"Catholic Zionism" Contradiction in Terms

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"Catholic Zionism" Contradiction in Terms

In the January 2020 issue of First Things, a new phrase was coined to advance the ecumenical efforts between Jews and Catholics. That phrase is “Catholic Zionism,” appearing here in the literature for the first time. It seeks to make itself the Catholic version of the more common “Christian Zionism” by divesting itself of the apocalyptic dimensions of the latter but continuing to advance the idea that God still owes land to the Jews and has been fulfilling that promise by giving them the present land of Palestine. The full title is: “Catholic Zionism: The Jewish State is a Sign of God’s Fidelity,” written by Gavin D’Costa. The author tries to convince his reader that Catholics should help in this divine endeavor and by doing so they become “Catholic Zionists.”

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Is the Gospel Hate Speech?

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Is the Gospel Hate Speech?

Melanie Phillips, writing in Commentary Magazine a few years back, informed readers that:

“The really difficult problem is that supersessionism is not some fringe theology but is deeply rooted in Christian thinking. At the most basic level, the Church believes that Christianity superseded Judaism. The Holocaust caused Western churches to rethink this, although those in Eastern countries remained unmoved. But whereas in the 1965 Papal encyclical Nostra Aetate, the Catholics tried openly to face up to and repudiate their own anti-Jewish thinking, the Protestant churches quietly brushed supersessionism under the carpet.”

In other words, those who entirely embrace Christ and his teachings and become members of the Church He founded are, it seems, necessarily ‘anti-Jewish’. For some reason, the foul mass-murder of Jews in Europe under the profoundly anti-Semitic (not to mention anti-Christian) race-obsessed Nazi regime is an event which should make people rethink their acceptance of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah prophesied in the Jewish scriptures and the true source of unity of the people of God. Quite why this follows is never explained.

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The Old Covenant: Revoked or Not Revoked?

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More and more Catholics, Protestants and Jews are seeking to overturn 2000 years of Christian teaching concerning the Old Covenant. Although the Church has always taught that the Old Covenant is revoked, what we are now being told by theologians, clerics and lay persons in high places is that it has not been revoked. These critics, who refer disparagingly to the traditional doctrine by such names as “supersessionism,” “replacement theology,” “revocation theology,” etc., are all seeking for one thing – to establish the position that: a) the Jews retain legal possession of the Old Covenant; b) that this covenant is independent of, but runs concurrently with, the New Covenant; and c) most hold that the Old Covenant is the means by which God provides salvation to the Jews. We are hearing this new teaching from almost every quarter of the religious world and it is one of the fastest growing problems in the Church today. At its root, it emasculates the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, and does so for the people who need it the most – the Jews.

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Invincible Ignorance

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I appreciated Dr. Jones’ tone in his response to my letter October 2004 (“Privilege and Blessing”) that primarily addressed his June 2004 article (“Is St. John an Anti-Semite?”). And I want to again reiterate my respect for Dr. Jones for his scholarship and long-time service to the Church on various fronts. However, I submit respectfully that Dr. Jones did not accurately reflect my position in saying Mr. Nash proposes a dichotomy which may have currency in the culture wars but has no theological basis. Mr. Nash proposes a distinction between ADL Jews and “faithful Jews.”

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