Monday, January 30, 2006

Israel

I went to two church services (at two different churches) on Sunday, and at both I heard prayers about Israel that distressed me. It's not that I worry that God will be swayed by unwise prayers (I certainly give him plenty of practice at resisting ridiculous requests). Evangelical foolishness about Israel continues to do plenty of damage, however, and to see it surfacing among fairly sensible people is alarming. For a good summary of the theological problem, I point you to Faith and Theology. For a jeremiad that I am inclined to agree with, (and which my experience on Sunday confirms), I point you to this post by Myles.
In the meantime, I'm resolving to spend more time praying for peace, which pleases God, who desires that all people be saved.

2 comments:

Stephen G said...

Your posting reminded me that there was an issue of the now defunct Reality Magazine that focused on Israel and had a range of articles in it. A few are online at http://www.reality.org.nz/articles/51/51-contents.asp

Peace.

Ben Myers said...

You're right, Jo: it really is an alarming trend, especially when Christians deliberately side with the Israelis against the Palestinians.