PrintOctober 13, 2007
My Opinion on Ann Coulter's Opinion of the Jews
I'm no more an expert theologian than Ann Coulter is, but I have been a Christian nearly all of my life and have logged in more than 40 years of personal and formal Bible study. So, even though I'm not a lawyer or a best-selling author, I'm compelled to put in my "two cents" on Ann's recent comments about converting all the Jews, so they will be "perfected" like we Christians are. [Please don't anyone throw a Bible at me until I have stated my opinion.]
I remember being positively dumfounded -- exactly the way I am at Ann's declaration -- when I was watching a Phil Donahue show in the early 80's and heard with my own ears as Reverend Jerry Falwell made a similar proclamation on network television. Phil asked Jerry whether he believed all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity were going to hell. Without so much as the blink of an eye, or a moment to consider, the Reverend boldly proclaimed that "Yes!" indeed the Jews are bound for hell. Phil Donahue was as shocked by the statement as I was, but he had neither the knowledge of Scripture nor the Christian experience to debate him, and so the statement just stood there -- un-debunked. A pity.
And along comes Ann Coulter making bold statements that pronounce a theological judgment on the whole of the Jewish people. Her presumption seems unbecoming to a Christian lady. So, as one Christian lady to another, I beg to differ with her opinionwho once again throws down the same gauntlet. I'm picking it up now, and I will stake my own salvation and eventual residence in heaven with the Jesus I love with all my heart and soul, on this:
All Jews are no more going to hell than all people who believe they are Christians are going to heaven
I am well aware of the New Testament verses where Jesus declares Himself the one and only Way to the Father. Jesus, as the only begotten Son of God the Father, loved human beings so passionately that He was willing for a time to forsake the glories of heaven, to come down here, live as one of us, suffer humiliation for no cause, and give Himself up without a fight to an anguished death to provide a "roadmap" to His Father's House. I wholeheartedly believe this.
Jesus' birth, life, ministry, Passion, and death provides expatiation of the Sin of the world -- past, present, and future. The price on humanity's collective head for turning against God has been paid in full.
But it's not a Get-out-of-jail-free card for every individual; it serves whatever purpose God ultimately decides Himself. God and God alone will decide. Not me, not Ann Coulter and not Jerry Falwell. If the Pope gets to decide, then I'm probably in and Ann and Jerry might be out. But I'm not touching the authority of the Pope; I'm Catholic.
When it comes to personal salvation, I would like to remind every Christian of this verse that seems to get far less attention than it rightly deserves. This is Jesus speaking to his disciples:
Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me , "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers."
Matthew 7:21 (New American Bible)
On the matter of salvation and judgment of the individual soul, Jesus is clear. Talking a good line means little; it's doing that gets rewarded.
Jesus repeats this thinking for us human dullards here:
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, sister and mother.
Matthew 12:50 (also, Mark 3:35 and Luke 8:21)
I know of one man -- a Jew -- who is most definitely in heaven right this very minute. His name was Professor Liviu Librescu. He was the Jewish hero of the Virginia Tech massacre. He was the only hero of that hideous day. The supreme irony is that the day he became the Angel of Deliverance for more than a dozen American youth -- April 16, 2007 -- he was also quietly observing Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Professor Librescu, an Israeli citizen, had been living and working at Virginia Tech for 20 years on the day that he blocked his classroom door, used his own 76-year-old body as a shield to protect his students, and heroically bade them to jump out the windows to safety -- even as his own body was riddled with the killer's bullets. Professor Librescu, in that solitary act, demonstrated his abiding faith and love for God and neighbor. As Jesus said, "There is no greater love than when a man lays down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) I know of no one personally who has done a greater act of "Christian" charity than this one.
Now I have an alternate opinion on Judaism and the Jewish people, something I would like Ann to mull over a bit.
Hasn't it occurred to anyone other than myself that God has a very vested interest in maintaining faithful Jews as a people set apart by Him, for Himself, until the very end of time? Whether it was a plan from the very beginning, who knows? But we do know that God is constantly having to call up new recruits and adopt new battle plans to work out His divine will for a human race that uses its free will to run things amuck again and again -- and again.
And let's face this fact, shall we. Any attack on the Jews is a personal attack against God. They are His people; He set them apart for His reasons. God will never, ever abandon His people. Period. If only for the matter of honor. God's own honor rides on the Jews and how the world treats them. If anyone of any generation is most certainly dooming himself to eternal hell, it is the anti-Semite, for to hate the Jews, one must first hate God.
Which brings us to the current world struggle. Anyone who proclaims to be a person of God, must surely recognize the religious dimension of our War against Islamo-Fascism. It may not be the last one of its kind, but the stakes certainly do seem to be escalating.
The Jews refused to recognize Mohammed as a prophet in the 7th Century, and therefore adamantly refused to convert and follow him. This is the precise reason that Mohammed declared them all to be pigs and monkeys, and why he and his followers have waged war on the Jews most of all, and likely will never be willing to live in co-existing peace with them.
This isn't a new war for Israel. The Israelis have been tasting the bitter fruit of Islamo-Fascism for going on 60 years now. While we Americans were still jitter-bugging and baby-booming, Israel was seeing her children -- God's own beloved -- being blown into bits by homemade bombs at their birthday parties. We were blinded to the gruesome reality of the false prophet's "fruit" until 9/11, but the Israelis have had front-row seats, and to this very day have spilled more of their innocent blood on the altar of our God in heaven than could ever hope to be avenged.
So, Ann, please read a little more Scripture. Stop trying to convert Jews, and aim all of your arrows at God's enemies - not at his Chosen People.
updated 11:14 PM EDT
updated 11:14 PM EDT
