Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged By Barry Horner -- By: Samuel E. Waldron

Journal: Reformed Baptist Theological Review
Volume: RBTR 05:1 (Jan 2008)
Article: Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged By Barry Horner
Author: Samuel E. Waldron


Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged
By Barry Horner

A Review article (Part I)

Sam Waldron*

Samuel E. Waldron, Ph.D., is a pastor of Heritage Baptist Church, Owensboro, KY, and a professor in the Midwest Center for Theological Studies.

The back dustcover of this book1 contains an endorsement by John MacArthur, a staunch defender of Dispensational Premillennialism.

This is by far the best treatment of Israel’s future I have found. It’s a welcome antidote to the widespread apathy and confusion that have clouded this vital prophetic question. I found it clear, persuasive, thoroughly biblical, and difficult to put down.

I love John MacArthur, as I have said in writing elsewhere, but my reaction to Horner’s book was quite different. In this review, I will attempt to point out scripturally what I consider to be both the book’s positives and its (numerous) flaws.

Introduction: Horner’s Thesis

1. The Nature of Horner’s Thesis

One of the first things that a review of any book should do is provide a brief description of its theme and structure. I will attempt a fair statement of the theme of Horner’s book: Amillennialism is necessarily more or less anti-Semitic. I have deliberately stated this in shocking terms, but they are not terms that misrepresent Horner’s thesis. I must immediately qualify, however, that Horner does not like the term “anti-Semitic,” and in his “Personal Introduction,” he uses a different term–“Anti-Judaism.” Here are his own words:

Concerning terminology, a word of explanation is necessary. Instead of the common emotive term of “anti-Semitism” being employed, which is often qualified as either racial or theological, the more specific “Anti-Judaism” is mainly used. Nevertheless, even Anti-Judaism needs

explication. Here it is intended to refer to classic Anti-Judaism, which involves opposition to the biblical legacy of Torah mediated through Abraham and Moses rather than opposition to the Rabbinic and Talmudic accretions that Jesus Christ so vigorously opposed, though doubtless some overlap will nevertheless be involved. (xix-xx)

Why does Horner wish to avoid using the term “anti-Semitism”? Though I acknowledge that Horner does not say so explicitly here, I think that at one level his avoidance of the term “anti-Semitism” has much to do with just being clear about what kind of anti-Semitism he is talking about. He is concerned about racism committed against the Jews–not the kind of “anti-Semitis...

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