In the U.K., these Palestinian clerics have won the admiration of John Gladwin, the Bishop of Guildford, who promotes their ideology. Sizer is a priest in this bishop's diocese.

Despite the exposure by Ms. Phillips, and condemnation by some of the Christian religious hierarchy in the United Kingdom, the ugly replacement theology phenomenon seems to be intensifying. Christian groups worldwide of all sects seem unsure how to react to this new, virulent strain of Judenhass replacement theology.

Bat Ye'or's analysis of replacement theology is based in large part on her unique studies of what she has described as the "civilization of dhimmitude": the Muslim Shari'a (Holy Law) regulations that sanctioned persecution of the indigenous, pre-Islamic dhimmi peoples of the Middle East and elsewhere -- particularly Christians and Jews -- whose lands were conquered and Islamized by jihad wars. Bat Ye'or discussed the subservient attitudes engendered in Christians and Jews by the culture of dhimmitude:

"Dhimmitude derives from the surrender of the Christian clergy and political leaders to the Muslim jihad armies, and their submission to Islamic domination of both their lands and peoples. In exchange, they received a pledge of protection (dhimma) from the Muslim sovereign -- and the cessation of the jihad war. This 'protection' was conditioned on a ransom payment (jizya) that was extorted from the vanquished Christian and Jewish populations (dhimmis). Sometimes, Christian submission to Islam was rooted in personal ambition. Dhimmitude often induced self-hatred, and hatred against Jews and Christians who resisted the jihad and Muslim domination. Christian dhimmitude has been a world force for Islamization throughout history."

She noted that these attitudes linger on in the current revival of replacement theology, which redounds to the great advantage of Muslim radicals who want to see Israel destroyed. Sizer and other Christian replacement theology advocates are working, knowingly or not, hand-in-glove with groups like Hamas, which advocates an Islamic replacement theology that considers both Judaism and Christianity to be erroneous deviations from a common Islamic origin of the three monotheistic religions. For committed Muslims, Islam is the primordial religion preached by Abraham, Moses, the Hebrew kings and prophets, and by the Muslim Jesus (Isa), another prophet of Islam, whose second coming will bring the end of Christianity. Thus Islam is the only legitimate religion of mankind, and those who cling to older, superseded covenants (i.e., Jews and Christians) must be converted, killed, or subjugated (cf. Sura 9:29 of the Qur'an).

In calling for the rejection of modern Israel on the grounds of replacement theology, Sizer and the others have joined the Islamic jihad war against Israel. Delegitimizing Judaism by preaching replacement theology also promotes bloody outbursts against Jews. At times, it has even sustained annihilationist campaigns -- an undeniable historical legacy of both Christian and Islamic replacement theologies, antedating the creation of Israel by more than a millennium. In stark contrast, the remarkable post-Shoah Vatican II / Nostre Aetate reforms, which facilitated genuine Catholic-Jewish dialogue and rapprochement, denounced such supersessionist replacement theology explicitly and recognized the grave existential dangers it posed to Jews.

What is more, the new Marcionites' course of action has two principal consequences for the rapidly dwindling number of Christians in the Middle East:

1. Insofar as it justifies Christian support for the Islamic jihad against Israel, it weakens Christianity, which is included by Muslims -- with Jews and Israel -- in the framework of jihad and dhimmitude;

2. Its Marcionist element separates Christianity from its Old Testament roots, fostering the Islamization (and consequent disappearance or subjugation) of Palestinian Christian Arabs.

Christian groups worldwide seem unsure how to react to this new, virulent strain of Judenhass replacement theology

Ironically, the wanton Jew hatred fueling the Palestinian dhimmi clerics' replacement theology is self-destructive -- blinding them (and their fellow travelers in Europe and beyond) to the agenda of their ostensible Islamist "allies" who seek to supersede and replace not only Judaism, but Christianity as well. And this ultimate desire of the Islamists extends far beyond the Holy Land, having in fact no geographical constraints.

Bat Ye'or made this trenchant observation: "This Christian vision is totally unaware of the Islamic policy toward the People of the Book ('Book' = Bible; 'People' = Jews and Christians). It is a dualistic vision and not a triangular perspective that integrates the jihad theological ideology. It pretends that Israel is the enemy and assumes a priori, an Islamo-Christian fraternization which is historically, theologically, and politically an illusion, and an aberration. As Islam is the third element in the Holy Land, and the principal one in the disputed territories, any political evaluation of the situation there with reference only to Israel without referring to Islam, is extremely dangerous for Christianity's survival in the Holy Land."

For the sake of those Christians and their Jewish brethren, Christian leaders of all sects must decisively reject this new Marcionism -- before it's too late.  

Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University Medical School. Robert Spencer is the author of Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest Growing Faith (Encounter Books) and Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West (coming September 2003 from Regnery Publishing).

September 2003               - 9 -               Outpost