Archive for the ‘The Church and Israel’ Category

Posted on April 24, 2009 - by King's Evangelical Divinity School

Calvin L. Smith’s New Book on the Church and Israel

King’s Evangelical Divinity School Principal Calvin L. Smith has edited a new book entitled The Jews, Modern Israel and the New Supercessionism: Resources for Christians, which is due out imminently. Additional contributions include Andy Cheung, Tony Pearce, Jacob Prasch, Howard Taylor, Stephen Vantassel and Paul Wilkinson. There is also a foreword by Mitch Glaser (formerly Jews for Jesus and now President, Chosen People Ministries, New York) and a preface by Mark S. Sweetnam, Research Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin. The book has been endorsed by leading Evangelical scholars such as Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Darrell Bock, Robert L. Thomas and Amos Yong, among others. King’s Talks With Scholars has an interview with Calvin on the main college site, where you can find out further information about the new book. There is also a new website for the book, which is www.thechurchandisrael.com

Posted on January 8, 2009 - by Calvin L. Smith

Thoughts on the World Media and the Gaza War

Throughout a severe bout of flu for a week (real flu, you understand, not just a cold or so-called “man flu”), lying in bed or on the sofa under 25 blankets shivering and wallowing in self-pity, cough syrup and co-codamol, I’ve had the luxury of being able to follow the present Gaza war via numerous news networks and websites. Many of you kow I’m a news-junkie anyway. Every morning I read the websites of a dozen or so UK and international newspapers before, to the utter misery of my children, coming downstairs and rapidly but continually flicking like a machine-gun through BBC, Sky, CNN (occasionally), Fox (even more occasionally), Euro News, Al-Jazeera and others (even Russia Today, France 24, CCTV and the Indian NDTV network are not immune from my attention from time to time). I admit I’m a sad news anorak who goes cold turkey without a constant diet of news, and sometimes I even slip out for a drive to listen to BBC Five Live in the car when I am trying to give up the hard stuff. I’ve tried the medical, prescriptive stuff (free local newspapers) designed to wean me off the habit, but to no avail. This past week I’ve expanded my diet to include Press TV (coming out of Teheran, the heroine or crystal-meth of news channels) and websites such as Al Arabiya. (more…)

Posted on January 5, 2009 - by Calvin L. Smith

Hamas’ (and the World’s) Anti-Semitism

The Times tonight reports how a senior Hamas leader has declared Israel’s actions in Gaza mean Jewish children throughout the world are now legitimate targets. Not Israeli children, mind you, but rather in response to an Israeli attack on Gaza they single out all Jewish children. Never mind that diaspora Jews are not Israeli, or that many Jews (including our own Foreign Secretary and the comedian Alexei Sayle) have condemned strongly Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent days. No, Hamas has demonstrated its anti-Semitic hatred, which is well-known but so conveniently forgotten, just like that of Hezbollah’s. And I doubt this is an empty threat (consider Hezbollah’s similar attacks on Jewish interests in the 1990s, notably in Argentina). But of course, tonight’s Hamas statement will not change extreme anti-Israeli opinion which crosses over into anti-Semitism one iota, ironically even though the Hard Left is obsessed with rooting out all forms of racism. Clearly, anti-Semitism is an “understandable” form of racism when it comes to Israel’s actions. (more…)

Posted on December 29, 2008 - by Calvin L. Smith

Let’s Talk About Proportionality

The current Israeli operations in Gaza once again bring to the fore the oft-recited mantra so favoured by the Western media and Arab world. I’m talking, of course, of Israeli “proportionality”, a phrase used ad nauseam. “Israel’s operations have killed [at the time of writing] 300 people compared with Hamas rockets which have killed two”. Thus goes the argument, which time again serves as the basis for condemning Israel. (more…)

Posted on November 9, 2008 - by Calvin L. Smith

It’s All Happening in Israel Right Now

Hello, haven’t posted for a while but it is all happening in Israel right now, where I am at the moment, so I thought I’d post a brief comment about events so far. As always with Israel (regardless of how many times one has visited before) it has been an eye-opener. Whatever your theological views this is a quite amazing place, full of history, contradictions, polemics and passion (oh, and excellent food, hotheads, crazy drivers, lovely weather, and just how many recipes include chick peas :). It has also been a pleasure to meet so many Christians from so many different walks of life, together with godly people who have devoted their lives to sharing the Gospel here. (more…)

Posted on November 1, 2008 - by Calvin L. Smith

Second All-Day Israel Seminar on 29 November - Book Now!

Further to the recent MBCDS teaching day on Israel, which was well-attended and highly successful, we are pleased to announce a second teaching day on this topic with papers exploring the subject of Israel from additional perspectives. Full details can be found at the MBCDS website. Be sure to download the promotional flyer and distribute it to anyone you know who may be interested. Please note places are limited and you must book in advance.

Posted on October 24, 2008 - by Calvin L. Smith

Don’t Miss the Extra Israel Seminar and These Audio Resources

On 18 October 2008 MBCDS held an all-day teaching seminar on the subject of Israel, details of which are contained in a previous post. The seminar was a great success, with six challenging papers and attendance by over 150 delegates. So well-received was the event that it was decided to run a second seminar on this subject, providing Christians with further resources on the subject of Israel from various angles, allowing other speakers originally lined up to speak but who could not attend that day to present their research. Further details will be announced on this site today or tomorrow.

Although the papers of both conference days will be released as a book early in the New Year, we are making available several of the recordings from 18th October straight away as audio downloads. The first, by Dr Stephen M. Vantassel, is entitled Israel’s Right to the Land: A Calvinist Explains. This is a most valuable resource for those eschewing supercessionism and seeking a nuanced treatment of this thorny topic. MBCDS’ Andy Cheung also presented an excellent paper entitled What Does ‘Israel’ Mean in the New Testament? This is a short but vital linguistic analysis all Christians need to be aware of. Further audio recordings will be advertised here in due course.

Posted on August 27, 2008 - by Calvin L. Smith

All-Day MBCDS Seminar on 18 October - Various Speakers

The Midlands Bible College and Divinity School will be holding all-day seminar in Reading, Berkshire, on Saturday 18 Oct 2008 entitled The Jews, Modern Israel and the New Supercessionism: Resources for Christians. Speakers are Dr Calvin Smith, Dr Stephen Vantassel, Revd Jacob Prasch, Tony Pearce and Dr Paul Wilkinson. Don’t miss what promises to be a biblically and theologically challenging day. Further details can be found here. Places are strictly limited so book your place now. Non-MBCDS visitors welcome.