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The Gospel and the Jewish People - An Evangelical Statement Print E-mail
Written by World Evangelical Alliance   
March 28, 2008

The following statement was published in The New York Times.

As evangelical Christians, we want to express our genuine friendship and love for the Jewish people. We sadly acknowledge that church history has been marred with anti-Semitic words and deeds; and that at times when the Jewish people were in great peril, the church did far less than it should have.

  • We pledge our commitment to be loving friends and to stand against such injustice in our generation. At the same time, we want to be transparent in affirming that we believe the most loving and Scriptural expression of our friendship toward Jewish people, and to anyone we call friend, is to forthrightly share the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

  • We believe that it is only through Jesus that all people can receive eternal life. If Jesus is not the Messiah of the Jewish people, He cannot be the Savior of theWorld (Acts 4:12).

  • We recognize that it is good and right for those with specialized knowledge, history and skills to use these gifts to introduce individuals to the Messiah, and that includes those ministries specifically directed to the Jewish people (1 Corinthians 9:20-22).

  • We deplore the use of deception or coercion in evangelism; however, we reject the notion that it is deceptive for followers of Jesus Christ who were born Jewish to continue to identify as Jews (Romans 11:1).

We want to make it clear that, as evangelical Christians, we do not wish to offend our Jewish friends by the above statements; but we are compelled by our faith and commitment to the Scriptures to stand by these principles. It is out of our profound respect for Jewish people that we seek to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, and encourage others to do the same, for we believe that salvation is only found in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World.

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Rev. Dr. Lon Allison-Director, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College

Dr. Mark Bailey-President, Dallas Theological Seminary

Joel Belz-Founder, World Magazine

Richard Bewes-OBE, former Rector, All Souls Church, Langham Place, London

Lyndon Bowring-Executive Chairman, CARE

Doug Birdsall-Executive Chair, Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization

Dr. D. A. Carson-Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Dr. Paul Cedar-Chairman, Mission America Coalition

Dr. Yonggi Cho-Senior Pastor, Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea

Chuck Colson-Founder, Prison Fellowship

Dr. Jim Congdon-Senior Pastor, Topeka Bible Church

Dr. Hélène Dallaire-Associate Professor of Old Testament, Denver Seminary, Denver

David Evans-Bishop, Church of England

Mark Greene-Executive Director, London Institute of Contemporary Christianity

Dr. Vernon C. Grounds-Chancellor, Denver Seminary, Denver

Stan Guthrie-Managing Editor, Special Projects, Christianity Today

Dr. David Harley-former General Director, OMF International

Dr. Harold Hoehner-Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

Dr. Jim Holm-President, Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary

Dr. Kenneth Hutcherson-Senior Pastor, Antioch Bible Church

Canon J. John-Director, Philo Trust

Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.-President Emeritus, Colman M.

Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Joe Kapolyo-Minister, Edmonton Baptist Church

Dr. R. T. Kendall-President, R. T. Kendall Ministries

Dr. Jerry B. Jenkins-Owner, Christian Writers Guild

Prof. A. N. S. Lane-London Bible College

Rev. Dr. John-Paul Lotz-Lecturer in Church History, London School of Theology

Steve Moore-President & CEO, The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA)

Rev. Dr. Steve Motyer-Lecturer, London School of Theology

Dr. Marv Newell-Executive Director, Cross Global Link (formerly IFMA)

Luis Palau, Evangelist and Author

Hugh Palmer-Rector, All Souls Church, London

Janet Parshall-Nationally Syndicated Radio Host

The Honorable Tony Perkins-President, Family Research Council

Dr. Raymond Pfister-Principal, Birmingham Christian College, Birmingham, England

John Piper-Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem
Dr. Carson Pue, President, Arrow Leadership, Vancouver BC
Dr. Phil Roberts-President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Dr. Haddon Robinson-President, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary

John H. Rodgers, Th.D.-Bishop in the Anglican Mission in America

Russell Rook-Director, ALOVE, Salvation Army

John Seawright-Minister, Abbey Presbyterian Church, Monkstown, Ireland

Gordon Showell-Rogers-General Secretary, European Evangelical Alliance

Dr. Lon Solomon-Pastor, McLean Bible Church, McLean, VA

Dr. Joseph M. Stowell-President Cornerstone University

Stephen Strang-Publisher, Charisma Magazine

Matt Summerfield-Executive Director, Urban Saints

Dr. Vinson Synan-Dean Emeritus of Regent University

Dr. Geoff Tunnecliffe-International Director,World Evangelical Alliance

Clive Urquhart-Director, Kingdom Faith Ministries, Horsham, England

Phil S. Walker-Pastor, Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Madison, MS

Mike Wall-Executive Director All Nations Christian College, Ware, England

Mark Weeden-Pastor,Worthing Tabernacle

Chris Williams-Pastor, London Community Church