Propaganda in “Palestine”
A few months ago it was announced that Dr. Michael Brown had been invited to speak at the spring 2018 “’Christ’ at the Checkpoint” gathering in Bethlehem. The CATC leftwing attack has been a platform for anti-Israel activists from the West Bank and the U.S. for several years.
Run by those who identify as Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem University, CATC is a subversive group designed specifically to peel (specifically) American Christians away from Israel. To that end, these activists have enlisted the help of their American friends, people like Gary Burge of Wheaton, Lynne Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church, John Ortberg of Menlo Church, Hank Hanegraaff, and Mae Cannon, formerly of World Vision and now executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace.
Of CATC, NGO Monitor stated in 2014:
“Seeks to advance the Palestinian nationalist agenda within Evangelical Christian churches, while simultaneously reviving theological anti-Semitic themes such as replacement theology.”
From an article at Frontpage, some of the theologial poison from CATC is highlighted:
“Buried within the conference Manifesto is it’s core theology— claims for Palestinian peace and justice by denying Israel’s historic, legal and biblical rights to the land. Among the Items enumerated in the Christ at the Checkpoint Manifesto are:
“Any exclusive claim to land of the Bible in the name of God is not in line with the teaching of scripture,” says the Manifesto in item five.
“Racial ethnicity alone does not guarantee the benefits of the Abraham Covenant.
“For Palestinian Christians, the occupation is the core issue of the conflict.
“The Kingdom of God has come. Evangelicals must reclaim the prophetic role in bringing peace, justice and reconciliation in Palestine and Israel.”
Thankfully, several groups and individuals have examined CATC’s real motives, even as some evangelicals allow themselves to be used as propaganda pawns. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ) has spotlighted a key problem with the CATC worldview:
“The ‘Palestinian Jesus’: Many Palestinian political and religious leaders, including the late Yasser Arafat, have falsely portrayed Jesus as a Palestinian revolutionary fighting Roman oppression, and described Palestinians today as the Body of Christ suffering under Israeli oppression. Even the very name of the conference, ‘Christ at the Checkpoint,’ plays into this distorted narrative of a Palestinian Jesus. A number of conference speakers have endorsed this twisting of the true Jewish identity of the historic figure of Jesus. For instance, co-sponsor Sami Awad once wrote that an Israeli incursion into Bethlehem during the second intifada was akin to the Roman massacre of infants in the same city as described in the Christmas story. He wrote of ‘passing by big Israeli army tanks and army personnel carriers each pointing their guns at us. Israeli army troops were being brought from all corners into Bethlehem like Herod’s soldiers… We pray that the reign of Herod will come to an end and that the message of the Prince of Peace will again be a light from Bethlehem to all corners of the world.’”
Brown has explained why he is participating in the conference, and while I understand his position, I disagree with it. The entire aim of the subversives at CATC is to pull more and more evangelical leaders into their orbit. In this way, there is a chance they dupe the leaders, but more importantly, they have access to entire new communities.
What I want you to notice here is how the CATC website presents Michael Brown, from his bio:
“A Messianic Jewish leader, conservative radio and TV host, author, and professor on the front lines of the culture wars in America and abroad. He is the President of Fire School of Ministry and is active in Jewish apologetics and debates with rabbis about Jesus the Messiah. He also holds a Ph.D in Near Eastern Languages and Literature from New York University, and his most translated book is Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the ‘Church’ and the Jewish People.”
Sounds innocuous, but I want you to understand how the Left uses words to shape perceptions. Here is Brown’s full bio, from his website (“Ask Dr. Brown”):
“Michael L. Brown is the founder and president of FIRE School of Ministry in Concord, North Carolina, Director of the Coalition of Conscience, and host of the daily, nationally, syndicated talk radio show, the Line of Fire, as well as the host of the apologetics TV show, ‘Answering Your Toughest Questions,’ which airs on the NRB TV network. He became a believer in Jesus 1971 as a sixteen year-old, heroin-shooting, LSD-using Jewish rock drummer. Since then, he has preached throughout America and around the world, bringing a message of repentance, revival, reformation, and cultural revolution.
“He holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University and has served as a visiting or adjunct professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (Charlotte), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Fuller Theological Seminary, Denver Theological Seminary, the King’s Seminary, and Regent University School of Divinity, and he has contributed numerous articles to scholarly publications, including the Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion and the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.
“Dr. Brown is the author of 27 books, including, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the ‘Church’ and the Jewish People, which has been translated into more than twelve languages, the highly-acclaimed five-volume series, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, a commentary on Jeremiah (part of the revised edition of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary), and several books on revival and Jesus revolution. His newest books are The Grace Controversy: Answers to 12 Common Questions (2016), Breaking the Stronghold of Food: How We Conquered Food Addictions and Discovered a New Way of Living (2017, with Nancy Brown) and Saving a Sick America: A Prescription for Moral and Cultural Transformation (2017).
“Dr. Brown is a national and international speaker on themes of spiritual renewal and cultural reformation, and he has debated Jewish rabbis, agnostic professors, and gay activists on radio, TV, and college campuses. He is widely considered to be the world’s foremost Messianic Jewish apologist.
“He and his wife Nancy, who is also a Jewish believer in Jesus, have been married since 1976. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.”
Let’s look at the CATC bio for Brown again:
“A Messianic Jewish leader, conservative radio and TV host, author, and professor on the front lines of the culture wars in America and abroad. He is the President of Fire School of Ministry and is active in Jewish apologetics and debates with rabbis about Jesus the Messiah. He also holds a Ph.D in Near Eastern Languages and Literature from New York University, and his most translated book is Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the ‘Church’ and the Jewish People.”
In fairness, there might be space issues that trim a bio, but it’s for a website, so I wonder why the info on Brown was so crunched. Notice that “Messianic Jewish leader” is right up front. This ensures that many secular and religious Jews might bristle. It also says he debates rabbis about “Jesus the Messiah.” Again, the opportunity to drive a wedge issue between evangelical, pro Israel leaders and Jewish leaders is too good to pass up for CATC.
Point being, Christian Palestinianists absolutely want to separate Israel and the Jewish people from the evangelical community that has historically supported the Jewish state. Everything with the CATC crowd is calculated and I’m telling you, they are disingenuous when it comes to presenting a face publicly. There is a lot of the “pro peace, pro blah blah blah” tactic used by Lynne Hybels & Friends.
Lastly, I once again want to make you aware of the Networks involved. By this I mean how deeply Palestinian propaganda has penetrated evangelicalism, and how leaders hobnob with folks who promote Palestinian propaganda.
Ed Stetzer, the ecumenical gadabout who is now the “Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.”
Whew!
Stetzer never misses an opportunity to promote his ties with Lausanne; the movement is described thusly:
“In his travels around the world, Billy Graham met many leaders who were disconnected from each other. He felt called to bring these leaders together, thus beginning a movement of connections marked by a spirit of humility, friendship, prayer, study, partnership, and hope, which Graham called ‘the spirit of Lausanne’. It is in this spirit that world congresses, global gatherings, and issue-specific forums and consultations have been convened for over 40 years, resulting in numerous connections, initiatives, and resources.”
In 2014, on the Lausanne site, Munther Isaac presented an analysis of “Christ at the Checkpoint.” Of course it presented CATC in the best possible light. And, Isaac is director of CATC and teaches at Bethlehem Bible College.
My point is not that Ed Stetzer is actively involved in CATC, or even supports its agenda (though I wouldn’t be surprised if he does). The point is that such networks are advancing the Palestinian narrative, and when people like Dr. Brown, who I believe is genuinely pro Israel, engage with dark forces like CATC, Israel suffers.
The Propaganda of Palestine makes sure of it.