Learn about religious biases in Israel. Discover more about antagonistic religious alliances in an article by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, titled “Do the Settler Youth Hate Christians? It’s Not So Simple“, in Israel 365. [If you use a VPN, you will need to temporarily turn it off to load Israel 365 articles.]
How can there be antagonistic religious biases in a country with a myriad of Bible scholars living and working there? I ask this about two countries: Israel and the United States.
Why are Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and other Christian denominations seemingly at war with one another? I suggest one answer: Ignorance of Biblical history and the nature of the Living God. There are multiple names for God in Hebrew; the Jews typically express His name as G-d in English texts.
Through a one-time instance of parthenogenesis, a child was born to a virgin Jew named Mary. Historical records acknowledge this miracle.
The birth, life, persecution, and death of the Messiah were foretold in Isaiah 53, circa 711 BC. This topic is just one point of contention between some Jews and some Christians. Jews believe Messiah comes in a future time while Christians believe Messiah came 2,025 years ago.
Some Christians subscribe to the theory of replacement theology. This is a belief that Christians replaced the Jews as God’s chosen people. The New Testament disproves this belief, as stated in Romans 11:17-24.
When God declared the Jews his chosen people, it was not a short-term assignment. We Christians do not replace the Jews; we are grafted into the Jewish people.
Jesus and his disciples were all Jews of different backgrounds and real-life experiences. Some became believers by listening to Jesus’ teachings. Others became believers through divine revelation. Apostles Paul [Acts 9:1-19] and Peter [Matthew 16:15-17] were not convinced by spoken words but by divine revelation.
Unfortunately, tribal customs can corrupt Biblical truths. What is truth? A preacher I knew many years ago would say, “Truth is the way things really are.” An online dictionary defines truth as:
- the actual state of a matter
- the condition of conforming with fact or reality;
verity - a fact, proposition, principle, or statement proven to be valid
Chapter 2 of the Book of Acts in the New Testament tells a significant story. It describes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This event happened on the Day of Pentecost. The people present were neither Baptist nor Catholic; they were 100% Jewish, including Jewish proselytes. The last people group named was Arabs. Arab Jewish proselytes were a reality hundreds of years before the day of Pentecost described in Acts 2.
The Bible prescribes God’s model for an ideal person:
- Honest — Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truly are His delight.”
- Humble — Philippians 2:3 “Let nothing be done out of strife or conceit, but in humility let each esteem the other better than himself.”
- Compassionate — Colossians 3:12 “So embrace, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a spirit of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering.”
- Forgiver — Colossians 3:13 “Bear with one another and forgive one another. If anyone has a quarrel against anyone, even as Christ forgave you, so you must do.”
- Perseverant — James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he is tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
- Faithful — Proverbs 20:6 “Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?”
- Wise — Proverbs 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
- Loving — Mark 12:30-31 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
- Integrity — Psalm 25:21 “Truth and integrity will preserve me while I wait for You.”
- Self-control — Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, righteously, and in godliness in this world, as we await the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for Himself a special people, zealous of good works.”
- Courageous — Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Generous — 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Let every man give according to the purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
- Patient — James 1:4 “But let patience perfect its work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
- Pure — 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 “Escape from sexual immorality. Every sin that a man commits is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
- A Sense of Humor — Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.
Knowledge Is Power.
John N. White 