The Church in Britain has tended to ignore the Israel-Gaza situation for fear of provoking those in their congregations who have been influenced by the negative image of Israel presented in the media, but what role should the Church be playing in these difficult days?
When General Eisenhower saw the camps, he instructed photographers to record the horrors of genocide in case anyone tried to deny it had ever happened.
Although the facts cannot be denied, the current ‘moderate’ leader of the Palestinian Authority, President Abbas, has a doctorate in Holocaust denial. Back in the 1930s, the Holocaust was possible because, as Edmund Burke famously said: “Evil happens when good men do nothing.” Hitler’s ‘final solution’ (to a problem he had created out of his consuming hatred of the Jewish people) – was possible because the population and the German Church complied with the Nazis.
The role of Christians in the survival of the Jewish people over the centuries has been mixed at best and destructive at worst as seen in the crusades, the Inquisition and Russian pogroms among other mass murdering attacks on God’s people. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Church’s actions mainly reflected the prevailing cultural attitudes to the Jews. Hitler’s propaganda machine affected the German people to the extent that they thought they were serving the greater good by eliminating an entire people group. Famously, churchgoers sang louder to drown out the screams of Jews in the cattle trucks as trains rattled past on the way to the death camps.
Since 7 October 2023, sections of the Church have been praying more regularly for Israel and the safety of all the innocent who are involved in the Gaza war, but as a whole the Church in Britain has tended to ignore the situation for fear of provoking those in their congregations who have been influenced by the negative image of Israel presented in the media The Bible, however, instructs its readers to ‘Comfort, comfort my people’ (Isaiah 40).
A new booklet from the Evangelical Sisters of Mary says:
“The Church busies itself with many things that are beyond its sphere of influence, but those to whom we owe everything, the very roots of our Christian faith, we criticise and condemn, thinking we know better.
Early in our history, we cut ourselves off from our Jewish roots. We robbed Jesus of his Jewish identity…the Church considered itself to be the new Israel – a delusion that gave rise to hatred and persecution.” (‘Ambassadors for Israel’ by Sister Adora Graf, 2024).
(Photo above – the late Mother Basilea Schlink, founder of the Evangelical Sisters of Mary, in 1976)
Revelation TV host Simon Barrett wrote this January: “It is vital that Christians on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz understand historically what happened to the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis.” Referring to the increased incidents of antisemitic attacks, Barrett said: “Fear and terror have gripped Jewish communities”. (Photo – Simon Barrett of Revelation TV, speaking in a church)
With some Christian pastors currently warning of increasing persecution for orthodox Christians (seen in workplace sackings in recent years for those who expressed biblical beliefs), his next statement is particularly telling:
“We must learn the lessons of the Holocaust, that what starts with the Jewish people never finishes with them. If they are in danger, as they are now, it means we are also in danger in our society today. We need to reach out to the Jewish people, stand against antisemitism and show them that they are not alone.”
Also in this paper, Charles Gardner explains how the book of Ruth should be an example to all believers to demonstrate love and support for God’s chosen people.