Hagee denies belief in "dual covenant theology"

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Hagee denies belief in 'dual covenant theology'

By J. Michael Parker, San Antonio Express-News, March 4, 2006

Neither San Antonio televangelist John Hagee nor the Rev. Jerry Falwell has expressed a belief in a "dual covenant theology" as reported Wednesday in the Jerusalem Post, Hagee and a local rabbi said Thursday.

"Dual covenant theology" refers to a belief that Jews can be saved without believing in Jesus Christ — as Christians do — because of God's covenant with the ancient Israelites.

Hagee has said for many years that he believes that God's "new covenant" with Christianity does not "replace" his covenant with the Israelites, which also applies to today's Jews.

Many Christians have interpreted that to mean he believes Jews can be saved without believing in Jesus and have criticized Hagee for it, but he has not said that himself.

A steadfast supporter of Israel since 1981 on biblical grounds, Hagee has maintained a policy of not proselytizing Jews.

He believes biblical prophecies regarding the land of Israel apply to the Jews of today and that God mandated Israel to be theirs.

Hagee was traveling Thursday and was not available for comment. But in a letter to the Post, which his secretary provided to the San Antonio Express-News, he reiterated his non-proselytizing policy toward Jews, adding that if Jews inquire about the Christian faith, "we give them a full scriptural presentation of redemption as presented in scripture. Regardless of the response from the Jewish person, we remain friends in support of the State of Israel as required by scripture."

Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg of Congregation Rodfei Sholom, a close friend of Hagee's for more than 25 years, told the Express-News on Thursday that the inaccuracy arose when he was interviewed about the Feb. 7 founding of a new Christian organization to lobby for the State of Israel with federal officials. It's called Christians United For Israel.

About 300 U.S. evangelical leaders attended a closed Feb. 7 meeting at Hagee's Cornerstone Church to discuss the need for the organization.

Scheinberg said he told the Post he'd found a "tremendous consensus" among attendees — including representatives for Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson — that the new organization should not proselytize Jews.

The reporter asked if "Falwell agreed with Hagee," he said.

"I told him that I'd never spoken with Jerry Falwell but since this organization was to be non-conversionary and Hagee has been non-conversionary for 25 years, one could infer that Falwell agrees with Hagee on (the new organization) not proselytizing Jews.

"It came out looking like both Hagee and Falwell agree with dual covenant theology. But neither one does. The reporter never should have connected dual theology with my interview.

"I never spoke about a dual covenant theology. I never stated to the reporter what Dr. Falwell personally believed. I never said Dr. Falwell has changed or altered his scriptural position," Scheinberg said.

Falwell, in a statement posted on his Web site, www.falwell.com, said he stands "on the foundational biblical principle that all people — Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Jews, Muslims, etc. — must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to enter heaven."

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