Institute on Religion & Democracy President Mark Tooley is among the signatories for the “Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel,” in response to atrocities committed against the people of Israel by Hamas.
ERLC Partners with SBC Entities and Christian Organizations in ‘Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel’
Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2023 —The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has joined with SBC and other Christian leaders in developing an “Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel,” in response to the horrific atrocities committed against the people of Israel by Hamas.
The statement has garnered more than 60 signatories from SBC leaders and a broad group of evangelicals to support Israel and advocate for the vulnerable involved with this ongoing conflict.
ERLC President Brent Leatherwood commented on the statement.
“These repugnant atrocities by Hamas should shake us to our core. Hundreds of innocent Israeli lives have been struck down by a rampaging enemy. There should be no question that the Israeli government has the right to defend its citizens and sovereignty that have been so grossly violated. Our statement today, from leaders across denominational lines in evangelicalism and from various sectors of ministry, represents a significant show of solidarity with Israel as it responds to this evil.
“In the face of such wickedness, this is not the time for false equivalency or excuses by national leaders and policymakers, but clear-eyed moral leadership. Extremists and authoritarians are threatening lives across the globe, rendering countless individuals vulnerable. As we read in the 13th chapter of the Book of Romans, governments have a responsibility to thwart such evil—and that responsibility should translate to action.
“At the same time, we must pray without ceasing for the families who have and continue to suffer from this attack. We pray that no additional innocent life be taken as Israel rightfully defends itself from this horror.”
The evangelical statement also calls on Christians across the globe to pray for the salvation and peace of the people in Israel and Palestine.
Excerpts from the statement are below:
“While our theological perspectives on Israel and the Church may vary, we are unified in calling attacks against Jewish people especially troubling as they have been often targeted by their neighbors since God called them as His people in the days of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). . . .
“The tragic events of October 7th further underscore the importance of democracy in our world and stand as a sober reminder that supporting Israel’s right to exist is both urgent and needed. . . .
“Furthermore, we recognize the dignity and personhood of all persons living in the Middle East and affirm God’s love for them as well as His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ to all people. . . .
“Finally, we call on American policymakers to use their power to take all forms of terrorism seriously and call governments and civil authorities to confront evil work to prevent future attacks so that the innocent and vulnerable will be protected.”
Daniel Darling, director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, served as a key drafter for the evangelical statement and commented on the crisis in Israel.
“These despicable acts represent a second Holocaust against the Jewish people. As in every generation, Israel needs defenders. There can be no equivocation. This is the time for the church to speak clearly and with one voice that we not only condemn these barbarous acts of terrorism but that we support Israel’s right to defend itself. I’m grateful for the moral clarity of those who added their name to this document and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
Southern Baptists passed a resolution at the 2016 annual meeting titled, “On Prayer and Support For Israel” supporting the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign state.
The full statement can be found here.
The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 13.6 million members and a network of over 47,000 cooperating churches and congregations. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBC’s ethics, religious liberty and public policy agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C.
To request an interview with Mark Tooley, contact Jeff Walton by email at [email protected] or call 202-413-5639.
Comment by Corvus Corax on October 12, 2023 at 2:45 pm
Let us have peace. Both sides will need to come to the table and accept a settlement that hardliners will never be satisfied with.
If Israel has a “right to exist” then so does Palestine. If Israel has a right to “defend itself” then so does Palestine. If Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians are evil, then so are Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians. This is not “equivocation,” it’s the straightforward application of moral principle regardless of ethnicity.
It is unseemly for a Christian group in America to take sides in this conflict, which will undoubtedly kill, maim, and displace innocent people including our brothers and sisters in Christ, all to advance secular political ends.
Comment by David on October 12, 2023 at 2:57 pm
By some estimates, roughly 10% of Palestinians are Christians, though this number has likely dropped in recent years.
Comment by George on October 12, 2023 at 7:09 pm
David, you’re wrong as usual. There are approximately 1,100 Christians in Gaza with a total population of around 1,800,000. Do the math. Israel is not targeting the main church. There are 2 others that are smaller. Only God knows why they have stayed in that region.
I pray for their protection .
Comment by David on October 12, 2023 at 9:41 pm
The figures I saw were for all of Palestine, not just for Gaza. Estimates ranged from 5% to 15%, though there are even lower ones due to Christians leaving for safer areas than the West Bank, etc.
Comment by Jim on October 13, 2023 at 9:03 am
Hamas is ISIS. There is no negotiating with murderers whose goal is the extermination of all Jewish people on the planet. They don’t want peace. They don’t want to care for the people of Gaza (which they seized in 2007). They want dead Jews.
The United Methodist Church called Hamas “a militant group.” They would likewise have to apply that nonjudgmental label to the Einsatzgruppen who hunted Jews for Hitler. No difference. Today’s UMC is very much like the corrupted, decadent, and morally bankrupt German church that Bonhoeffer stood against.
Comment by Tim Ware on October 15, 2023 at 10:21 am
The many and seemingly required repetitions of the word “terrorism” in conjunction with this remind me of a sign I saw about 20 years ago in Europe. “War is the rich man’s terrorism. Terrorism is the poor man’s war.”
Comment by Wayne on October 18, 2023 at 11:48 am
Corvus, A little history….. Spoiler – there is not ethnic group called Palestinians.
SO, who are “THESE PEOPLE”? The Palestinians?
• Under Emperor Hadrian in 135 AD the name Israel was changed to Palestine as an insult to the Jews.
• The base word comes from Philistia, an area where the Philistines lived. This is where Goliath lived—enemies of Israel.
• It was a made up name imposed on Israel in order to wipe out its name from history.
• The name of Jerusalem was also changed so that no one would ever remember Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 56:5 “I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.”
• Now the Philistines have been extinct for 2500 years!!! They have NOT walked the face of this earth for 2500 years!!
• In Isaiah 14:31 God says “Melt away all you Philistines” and they did!!
Go back to the Ottoman Empire—
• no boundaries—no nation states—
• so ALL people that lived in the Holy Land area were called PALESTINIANS—including JEWS!!
• So, Jews and Arabs were called Palestinians.
1964—Enter YASSER ARAFAT:
• born in Egypt, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood that is/was rioting in Egypt today to gain control of the government;
• Founded a terrorist group called the Palestinian Liberation Organziation—PLO.
• He created the MYTH that the Palestinian People were Arabs descended from the Philistines!!! And had a right to the land occupied by Israel.
• Now the Philistines were not Arabs but from an area of Greece that sailed to the coast of Canaan and settled there. They have been extinct for 2500 years!!!!
• There is NO DISTINCT Arab group knows as Palestinians!!! Yet the world has bought this LIE hook, line, and sinker.
• This was a made up gimmick to wrestle the land from Israel.
Arafat convinced the world media that the Jews have stolen the land of the Palestinians; that the Jews “OCCUPY” Palestinian Land.
• The charter of the PLO calls for the end of Israel and calls Zionism “Racism”.
• Iran also calls for the end of Israel.
Comment by Nathan on October 19, 2023 at 12:54 pm
I was glad to see this letter call for the salvation of all the people of Israel and Palestine in the first sentence and paragraph.
Missing was any consideration for the Christian minority caught up in this conflict, who are mostly but not exclusively Palestinian, and regardless of ethnicity have suffered under the Jews at least as as from Muslim neighbors in terms of direct repression in this region. While this letter certainly would not be the place to chastise Israel for the treatment of Christians, it certainly IS the place to pray for the protection of Christ’s Church in this maelstrom, at her very birthplace.
Moreover, while the signers aver that their “theological perspectives vary” they apparently are united in considering the Jews of Israel to still be God’s chosen people under the covenant cited in Genesis 12 and the attacks on them therefore “especially troubling.” That’s in keeping with dispensationalism and the majority Methodist or Wesleyan view held by the keepers of this blog, but it is NOT in keeping with historic Reformed covenant theology, which holds that God’s people under the new covenant is the Church. A letter of this sort is certainly not the place to expound on covenant theology or the errors of rabbinical Talmudic Judaism, however, it was not necessary to include this “especially troubling” language theologically identifying the “Jewish people” in this way.
So by signing this letter each of these “evangelicals” has put their name behind a dispy theology that is deeply at odds with the historical teaching of much of historic teaching of the church in the American nation and our Reformation church fathers going back to Westminster, Knox, Calvin, Zwingli, and Luther.