Evangelicals and the Church of England

Blackburn Cathedral I have been a Christian for 25 years. The Bible is our authority and the only revelation of God. The Holy Spirit works in us using the Word. This means that the Bible is of fundamental importance and therefore its correct interpretation is also fundamentally important.

I have chosen to church myself in Anglicanism for about 10 years in Blackburn, Lancashire in 2 different churches. Both claim to be evangelical. Today, the word evangelical is not used in its original sense which is "that of the Gospel". It has a broader meaning today in its usage which seems to mean, "that of sound Biblical teaching". The church circles in which I move therefore claims explicitly or implicitly to preach and teach sound Biblical doctrine.

Anglican evangelicalism is generally similar throughout England as far as I can see. So my comments in this web site pertains to English Anglican evangelicalism as a whole. I have not been to every evangelical Anglican church in the land, so this web site presents my impression of the teaching without it being authoritative.

Questions that need answering

Is the present day re-establishment of Israel as a nation a co-incidence or has it been prophesied in God's Word, and part of God's redemptive plan?
Do the mainstream evangelical Churches in Britain look like in grafted branches of the olive tree as depicted in Romans chapter 11, supported by the root?
Does God still have a purpose for the Nation of Israel or did God reject His chosen people for ever due to their persistent sin and rejection of Him?
Does the words 'Israel', 'house of David', 'Jacob' or other ways that the Bible indicates the Nation of Israel really sometimes mean 'the Church' as some people think, or does this collection of words literally mean Israel which the natural meaning indicates?

What I perceive to be the general thinking today

There are various positions that the British evangelical church take on Israel today.

Generally the predominant view is that Israel has been caste aside, having had an up and down relationship with God,(mainly down) then finally rejecting His Son and causing Him to be crucified.
God set aside Israel and turned to the nations to form His Church, which consists of Jew and gentile.
Another view is that what God had in mind was His Church all along, Israel simply being the means of producing the Messiah. Having done this, God had no further use of the Nation.

These interpretive positions are referred to as "Replacement Theology" or "Supersessionalism". That is that the Church has replaced Israel, or the Church has succeeded Israel.

Aspects of Biblical Interpretation

A true saying is that you can't see the wood for the trees. What this means is that you can't see the small details until you have an understanding of the whole picture. Then you know how to interpret the details in the light of the whole. The whole is made up of lots of small details, and the small details make up the whole which fits together perfectly.

I believe that much of British evangelical thinking is based on a faulty understanding of the whole.

There are many people much cleverer than me, and I have never been to a Bible college. This is my, I hope, humble contribution to the debate.

Does it really matter?

Heapy Church When I have discussed these aspects with friends and church leaders I am told that it really does not matter how we regard Israel, it is not a salvation matter. I can understand that to a point, but how we regard Israel is a serious matter. It colours our whole understanding of scripture, and denies us the blessings promised to those who bless Israel. The Christian has assurance of salvation because of God's promises, not how good we are, not at what stage of sanctification we have reached at the end of our lives, not by good works. What God promised Israel they have not yet received. What God has promised the Christian he or she has not yet received. Does this say to us that God does not keep His promises, or does it say that God does keep His promises but in His timing, and in His way, and according to His word?

How has our present interpretive position come about

In this web site I give my view on what is wrong with mainstream evangelical Biblical interpretation, how it came about, and what we should do about it.