Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sensitive, mature, and courageous, 26 Sep 2008
Due to the rampant popularity of Christian Zionism, the bafflingly illogical ideology which claims that the Christian church is somehow subservient to the state of Israel, Colin Chapman is frequently villified as an anti-Semite. This could not be further from the truth. In this book he examines the history of the modern land of Israel, the people who have held it over the years, the nature of old Testament prophecies concerning the Jews, and the recent political history of the region, particularly since 1948, and he gives a sensitive and intelligent overview of this whole troubled situation. Unfortunately, many Christians are now so obsessed with eschatological predictions and so militant in their support of Israel that this is enough to make Mr Chapman unpopular in many circles.
Your opinion of this book is likely to be determined by the way you view Israel and the way you interpret the Bible. I found it a sensitive, intelligent, and sincere plea for justice and reconciliation in the Middle East, and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to study the region dispassionately and sensibly.
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23 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Appears balanced, in reality is highly partisan, 30 Dec 2006
Colin Chapman's book is sprinkled with quotes from both 'sides', warns of the danger of older forms of anti-Semitism and focuses on some of the hardships Jews have suffered. It urges caution in forming judgement and maintains an appearance of objectivity and balance, including an interesting, if ironic, quote from Edward Said on the need for intellectual honesty.
However the foundation of his section examining the justice of the dispute is a favourable citation of Naeem Ateek, who himself part justifies suicide terrorism. In the quote Ateek claims biblical Naboth's murder and the theft of his property by the vile Ahab, 'has been re-enacted thousands of times since the creation of the State of Israel'. This fabricated accusation lies at the heart of the book's case.
Chapman almost completely ignores the defensive character of the 1948 and 1967 wars (almost as though the Poles and Czechs were responsible for Dresden or Hitler's 'murder' in 1945), the repeated calls for Israel's annihilation by Arab leaders and their media, the sharp difference in Arab and Jewish murder rates before 1948, and extremely oppressive British policies in handling refugees from the Holocaust. Not surprisingly he also neglects to mention the Palestinian Grand Mufti's close association with the Nazis, meeting with Hitler and shared genocidal intentions.
His quotes are highly selective and I suspect many are sourced from the partisan Middle East Council of Churches, as well as some rather one-sided historians (Gentile and Jewish).
Let the reader beware of a carefully concealed but highly virulent bias against Israel!
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17 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Reptile Tongue, 9 Mar 2008
When reading this book, one ought to be aware of the theological framework of the author - the tradition in which he writes that has contributed to shaping his personal beliefs and opinions. In Chapman's case, it is Replacement Theology, also called Supercessionism. This doctrine comes from the so-called "saint" Augustine who rejected the biblical concept of a thousand year Messianic reign of peace. He was thus an amillennialist as opposed to a post- or premillennialist. He also claimed that the church had superceded or replaced the Hebrew nation and that all the scriptural promises to Israel in the Old Testament thus belonged to the church. Augustine's ideas became Catholic orthodoxy and at the Reformation they were more or less accepted unchanged, entering the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions.
The tragic history of Christian Antisemitism is well documented in books like The Crucifixion of the Jews by Franklin Littell and Christian Antisemitism by William Nicholls. It is often called Anti-Judaism in the literature but it led to the same thing: oppression, expulsion and murder. In this regard, see The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism by David Kertzer. There is no doubt that the destructive effects of Replacement Theology have substantially contributed to these crimes and ultimately to the Holocaust.
Although it is not immediately apparent, Chapman's book falls squarely in this Antisemitic tradition. There is much hand-wringing about historical and Christian Antisemitism. The latter comes across as insincere, because one cannot criticize the attitudes of Augustine, Chrysostom and Martin Luther without mentioning Replacement Theology.
What marks the Christian Antisemite? In the first place, a twisting of Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel, usurping every promise to make it applicable to "the church" or to "Christ." In the second place, the refusal to make a distinction between the Abrahamic covenant regarding ownership of the land and the Mosaic covenant of laws. Thirdly, a fuzzy, ethereal view of mankind's ultimate destiny wherein no distinctive cultures survive, all become "one in Christ". Geddit? There is no multiculturalism in heaven! Finally, a cursory or dismissive treatment of the facts that led to the rebirth of Israel and of the subsequent wars against the Jewish State. All of these are evident in Whose Promised Land? to a greater or lesser degree.
There is a strong undercurrent of a denial of Israel's right to life although the author never explicitly states it. He quotes left, right and centre (though mainly Left) and presents a distorted view of the Middle East conflict. For example he implies that Israel is responsible for the formation of Hamas while including in an appendix the covenant of this terror group that includes statements like "Hamas aims for every inch of Palestine" and accuses the Jewish people of having been behind communism, capitalism, freemasonry, the Rotarians, etc. Oddly there is no mention of global warming, yet.
Chapman's interpretations serve only to support his preconceived opinion. For example he claims that the prophecies of Ezekiel 36 and 37 have no validity today. He plays word-games, denying in one passage that the church replaced Israel and then going on to assert that early Christians did not consider it "important for Jews to express their distinctive identity through ... a Jewish state." Oh and he replaces the concept of "replacement" with the idea of "fulfillment." Furthermore, he draws a false analogy between Joshua's conquest of Canaan and the history of the Jewish State by throwing around words like "ethnic cleansing". At present, approximately 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs and 16% of its citizens are Muslim. At last count its Arab citizens were represented by 10 members in the Israeli parliament belonging to three political parties: Balad, Hadash and the United Arab List - Ta'al.
When considering the options for peace, Chapman looks at the various scenarios like the possible defeat of Israel or its opponents, options like the One-State (Rwanda) and the Two-State solution, concluding that the last is the best. In discussing the history of the conflict, he does not have much to say about the Arab attempt to strangle Israel at its birth in 1948, the open calls for genocide by Arab leaders then and now or the co-operation of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem with Nazi Germany which is well document in the book The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism: Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin Al-Husseini by Chuck Morse.
The antagonism towards Israel is more insidious in this book, less overt than in the work of Chapman's associates like Stephen Sizer and Naim Ateek. Christians must put the Discern-ometer on max when exposed to these Leftist theologians, as well as of course to those Rightwing Christian Antisemites like Pat Buchanan. For more information on replacement theology and its contemporary manifestations, I recommend Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged by Barry Horner. Paul Charles Merkley's illuminating Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel provides the facts on where various denominations stand today on the issue of the Jewish State.
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