Last week, the heads of the churches in Jerusalem released a joint letter condemning Christian Zionism – the Biblical belief that God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people. Christian Zionism is the default position of Christianity. Zion was created by God Almighty, and this letter is extremely damaging to the body of Christ.

The majority of the praise from this letter is coming from anti-Israel advocates, Islamists, and other non-Christians who are using it as a weapon against Christianity. It has not brought unity, instead it sows division. And it is in complete opposition to the Word of God.

The letter contains no Biblical rebuttal of Zionism. Despite this, it is even being used by anti-Israel elements of the Church to reject Biblical truth.

This damaging letter that should never have been written, but it exposes deep rooted problems withing the established churches in Jerusalem. And is a testament to why the established churches in the UK and the West are failing to stand against antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes within the Church.

The letter in full reads:

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the flock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches, which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism, mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.

Holy Scripture teaches us that “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5). To claim authority outside the communion of the Church is to wound the unity of the faithful and burden the pastoral mission entrusted to the historic churches in the very land where our Lord lived, taught, suffered, and rose from the dead.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches further note with concern that these individuals have been welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally. Such actions constitute interference in the internal life of the churches and disregard the pastoral responsibility vested in the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem reiterate that they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.

May the Lord, who is the Shepherd and Guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of His people and the safeguarding of His witness in this sacred land.

—The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem

There are a number of claims in this letter which we at Christians United for Israel fundamentally disagree with and in this article we are using statements from various people to help argue against this falsehood. We’ll start with CUFI.

“The letter is unequivocally wrong,” Sandra Hagee Parker, chair of the CUFI Action Fund in Washington said. “It is nothing more than a naked attempt to contort the Christian faith in order to deny the very teachings of Jesus.

“From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a Zionist document,” she added. “To deny God’s support for his Chosen People is to deny the reality of God’s word.”

CUFI UK’s most recent episode of ‘For Zion’s Sake‘ podcast also covers this topic extensively, with Alex and Alastair discussing various points, including using Scripture to prove why God still has a plan and a purpose for Israel and the Jewish people.

Thankfully, CUFI is not alone in opposing this un-Biblical statement and it is helpful to have different takes from different Christian leaders and organisations who add unique viewpoints to the situation.

One fantastic response comes from Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who is the US Ambassador to Israel and also an Evangelical Pastor who loves the Lord along with being a strong friend of the Jewish people. Read this statement and you’ll see why we think more countries ambassadors to Israel should be Christian Zionists!

Ambassador Huckabee said:

I love my brothers and sisters in Christ from traditional, liturgical churches and respect their views, but I do not feel any sect of the Christian faith should claim exclusivity in speaking for Christians worldwide or assume there is only one viewpoint regarding faith in the Holy Land. Personally I’m part of a global and growing evangelical tradition that believes the authority of Scripture and the faithfulness of God in keeping His covenants. That includes His covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people.

My Christian faith is built on the foundation of Judaism and without it, Christianity would not exist. Without the Judeo-Christian worldview, there would be no Western Civilization, and without Western Civilization, there would be no America. The thought that God is even capable of breaking a covenant is anathema to those of us who embrace Holy Scripture as the authority of the church. If God can or would break His covenant with the Jews, then what hope would Christians have that He would keep His covenant with us? Labels such as “Christian Zionism” are too often used in a pejorative manner to disparage free-church believers, of which there are millions across the planet.

Christians are followers of Christ and a Zionist simply accepts that the Jewish people have a right to live in their ancient, indigenous, and Biblical homeland. It’s hard for me to understand why every one who takes on the moniker “Christian” would not also be a Zionist. It’s not a commitment to a particular government or government policy, but to the Biblical revelation as given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In my faith, there is certainly room for those who “butter their bread” differently than me, and I would hope that there would be room in the hearts of other church bodies for me. We need to unite in those truths that should be agreed upon, such as the sanctity of life, the sacred act of marriage, the autonomy of the individual, the desire to lift up every human and alleviate human suffering, and the belief that grace is God’s gift to us all. Please share with others and “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!”

Bishop Dennis Nthumbi, Africa director of the Israel Allies Foundation, who said, “The tone of this statement is not pastoral; it is territorial. It does not sound like shepherd protecting sheep; it sounds like administrators protecting jurisdiction.

“I strongly suspect that the Christian community in Israel is under strong political and religious pressure by dangerous Islamic elements within, and the letter is a result of the radical groups that hate the ecclesiastical unity of the Jews and the Christian community,” said Bishop Nthumbi.

The political pressure from bad actors is also pointed out by Joel Berry, the Editor of the Babylon Bee.

Joel said two points:

1) Without the protection of Zionism, they’re dead. Their churches burned, holy sites destroyed, their women raped, and their congregations beheaded by Islamists.

2) The Patriarchs in Jerusalem have openly admitted to cooperating with Hamas and PA propaganda in exchange for protection in Gaza and the West Bank. They know Israel’s protection is unconditional, but Palestinian protection is conditional on them taking public stances on Israel like this. Pizzaballa admitted this himself. The previous Patriarch, Sabbah, was even worse—a supporter of Palestinian Intifada and a Hamas apologist. This statement must be seen in that context.

Addressing the actions of some replacement theology believing members of these denominations to hold use this letter to push their anti-Israel views, despite the letter having clear political leanings and containing no Scriptural explanation for their anti-Zionist views, Joel adds, “I wish Catholics and Orthodox brothers I otherwise respect would stop taking statements like this from a heavily compromised church leadership in Jerusalem at face value.”

Mike Evans, who founded Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion Museum, said, “When they say they are against Christian Zionists, what they really mean is they are in support of ‘replacement theology’ that God has canceled all his promises to the Jewish people.

“They are terrified over the support of influential Christian pastors after thinking that they had marginalized Christian Zionism,” he said.

As mentioned earlier, at CUFI UK, we also had a lot to say about this on the latest podcast. Alex and Alastair discuss this in detail, and provide numerous Scriptures to explain why the viewpoint of the heads of the Churches in Jerusalem is clearly going against Scripture. You can watch that here.

We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. They are living and worshipping in the place where the Bible stories happened, where Jesus walked, ministered, died, and rose again. It is really sad to see people who should have clear understanding of Scripture being so blinded to Biblical truth. We pray their eyes will be opened and they will reject the false teaching of replacement theology.

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