Faith

Faith

MembersOn the Matter of Unity

In May 2017, messianic Jews and Arab evangelical Christians came together in Germany to talk about unity.

Photo: Mendy Hechtman/Flash90

Being challenged constantly by the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, a group of Messianic Jews and Evangelical Arab Christians met in Germany this past May to discuss the issue of unity among them.

This gathering resulted in a joint pledge (see adjacent) that for some reason didn’t generate any discussion within the Israeli Messianic community. Representing Messianic Jews were Joel Goldberg, Meno Kalisher, David Zadok, Evan Thomas and Lisa Loden. Representing the Israeli Arab Evangelicals were Azar Ajaj and Esam Odeh.

Representing the Palestinian Evangelicals were Bassem Adranly, Nihad Salman and Jack and Madeline Sara – the last three connected to Bethlehem Bible College, and, as such, to the highly controversial Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. Arab Evangelicals, it should be noted, represent a fraction of the small Christian community in Israel and the West Bank.

The document reflects a typical Evangelical naiveté that ignores the complexity of the conflict. Article 3, for example, states that heavenly citizenship should eclipse ethnic and national identity. This strongly suggests that Messianic Jews should prefer the Evangelical identity over their Jewish heritage. Perhaps this is why...

Israel Today Membership

Become a Member

  • Read all member content

    Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel.

  • Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel

    Connect with Israel, right from your home.

  • Lift up the voice of truth and hope

    Support Jerusalem-based Zionist journalism.

Already a member? .

About the author

Patrick Callahan

This is an example of author bio/description. Beard fashion axe trust fund, post-ironic listicle scenester. Uniquely mesh maintainable users rather than plug-and-play testing procedures.

Leave a Reply

Login