View Full Version : Replacement Theology:
CoreIssue
02-19-2006, 09:18 PM
Note: The first 5 posts here are reposts from the old board by CoreIssue.
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:06 am by Sid
Replacement Theology causes the Church to become arrogant and self-centered. These attitudes open wide the doors for anti-Semitism to spread like wildfire. Scripture becomes confusing when one tries to replace “Israel” with the Church.
Replacement Theology (http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=3827)
CoreIssue
02-19-2006, 09:18 PM
Agree.
I have debated a lot. And the most arrogant and self righteous attacks and agruments come from those holding this theology.
You get a lot of personal revelation, the Holy Spirit told me, invented rules of interpretation, Holy Dictionaries and so on.
CoreIssue
02-19-2006, 09:19 PM
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:47 pm by Sid
CoreIssue wrote:And the most arrogant and self righteous attacks and agruments come from those holding this theology.
Most RCs don't have a clue what RT is, or that their church is ate-up with it.
CoreIssue
02-19-2006, 09:20 PM
I agree.
Since you are one of the best at understanding RC you might want to think about doing a link post from the RC Forum to the RT one. http://www.christiantalkzone.net/archive/images/smiles/wink.gif
CoreIssue
02-19-2006, 09:21 PM
Agreed, it might be helpful to link. . . but RCism doesn't hold the franchise on RT, it is widespread and a basis for all sorts of violence to the Gospel.
I have debated a lot. And the most arrogant and self righteous attacks and agruments come from those holding this theology.
You get a lot of personal revelation, the Holy Spirit told me, invented rules of interpretation, Holy Dictionaries and so on.
Replacement Theology and amillennialism is the filter that the RCC has used to come up with it's confused One True Church Theology.
When Israel became a nation again, it should have signaled an end to Replacement Theology, but ignorance is bliss in the Replacement Theology denominations since it rarely comes up.
One cannot arrive at Replacement Theology by reading Scrip-ture. It’s just not in the Bible. One has to first be motivated to find some doctrine to fit a bias against the Jews and their homeland. And so among what should be the best friends of Israel that America contains, a false doctrine based on anti-Semitism is rife.
But to speak of prosperity is to cite the fact that the countries that took in the Jews and gave them at least freedom to be employed generally prospered by Jewish industry and ingenuity.
The most anti-Semitic of nations — Germany, Russia, England — also profited by their Jewish communities, and history will attest to this ironic fact. Despised and yet respected, the Jews have put up with their hapless lot for some 4,000 years!
Foreshadows of Wrath by Zola Levitt (www.levitt.com/essays/foreshadows.html newwindow)
When Israel became a nation again, it should have signaled an end to Replacement Theology, but ignorance is bliss in the Replacement Theology denominations since it rarely comes up.
Churches who embrace Replacement Theology end up with confused theology of church:
Introduction
One of the great theological battlegrounds of orthodox Christianity throughout the centuries has been the nature and character of the Church, especially in relation to its biblical predecessor, Israel. The two major views are that:
The Church is a continuation of Israel
The Church is completely different from IsraelFirst View: The Church is Israel
The predominant view has been that the Church is the “new” Israel, a continuation of the concept of Israel which began in the Old Testament. In this view, the Church is the refinement and higher development of the concept of Israel. All of the promises made to Israel in the Scriptures find their fulfillment in the Church.
Thus, the prophecies relating to the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are “spiritualized” into promises of blessing to the Church. The prophecies of condemnation and judgment, though, are retained literally by the Jewish nation of Israel.
This view is sometimes called Replacement Theology, because the Church is seen to replace Israel in God’s economy. One of the problems with the view, among others, is the continuing existence of the Jewish people, especially with regard to the revival of the new modern state of Israel.
If Israel has been condemned to extinction, and there is no divinely ordained future for the Jewish nation, how does one account for the supernatural survival of the Jewish people since the establishment of the Church, for almost 2,000 years against all odds?
Furthermore, how does one account for Israel’s resurgence among the family of nations as an independent nation, victorious in several wars and flourishing economically?
Israel and the Church: the Differences (http://www.levitt.com/essays/israel-church.html)
Churches who embrace Replacement Theology end up with confused theology of church:
RCism's Replacement Theology makes no distinction between Israel and the Church. They believe Israel is the Old Testament Church and that the Roman Catholic Church is the New Israel.
In a striking inconsistency, RCism's Replacement Theology asserts that the promises made to Israel were literal in the provision of a Savior but they punish Israel and deny them any further blessing in the future.
Since Israel is a nation again in the Holy Land the view that the land is a mere figure for heaven and a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men is making little sense.
. . . this interpretation has major problems with Romans 11.
Replacement theology has been the fuel that has energized Medieval anti-Semitism, Eastern European pogroms, the Holocaust and contemporary disdain for the modern state of Israel.
"Replacement theology is just plain bad news for both the Church and Israel," declares Kaiser.
Not only does the Bible distinguish between God's plan for Israel and His plan for the church, but it also teaches a distinction between saved and lost Jewish individuals. This is one of the things denied by replacement theology.
What is Replacement Theology? (http://www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=249)
CoreIssue
11-08-2006, 05:10 PM
Yep. Look who is into Replacement Theology. Those with really bad doctrines all the way into cults.
JW, LDS, RCC, Ango-Israelism and more. All believe they have replaced Israel or are Israel.
Look who is into Replacement Theology. Those with really bad doctrines all the way into cults.
JW, LDS, RCC, Ango-Israelism and more. All believe they have replaced Israel or are Israel.
I doubt few Christians who fellowship at replacement theology churches [Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians] understand what Replacement Theology is, and fewer still know that their churches are ate-up with it.Today there are approximately 100 million American church members who have very little to no understanding of Bible prophecy. These church members are from replacement theology churches [Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians] that don’t teach Bible prophecy and who look at prophetic scriptures as allegorical and not literal. Consequently, they do not understand the importance of Israel to the God of Israel or God’s redemptive plan for Israel and the nations. (To Read "The Error of Replacement Theology" - By Clarence H. Wagner Jr. click here (http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1914).)
These church members also have no understanding of the biblical significance of what is transpiring today in Israel, Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and in other Middle East nations. They are also not aware of the significance of the formation of the European Union, new ID technologies and much more.
I have shared the biblical significance of our times with some of these people and almost all of them can’t process the information mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And due to fear they do not want to hear more. They also have no point of reference in which to start if they had interest.
The good news is those who understand Bible prophecy are fully aware of the significance of Israel, God’s time clock, and are watching the times with great interest and expectancy.
Approximately 100 Million American Church Members Have Very Little to No Understanding of Bible Prophecy -
Bill Koenig (http://www.watch.org/showart.php3?idx=64261&rtn=/index.html&showsubj=1&mcat=1)
The RCC teaches that the present nation of Israel holds no more prophetic significance than the Canary Islands . . . :scratch:
I read Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/031027771X/qid=1105314105/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/002-3148332-3270447) when it first came out in the early '70s. At the time I was heavily involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Bible Study and found that TLGPE made infinitely more sense than the RCC's amillennialism and replacement theology.
Yep. Look who is into Replacement Theology. Those with really bad doctrines all the way into cults.
JW, LDS, RCC, Ango-Israelism and more. All believe they have replaced Israel or are Israel.
CI:
I read Hal Lindsey's classic The Late Great Planet Earth (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/031027771X/qid=1122736448/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-5309521-7803352) in the early '70s and that book helped me to understand that replacement theology was confused, circular and fatally flawed.
The average pewbie has no inkling of the implications of the prophesies in Daniel, the Olivet Discourses and Revelation. . . they have this contented attitude that they already know everything from their priests and ministers that they don't bother to examine the Bible for themselves.
They have been taught that the church is the New Israel and that the current Israel holds no more prophetic significance than Liechtenstein
They don't understand the prophetic implications of Israel being a nation again, in the Holy Land, the current events in the Middle East and the rise of an united Europe.
If any pewbies are paying attention, they need to realize the confusion and bad theology they are being taught.
Replacement Theology teaches that the Church has replaced the Jewish people in the purposes of God. It boldly declares that the Church is now the new Israel, that God has rejected and is punishing the Jewish people because of their rejection of Jesus Christ, and that there is no future for the Jewish people or the land of Israel.
Through this doctrine, Christians are taught that God has finished his dealings with natural Israel (both the land and the people), and that He is now only concerned with the Church.
At best, Christians have been taught that the Jewish people and the nation of Israel are to be viewed like any other nation on the earth, with no Biblical or prophetic significance.
At worst, Christians have been taught that it was their responsibility to persecute the Jews, as a testimony to the wrath of God that will fall on all who reject Christ.
The ultimate fruit of Replacement Theology was manifest in the Holocaust.
The spiritual roots of the Holocaust can be seen in the ways in which this demonic theology allowed the Church to take one of two basic positions in relation to the Jewish people: ignore them or persecute them. The vast majority of the Church just ignored the plight of the Jewish people, as the Nazi death machine sought to fulfill satan’s plan to kill them all.
These attitudes continue today:
Where is the outcry of the Church on behalf of national Israel?
Do you believe that the bible promises the land to the Jews?
Do you believe that their regathering is part of the fulfillment of prophecy?
If you believe it, are you doing anything about it?
Re-Placement or In-Placement Theology (http://www.sidroth.org/jewishroots_main6.htm)
Replacement Theology (RT) is the belief that since the Jews didn't accept Jesus as the Messiah, God has cut them off and 'replaced' them with the church as his new chosen people.
This theology assumes that when Israel is mentioned in scripture in a positive light, it refers to spiritual Israel (the church) and when it is referred to in a negative light, it refers to national Israel (the Jews).
RT teaches that the scriptures must be read spiritually, and absolutely not taken literally, since to do so would force one to conclude that Israel has distinct origins, purposes and destiny compared to the church. Prophesy of the Old Testaments must also be 'spun' to make RT make any sense at all.
This theology was the basis for the holocaust and is held by anti-semitical white supremacist Christian Identity groups such as the Aryan Nations, the KKK, British Israelists and the Shepherd's Chapel.
This theology became moot in 1948 when Israel became a nation again. As the bible predicted, Israel became a literal nation, so there is no need to spiritualize those passages into another meaning any longer.
The Church cannot be Israel. Israel is an ethnic, political, and religious entity where the Church is not. Israel is made up of the physical descendant's of Abraham; the Church is made up of all believers in Christ, regardless of their ethnic makeup.
Romans 9-11 is one of the passages that demonstrates that God has two distinct peoples, the Church and Israel. The the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, i.e., he won't change either his purpose for Israel (a kingdom on earth where the Davidic king will rule sovereignly over a submissive and worshipping people) or for the Church (the body of Christ and his bride who will rule along with the King).
The covenants and promises made to Israel must be fulfilled to Israel. Israel cannot be replaced by the Church or else the covenants and promises have no meaning! Thus, there is no replacement of Israel with the church, only a setting aside till the fulness of the Gentiles comes in (Rom 11). There is a certain amount of inscrutability to God's ways (Rom. 11:33-36) -- we must accept Scripture for what it says.
There is only one plan of God that involves two distinct groups (the Church and Israel) with two distinct origins, purposes, and destinies. It was God's plan from the beginning.
The Lord chose Israel to be his chosen people. With the Great Commission, the Lord is ALLOWING the Gentile nations to choose him.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Replacement Theology: Did the church replace Israel? (http://www.bereanfaith.com/articles.php?action=article&id=6)
Perhaps you have heard of the term Replacement Theology. However, if you look it up in a dictionary of Church history, you will not find it listed as a systematic study. Rather, it is a doctrinal teaching that originated in the early Church. It became the fertile soil from which Christian anti-Semitism grew and has infected the Church for nearly 1,900 years.
What Is Replacement Theology?
Replacement Theology was introduced to the Church shortly after Gentile leadership took over from Jewish leadership. What are its premises?
Israel (the Jewish people and the land) has been replaced by the Christian Church in the purposes of God, or, more precisely, the Church is the historic continuation of Israel to the exclusion of the former.
The Jewish people are now no longer a "chosen people." In fact, they are no different from any other group, such as the English, Spanish, or Africans.
Apart from repentance, the new birth, and incorporation into the Church, the Jewish people have no future, no hope, and no calling in the plan of God. The same is true for every other nation and group.
Since Pentecost of Acts 2, the term "Israel," as found in the Bible, now refers to the Church.
The promises, covenants and blessings ascribed to Israel in the Bible have been taken away from the Jews and given to the Church, which has superseded them. However, the Jews are subject to the curses found in the Bible, as a result of their rejection of Christ.The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God's Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God's Name. Yet, it is not too late to change our ways and rightly relate to the Jewish people and Israel today. Through Bridges for Peace you can read, study and learn more, and also give to demonstrate God's exhortation to us to bless His Covenant People, whom He still loves. Not only do we need to learn and do for ourselves, but we need to teach others so as to counteract the historical error that has been fostered in the Church for nearly 2,000 years.
The Error Of Replacement Theology (http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/publications/teaching/Article-18.html)
... the Church is not Israel and Israel is not the Church. Some of the most confusing prophetic voices today teach that there is no distinction between Israel and the Church, and that the Church today is spiritual Israel and is destined to fulfill the promises of God to that chosen nation.
--LaHaye, Understanding the Last Days, 1998, p.73
The credibility of the Bible is seriously undermined by the practice of allegorising or spiritualising it in interpretation. This practice is also known as replacement theology and results from denying the literal meaning of many key statements in the Bible and arbitrarily replacing them with other meanings.
Using this method:
• the Creation story is only a myth with a moral;
• the church is the new Israel;
• the 144 000 of 12 Israelite tribes sealed during the tribulation era are Christians saved throughout the church era;
• prophecies of the Antichrist as a real end-time person represent an impersonal influence or system operating during all centuries;
• the battle of Armageddon is seen as a spiritual conflict between Satan with his hordes and the saints of all ages;
• Babylon refers to Rome or to the USA; and the 1 000-year millennial reign of Christ (Rev. 20) with the 7-year tribulation period are equated to the nearly 2 000 years of the church era, etc.
The search for hidden, esoteric meanings on the Bible’s statements leads away from their true meaning.
We should read the Bible seeking the Holy Spirit’s help in understanding it. A sound rule is: When the plain sense of the Word makes common sense, then seek no other sense.
It is true that, apart from literal statements, there are also types and symbols used in the Bible, but these mostly have literal antitypes whose meanings are clear from the context, e.g. the Lamb is clearly Jesus Himself, the beast with seven heads refers to a literal person, the Antichrist, the dragon with seven heads to Satan, and the mother of harlots refers to the end-time alliance of false religions, etc.
It is evident that those who deny the literal meaning of parts of Scrip-ture have only an incomplete message to proclaim from a partly misinterpreted Bible.
Clearly they cannot preach inspiring messages on the events preceding the Second Coming of Christ since they do not believe in a restored Israel, the rapture, nor that He will come to judge the world and reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.
More . . . (http://www.bibleguidance.co.za/Engarticles/Deception.htm)
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