How Our View of Israel Changed?
Christianity was born as a Jewish movement. Jesus and the apostles did not see themselves as founders of a new religion, but as part of the covenant story God gave to Israel. The first Christians, including Paul, understood the gospel to be good news "first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Rom. 1:16). But something changed—the vision of Israel began to fade, and over the centuries a new understanding emerged: the church was no longer part of Israel, but its replacement.
How did this transformation occur?
The First Centuries: Forgetting the Roots
The original church in Jerusalem still lived and functioned as part of the Jewish community. Through his followers, Jesus was seen as the fulfillment of Israel's promise, not its end. But the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and subsequent Jewish revolts led to Jewish believers in Jesus being scattered and losing their influence. Christianity began to grow especially in the Gentile communities of the Roman Empire, and gradually Christians' ties to Jewish heritage began to break.
In the midst of this development, a theological question arose: If the majority of Jews did not accept the gospel, what did this mean for Israel's calling?
Early Christian writers like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus began to interpret Israel's history in a new way. According to them, the Christian church was the "true Israel" that had replaced the Jewish people. This idea began to strengthen, even though Paul specifically warned in Romans 11:1-2: "Has God rejected his people? By no means!"
The Patristic Era and the Birth of Replacement Theology
During the 2nd-4th centuries, the Church Fathers developed theology that increasingly detached Israel from its position in God's plan:
Origen (185-254) promoted allegorical biblical interpretation, where Old Testament Israel was seen only as a spiritual type of the church.
Tertullian (160-220) began speaking of the church as the "new Israel," and this concept took root in Christian thinking.
Augustine (354-430) was instrumental in developing the idea of Israel as a people rejected by God, whose existence only testified to the truth of the church.
Augustine's "witness people" doctrine was particularly influential: Jews should not be destroyed, but they must live in a subordinate position so that the Christian world could see what happens to those who reject Christ. This theology shaped Europe's attitude toward Jews for centuries to come.
Why Was Israel's Role Forgotten?
Several factors influenced this development:
Historical Events - The destruction of Jerusalem, Jewish wars, and the Roman Empire's suspicion of Jews created pressure to differentiate from Jews.
Cultural Change - Christianity increasingly adopted Greek thinking, where the spiritual was seen as more important than the historical and concrete. Israel's earthly promises lost their significance.
Theological Simplification - Since Jews did not accept the gospel on a large scale, Christian theology began to see them as a "rejected people." Paul's words in Romans 11 about Israel's future salvation were forgotten.
What We Lost
When Israel's special position became obscured, Christian theology lost something essential: the supporting structure of the entire Bible.
The covenant faith from the Old Testament patriarchs onward was not just a spiritual narrative, but was concretely connected to a people, history, and God's faithfulness. When the church began to see Israel's role as ended, the entire long continuum of Scripture began to break.
But as history shows, God's truth does not disappear. It can be forgotten, but it can also be rediscovered.
Implications for Global Theological Education
This historical development has profound implications for how we approach theological education today:
Historical Awareness: Understanding how theological positions develop helps students recognize that current interpretations are not necessarily final or complete. This encourages more careful engagement with Scripture.
Hermeneutical Sophistication: The shift from historical-literal to purely allegorical interpretation demonstrates the importance of maintaining exegetical balance. Students must learn to honor both the historical and spiritual dimensions of biblical texts.
Cultural Sensitivity: As WWES trains leaders from diverse global contexts, understanding how cultural and political pressures can influence theological development becomes crucial for maintaining biblical fidelity in challenging circumstances.
Theological Integration: The loss of Israel's place in Christian theology shows how theological systems can become disconnected from their biblical foundations. This reinforces the need for systematic thinking that maintains scriptural coherence.
Pastoral Implications: In contexts where Jewish-Christian relations matter—whether in the Middle East, Europe, or other regions with significant Jewish populations—understanding this history becomes essential for effective ministry.
Lessons for Contemporary Ministry
The early church's experience offers important lessons for today's global church:
The Danger of Cultural Accommodation: When Christianity adapted to Greco-Roman culture, it gained acceptance but lost crucial biblical perspectives. Contemporary churches face similar pressures to accommodate cultural expectations.
The Importance of Biblical Balance: The shift toward purely allegorical interpretation shows what happens when hermeneutical balance is lost. Sound theological education must maintain both historical and spiritual dimensions of biblical interpretation.
The Need for Theological Humility: The fact that such a significant biblical theme could be "lost" for centuries should encourage humility about our own theological certainties and openness to fresh engagement with Scripture.
What's Coming Next?
In the following posts in this series:
Part 3: The Lost Heritage - How the Reformation reinforced supersessionism through medieval and Reformation theologies that solidified the concept of the church as the new Israel, and its impact on replacement theology and Christian attitudes toward Jews in subsequent centuries.
Part 4: New Dawn - Israel's return to modern theology, exploring how modern biblical scholarship, Jewish return to Israel, and ecumenical theology have changed the church's approach to Israel's position over the past two centuries.
This historical survey reminds us that theology is not static but develops through engagement with Scripture, history, and contemporary challenges. As we train leaders for the global church, understanding these developments helps them navigate both faithfulness to Scripture and sensitivity to their ministry contexts.
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