I am surprised that no one protested loudly about denying the unique Lordship of Jesus Christ. Maybe all of those who care are those who have left or are in the process of leaving the denomination—but I must be wrong, surely I am wrong. I, just a few days ago, posted a book review where I told you that the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) organization, not only had insisted that Zionism was evil at its roots, they also insisted that it was possible that God was intending a greater or fuller revelation then Jesus Christ. That is what this quote taken from Zionism Unsettled means:
“...many contemporary Christians choose to modify our traditional theology by saying that the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is the most complete revelation of God that we know and that we have experienced. This statement affirms the revelation of God in Christ while at the same time recognizing the limits of our knowledge and experience ...” (30)
Perhaps it is because I did not include some other quotes from Zionism Unsettled. After writing the above quote, the author states:
From a logical standpoint, only someone who had entered deeply into the faith and experience of every religion could claim to know from an insider's perspective that God's revelation in Christ is “the most complete revelation.”In other words, unless you have a deep faith commitment to all other faiths you can't know if Jesus is God's most complete revelation.
And after trying to explain that Augustine and Anselm's insistence that we believe “in order that we might understand,” has some kind of relevance to the question of the uniqueness of Jesus, the authors write:
With Augustine's and Anselm's perspective in mind, the traditional view (that the life, death and resurrection of Christ is “the most complete revelation that God has granted to humankind”) claims more than any individual can know. Claims like this won't attract new members or keep existing members from falling away; in a pluralistic world any attempt to circle the wagons may alienate as many as it attracts.Don't you see that in one swift move the IPMN has resurrected the old German Christian idea that there could possibly be another revelation of God to set beside the one we know in Jesus Christ? Don't you understand that with those words the Declaration of Barmen is wiped out?
In Barmen we hear the words of Scripture:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. … I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved.“(John 19:1, 9.
And beneath the Scripture in the Confession:
“Jesus Christ as he is attested for
us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear
and which we have to trust and obey in life and death.
We reject the false doctrine as though the Church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation , apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths , as God's revelation.” 8.10-8.12
One either believes that Jesus Christ is God's complete revelation or one does not believe it and denies that Jesus Christ is Lord. God is not asking us to play games but to affirm the truth. Christians all over the world are dying because they affirm this truth. Why are we all so weak in our faith that we will not stand up against the Israel/Palestine Mission Network? Why would we listen to anything they have to say when they deny Christ.
The German Christians didn't like Zionism or Jews, and especially not the confession that Jesus Christ is the Only Lord, either. But we must, if nothing else, stand for Christ and love our neighbor.
