Category Archives: Theology

How Can I Know that I Know God?

A mother was out walking with her 4-year-old daughter when her girl picked up something from the ground and started to put it in her mouth. The mother tells what happens in her own words: “I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.” My daughter quickly asked, “Why?” “Because it’s been lying outside, you don’t know where it’s been, it’s dirty and probably has germs,” I replied. At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, “Wow! How do you know all this stuff?” I thought quickly and said, “All moms know this stuff. It’s on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don’t let you be a Mommy.” We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, as she pondered this new information. “Oh…I get it!” she beamed, “So if you don’t pass the test you have to be the daddy?” I smiled and replied, “Exactly.”

The Apostle John wrote this short letter, toward the end of his life, because he was worried these young Christians would not pass the maturity test. He were picking up some dubious practices contaminating Christianity with Greek religion.

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The Tongue and How to Control it

What are you doing Saturday night? Would you like to come to the cinema? How about a meal? Just you and me? When can I see you again? Yes I like you. I can’t stop thinking about you. You are very yummy. I’d like to get to know you better. I love you. I love you with all my heart. I’d like to spend my life with you. Will you marry me? I do…. That was careless. That was thoughtless. That was mean. That was hurtful. But you promised. You did what? The honeymoon is over. Don’t turn your back on me. Look at me when I am speaking to you. I give up. I’m not standing for that. How dare you. You are a…… Get out of my life. I never want to see you again. Good riddance and don’t come back. The power of speech. With the tongue, we can praise God, we can speak God’s Word and we can lead lost people to Jesus Christ. And in virtually the same breath we can tell a lie that ruins a reputation; with the slip of the tongue we can destroy a relationship; in a heated moment a single sentence can break someone’s heart. Once spoken, words cannot be deleted, they cannot be taken back, and sometimes never forgotten.

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Bishop John Gladwin Refutes Allegations of anti-Semitism

I understand that the Board of Deputies has made a complaint against Stephen under the Measure suggesting that he is guilty of anti-Semitism.

Not only did I get to know Stephen very well when I was in Guildford but Lydia and I spent time with him on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land during those years. At no time have I ever heard him engage in anti-Semitic language or opinions. Our pilgrimage included meeting and encouraging a number of Jewish Israeli citizens working hard for peace across the divide with the Palestinian people.

Stephen has devoted a great deal of his intellectual and theological gifts to resisting every endeavour to provide a religious and specifically Biblical justification for Zionism. Holding such a view is not and should not be treated as anti-Semitic. His target includes those Christians who believe the Bible supports the Zionist vision. Stephen has sought to de-construct any religious/theological wall preventing us facing the difficult questions of justice for Palestinian people in the Holy Land. This important, if controversial work, has the support of some key Jewish thinkers and activists.

These strongly held views have not prevented Stephen from a clear commitment to the peace and well-being of all the people in the Holy Land and of all whatever their ethnic and political identity.

He may be a controversial figure but he is a courageous and godly man.

+ John Gladwin

Retired Bishop of Guildford

Antisemitic? We don’t think so

Tanas Alqassis, Chairman, Arab Vision International
Revd Andrew Ashdown, Enham Team Rector and Trustee of Embrace the Middle East
Right Revd Riah Abo El Assal, 13th Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem
Fr Robert Assaly, Priest in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa
Dr Bishara Awad, Founder and President Emeritus, Bethlehem Bible College
Dr Mark Braverman, Author of the Fatal Embrace
Canon Dr Mike Butterworth, former Academic Registrar, Oak Hill College
David Carter, Director, Middle East Evangelical Concern
Anne Clayton, Coordinator, Friends of Sabeel UK
Rabbi Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Professor Emeritus of Judaism, University of Wales
Michael Connarty MP, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
Jeremy Corbyn MP, Islington North
Katherine Cunningham, Moderator, IPMN, Presbyterian Church USA
Dr Martin Davie, Theological Advisor to the House of Bishops
Professor Philip Davies, Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield
Professor Scott Elias, Royal Holloway, University of London
Adam Estle, Executive Director of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Right Revd John Gladwin, former Bishop of Guildford and Chairman of Citizens Advice
Anthony Gratrex, member of Christ Church, Virginia Water
Tony Greenstein, Founding Member, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Professor Mary Grey, Emeritus Professor of Theology, University of Wales
Dr Jeff Halper, Co-founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Hank Hanegraaff, President, Christian Research Institute
Revd Phil Hill, Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary
Canon Garth Hewitt, Founder, Amos Trust
Lawrence Jones, former member of Christ Church, Virginia Water
Dr Ghada Karmi, Fellow of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter University
Manfred W. Kohl, Ambassador, Overseas Council
Dr Attorney Jonathan Kuttab, Chairman of the Board, Bethlehem Bible College
Venerable Michael Lawson, Chairman, Church of England Evangelical Council
Anne Martin, member of Christ Church, Virginia Water
Jeremy Moodey, Chief Executive, Embrace the Middle East
Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Diana Neslen, Ex-officio, Jews for Justice for Palestinians
Professor Ilan Pappe, Director, European Centre for Palestine Studies, Exeter University
Revd Chris Rose, Director of the Amos Trust
Canon John Salter, Vice Chair, Garden Tomb Association
Revd Jack Sara, President, Bethlehem Bible College
Rabbi Dr Stanley Howard Schwartz, Hospice Chaplain and retired Army Chaplain
David Toorawa, Chair, Friends of Sabeel UK
Revd Dr Donald Wagner, National Director, Friends of Sabeel North America
Revd John Woodger, Retired vicar, St Mary’s Watford

News Sources:

Church Times: Conciliators to work on complaint
Church Times: Vicar is not Anti-Semitic
Church Times: Rabbi Clears Vicar of Anti-Semitism
Church of England Newspaper: Sizer complaint
Jewish Chronicle: Bishop: anti-Zionist vicar ‘no antisemite’
Jewish Chronicle: Sizer: I am ready to meet the Board of Deputies any time
Jews for Justice for Palestinians Digging for dirt: the campaign against Stephen Sizer
Phil Groom (member of CCJ): Jeremiah’s Underpants
Phil Groom (member of CCJ): Dr Sizer is cleared
Craig Murray: Defend Stephen Sizer

Commendations

“He has recently explained, however, that he ‘categorically reject[s] any position that threatens the territorial integrity of Israel as a sovereign nation…. Stephen Sizer’s work has the merit of clearly setting out the issues that divide the two sides, and furthermore doing so without the rancour or sheer nastiness of tone typical of the polemics in the conflict.” (p.571). Anthony Julius, Chairman of the London Consortium and a Visiting Professor at Birbeck College, University of London. His book Trials of the Diaspora, is a magisterial 800 page examination of the history of Anti-Semitism in England.

“I am glad to commend Stephen Sizer’s ground-breaking critique of Christian Zionism. His comprehensive overview of its roots, its theological basis and its political consequences is very timely. I myself believe that Zionism, both political and Christian, is incompatible with biblical faith. Stephen’s book has helped to reinforce this conviction.” Revd John Stott, Rector Emeritus, All Soul’s, Langham Place, London, the principal framer of the Lausanne Covenant (1974) and founder of the Langham Partnership International.

“This is a very fine and important book. All Christians who believe that Jesus favoured peacemakers, should read it and realise what terrible harm is being done in the name of Christianity. And all who are concerned about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict should read it to understand how Christian Zionism disables the US as fair minded mediator. European foreign policy thinkers should read it,because this distortion of US political space, puts a greater responsibility on European governments to stand up for justice and international law” Clare Short, former British Secretary of State for International Development

More than sixty bishops, clergy, politicians and academics have endorsed my books Christian Zionism and Zion’s Christian Soldiers

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers

What scared you the most growing up as a child? When I was a child, the highlight of the week was watching TV at weekends – there was wrestling on a Saturday afternoon and a movie on Sunday afternoons- usually a black and white film about World War 2 or a Western. One of the scariest films I ever remember watching still haunts me. It was called Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Made in 1956, Don Seigel adapted the screenplay from Jack Finney’s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers. The story depicts an extraterrestrial invasion of a small town in California. The invaders replace human beings with clones that appear identical to real people but are actually devoid of any emotion or individuality. A local doctor uncovers what is happening and tries to stop them.

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers spawned a whole genre of science fiction thrillers on the same theme. The most recent adaptation, called the Invasion, made in 2007, stars Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman.

Some have speculated that Jack Finney had the very real fear of Communist infiltration in mind when he wrote his book about zombies. He could just as easily though have been writing about the infiltration of the Church.

Because James 2 warns that there may indeed be spiritual zombies sitting right next to… They may come to Sunday services, sing the hymns, read the Bible, affirm the creed, recite the Lord’s Prayer, and drink the coffee. But are they really human or aliens? How can you be sure?

In James 2 we are told how to tell the difference. We are going to learn how to distinguish between three very kinds of faith – dead faith, demonic faith and dynamic faith. You know that faith is central to the Christian faith. The Bible says we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9); we must walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7); because we can only please God by faith (Hebrews 11:6); knowing whatever we do is sin apart from faith (Romans 14:23). So faith, what ever it is, is central to being a Christian. But there are three different kinds of faith – dead, demonic and dynamic faith, and its important we know the difference between them.

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Zion’s Christian Soldiers in Korean

Zion’s Christian Soldiers: The Bible, Israel and the Church is now available in Korean and published by CLC. Further details soon.

Church of Scotland Censors ‘Inheritance of Abraham’ Report

In May, the Church of Scotland published a major report on Israel-Palestine entitled the Inheritance of Abraham. Under pressure from the Zionist Lobby, however, the report was swiftly removed from their website and a revision promised.

Read the original report here and the heavily redacted revision here with changes highlighted.

A ‘before and after’ comparison is both illuminating and depressing. It shows that what was promised would be a minor rewrite of the introduction, to provide “context”, actually became a major rewrite of the whole document.

It appears the Church of Scotland has censored itself and limited its own theological discussion under intense pressure from the Israeli ambassador, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and the Council of Christians and Jews.

In particular:

The section dealing with the writing of Mark Braverman has been heavily edited so as to remove his most penetrating comments on the Holocaust and Jewish ‘specialness’.
A reference to Jerusalem as ‘the most contentious religious and political issue’ has been deleted.
The quote from Ben Gurion (‘The Bible is our mandate’) has been removed.
All references to the book of Joshua in relation to the occupation of the land have been removed.
The reference to “the violence used to deprive some 750,000 Palestinian people from their homes” has been toned down.
References to the State of Israel have been amended so as to dilute criticism of the state and to remove any suggestion that it is ‘an ethnic democracy’.
The reference to Luke 4:25-30 (Jesus’ rejection by the Jews in Nazareth) has been deleted, along with the sentence ‘Jesus offered a radical critique of Jewish specialness and exclusivism, but the people of Nazareth were not ready for it’.
The reference to Paul’s writings about the Jews in Romans 11 has been deleted, along with the sentence ‘No part of the New Testament gives any support to a political state of Israel beyond that to any other state. All are challenged to the same requirements for justice and the protection of human rights for all their inhabitants’.

The only part where the revised report has been strengthened is the very final sentence, where the Church of Scotland says it should urge the UK government to “remove existing illegal settlements” in addition to stopping further settlement expansion.

In no sense did the original report disenfranchise anyone from legitimate rights to citizenship in Israel and Palestine, merely the claim made by some Zionists that the Bible mandates an exclusive right to the land for the Jewish people alone.

On the contrary the Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly insist that the land belongs to God and that residence was always conditional. For example, God said to his people, “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” (Leviticus 25:23).

The following notes are a summary of chapter 4 of my book Zion’s Christian Soldiers.

They amplify and explain the significance and purpose of the Promised Land, its geographical boundaries, the conditions for residency, the nature of the Kingdom and concept of land in the New Testament.

Read more here or you can download a copy as a PDF. The Promised Land from the Nile to the Euphrates.

A summary of the book as a whole is also available entitled Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions.

Marc Ellis has written a useful commentary on the Church of Scotland report Exile and the prophetic: the Church of Scotland weighs in

“Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate.” (Isaiah 5:8-9)

The losers? Genuine interfaith dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims, willing to engage honestly with our sacred texts, openly share our theological convictions and aspirations for a just and lasting peace in Israel-Palestine based on justice, mercy and reconciliation.

The indigenous Church in Palestine are learning to our shame that they cannot rely on the wider church to advocate for them or speak biblically and theologically on their behalf.

Watch this space for the Kairos UK Report due in August. No doubt its authors will come under the same pressure.

How to Handle Temptation

It was the first day of the school holidays. Bright, sunny and warm. But mum told young Sam that he was not allowed to go swimming with his friends that day. He must wait until tomorrow when she could supervise him. When he returned home for lunch she noticed his hair was wet. “Samuel!” his mother scolded, “I told you not to go swimming today.” “I couldn’t help it, Mum. I walked by the lake and it looked so clear and inviting. I was only going to stick my feet in it for a minute, and the water was so warm and felt so good on my legs. I just couldn’t resist!” he said with a big wide smile. Mum looked at Sam and said, “One question son, why did you take your bathing suit with you when I said you couldn’t swim today?” “I didn’t trust myself Mum, so I took it with me just in case I was tempted.” Last week we considered three key words which James uses to describe the path to spiritual maturity: Slavery, Adversity and Perseverance.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

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Some Assembly Required

or, the Pathway to Spiritual Maturity (James 1:1-12)

It only has three words. But it’s a phrase that can make the toughest of men shudder. Women seem immune. Furthermore simply saying these three words to a man will usually result in nothing more than a tilt of the head and an accompanied look of curiosity. But have the average man read this short phrase on a pamphlet, box, or carton and you will almost immediately see his jaw tighten and large beads of sweat cover his forehead.

“What is the phrase?” You ask. “Some assembly required!” I am going to share with you a story that is deeply personal but common to those men, like myself, who are afflicted with an aversion to the before-mentioned phrase. This type of confession, however, is rarely shared in public and only in hushed tones, and usually reserved for conversations with only the closest of male friends.

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Becoming a Contagious Christian: Our Testimony

Let me share with you my personal testimony….

For much of my life I was blissfully unaware of dark secrets in our home. On two occasions our Bishop visited he found me vacuuming the carpet. Our previous church, St John’s Stoke in Guildford, at the time, had more carpet than any other church in the Diocese. The Bishop wondered if this was why I had appointed – to clean the church carpets. But I was not a happy bunny. I became increasingly dissatisfied with our vacuum cleaner and sought counselling. I tried replacing the bags and checked the mechanism to see if it was blocked. I will never forget the day I found enlightenment and fulfilment in this area of my ministry. That morning I had already vacuumed the floor as usual. I had given up for the last time, went to a superstore and invested in our very first Dyson. I brought it home and vacuumed the same room once more. To my shame I had to empty the machine three times… I became a new man. I would get the Dyson out and show it off whenever visitors came to the house. I explained the power of its dual action cyclone. How the air inside reaches a speed of 924 mph creating powerful G forces that spin out the dust into a solid mass.

Whereas a traditional vacuum loses 50% of its suction after just one room, even with a clean new bag, a Dyson maintains 100% suction 100% of the time. Charles Dyson perfected his revolutionary machine after producing over 5000 prototypes. So impressed with the power of a Dyson, we bought a newer, more powerful machine, last year and donated our older Dyson to the Church. Is your life blessed with a Dyson? I will gladly give a demonstration if you remain sceptical. I am looking forward one day to owning the newest Dyson which is a robotic version guided by remote sensors so it will clean the house all by itself. But my next acquisition will probably be the Dyson bladeless fan. I cannot imagine life without a Dyson, or why anyone would not want to own one.

“Jesus said “I am the Light of the World, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.” (John 8:12).

In the story recorded in John 9, Jesus went on to prove it was true. Jesus did something that had never ever happened before in all of history. Jesus gave sight to someone who had been blind from birth. And through this miracle he wants to teach us something very wonderful too. I want us to retrace this man’s spiritual journey from darkness to light.

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The Inheritance of Abraham?

The Church of Scotland is to be commended for their report, The Inheritance of Abraham? published a week or so ago but swiftly removed under pressure.

In no sense does the report disenfranchise anyone from legitimate rights to citizenship in Israel and Palestine, merely the claim made by some Zionists that the Bible mandates an exclusive right to the land for the Jewish people alone.

On the contrary the Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly insist that the land belongs to God and that residence was always conditional and must be shared. For example, God said to his people, “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” (Leviticus 25:23).

The following notes explain the significance and purpose of the Promised Land, its geographical boundaries, the conditions for residency, the nature of the Kingdom and concept of land in the New Testament. They are a summary of chapter 4 of my book Zion’s Christian Soldiers. You can download a copy of the chapter The Promised Land from the Nile to the Euphrates. A summary of the book as a whole is also available entitled Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions.

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