geography…it was the people that is written about with the geography as a back drop…had to be somewhere on this planet or it would have made no sense to tell the story without something humans could relate to…

Paul tells us in Romans that God is impartial and that salvation is to the Jew first and then the Gentile and if true then the land promised to them must have been promised to the Gentile and the mistake is to believe that the land is what God wants us to have as opposed to the Kingdom that is where I am taught to believe God resides. You can have the earth…for it came from nothing and if so will return to nothing…on the other hand…give me the Kingdom…and the Kingdom will have no end.

I appreciate your work in Israel and pray that you help all the Catholic Christians in Palestine and in the Holy Land that we rarely hear about…👍

Salvation is to the Jew, Gentile, Barbarian, Greek and me…not Earth…Earth has no soul…People have souls…Humanity belongs to God…Earth is where we reside now.
 
It is , to me, a sad state of affairs when any of my fellow Christians fail to accept that God made that kind of covenant that is UNBREAKABLE. Do you believe that God would lie?

God said that He shall keep this covenant even if His People that He Chose to bring knowledge of Him to the world do not adhere to His Word. You can see this today in the secularism that exists in Israel and some Jews around the world.

The planet is groaning in labor pains. Mankind is at war or rumoring of war. Superbugs and some old-time enemies like tuberculosis kill us. Crop failures all about.

These are the things spoken of by the prophets and by Jesus Himself on Mt Olive . It is coming to pass. It must come to pass. Either Scripture is Truth or it is a lie. Yes, all or nothing.

And so it shall be that God is still persuing His Chosen. The ones who look away from Him and the ones who are looking for their Messiah. He is not finished yet because He does not lie.

Replacement theology is wrong. God has not replaced Judism with the Roman Catholic Church. What Jesus did was to graft us into the Abrahmic Covenant, expanding it, into a New and Everlasting Covenant. The Cup of His Blood- as i said, blood covenants are not breakable. Does God lie?

Yes, we are glad to convert anyone who want s to accept Christ of thier own will. But God has kept a remnant of the Chosen whose eyes and ears have been blinded and shut up since the Death of His Son not to see Him as Who is. Jews who adhere to the Law and tto the Talmud. They have been needed until that time when Jesus returns in Glory and they shall see and recognize Him and mourn for Him Whom they Pierced.
Jesus

That land belongs to the Jew. It was born on one day. As prophecied. It is a Jewish State with the likeness of a prayer shawl as its flag. Jews and gentiles can live there freely practicing their faiths or lack of thereof.

It is time for Christians to get over the idea that the jews killed Jesus Christ. The world killed Christ. But He came and died as Lamb because God needed everything to be done according to the jewish religion, asHe had established. He knew, did He not, that certain men and women would be alive at that paticular point to fulfill all prophecy, exactly.

All so that we may have our sins forgiven and have everlasting life, also.

Israel as a State had to be born again. I stand with Israel.

God is not finished yet and He will judge the nations according to how they have treated Israel and His Chosen.

Without any bad wll towards you all, I pray you seek God’s help on this subject and change your minds
Sincerely, in Christ
Doxiemom
 
Really now? Not only was the covenant fulfilled in the Catholic Church, not only is Judaism not a valid religion any more (no offense to Jews, especially those who hate and despise Zionism) but God’s promise that this land belongs to the Jews is not valid any more. He gave them the land of Israel in the Old Testament because they were His chosen people back then. Catholics are His chosen people now. Jesus never told the Jews to keep their land. Hell, if you think Jesus would tell the Jews to drive Arabs and gentiles out because they don’t 'belong on ‘their land’ means that Jesus was racist fascist whose aim was to spread worldly power.

Why don’t you put all the Zionist Jews in a bottle, lock them there and throw them into the ocean while your at it? Their heaven is to serve their selfish greed and to reign a horrible country where non-Jews don’t have rights and are inferior to them, a bottle given by God will serve just fine for a country, even though it literally is a piece of worthless rubbish now.

And don’t tell me that I am anti-semitic, that is ridiculous. I disagree with Judaism as a religion as much as I disagree with Protestantism and Islam. I want to convert the Jews and let them see the error of their ways, not kill them or put them in ghettos. But Zionism? Zionism isn’t even on the same level of Judaism. Even amongst the Jews who do support this empty cause, you’ll be hard pressed to find one who supports this modern apartheid, just as it is easy to find a Muslim who hates the Taliban’s guts. If you think Zionism represents all the Jews, you’re dead wrong, because orthodox Jews regard Zionism as a usurpation of their own god’s power; Zionists literally took problems into their own hands and declared that they are working through the hand of God, just as Luther did when he supposedly )and miserably failing at that) tried ‘reforming’ the Church. Proof can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=kh2mdPbYnZI&feature=related God bless them that they may find the right path but at the same time, may God forgive them for being so anti-semitic:mad:. Really, they’re anti-semitic, they hate their own race’s guts.

Why not put the Jews in a bottle? Thats what Zionists think about them, greedy people who are the master race. Its fitting they have a country where they can serve themselves and discriminate and even persecute ‘inferior’ races and a bottle can serve the same purpose that the land of Palestine does: its small, compressed but there’s plenty of space where Zionists can enjoy their greed.

In the end, all that matters is to love God, join the Catholic Church, spread the faith and be united with people in the love of God and Mary. Whats important (and Catholics listen to me here) is not having a state supporting your religion or your own stupid race (and yes, all races, be they African, Jewish, American, German, English, Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian, white, green, Na’vi, etc… are as insignificant as the color of our eyes and to fight over which race is better is to lie and play a huge and cruel practical joke to yourself). We must spread our Catholic faith but we mustn’t persecute people to do it, we must convince them to join it.

And to the poster with the bunny rabbit for an avatar, it is equally important to Jews which religion is real because if Judaism is a false religion and the Catholic one is the true one, wouldn’t that mean you’re outside the Church? I don’t want to discuss which is the true religion here, as there are numerous other threads disussing this and if you’re actually sicnere in your religion, you should investigate it further and see its own errors (however, if you want a Catholic perspective on Judaism and the Talmud, don’t read The Talmud Unmasked. I actually beleive dit at first but then I did my research and found that the book falsified many quotes. The Tlmud still has alot of questionable and sorry to say, insane content, but it never says that Jews should clean a jar because a gentile touched it, though it does teach that Jews are or can be superior to Gentiles because they are the chosen people. Kaballah teaches this too. Obvious really. The book was written by anti-semitic Lithuanian Priest who himself hardly knew any Hebrew and was a fraud. Its not and never was the general view of Christian on Jews).
Well, that was ugly.
 
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