Is Replacement Theology In Our Churches Fueling Anti-Semitism In America?

In the wake of the Pittsburgh atrocity on October 27, the founder of a nationally recognized watchdog group - active in confronting anti-Semitism - issued a stark warning about the dangers of replacement theology fueling an uptick in Jew-hatred.

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) said, "It is long past time to confront the growing danger posed by the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in America. We must examine how our society, including our churches and education system, is helping to enable this threat making not just our Jewish communities vulnerable, but all people."

She also echoed words that Britain's former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks has used to consistently warn the world of the inherent dangers of enabling or excusing virulent Jew-hatred. "History has shown that anti-Semitism doesn't stop with the Jewish community; this hatred will soon be directed at other people of faith as well," Cardoza-Moore added.

PJTN was established to help educate about and confront the rise of anti-Semitism in the church and around the world. The organization seeks to educate Christians and Jews and people of any faith who desire to stand against this most ancient of hatreds - both in the United States and globally.

Cardoza-Moore cited the seldom recognized aspect of 'replacement theology' as a major fuel for anti-Semitism in America. Robert Bowers, a Christian Nationalist quoted from New Testament scriptures to legitimize his anti-Semitic, replacement theology doctrine, as he murdered 11 members of the Jewish community in Pittsburgh.

Replacement theology is a first century CE teaching that Ignatius of Antioch - an early Gentile Christian church founder - espoused; namely that Christians and the church replaced Israel and the Jews as God's chosen children. PJTN is concerned that it is a doctrine that is still popular and is being actively preached "by a growing number of pastors and church leaders in many religious institutions in America".

To add fuel to this fire, Cardoza-Moore noted, "Anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content in our U.S. textbooks and instructional materials has also given rise to violence against Jewish students on secondary school campuses.

"We in America have witnessed a continuous rise in anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses and on social media platforms with little to no response from university administrators," said Cardoza-Moore. "They continuously cite the 'free speech rights' of students to perpetuate and thus legitimize this growing threat. Unfortunately, it took a horrific attack on a Jewish community for law enforcement and the media to finally condemn the anti-Semitic posts on social media."

Originally published at Breaking Israel News - reposted with permission.