The Jews, Modern Israel and the New Supersessionism

In a day when the merit of the role of Israel is being questioned by many, including many Christians, it is refreshing to see a biblically grounded presentation of God’s faithfulness to Israel that affirms the gospel for the Jewish people and the idea that God will keep his promises to Israel. How do these go together? This book takes us well down the path to a theologically sound answer.

(First Edition)

A large portion of the word of God in the Old Testament is being misinterpreted or deliberately avoided by those who have adopted the teaching that the Christian Church has replaced Israel and that the ancient promises made by God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David are now passé. However, Calvin L. Smith has edited a set of chapters in a new book that makes a vital contribution towards rectifying this imbalance in interpretation. May it spark a long-overdue discussion among Evangelical interpreters of all persuasions as well as one between Jewish people of the book and believers in the Christian Church.

(First Edition)

A book of this quality, character and courage has been needed for decades! I want to congratulate Dr Calvin Smith of King’s Evangelical Divinity School for engaging in this highly charged and controversial study focusing on God’s plan for the Jewish people, the nation of Israel and the Arab world.

I further applaud the project for taking the very critical next step of helping to provide a matrix for understanding the relationship between the Western Church and the Christian, Messianic and Muslim communities of the East.

(First Edition)

The unbiblical doctrine that the church replaces the nation Israel in the plan of God must be challenged with the light of God’s word. This work, written by an impressive international cast, continues the case against supersessionism and does so in a clear and compelling way.

(Second Edition)

The contributors to this book exhibit the kind of scholarly balance necessary for moving the debate concerning modern Israel from the practice of firing shots from opposing trenches to a careful examination of the facts in the light of Biblical Revelation. As to the importance of their contributions, the declared ideological motivations of groups like Hamas, who vow to put an end to Israel as a sovereign state, mean that the question of modern Israel’s existence must be approached in essentially theological terms.

First Edition. Dr Diprose contributed a chapter to the second edition.

The articles in this book, written by scholars who vary in their theological stance, are balanced and profound. They seek to answer biblically some of the oldest heresies in the Church, which sadly are advocated by many Evangelicals today, namely that all the promises to Israel have been transferred to the Church and that Israel has ceased to be within God’s purpose for world redemption. I warmly commend this book and pray that it will be widely read.

(First Edition)