John and Chris dive into the second chapter of Chris' upcoming book, "Is God A Zionist?", unpacking the split between the Jews and the Church in the 1st century...this time from the Christian perspective (check out the previous episode on the Jewish response)

There are 5 major events that really solidified the "divorce" between Jews and Gentiles, and eventually the Church itself, and we spend a lot of time going through those events.

And guys, the reason for this is simple:

If Christians are not adequately catechized and shown how we ended up where we are today, specifically regarding the Jewish people, history says we'll become anti-semitic.

You can even see it happening today.

And as John says in this episode, hatred of the Jewish people is ultimately hatred of God.

Join us to truly understand the story of Israel and the Church, and answer the question...Is God A Zionist?

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

1:44 The Hospitality of Jews and Gentiles

5:57 My 3 favorite churches in Israel

9:17 Mocking "Judeo-Christian Values"?

13:41 The 5 major events that entrenched the divorce between Jews and Gentiles

17:19 What happens in AD 70 and 135

20:27 Canon challenges

24:07 The Apocalypse of Peter

25:38 The School of Alexandria

30:55 Constantine and Rome

34:31 The Great Divorce - The Council of Nicea

39:03 Christians against Jews

51:23 Pray for Chris

52:19 The main points to take away

Resources:

Part 1: The Jewish Response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVA7sJs_jVk

The God of Israel and Christian Theology by Kendall Soulen: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800628837/

Is God A Zionist? Book: https://www.presentwitness.org/igaz (March 10 Release Date!)

Comments? Questions? Encouragement? We are here for it. Shoot us a text and let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

• The Israel Story: https://www.theisraelstory.org/
• Present Witness: https://www.presentwitness.org/
• Israel Story on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIsraelStoryApp/
• Present Witness on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apresentwitness/
• Chris's Substack: https://christopherkuehl.substack.com/

This is a wide ranging, thorough, and deep intellectual conversation I had with Dr. Gerald McDermott, scholar, Anglican priest, and author of dozens of books and papers.

We covered a couple of his books and the implications thereof, including A New History of Redemption, his continuation of Jonathan Edwards' book of a similar name, and The New Christian Zionism.

Dr. McDermott explains how history and theology are inseparable as we look at God's story of redemption for His glory, and then discusses Christian Zionism from many different angles, giving what I think you'll find to be well-reasoned arguments, including a couple of points that I hadn't come across before.

If you're hungry for more truth and understanding about God's plans for the world, for Israel, and for the Jews, this wide-ranging conversation will give you countless threads to explore, and even a challenge at the end: to maintain intellectual and theological humility.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

3:18 A New History of Redemption

11:38 Translating the tetragrammaton

15:11 Historical framework

18:06 The Redemption of God

24:51 How Redemption Glorifies God

34:50 The Story Before Time

43:19 God Disinheriting the Nations

47:51 How the Jews and Israel Play A Part In Redemption History

51:12 World Religions Playing a Role In Redemption

53:47 How God Works Through Different Denominations

56:24 The Reformation

59:48 Why Does The Kingdom of God Have To Come Incrementally?

1:02:24 The Church and Israel

1:11:24 The New Christian Zionism

1:16:27 Dispensationalism

1:22:33 Amillenial Theologians and Israel

1:26:27 Is The Modern State of Israel The Same As The Biblical State of Israel?

1:28:46 Covenantal Fidelity

1:33:35 How Should Christians View The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

1:36:05 The Greatest Threat To Christian Zionism

Resources:

A New History of Redemption by Gerald McDermott: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0801098548/

The New Christian Zionism by Gerald McDermott: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830851380/

The God of Israel and Christian Theology by Kendall Soulen: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800628837/

A History of the Work of Redemption by Jonathan Edwards: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0923WHRWF/

Other Books By Dr. McDermott: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gerald-R.-McDermott/author/B001HP188A

Comments? Questions? Encouragement? We are here for it. Shoot us a text and let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

• The Israel Story: https://www.theisraelstory.org/
• Present Witness: https://www.presentwitness.org/
• Israel Story on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIsraelStoryApp/
• Present Witness on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apresentwitness/
• Chris's Substack: https://christopherkuehl.substack.com/

John and Chris dive into the first chapter of Chris' upcoming book, "Is God A Zionist?", unpacking the split between the Jews and the Church in the 1st century.

In order to understand the answer to the question the book poses, and even to understand what happens between Christians and Jews after the first couple of centuries AD, it's vital to understand the background, the politics, the demographics, and the history around both Christians and Jews after Christ's ascension.

This episode covers the Jewish response specifically, in the first 150-200 years after Christ, and will give you a stronger understanding of the early church and what happens next.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

2:22 The Parting of the Ways

4:33 "The whole of our hope..."

7:23 Israel's demographics blew my mind

10:48 Christianity In Israel

12:30 The early church

16:30 John The Baptist

23:05 Did the Jews reject Jesus?

28:08 The original, "true" church

31:09 Expansion from Jewish to Gentiles

40:41 4 major Jewish sects

46:32 70 and 135 AD

52:25 2 main expressions of Judaism

55:52 The primary takeaway

Resources:

Is God A Zionist? by Chris Kuehl: https://www.presentwitness.org/igaz

Comments? Questions? Encouragement? We are here for it. Shoot us a text and let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

• The Israel Story: https://www.theisraelstory.org/
• Present Witness: https://www.presentwitness.org/
• Israel Story on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIsraelStoryApp/
• Present Witness on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apresentwitness/
• Chris's Substack: https://christopherkuehl.substack.com/