From Nicaea to Jerusalem

Tracing the origins of Christian antisemitism

There was something very special about this conference. To be able to attract thirty eminent speakers, along with over two hundred delegates from over twenty countries, to what was basically an active war zone, was a measure of its timely importance. When I arrived at Luton Airport, Iran was literally lobbing over hundreds of rockets at Israel, each marked by a ping on my Red Alert app. A few changed their mind and remained in safety, but the vast majority of us continued on our journey, buoyed by the fact that this Jerusalem ‘emergency’ summit, arranged by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), was always going to be protected by a God who had some key messages for His people.

So, in the two and a bit days of the summit, held in the prestigious Vert hotel in Jerusalem, we sat at the feet of academics, influencers and gifted speakers and not only learned about the reality of the current growth of antisemitism around the world, but were given practical advice about counteracting the inroads it has made in the Church itself, arguably where it first began, around 1900 years ago. This uncomfortable reality was the backdrop to the many short messages given, each managed cunningly by the ‘bell of doom’ controlled by the ICEJ leaders, to ensure there was enough time to cover the alarmingly wide variety of aspects to the story that unfolded.

The summit was the brainchild of Dr. Jürgen Bühler, the German visionary who is the current president of ICEJ. In his own words, “we are living in a decisive moment for the Church. Across the whole world, antisemitism is surging at an alarming rate following the October 7 terror invasion. At the same time, Israel is increasingly delegitimised — not only politically, but also within theological discourse. Even within Evangelical and Charismatic circles, old doctrinal errors are returning dressed in new garments and biblical clarity is being quietly eroded. For this reason, we are urgently convening the Jerusalem Summit.”

The speakers were from a variety of countries, though mainly from the USA and Israel, including Bishop Robert Stearns, (‘a leading voice in the Christian Zionist movement’), Troy Miller (President of the National Religious Broadcasters in the USA) and Calev Myers (‘a prominent voice on human rights and international law’). It was heavy going at times. Some of the speakers, more used to lengthy discourses, struggled with the twenty minute format and, rather than just give a taste of their given topic, ranging from ‘Israel’s relation to the Church’ to ‘Zionism and the messianic perspective’, deemed it acceptable to simply increase their speed of delivery. For the few laymen there, such as myself, the brain simply couldn’t cope with this but were comforted by the fact that recordings could be examined afterwards, with also a book promised in the autumn.

The conference was opened by a recorded address by Isaac Herzog, the president of the State of Israel. The fact that politicians were happy to endorse an event that was, in truth, ‘an airing of the Church’s dirty linen in public’ was exemplified by coming to a rescue of the organisers, after it was found out at the last minute that the last session was scuppered by the double booking of a wedding in the main conference hall! The Israelis intervened and this session was hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFE), complete with a wonderful buffet, a message from Bibi Netanyahu and a closing rousing speech by Mike Huckerbee, the ambassador from the USA, himself a Bible-believing Christian.

But what did it actually achieve? Was it worth the risk of being potentially being caught up in a war situation? Emphatically ‘yes’, from my perspective. If there was one theme emerging it was the need to encourage ourselves and others to take the Bible more seriously, in a day when false news and emotionalism have such a grip. On the vital message of the conference, the truth would certainly set us free! But there was more than that. In the final session, Dr Bühler unveiled what was potentially his ‘magnum opus’, born from his desire for a practical initiative, then refined by the resident theologians at ICEJ. This was ‘a Jerusalem Affirmation of the Nicene Faith’. The familiar Nicene Creed was formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD and is the foundation of our Christian faith. Yet it was created at a time of immense Christian antisemitism and has some key omissions in the sense of not acknowledging the Jewish background of our faith (read Romans 9:3-5 for an example). The Jerusalem Affirmation is an attempt to provide additions to the creed to correct these omissions. Only time will tell if this initiative is to be taken seriously by the wider Church.

It appears that this summit was to be the first of many, as antisemitism is not just going to go away any time soon. All I can say is to repeat the words spoken at the end of every Jewish Passover service, ‘Next year in Jerusalem’.