Demonic delusion of antisemitism: 4 critical tests for every Christian
Calling every pastor and every follower of Jesus worldwide to 'Be Like Bonhoeffer!'
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who possessed not only the moral clarity to distinguish good from evil but also the historical and doctrinal clarity that Jesus was a Jew.
Bonhoeffer understood that it was impossible to separate the person and work of Jesus — who he believed was the Messiah of Israel, and therefore the Savior and King of the world — from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!
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But his understanding was not merely intellectual; it was a deep, unwavering conviction that fueled extraordinary courage.
He boldly stood against Hitler and called the church to awaken to the evil of antisemitism, urging those who followed Jesus to stand with and protect the Jews, who were being systematically isolated and persecuted.
In 1938, Bonhoeffer wrote, “Only he who cries [out] for the Jews may sing Gregorian chant.”
In April 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo after attempting to save 14 Jews by helping them escape to Switzerland.
Following his arrest, it was revealed that Bonhoeffer had been involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
Yet Eberhard Bethge, Bonhoeffer's close friend and biographer wrote, “There is no doubt that Bonhoeffer's primary motivation for entering active political conspiracy was the treatment of the Jews by the Third Reich.”
On April 9, 1945, just days before the American liberation of the POW camp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged at Flossenbürg where it is believed 10,000 Jews lost their lives.
The last words of this brilliant, godly, and courageous man — who stood up to Hitler, gave his life to rescue Jews, and once said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” — were: “This is the end — for me, the beginning of life.”
A ‘Bonhoeffer Moment’
Today, we stand at a turning point in history. We are facing a “Bonhoeffer Moment” — why? Because we are witnessing the rise of antisemitism and anti-Zionism at levels not seen since the Holocaust.
As Christians, we cannot, NOT see what we are seeing. We must not make the same mistakes that so many made in the German church during Bonhoeffer’s time.
What is essential at this crucial moment is that every Christian pass four critical tests:
1. The moral test
Hitler believed in a superior race, while today the Iranian Islamic leadership believes in a superior faith and seeks to establish a new Islamic world order, with Israel standing on the front lines of this battle. Today, the “Free Palestine” campaign has become nothing less than the rallying cry of “Islamic Nazis” — those who seek to destroy Israel and spearhead an Islamic New World Order. Those who chant this slogan are deluded by evil; those who promote it are its puppets.
2. The historic test
The land of Israel is the ancestral home of the Jewish people! Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to a national home in Israel. A Christian is a Bible believer who stands on the biblical promise that God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people and in fulfillment of prophetic Scriptures, God is behind Israel’s regathering in the land after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion.
Anti-Zionism stands in opposition to the very purposes of God. Anti-Zionism is the promotion of the idea that the land of Israel is not the historic and ancestral home of the Jewish people. This lie is the fertilizer of the false narrative that Israel is “the oppressor” in “occupied Arab land,” feeding the delusion that murder and rape against Jews is a justified response.
3. The theological test
Christians are grafted into God's unfolding plan through Israel and the Messiah of Israel. “… you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you” (Romans 11:17-18).
4. The faith test
Our faith should not only inform us of the truth but also transform us. As Scripture reminds us, “faith without works is dead.”
If Christians don’t pass these tests, how can we expect the world to?
To be like Bonhoeffer is to pray for and protect all Jews, to fight against the insanity and demonic delusion of antisemitism, anti-Zionism, radical Islamism, replacement theology, and other attacks on Israel and the Jewish people.
May there be an awakening throughout the Christian world — one where the darkness of antisemitism and anti-Zionism is confronted first by Christians, ensuring that our Jewish friends and the nation of Israel know more than ever that they are not alone.
Now is the time!
Greg Denham is the Senior Pastor of Rise Church in San Marcos, Ca. He is the founder of “The Context Movement” and spearheads yearly “Friends of Israel Weekends” to fight anti-Semitism and champion friendships between Christians and Jews. He is the author of the new book, Rediscovering the Original Jesus Movement (How 1st Century Context Clarifies God’s Will & Course-Corrects the Church Today!).
