替代神學(Replacement Theology)不合聖經

替代神學的歷史

什麼是「替代神學」（Replacement Theology or Supersessionist）？簡單來說，就是提倡由於以色列（猶太人）不信和叛逆上帝，所以上帝已經棄絕以色列（猶太人），並將從前對以色列列祖（包括亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各、摩西、大衛）所發出的應許，都已經轉到教會身上，因此，如今的以色列（猶太人）與上帝是沒有關係的，他們不是聖經中提到的選民以色列人，我們這班新約信徒（亦稱教會）才是真正的選民，因為我們已經替代了以色列（猶太人）。

「替代神學」的歷史背景

早在第一世紀，已經有教會替代以色列的看法，與「反猶運動」（anti-semitism）相輔相成，並駕齊驅。保羅在羅馬書已經要為這些問題爭辯：神棄絕了他的百姓嗎？（羅11：1）他馬上回答說：斷乎沒有！羅11：29更清楚地指出：神的恩賜和選召是沒有後悔的。保羅在以弗所書第二章要求教會信徒將猶太人和外邦人之間的牆打破，「將兩下合而為一，拆毀了中間隔斷的牆」。

第二世紀許多位教父都認為猶太人是該死的：

• 依納爵Ignatius（安提阿教會的主教，主候35-117年）在書中寫道：凡是與猶太人一起過逾越節，或接受這個猶太節日的象征物的人，就是在殺害主耶穌和眾使徒上有份。
• 殉道士查斯丁Justin Martyr（主後100-165）強調基督教的新約應取代猶太教的舊約，聲稱神與猶太人所立的約已不再有效，在神的救贖計劃當中，外邦人已經取代了猶太人。
• 德爾圖良Tertullian（主後160-220）在《反對猶太人》一書中，將耶穌的死歸咎於整個猶太民族。
• 奧利金Origen（主後185-253）在《反對塞爾瑟》一書中寫道：“他們（猶太人）遭受這些災禍，就因為他們是邪惡的民族。
• 奧古斯丁Augustine（主後354-430）在名著《上帝之城》中寫道： 猶太人是該死的。但預定他們在地上流散是來見証他們受到的懲罰，并且見証教會勝過了會堂。猶太人受的羞辱越大，就越說明教會得勝的越多。

以上這些教父影響了整個歐洲教會以後對猶太人持敵視的態度，令散居歐洲的猶太人不斷受到迫害。特別是主後613年 ，散居在西班牙的猶太人處境最壞，教會領袖極其仇視猶太人，敦促在西班牙嚴格履行所有反猶太人的條款。國王遂下令強迫國內全部猶太人改信基督教，接受洗禮。主後1026年，英國開始趕逐猶太人出境，英王獅心理查（Richard Lion-Heart, ll57-1199）舉行加冕禮時，猶太人被大批屠殺。十字軍東征時，沿途殺害了許多猶太人。1099年，十字軍攻陷耶路撒冷，進行野蠻洗劫，殺死許多猶太人。

十六世紀馬丁路德改教功不可沒，可是，他對猶太人卻是十分敵視，他在1543年發表《猶太人和他們的謊言》(On the Jews and Their Lies)一書，書中充滿苦毒和謾罵猶太人的文章中，他把猶太人稱為「毒液」、「盜賊」、「令人作嘔的害蟲」。他倡議焚毀猶太人的學校和會堂，把猶太人轉移到「隔都」裡面，沒收猶太人的「褻瀆」書籍，鼓勵沒收猶太人的財產。他說，應當懲罰猶太人，讓他們去做苦力，還呼籲把猶太人永遠驅逐出德國。路德最後一次談到猶太人時說：「我們錯就錯在沒把他們徹底鏟除」。

四百多年以後，這些反猶教義深受納粹的歡迎，《猶太人和他們的謊言》一書在希特勒上台後大量再版發行，在屠殺6百萬猶太人時歐洲教會坐視不理，與馬丁路德反猶的教導有直接關係。當時德國教會對希特拉殘殺猶太人視若無睹，有一個故事說，當猶太人被趕上火車被運送到集中營被毒氣屠殺的路上，他們被囚禁在鐵籠內，鐵籠外有鎖將籠鎖住，火車經過一些村莊，他們聽到教會中唱聖詩的聲音，便大聲叫喊，希望這些基督徒或天主教徒來釋放他們，怎料，教會中的信徒不單不拯救他們，還將唱詩的聲音提高去掩蓋猶太人哀求的聲音。

（猶太人在歷史上被迫害的記錄，可點擊這裡閱讀本人「撒旦在歷史中不斷迫害和消滅猶太人」一文。）

持這個看法的解經家，對以上幾張的解釋全部要以教會和新約信徒替代之，因此解經的結果完全不同，他們相信千禧年並非在將來，而是現在已經在進行中（無千派Amillennialism），教會便是真正的以色列。

今天反猶情緒依然高漲

如今，猶太人仍被世界各國排斥，反猶情緒方興未艾，猶太人受到基督教中持替代神學的信徒敵視，被回教徒敵視，被持左翼政治理念的人敵視，唯一最近對猶太人表示親熱的是天主教教宗Francis，他為了討好猶太人來達到宗教合一的目的，在2015年十二月宣佈不應該向猶太人傳福音，因為他們「不用相信耶穌也可以得救」：

Vatican Says Catholics Should Not try to Convert Jews– “Catholics should not try to convert Jews and should work with them to fight anti-Semitism, the Vatican said on Thursday in a major new document…’In concrete terms this means that the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews,’ said the document, adding that there was a ‘principled rejection of an institutional Jewish mission’. A Vatican expert in Catholic-Jewish dialogue said it was the first time a repudiation of active conversion of Jews had been so clearly stated in a Vatican document." (NBC NEWS)

我對天主教這個主張是不贊同的，因為不符合聖經有關得救的教導，我甚至認為這是撒旦對付猶太人的另一詭計。讓猶太人繼續拒絕接受耶穌為救主，是在屠殺他們的靈魂。

為何替代神學是錯誤的？

1.以色列，亦即亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所出的後裔，是獨特地被從列國中被揀選出來，是為要成全祂教贖的旨意，他也是神特別恩待的一個民族，從猶太人被上帝保守，在亡國2500年後奇蹟性的復國，足證明上帝沒有撇棄以色列。

2. 使徒保羅本身是猶太人，他被神揀選成為外邦人的使徒，他所寫致羅馬人的書信是新約神學的心臟，而羅馬書九至十一章是關乎以色列很重要的教導，保羅並沒有以教會來代替以色列的神學思想，他心所願的，就是自己的同胞以色列人得救，他沒有半點敵對猶太人的意念，他為自己的親骨肉哀痛，甚至寧願自己受咒詛（羅9:1-3）。 假如猶太人真的被撇棄了，保羅不會對他們有這般的感情。

3.按羅馬書9:4，猶太人在拒絕耶穌的境況中仍是以色列人，神的約、神的應許並沒有收回或廢掉（羅11:29），因為神的恩賜和選召是沒有後悔〈被推翻〉的！假如上帝因猶太人不信而由教會取代了以色列的地位，我們犯罪跌倒豈不是也會失去救恩？

4.按羅馬書9:30-33，以色列跌倒是因拒絕接受他們的彌賽亞，而神卻整天向這悖逆對立之民，伸出祂的手招喚他們歸向祂（羅10:21）。 假如猶太人已經被撇棄，為什麼上帝仍向他們伸手？

5.以賽亞書多次提到，在不信和悖逆的民中，上帝都為自己留下一些被揀選的餘民，而保羅亦提到「神並沒有棄絕他預先所知道的百姓。你們豈不曉得經上論到以利亞是怎麼說的呢？他在　神面前怎樣控告以色列人說：「主啊，他們殺了你的先知，拆了你的祭壇，只剩下我一個人；他們還要尋索我的命。」神的回話是怎麼說的呢？他說：「我為自己留下七千人，是未曾向巴力屈膝的。」如今也是這樣，照著揀選的恩典，還有所留的餘數。（羅11:2-5）。

6.神在祂全然公義的主權下，叫不信的大多數以色列民眼瞎，以致救恩的機會臨到外邦人，而外邦人得救是要激發以色列民羨慕甚致妒忌，以致最終他們也得救（羅11:11）以色列民付上了不信的代價，以致外邦人得了救恩，但以色列民再被重新建立是必然的，他們被接納時，就是從死裡復生一樣（羅11:12-16）。不信的猶太人好像橄欖樹枝，從自己的樹幹上被砍下，而信主的外邦人就如野橄欖的樹枝，被接上橄欖樹幹。教會現在正是享用著橄欖樹根所供應的豐富屬靈養料，這是從神藉著以色列的列祖給予教會的，是不信的以色列暫時（不是永久）失去的。

7.在7年大災難整個以色列民族將悔改，救恩將要臨到以色列，這是一個將發生的「奧秘」。按羅馬書11:25-27與撒迦利亞書12:10所應許的，以色列民族將會悔改轉向彌賽亞。

耶利米書31: 35-37 節說：「那使太陽白日發光，使星月有定例，黑夜發亮，又攪動大海，使海中波浪匉訇的，萬軍之耶和華是祂的名。祂如此說：這些定例若能在我面前廢掉，以色列的後裔也就在我面前斷絕，永遠不再成國。這是耶和華說的。耶和華如此說：若能量度上天，尋察下地的根基，我就因以色列後裔一切所行的棄絕他們。這是耶和華說的。」

對猶太人正確的態度

「替代神學」思想最簡單的撮要就是：上帝在聖經中對以色列的祝福現在全歸教會，而咒詛則歸猶太人，這個看法是錯誤的。

我們外邦信徒當存感激的心，而不是以卑棄的態度對待猶太人。他們現在受的苦，和暫時停留在與福音為敵的光景中，是神向非猶太人施恩的契機，〈等到外邦人歸信的數目添滿〉，所以基督徒要明白這奧秘，免得自高（羅11:25）。

保羅接受了耶穌基督，在以色列的彌賽亞裡得完全救贖後，仍繼續稱自己為猶太人（羅11:1，徒21:39）。而新約的希伯來書，顧名思義，說明信了主的猶太人，仍保持其民族的地位。

改革宗近年稍為中和了一點看法，說上帝給予以色列的祝福現在擴大了包括教會在內，這個看法被純粹的替代神學正確得多，但卻忽略上帝給予猶太人一些獨特的祝福（例如賜地的祝福），是不包括教會在內的。

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Dear Sau-Wing,

It was good seeing you recently.  We exchanged briefly about how we view Israel.  Knowing that you have spent a lot of time studying the Holy Land and end times, I would like to share a few thoughts about how we should interpret scriptures on the issue of Zionism.  I certainly have not spent nearly as much time studying the history etc. as you probably have.  So your feedback will be most welcome.

• From Romans 11, it is quite clear that the Jewish people will have a great revival in the future (perhaps in end times) when many will come to know Jesus as the Messiah.
• But that does not change the facts of history that the Jewish nation has never been a light to the world except for a brief time during the reign of David and Solomon. What the nation failed to do, 2-3 individuals accomplished — Joseph witnessed to Egypt, Daniel to Babylon and Persia. And Esther, too.
• As for reaching the world in the last 2,000 years, it’s the NT Church in Christ that has carried out God’s plan of salvation.  So the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled in raising his spiritual descendants in the Lord Jesus.  As controversial as it may be, “replacement theology" seems pretty convincing.
• It would be nice to see a new Temple of God replacing the Dome of the Rock at Temple Mount one day.  But perhaps a physical building is not that important.  It will bring more glory to God if one day all peoples of the Abrahamic faith worship the Messiah together at Temple Mount, regardless of what building will be used or even using the existing mosque.
• I once had a very emotionally-charged question from a Messianic Jewish American brother: “Who does God say the land belong to?"  The promise of land from God stretched from the Great (Mediterranean) Sea to the Great Rivers (Tigris-Euphrates).  Perhaps it was fulfilled during the time of David and Solomon when all the peoples and nations in the region paid tributes to Israel. I have not heard of any Zionist wanting to claim modern day Iraq and Iran for Israel.  John Piper’s message from 2004 is still relevant as it was based on scriptures: http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/israel-palestine-and-the-middle-east
• Every time in the OT when God promised those amazing blessings to the Jewish people, they were always followed by scary warnings of judgment if they became unfaithful.  The latter was used by some to “justify" anti-Semitism even during WW2.  But it was wrong to do what is unjust to “help" fulfill God’s prophecy of judgement.  Likewise, we should not try to “help" God fulfill his promise of blessings to the Jewish people by supporting injustice against the Palestinian people, especially when the huge majority of Israelis today is quite atheist and anti-Christian.Christian Zionism is as unbiblical and illogical as Christian anti-Semitism. Bernie Sanders said during the 2016 election campaign: “What is happening in Israel is unconscionable."  There are Rabbis for justice and peace groups in Israel, Europe and even the US.

I will not try to go into the history of the Holy Land in the last several hundred years in this email.  But I will appreciate learning about your views from a biblical perspective.

Blessings,

XXXXXXX

My response to this brother:

Dear XXXXXXXX:

Thank you for taking the time to write me about this important subject of the role of the Jews and the nation of Israel. Indeed our views regarding these two subjects determine our eschatology. And our views must be biblically-based with no emotional bias. So my first question is: where is the biblical basis to support that the church has replaced the Jews in terms of receiving the blessings promised to the Jews? I cannot find any scripture showing the two have merged, with the church taking the place of the Jews. Instead the distinction between the Jews and the church remains, even though the church was established by Jewish followers of Christ.

I agree with you that in the OT promises of blessing are​ usually followed by warnings of judgment if they are unfaithful. But let’s not forget that the first covenant given to Abraham in Gen 12 was unconditional. I do not see that the New Covenant fulfilled by Christ invalidates the original covenant given to Abraham. Instead, it brings all believers into the blessings promised to not only the Jews but, to “all the peoples on earth” through the Jews (Gen 12:3b, NIV).

So I feel strongly that the Jews, though unfaithful for thousands of years, have not been discarded as a people. You correctly point out that Roman 11 clearly confirms the Jewish people will have a great revival in the future. Indeed Roman 11:26 makes it clear that “all Israel will be saved.” But I think where we differ is whether ​God’s blessing extends to Israel as a nation in view of its long history of rebellion against God. You seem to feel that God’s promises to Israel is limited to just Jews as a people, but not ​Jews as a nation. And one of the key reasons is the nation of Israel has failed to be the light of the world, so it is no longer needed.

If God’s blessing to the Jews is just for them as a people, then they could receive such blessing even if they are scattered all over the world. There is no need for them to be gathered together “to their own land” (Ezekiel 39:28b), with the promise that “I will give you back the land of Israel again” (Ezekiel 11:17b). The only way they could be all gathered together in the land of Israel is for them to have their own sovereign nation in the land of Israel, and that was precisely what happened on May 14, 1948. In my mind because these promises are to both Jews as a people and Israel as a nation, the people and nation of Israel are inseparable. To deny this one has to conclude that the May 14, 1948 event has no biblical significance. But what nation can be re-established​ (and preserved through wars after wars)​ after 2,516 years’ non-existence, if God’s hand was not directly at work?

Indeed the nation of Israel today is mostly secular. It is as bad as the Kingdom of Judah and Israel in the old days. And God will deal with them severely — that is why I believe the coming Great Tribulation (called the “Jacob’s trouble” in Jeremiah 30:7) is primarily God’s wrath being poured out on the Jewish people and nation. But I also believe that the Great Tribulation is also a time to bring the Jewish people and nation back to God. Through persecution in the hand of the Antichrist the Jews would taste unprecedented suffering to the point of extinction as a nation. And that is when they finally “will look on me, the one they have pierced” (Zech 12:10).​

I think Jesus’ description of the Great Tribulation in the Olivet Discourse plus the prophecies in Revelation are ​primarily ​for the Jews, as that will be the time God brings back the Jews as you cited in your first point.

So if we are convinced that the Jews as a people is not discarded by God, we cannot then conclude that God’s plan for the Jewish people is unrelated to giving them their own nation. In Ezekiel 37 when the prophet saw the dry bones being brought to life, he did not just see the bones (people of Israel, as clearly given in 37:11) becoming an unorganized group of people. They become “a vast army” (37:10b). An army serves a nation. That is why I find it hard to separate a people from a nation.

As for the future Temple, my belief is even though now we can worship God without entering any physical Temple, in the future a physical Temple will be built. And I am not referring to the Third Temple which I consider an aberrant or abnormal structure simply because it will be built by the Antichrist with the goal of deceiving the Jews. It will only last 7 years. I am looking forward to the fourth Temple, which Ezekiel saw and described in precise details in Eze 40-44 (why would God ask Ezekiel to put down such precise details if this is merely figurative?). And very possibly this Temple will exist during the Millennial Kingdom since in the Eternal State there is no more Temple (Rev 21:22)

We can proceed to discuss the last few hundred years’ history in the Middle East and whether the land belongs to Israel or the Palestinian people. You stated that Israel is the aggressor against the Palestinian people. Actually there is no such people as Palestinian people because Palestine only describes the location. Technically anyone living in the land of Palestine is a Palestinian. But today when we refer to the Palestinian people we are referring to the Arabs who have moved to live in the land of Israel. We can examine in recent history who got there first. We talked briefly about Joan Peters’ book “From Time Immemorial”. We can certainly enter a discussion about recent history, but that will be for another day.

Sau-Wing