OUR BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
BY PASTOR JORY STEVEN BROOKS
One of the main problems we have to overcome in the proclamation
of the British-Israel message is the two-sided issue of
Christians not studying their Bible or not believing their Bible.
And our efforts are made even more difficult because the churches
are not fulfilling their responsibilities in this regard.
One of America's leading archaeologists of the twentieth century
was Dr.G.Ernest Wright, author of numerous books and studies, and
president of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)
until his death in 1974. It is perhaps no accident that this
Christian scholar's first book was entitled, "The Challenge Of
Israel's Faith," published in 1944. In this book, Dr. Wright
stated that the Christian community needed a revival of interest
in the Old Testament, and that neglecting this had led not only
to false teaching, but also to a distorted view of God Himself.
Indeed, it may be rightly said that British-Israel doctrine
itself cannot stand without the Old Testament Scriptures and
their prophetic truth. Even more important, the New Testament
relies heavily upon the Old and its prophecies in its
justification of Christ's Messiahship.
Dr. Wright defined Biblical Theology this way: "A theology of
recital or proclamation of the acts of God, together with the
inferences drawn from them." Unlike today's Christians who
doctrinally seem transfixed only upon various nebulous ideas of
salvation and little else, Dr. Wright stated that, "acts of God
occurred in a specific historical context ... because history is
the chief medium of revelation."
In contrast, one of the common attacks on British-Israel has been
that we denigrate the importance of salvation by emphasizing
Biblical history and covenants. To just such an argument, Dr.
Wright responded, "This belief misses the really essential point
about the Biblical revelation: that is, God has made Himself
known, not primarily in ideas, but in events." Today's breed of
Christian is almost totally ignorant of Biblical history, largely
considers our teaching irrelevant, and their faith suffers as a
result. There is certainly a place for salvation teaching in the
church, but there is so much more to the Christian life and
understanding that is missing from countless church programs.
Things were a lot different in Western lands a century ago. Dr.
Ernest Wright championed a religious idea known as "Biblical
Theology," which challenged those who doubted the Bible's
trustworthiness. His goal was to "rescue the Old Testament for
the Church." In the 1920's the famous archaeologist, W.F.
Albright, used the term "extreme radicalism" for those who
rejected the accuracy of Biblical revelation. Today these same
type of agnostic radicals have turned the tables, and it is those
who believe in Scripture who are popularly attacked in the media
as "radicals" and "extremists." Mainstream book-sellers, who a
century ago gladly sold tens and even hundreds of thousands of
copies of British-Israel publications, now refuse to handle them
at all.
Today those who spiritualize away the literal promises of God
accuse Bible believers of being "ultra-literal." Critics complain
that we have "an odd interpretation of Scripture," but what is so
odd about taking God at His Word? As Dr. Wright said so well, "It
may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has
ever controverted a Biblical reference." I hope that Christians
who refuse to believe the Bible come to realize that fact! For
what possible reason should anyone want to "spiritualize"
prophecies that have been literally fulfilled?
Things have gone so far with liberal unbelief that the Wall
Street journal (5-25-11, A15) reported that liberal professors at
Florida State University are angrily calling anyone who advocates
the "political ideology of free markets" to be "a radical
ideologue" and "incubator for extremist propaganda." Yes,
America, a nation founded on the principles of political freedom
and religious rights and liberty, is now filled with those who
have hatred for not only our principles, but for our very
heritage itself. Where do things go from here?
God has a way of making Himself known through world events. One
way or another, whether through tribulation, trial, political
upheaval, or even celestial events, we will see His hand at work
in years to come. Yet it has long amazed me that we can show all
kinds of B.I. Scripture proofs to Christians who will still
reject it because, "my minister (or denomination) does not teach
that." Is their faith based upon God or men? We urgently need to
encourage people to return to a Biblical theology, a belief in
God and His Word instead of denominational traditions of men.
In our witnessing, we encounter double trouble. There are those
today who are afraid to "proselytize" with the New Testament, and
others who refuse to believe in the Old Testament. To my mind, we
who hold to the British-Israel belief are in the forefront of a
latter-day movement of believers who stand for the whole Word of
God. We live in an era of compromise in which the Christian
denominational leaders are increasingly afraid to stand for
Biblical truth for fear of offending anyone.
Just this week, I received a mailing from a large evangelical
organization appealing for funds for a ministry campaign in the
Israeli state "to proclaim the Word of the Lord." Sounds like a
great idea? It turns out that they are spending a lot of
Christian money to distribute copies only of the Old Testament in
Hebrew to the Jewish people! Have the evangelicals thrown out the
New Testament already? Will they soon distribute only the Old
Testament in America also out of fear of offending somebody here?
(Or perhaps throw it all out?) If it is wrong to "offend" Jews in
the land of Israeli with proselytism then I suppose it must be
wrong to offend Jews (and others) in America, too!
The British-Israel movement these days is increasingly alone in
believing and proclaiming the entire Word of the Lord, and is
assailed for standing for a true and complete Biblical theology
that is unpopular with both agnostics and shortsighted
evangelicals alike. It is sad but true that none of the large
mainstream denominations teaches or proclaims all of the
wonderful covenant promises that identify the House of Israel in
the world today....
..........
From the July 2011 "Thy Kingdom Come" - a publication of The
Association of Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada.
The words are true indeed in this article, most Christians and
churches today do not teach the whole Bible. It is interesting
that this is admitted by a British-Israel group, for they also
are guilty of what they preach. Most British-Israel groups that I
know of are Sunday observers, and many observe the pagan
festivals that were adopted by the Roman Catholic church and
branded on most of the world. They themselves need to get back to
the faith that was once delivered to the saints, which most of
them are far from following.
Keith Hunt
