Israel’s Jewish homeland “is an empire by proxy,” stated Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb during a September 19 presentation before about 30 in a Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) conference room. Hosted by CCAS and the Saudi-funded Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), the presentation showcased his ongoing distortion of the Bible revealed first to Jews for modern anti-Israel agendas.
ACMCU Professor John Voll introduced Raheb, a Palestinian Lutheran pastor from Bethlehem now presenting his new book Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Eyes. Voll noted that his ancestral Sweden had awarded Raheb the Olof Palme Prize, “signifying your international stature as a major peacemaker.” “We have a peace worker here,” Voll stated.
Analysts of Raheb’s Israel-bashing would demur. A supporter of Palestinian Liberation Theology, he peddles theories discredited by DNA analysis and scholarly research that modern Jews have no ancestry in the Jews described in the Old and New Testaments. He posits that Palestinian Arabs like him have greater ancestry from Jews like King David than Israeli Jews like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supposed descendants from European Jewish converts.
Raheb thus joins with other like-minded Palestinian advocates who fantasize of a Palestinian people who “have lived on the land of historic Palestine since time immemorial.” He concocts an ancient lineage for a population formed by numerous immigration flows (precisely increased by Zionism) into a territory named by the Romans “Palestine” after the Jews’ historic Philistine enemies as an insult to rebellious Jews. Although today some Israeli Christians are reviving their Aramaic national identity, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Basic Law reflects the legacy of the Holy Land’s seventh-century Muslim Arab conquest. The Basic Law proclaims that “Islam is the official religion in Palestine,” the “principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be a principal source of legislation,” and the “Palestinian people are part of the Arab nation.”
Not surprisingly, Raheb was among the radical Palestinian drafters of the 2009 Kairos Document that called for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against an Israel compared to apartheid South Africa. A simpatico South African audience questioner stated that many South Africans are “asking for a theology of BDS” after similar measures “brought the apartheid regime to its knees.” Yet as the Central Committee of American Rabbis noted in 2010, Kairos is a “factually, theologically and morally flawed document” containing “explicit supercessionism and inherent anti-Semitism.”
Raheb’s remarks made explicit his warped understanding of the “people of Palestine” who, among other things, replace the Jews as the population that calls upon God for a king in the Book of 1 Samuel. He stated that “Palestine was always on the periphery, never, never, ever in the center” in a “place where the magnetic fields of the empires were colliding” throughout Middle Eastern history. While this assessment applies to peoples like the Muslim-majority Arabs, who historically considered Palestine southern Syria and often neglected Jerusalem and its Al Aqsa mosque, for Jews, the only people to ever make Jerusalem their capital, Israel is central.
These imperial “patterns that keep repeating themselves” in the Bible and history left Raheb unmoved by the miraculously revived Jewish national homeland, whose Arab minority enjoys benefits unrivaled in the wider Arab world. “The eyes of the people of Palestine have been crying for centuries, for millennia,” he stated, such that in his book “occupation and Palestine become almost a synonym.” Quoting slain El Salvadoran bishop Oscar Romero, Raheb argued that the Bible could have only originated in Palestine, for “there are things that cannot be seen but through eyes that have cried.”
Raheb’s warped Palestinian hermeneutic gave strained interpretations to well-known Biblical passages. He described how the “unimaginable for Isaiah was to see the lion lying side by side with the lamb,” a “lion that is a vegetarian,” whereby the “lion stands here for the empire and the lamb stands for Palestine.” In Jesus’ Beatitudes, “blessed are the meek, they will inherit the land,” not earth, as Raheb contradicted most translations, for the “land is not the earth, it is Palestine.”
Palestinian Islamic realities placed in doubt Raheb’s vision of Arabs and Jews inhabiting a single Palestinian state of Swiss-like cantons (consider Lebanon’s multicultural experiment). The “project called Israel has failed” as “Israel as it exists is not what the persecuted Jews had in mind” he stated and claimed that Israel cannot survive without foreign aid without any particular evidence. More realistic was his assessment that “also the project called Palestine has failed” amidst strife between Hamas and the PA’s main party, Fatah, leading him “to think beyond the nation-state.”
Raheb elaborated that “giving a state a religious status is very destructive.” “I cannot stand when Netanyahu talks about Israel as a Jewish state or when an Islamic political group talks about Islamic states,” he stated, as if the Jewish national home were equivalent to Islamic theocracy. He opposed the recent In Defense of Christians proposal for an autonomous province in Iraq’s Nineveh plain, even though Iraqi Christians recognize this as their only hope for long term survival.
Raheb’s belief that Palestinians and Jews have equivalent democratic credentials rests on his conflation of Jewish self-reflection and humanism revealed in the Bible (and modern Israel) with Palestinians. In contrast to Middle East traditions of revering political rulers such as pharaohs, “we never ever developed in Palestine this notion of worshipping our king,” he stated, as if Palestinian politics were freer than elsewhere in the region. “As Palestinians we are always making jokes of our leaders” because Palestinians are not “so afraid of our leaders we have to worship them,” a claim many observers of Hamas and the PA would find hard to believe.
A fraudulent interpreter of the Biblical past, Raheb is also a poor prophet for improving any Israeli-Palestinian future. His clumsy attempts to steal Israel’s spiritual and historical legacy for Palestinians disqualify him as a Christian peacemaker. Associations with Raheb only tarnish the reputations of Georgetown University and other institutions.
(Cross-posted from Juicy Ecumenism.)

Moses says
It’s a fundamental right for ISRAEL to exist and defend its from the Muslim fanatical at all costs.
JIMJFOX says
More realistic was his assessment that “also the project called Palestine has failed” amidst strife between Hamas and the PA’s main party, Fatah, leading him “to think beyond the nation-state.”
One of the few truths he stated. Except Israel WAS and IS the true Nation State of the region.
I care nothing much for the bible, other than as a semi-historical record largely substantiated by archaeological research proving Jews to be the main historical occupants of those lands.
I care very much about that Holy Book of Lies, Hate and Stupidity, the koran.
Pere LaChaise says
“”Raheb elaborated that “giving a state a religious status is very destructive.” “I cannot stand when Netanyahu talks about Israel as a Jewish state or when an Islamic political group talks about Islamic states,” he stated, as if the Jewish national home were equivalent to Islamic theocracy. He opposed the recent In Defense of Christians proposal for an autonomous province in Iraq’s Nineveh plain, even though Iraqi Christians recognize this as their only hope for long term survival””
These are valid points. The near coterminous advent of religiously defined nation states after WWII, Israel and Pakistan, sets th stage for fundamentalism and irredentism based on misreading of scriptures, justifying any violence to create a ‘perfect state’. Rabbinic Judaism has no truck with such absurd fantasies, while Islam depends on them to motivate and ‘inspire’ its hordes.
A secular and inclusive democratic Israel has a much better chance of survival than one based on misappropriated biblical ideology.
pinchas baram says
“its hordes”? that’s a new one. what planet are you from, pere? from la belle france, once Xian,now a dump for atheists and moslems?
Don McKellar says
Although using a religious text to try to establish the rights of anybody to be anywhere is ridiculous as they are all works of mythology and fiction, there is no doubt that actually archeology and genetics and other sciences show that the culture of the Jews does indeed originate from that area. Beyond that, might is right when it comes to nation-building. I think that right now, while they have the might, Israel should have thrown every single “Palestinian” out of Jerusalem and claimed it all entirely as their own. I really don’t understand why they didn’t do that in their past wars with the moslems. As soon as it is theirs, demolish the Dome of the Rock. What — are the moslems going to hate them more? Are they going to do something? Nah.
Mark Swan says
Darn good comment Don McKeller.
Mark Swan says
Assyria and a neighboring kingdom (the Hittites) dominated that part of the world. Read
what historians and archaeologists have learned about these ancient nations. Initially,
Assyrian conquests gained and maintained control of vital trade routes, in order to
translate the emerging economic unity of the Near East into political unity.
During the time ancient Israel was in what is today basically part of the land that modern
Israel Nation now resides, the rulers of the known world there about was ancient Assyria.
Egypt was a major power, but Assyria was dominant and lawfully ruling. These peoples
of ancient Assyria were by no means Arabic, they considered the Arabic peoples as the
nomadic raiders of their trade routes and punished them on a regular basis for being what
they were, criminals that suffered severe punishments by the ancient Assyrians, who did
record this in their writings.
Yet, when the Medes, Babylonians and Scythians conquered Assyria in 612bc, its ruling
class and a large number of Assyrians scattered to the north, east and west, leaving behind
the conquered peoples the Assyrians had imported to work as laborers, some of those
polyglot peoples are found today in Iraq, Syria and the Caucasus.
So of course then following the Babylonians, the Persians were next to take over,
then the Greeks, then the Romans, and finally the Arabs under Islam got what was left.
Ancient Israel was taken by the Ancient Assyrians, and then Ancient Judah was taken
by the Babylonians and both long before the Arabs came into power under Islam there.
So if this guy can re-write all that history, and judging by today’s standards he just might
heck why not, right?
RAB says
Don McKellar. So religious texts are all “works of mythology and fiction”? Have you read them all? I have read quite a few. In fact I could send you a list to read before you make any more uninformed statements about a subject you apparently know little or nothing about.
I thought the purpose of this blog was to discuss Islam. Why do so many commentators here seem to feel the need to denigrate “religion” without ever defining it or saying how the condemnation of “religion” helps in the fight against Islam?
Mark Swan says
RAB, many here know Don McKellar is a proud Atheist but other than that He is an ally
against Islam and it’s intent. But You are correct He is in over his head with such a bold
statement.
Time and time again, skeptics and critics have alleged that major nations and individuals featured in the Bible never existed! But they have been embarrassed by evidence proving them wrong.
Back in the 18th century, critics even questioned the existence of the Assyrian Empire and the existence of the ancient city-state of Nineveh mentioned in the Bible. The skeptics were proven to be very wrong!
We see an example of this in the life of famous British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard. In The Luck of Nineveh, author Arnold Brackman reminds us, “In 1817, when Austen Henry Layard was born, there was no tangible proof that Nineveh, the seat of the Assyrian Empire, which reputedly had endured longer than any empire before or since, ever existed. For that matter, there was no evidence that there ever was an Assyrian empire” (Foreword, p. vii).
Layard was working in an environment that ridiculed the biblical accounts. As Brackman wrote, “In the Old and New Testaments Nineveh is mentioned twenty times, and in the Old Testament there are 132 references to Assyria… An increasing number of skeptics, however, their religious faith diluted by the spectacular scientific breakthrough accompanying the first stirring of the Industrial Revolution, sneered at tales about Nineveh and treated it as a legend that belonged to an age of fables. For them, there had never been a Nineveh any more than there had ever been a Troy” (pp. 12–13).
Despite attacks from critics, Layard eventually discovered Nineveh. Artifacts in the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris, the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago and other museums, give overwhelming evidence of the historicity of this ancient empire as described in the Bible.
Archaeology has confirmed hundreds of other historical references in the Bible. Just to mention a few: The Israel Stele, a stone slab discovered in 1896 at Thebes in Egypt, is the oldest evidence of ancient Israel outside of the Bible, and records the military triumph of Pharaoh Merenptah of the 13th century bc. It states, “Israel is devastated, having no seed, Syria is widowed because of Egypt.” (Treasures From Bible Times, by Alan Millard, 1985, p. 100).
Here we can only scratch the surface on this point, but you can research the matter yourself in countless Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases and handbooks, as well as reputable journals such as Biblical Archaeology Review. Again and again you will find confirmation of the Bible account.
A team of archaeologists was digging in the ancient ruins of the city of Dan in upper Galilee. Avraham Biran led the team. They discovered a basalt stone monument from the 9th century bc. The stele, or monument, commemorated “a military victory of the king of Damascus over two ancient enemies. One foe the fragment identified as the ‘king of Israel.’ The other was ‘the House of David'” (October 25, 1999, pp. 12–13).
Why should this be so significant? Note the next sentence. “The reference to David was a historical bombshell” (ibid.) Of course, for those who have already proved to themselves the accuracy and veracity of the Bible, this was not a “bombshell”—but just additional confirmation of what they had already proved!
Never before had the familiar name of Judah’s ancient warrior king, a central figure of the Hebrew Bible and, according to Christian Scripture, an ancestor of Jesus, been found in the records of antiquity outside the pages of the Bible. Also Skeptics had long seized upon that fact to argue that David was a mere legend, invented by Hebrew scribes during or shortly after Israel’s Babylonian exile, roughly 500 years before the birth of Christ. Now, at last, there was material evidence: an inscription written not by Hebrew scribes but by an enemy of the Israelites a little more than a century after David’s presumptive lifetime” (ibid.).
Critics have been embarrassed by their plainly biased allegations when archaeology and history have proved them wrong. Notice these comments by famous archaeologists, “The manner in which archaeology has verified the historical accuracy of the Bible has been nothing short of remarkable! As noted archaeologist Nelson Glueck has written, ‘it may be clearly stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible’ (Rivers in the Desert, Glueck, p. 136). Glueck’s comments echo the words of another prominent archaeologist, William F. Albright, who stated, ‘There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament writing… The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries… has been progressively discredited'” (pp. 24–25).
The Bible reveals hundreds of prophecies. In fact, one fourth of your Bible is prophecy. More than 200 Old Testament passages were fulfilled by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Hundreds more give detailed information about end-time prophetic events—many of which have already occurred or are beginning to come to pass—especially regarding the growth of a European power that will become a final “Roman Empire” exerting influence around the globe. Here will be a highlight of just one example of ancient prophecy fulfilled as God predicted it would be.
Babylon was the greatest empire of its time, and Bible prophecy predicted that this great power would punish other nations as a judgment from God. Then, Babylon itself was to be judged for its sinfulness.
More than 100 years before the overthrow of this great empire, the prophet Isaiah named the individual who would be responsible for Babylon’s fall. King Cyrus of Persia lived almost two centuries after Isaiah, yet was prophesied by name in Isaiah 44! Isaiah even prophesied how Cyrus would enter Babylon to conquer it: “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held; to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors [or two-leaved gates—KJV], so that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel'” (Isaiah 45:1–3). What a powerful prophecy!
And it came to pass. For those who are Bible skeptics, note that the Greek historian Herodotus, ca. 440bc, also wrote of the siege of Babylon in The Histories (1:191–192), confirming the biblical account! Yes, both secular and biblical authorities confirm that Cyrus did what Isaiah had prophesied!
As one specific example, let us consider: has the book of Isaiah been preserved faithfully? In 1947, two ancient copies of the book of Isaiah were discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran Cave 1. These were dated a thousand years earlier than any previously known manuscripts of Isaiah. Had the words of Isaiah been preserved faithfully? Indeed, “they proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The 5 percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling… [these variations] do not affect the message of revelation in the slightest” (A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, by Gleason L. Archer, 1974, p. 25).
According to the Apostle Paul, God gave the Jewish community the responsibility of preserving the Old Testament. Speaking of the Jews, Paul writes that, “to them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2). Or, as the NIV translates it, “they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Indeed, history shows that scribes called Masoretes faithfully copied by hand the text of Scripture. The official Hebrew text is called the Masoretic text. These scribes were so meticulous that they counted all of the letters and all of the words in a given book to make sure there were no variations, even in individual letters of the text.
The text of the New Testament, written in the Greek language, was preserved in the Greek-speaking world. The King James Version of 1611 was primarily translated from the Hebrew Masoretic text and the Greek Received Text, also known as the Textus Receptus. Thousands of manuscripts testify to the accuracy of the New Testament. Again, as in the case of the Isaiah scroll, variations in the Greek manuscripts are minor and do not affect its message or fundamental teachings.
Do errors creep into the translations? Yes, some errors in Latin or English translations—such as the spurious addition of 1 John 5:7 hundreds of years after the Apostles—are well-known and easily identified. Thankfully, as we have so many authentic manuscripts to identify potential corruptions in the text, we can have absolute confidence in the claims of the Bible.
jihad3tracker says
THE WEEKEND IS HERE — So if you are off work and have a few spare minutes, please consider emailing this featured speaker, along with others mentioned by Dr. Harrod.
Cretius says
Raheb is just another anti-semite offering a revisionist view of history where factual evidence has no place.
Jay Boo says
Let’s offer Muslims our compliments to their way of life.
Why not:
Enslave and behead Palestinians and force conversions to Judaism.
Mirroring is said to be the highest form of compliment.
Sheikh Yabooti says
While I don’t know if I am ready for beheadings, your general point is correct: why not, in every legal means possible, strongly “encourage” the Muslims of that region to abandon Islam and adopt Judaism instead? As the article states: “He posits that Palestinian Arabs like him have greater ancestry from Jews like King David than Israeli Jews like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supposed descendants from European Jewish converts.”
Great! If the Palestinians are the “real Jews”, then I am sure that they won’t object to shutting down all of the mosques throughout the Land of Israel; recognizing Hebrew as the only official language of the state (right now both Arabic and Hebrew are recognized as official languages of Israel); and letting their kids attend the Hebrew-language schools with their “Zionist” counterparts (right now Israel funds a separate school system for Israeli Arab kids, which leads to generations of Israeli citizens being indoctrinated with anti-Israel rhetoric – all paid for, of course, by the Israeli taxpayer!).
If the Palestinians really want to promote this nonsense that they’re the “true Jews”, then this should be the metaphorical rope that they hang themselves with – make them abandon Islam and “return to their roots.”
Linde Barrera says
To Sheikh Yabooti- Great idea. I love your suggestion. You should be working in Foreign Affairs. I think you would do a lot better for peace than some of the jerks that are in Washingtonn now.
Mark Swan says
Good One Sheikh Yabooti
Linde Barrera says
It is very hard for me to believe this creepy “minister” is a Lutheran Palestinian Christian. Seems like he has his own agenda and that agenda is not based on the totality of the Holy Bible, just a bit here and a bit there. This guy is a false teacher/false prophet. ?
Cretius says
Agreed!
john spielman says
this man is from the apostate Lutheran group of churches ( some lutheran churches have remained faithful to Christ and His word (the Bible) and he and his progressive ilk are going to be extinct in anther generation
Linde Barrera says
To John Spielman- I hope you are correct, and I don’t mean politically correct. Thank you John, and take care.
Bill McKenzie says
Adolph Hitler took to heart the works of Martin Luther, who was a German, in his treatment of the Jews. One only has to look at his many writings.
“What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews”:
“First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools … This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians …”
“Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed.”
“Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them.”
“Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb …”
“Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside …”
“Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them …”
“Seventh, I recommend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow … But if we are afraid that they might harm us or our wives, children, servants, cattle, etc., … then let us emulate the common sense of other nations such as France, Spain, Bohemia, etc., … then eject them forever from the country …”
— On the Jews and Their Lies – Martin Luther
Linde Barrera says
To Bill McKenzie- As per your comment of 11:18 am, Oct. 15, 2016, thank you for pointing out these dreadful statements about the Jewish people, from Martin Luther. I honestly did not know of them, but I did know that Luther expelled the Jews from a certain city in Germany, I belI’ve it was Wittenberg, but not 100% sure of that. As a Lutheran Christian myself, Martin Luther always said “Interpret the Bible” and that “God’s grace alone is sufficient for us to go to heaven, provided we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God Incarnate.” I can only guess as to why Luther made those statements against the Jews: he hated them because they would not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. That must have been his rationale, disgusting as it was. There is nothing in the Old or New Testament that says anyone has the right to hate God’s chosen people, the Jews. So the hatred that Martin Luther spouted was not based on biblical doctrine, but his own.
Bill McKenzie says
Linde,
It’s a rather complicated situation that goes back centuries to the Romanization of the Church. To understand this, you’d need to read about “Replacement Theology” also called “Supersessionism” (there is a fairly accurate wiki page on it). It’s a hard thing to accept that for most of the past 2,000 years, Christians were the main persecutors of the Jews. I myself feel ashamed for that heritage. It also had to do with the fact that for most of that time, Christians were for the most part, illiterate and had to rely on the HRC/RCC to understand the Bible. It was even illegal during most of that time to even possess a Bible in the vernacular. The so called “Reformers” put us a step in the right direction, but the reformation itself has been a gradual process for Christians to return to the genuine teachings of Jesus. It is truly a sad thing, but something we must face if we are to be sure it never happens again.
Linde Barrera says
To Bill McKenzie- Per your comment of 3:24 pm, Oct. 16, 2016, I have known for a long time that Christians were the main persecutors of Jewish people and it always made my blood boil in anger. I am guessing that Christians who hung, burned or used a sword on any Jew did so because the Jew refused to believe Jesus was Lord and Messiah. That is no excuse, nor rationale, but that is my guess as to why it was done. There were many years where Muslims and Jews were better friends than Christians and Jews. But 1 fact I learned from studying a little bit about Martin Luther is that he believed no human could convert another human to Jesus Christ. That was the work of the Holy Spirit. Take good care, Bill.
Mark Swan says
Bill McKenzie, thank You for that breath of fresh air.
Didymus says
The Lutheran Church and Raheb are apostate for at least 4 reasons
1. God is gender neutral
2. Belief in the doctrine of baptismal regeneration
3. Replacement theology concerning Israel and the promises of God
4. Part of the erroneous Ecumenical Church
Linde Barrera says
To Didymus- As per your comment of 3:43 pm, Oct. 15, 2016, I respectfully refute your first 2 points. God is not gender neutral. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God is referred to as “He” and “His” as well as “Father”. Martin Luther had been a Roman Catholic priest until he got ex-communicated. So when he spoke out against the practices of the Roman Catholic Church after he was ex-communicated, he began a movement and the people who believed in what he was stating as “the truth” they called themselves “Lutheran”. Martin Luther brought forward some of the practices and culture of the Roman Catholic Church to his movement. One of those was infant baptism since in the 1500s giving birth was a very scary thing, due to high infant mortality rates, thanks to poor hygiene as well as lack of trained physicians, even though mid-wives tried their best. So Luther carried forward infant baptism which was usually given between the 3rd day and 3rd week of existence because many babies died in their first few weeks of life.
Susan B says
God is gender neutral. the only reason God is referred to as he is because males are the “dominate” gender on planet earth. You have watched too many movies showing God as a physical being with a white beard.
Mubarak says
“Our Father which art in heaven . . .” who “gave us his only begotten son . . .”
Mubarak says
See also:
https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2016/08/no-god-isnt-transgender
Linde Barrera says
To Susan B- So glad I read your comment of 7:23 am, Oct. 16, 2016 BEFORE I went to church, this morning. I am a member of a Lutheran Church congregation where my pastor is a linguist-scholar, and he speaks English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish and French. So I asked him: “Is God gender neutral?” Here is his answer: “One cannot talk about the gender of God on the basis of an English translation because in the Teutonic languages (English, German and Dutch) possessive pronouns such as ‘his’ and ‘hers’ agree with the gender of the possessor and not the thing possessed. In the Old Testament, there are very few references to God that require specific gender. The ending of the verb does not indicate ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’ but simply expresses ‘a single person’. This ending of the verb is true and indicative of the following ancient languages: Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, Ugaritic (an early Mesopotamian language) Sahidic and Latin. Additionally, in the New Testament, the Incarnation of the Word of God as a human male, Jesus, specifically refers to Jesus of Nazareth because he actually was a male and not metaphorically. The consistent use of masculine referents to His divine source is in respect to His Father, God, for Jesus’ divine origin, and His human origin is from the feminine referents to His human source from Mary, His Mother.” End of quote! Take care Susan B. This inquiry taught me a couple of things I did not know. I hope you learned something too.
Mark Swan says
Now keeping with the topic…Sons of God…Sons of Men…(Christ called Himself Son of Man) But we know the demons recognized Him as Son of God…and called Him that…so a real flesh and blood Man was a Son of God…Righteous Men are called Sons of God…Where Worldly Men and Women are called sons and Daughters of men…But God is the Father of all life and anyone is therefore a son or daughter in the broadest sense…the term does intrigue…in what context is where it can be nailed down…before the flood Cain’s children were together with Seth’s children so distinct in that one was called Sons of Men and the other Sons of God…all Humans created by God…and technically Sons…Intermarried Now Cain’s and Seth’s Children…were destroyed for evil behavior…all except Righteous Noah and his Immediate Family…destroyed for evil behavior…all Sons of men and Sons of God.
Splitting hairs here is like the old Potato / Pottato…Tomato / Tomatto…thing…it is just that.
The Name Angel is one of magnificence and should be used in deep respect and honor to Them and the God whom they serve…diligently… Angels were created by fiat to be Ministering Spirit Beings to the eventual Human Beings…They are Holy…which means set apart for God’s purpose…But Implying a Spirit Being is like a flesh and blood Human is a very long reach…yes they can appear as Humans…but they are very much spirit…if God had planned on them reproducing they would have been reproducing…Now wait…God is a Spirit being and on a much Higher plain…but spirit…He is reproducing through…the flesh and blood Man’s ability to reproduce…not making all of His humans by fiat…instantly and full grown like Adam…so what is this reproductive quality He gave Humans that Angels don’t need…it bonds a man and a woman…they produce children…teach them God’s Way…as they progressively mature… humans can learn what it means to be responsible for life…share life…live life…God is building a family…they get to experience first hand family life…now does this leave the Angels with nothing to do…nope…We could not yet imagine their work load…Angels should be Loved…Appreciated…Wanted…Needed…and most definitely Respected…for their loyalty and love for God…and care for us…God’s Children.
There were Angels here on earth long before man appeared here…this was Their habitat…They lived and worked here…Led by and Arch Angel…one third of the Angel Population…They rebelled and were cast back to this earth…they are now fallen Angels…No longer Holy…They are Demons…with all the wrong qualities… They do try to interfere…are able only as far as God lets them…and no further…Thank God…He is in charge and bringing all this out right…this earth…the entire universe…is for Human Beings…who have potential far greater than angels…but for now are lower and flesh…The whole theme in Genesis (beginning: the time or circumstances of something’s coming into being) is about God’s Man coming into being…God’s bringing mankind into being…the beginning of Sons.
Of all life forms Man Alone was created for Marriage…for family life.
For unto which of the Angels said He at any time, You are My Son, this day have I begotten You? And again I will be to him a Father, and He shall be My Son? (Heb. 1:5) , (Heb.2:5-6)
Angels, higher than Man is now, are the Ministering Spirit Servants of God in the Administration of His universe-ruling Government. And in relation to Man, Angels are ministering spirits, sent to minister to the Heirs. (Heb. 1:14) , (Rom. 8:17) , (Gal. 4:6-7) , (Heb.2:5-8).
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God…these are sons of God…The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…and if children…then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:14-17)
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard…neither have entered into the heart of man…the things which God has prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Awesome thought that.
Bill McKenzie says
To you I would say, judge not… Remember Jesus words on the cross, “forgive them for they know not what they do” – did the Father hear that plea? To say that some of the teachings of the reformers were wrong and that you disagree with them is one thing, to call them apostate is another entirely. I’d be careful with my words were I you.
dumbledoresarmy says
I just came across a very interesting article about a book that backs up the proposition that the vast majority of Muslim Arabs currently living on eretz Israel descend from very recent immigrants.
http://www.meforum.org/6275/were-the-arabs-indigenous-to-mandatory-palestine
Were the Arabs Indigenous to Mandatory Palestine?
by Sheree Roth Middle East Quarterly Fall 2016
The Rape of Palestine, 1st ed. By William Ziff. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1938. Reprint. Mansfield Centre, Conn.: Martino Fine Books, 2010. 630 pp. $60.
“…To be sure, some Arabs are descendants of the indigenous occupants.
“But waves of immigration into the Holy Land brought Jews, Arabs, and others to the territories, to the point that most of today’s Arabic-speakers do not trace their roots back for centuries.
“…William B. Ziff’s little remembered The Rape of Palestine, published in 1938, adds an important first-hand source to these recent studies.
“**None of the modern authors used Ziff as a source, so this is new information to present-day analysts.** {my emphasis – dda}
“…The thrust of Ziff’s book is on British policy in Palestine during the mandate period, but what is especially interesting today are his comments on the migration of Arabs [which should be, “Muslim Arabs” – dda] and the squelching of Jewish immigration by the British…”.
A bit more:
“…In 1830 the Albanian conqueror Mehemet [Muhammad] Ali colonized Jaffa, Nablus, and Beisan with Egyptian soldiers and their Sudanese allies.
“Fourteen years later, Lynch estimated the thirteen thousand inhabitants of Jaffa to be composed of eight thousand Turco-Egyptians, four thousand Greeks and Armenians, and one thousand Jews and Maronites. He did not consider that there were any Arabs at all in that city..”.
The ‘palestinian’ Arab Muslim claim to be ‘indigenous’, reiterated by their obedient dhimmi Christian water-carriers such as Mr Raheb, is a blatant example of mohammedan nonsense-and-lies, madhattery, and reversal of reality (since it is in fact the Muslims who are the invaders and occupiers and the Jews who meet all the criteria necessary to be called Indigenous), precisely such as we saw at UNESCO the other day where history was denied and falsified outright, where the Temple Mount’s massively-documented millennia of Hebrew, Israelite, Jewish history was thrown down the memory hole.
Mark Swan says
dumbledoresarmy, very good comment thank You.
yohanan says
Like the Assyrian and Coptic Christians’ Arab nationalism saves them from Muslim harassment and persecution, same with this Bethlehem GWU pastor in his now majority Muslim city.
For example on how the Palestinian Aurthority didn’t protect Bethlehem Christians against Muslims militants during the second intifada, see See Nadav Shragai. “Why are Christians leaving Bethlehem?” Yisrael HaYom. Dec. 26, 2012. http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=6865
gravenimage says
Mitri Raheb Occupies the Bible
……………….
Just more of the fake rewriting of history, where Jews have no link to their ancestral homeland of over 3,000 year, and Jesus was a “Palestinian”.
Here’s more on the egregious Raheb from the American Thinker:
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/united_church_of_christ_antiisrael_extremism.html
Mark Swan says
Thank You gravenimage
Daniel Rubio says
Plagiarism in arab/muslim “culture” (certainly a misnomer) is one of their trademarks, such as jihad, sharia and conquest. Acording to them, Jesus is a muslim prophet (go wonder), Moses is another prophet (oy vey), stealing such two prophets from other monotheistic religions. According to them, algebra was invented by them. Of course, everybody should know that they stole it from the Hindus. The list can go on and on. Muslims discovered America, muslims invented Corn Flakes, muslims created the Louvre and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony… Now, according to them, and in their long, shameful tradition of plagiarism, “Palestine” was always, well… palestinian and Jerusalem was always, well, a muslim holy site. Is it any wonder?
Pong says
Visiting Israel at the moment. Spent 10 days in Greece before that. What a contrast! Greece is depressing. People are not happy. Many haven’t got their wages for 7-9 months.
Jerusalem is beautiful, vibrant and feels like no other place. Buildings are going up all around the country. Roads are fantastic. Beach in Tel Aviv is the best in the world. People of many colors and languages and all seems to be happy.
With all what is going around Israel, it is an amazing place.
Yohanan says
Pong, Israel is amazing but far from ideal. Visitors might not see the problems. Israelis are generally happy that it’s the brief beautiful autumn, the annual holiday season. Now sukkot holiday (tabernacles). However, in addition to internal divisions and the long conflict war situation, Israel has pressing problems of government corruption, growing wealth disparities and housing costs and inadequate electoral representative political system. More or less like in other developed countries. Given history and geography, there may be more wariness of militant religious extremism – whether it’s Jewish, Christian or Muslim. Although too many accommodate their own extremism. Most people are aware that jihadism is part of Islam, and that the state has to work hard by carrot and stick to keep that part quiescent. Have a good visit.
I don’t know about Greece.
Yohanan says
re >[Raheb] “peddles theories discredited by DNA analysis and scholarly research that modern Jews have no ancestry in the Jews described in the Old and New Testaments.”
In the young field of population genetic-genomics (omics), there are many technical studies with genetic data that connect Diaspora Jews to the Levant and which contradict the claims that Palestinian Arabs are biological descendants of biblical Jews. (Of course, national ideology doesn’t spare science literature. See controversy in for example these articles – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27547215,25653666,25431579,23684745,23052947,22869716,20925954,20531471?
In any case Judaism is a religion and Jewishness is more cultural than genetic. Archaeological finds of 3,000 year old Hebrew inscribed potsherds demonstrate Jews’ connections to this much contested Land of Israel.
Angemon says
Yes, I heard Europeans converted to Judaism in droves during, let’s say, 1930’s Germany. On one hand we’re told traditionally Christian Europe has always been very anti-semite, on the other Europeans allegedly converted to Judaism and moved to Israel. One would think that those two scenarios were mutually exclusive.
Angemon says
Now, if those alleged “European converts” were the descendants of Jews driven out of Judeia centuries ago who, despite everything, managed to hold on to their religion and a desire to return to their ancestral homeland…
Champ says
“A fraudulent interpreter of the Biblical past, Raheb is also a poor prophet for improving any Israeli-Palestinian future. His clumsy attempts to steal Israel’s spiritual and historical legacy for Palestinians disqualify him as a Christian peacemaker. Associations with Raheb only tarnish the reputations of Georgetown University and other institutions.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bravo, Andrew Harrod! Very true.
rabrooks says
Ever notice that whenever you have a discussion with mudslimes that the only understanding of things is in a worldly sense? A passage like “lions with lambs” passage is impossible by man’s standards, but with God, anything is possible.
Yes all their doctrines are based on man’s abilities. Even their concept of “paradise”/heaven, where ypu get, 72 horis with “lustful eyes”, a never ending cup of wine and an eternal hard-on.
These were the best that mad mo’ could come up with. Poor bastard didn’t know anything else.
chanah says
he is no Christian and he will be judge by THE KING OF THE JEWS, for lying and hating HIS ppl, YEHOVAH clearly says in
Genesis 12 American Standard Version (ASV)
1 Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed
Pere LaChaise says
Excuse me Mr. Chana, there is no such word in the Bible or Church history as “Jehovah” or “YEHOVAH”. This usage marks the speaker as a heretic sectarian and not a mainstream Christian. The usage comes from XIX c. German scholarship taken up by the American sect of Jehovah’s Witnesses, actually an apocalyptic cult whose doctrine is counter to historical Christianity. Their trademark “Jehovah” usage marks them as a product of a pseudo-enlightenment of faulty scholarship that was considered cutting edge a century ago, when it was fashionable to use Hebraicisms without understanding how to pronounce them.
No one who claims to speak as an orthodox, catholic Christian uses such language. The terms calqued by the inspired compilers of the Septuagint 23 centuries ago in Alexandria were quite happy with “O Kyrios” from which we English speakers derive “The Lord”. Also, it is good style in English to speak of the Father simply as God.
To toss around bizarre mispronunciations especially in all capitals, to use two variant spellings of the same name in one paragraph, makes the writer out as some kind of unbalanced cultist. I certainly hope you repent of your foolishness and get yourself to a Catholic, Orthodox Church soon.
Rubens Shmuel says
I beg everyone to consider the desperate situation of the Christians in Beth Lechem.
Left less then 10% in the city , surrounded by extreme Hamas Islamists.If they are not tired of life ,their only life insurance is to propagate anti Jewish and anti Israel hate.
But hate is catching and becomes unseparable part of them. Jesus had a wise saying to this : “Father forgive …. “
Schrödinger says
There are 56 muslim majority nations in this lucky world of ours (57 if you include “Palestine”). Together they form the OIC (Organisation of islamic Cooperation), by far the largest voting bloc in the UN — perhaps now better known as the United in jihad against us Nations. As the name OIC implies, it is, genocidal internecine conflict aside, a coalition or collective that collaborates against every non muslim nation.
None of these self identifying muslim nation states (with the possible exception of Indonesia — though this may be due primarily to a lack of documented sources) peacefully embraced islam nor was spared the inimitable, inveterate, immutable terror and violent jihad that is the sine qua non of islam and muslims as they seek, via violence and stealth, to conquer the world.
Millions have already been slaughtered in the process (best estimates of islam’s body count for the last 1400 years being about 270 million). Millions of women have been raped at will; some populations largely replaced in doing all this. Millions more will suffer the same fate at the rate things are going.
Muslims proudly refer to these insidious, blood soaked conquests as “futuh”, meaning the conquered lands were “opened” for “the light of Islam” to “enter and guide” its infidel inhabitants. How fortunate they all were. Madrassas inculcate the notion it’s something all muslims shall glorify — and that it continue unabated till “the last day”. Slaying “infidels” is simply no problem for the Death Cult, in fact it’s just what allah wants. It even guarantees entry to islamic “paradise”. Never do you hear any acknowledgement or apology for all this horror and hypocrisy from muslims themselves. They only ever celebrate it.
Israelis have an equal or greater claim than any other to being the indigenous peoples of the land of modern Israel.
Adult muslims, to the very last one, are vile hypocrites. So too their Dhimmi collaborators — as with this occupier the Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb.