I was glad to see that our General Assembly confirmed its support for Israel and our acceptance of Jews. However, in the August issue of Israel & Christians Today I read of the World Council of Churches declaring the Jewish State “a sin,” and reaffirming “replacement” theology at their recent conference in Volos, Greece, and condemned Israel’s stand against the Palestinians. Were we Presbyterians a part of that? The article I read appalls me, if as a Christian church we are denying Israel’s right to exist. Can someone clarify this for me?
Editor’s reply: First, one has to realize that the publication is a lobbying instrument of Christians for Israel International, a Dutch – based Christian – Zionist organization. Many of its beliefs are incompatible with those of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Secondly, the article in question is not fair news reporting, it is a polemic. The accompanying unidentified photo of a man looking at swastikas has absolutely nothing to do with the Volos conference. It also deliberately misquotes. Neither the WCC nor the conference declared Israel a sin. The WCC does regard the occupation of Palestine as a sin. That is no doubt a controversial position, but hugely different than the allegation. As for replacement theology, there is no evidence of this. The word “chosen” does not even appear in the conference report.
If you are interested in finding out more, you may find the following websites helpful:
The World Council of Churches’ policy on Palestine/Israel (in brief)
The main page for the WCC’s Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum
