An Anti-Semitic Shooter, Bad Theology, and Romans 11

On April 27th (2019) there was as a shooting at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in California.  It left one dead and several others injured.  Prior to the shooter the shooter released a document online revealing his motivations.

Today I want to take a brief look at a couple things he said and compare them to an important passage from the New Testament.

A Toxic Mix:

The shooter had been raised (partially) in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which is by no means anti-semitic.  They released a statement saying: “Anti-Semitism and racist hatred which apparently motivated the shooter . . . have no place within our system of doctrine.” 

The shooter had apparently grown distant from this community while simultaneously being radicalized by online anti-Semitic groups.   But all the while he held onto certain aspects of his Calvinist upbringing.

He said:

“Remember that you are secure in Christ, [] brothers in Christ of all races.” “Turn away from your sin, Not because it is required for your salvation — for nobody save Christ can merit heaven based on his own works — but rather out of gratitude for the gift of salvation that your God has given you…. Christ alone is the only source of life. Know that you are saved in Christ and nothing — not death, nor torture, nor sin — can steal your soul away from God.”

 A Bad Misreading:  

The doctrine he is espousing there goes by several names.  They include, "Eternal Security", "Perseverance of the Saints", and "Once Saved - Always Saved".  Essentially, they mean that once a person enters into a saving relationship with God, his position is secure and nothing - not even grave sin - can undo it.

This is commonly based on a misreading of Romans 8:35-39.  It reads:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? [] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  – Romans 8:35-39

You'll notice the one thing Paul doesn't mention there is... sin.  [For more on that, see here]

In any event, based on this misreading, it would seem the shooter believed he could do whatever he wanted - whatever he wrongly felt he needed to do - without fear of putting his salvation in jeopardy. 


The Tree of Israel:

There was one passage, just a few pages later, which the shooter ought to have looked at.  It's found in Romans 11.  In this section, Paul (a Jew) is addressing his Gentile (non-Jewish) readers.  After having explained why his brethren in Jerusalem had rejected Jesus, he gives them this warning:

"Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them." - Romans 11:13

So he begins by saying his ministry to the Gentiles will hopefully tempt some of his Jewish brethren into becoming Christians.  That is, Paul hopes the Gentiles will become so righteous that Jerusalem would take notice.

Paul continues:

"But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you." - Romans 11:17-18 

Paul is making an analogy here.  The Jewish people are like God's olive tree, and those who rejected Jesus in Jerusalem were like a branch which was broken off from that tree.  However, the breaking off of that branch enable the wild branch (the Gentiles) to be grafted into the tree.

The Apostle tells his Gentile readers to keep in mind the tree they were grafted into is a Jewish tree.  Therefore, they should being showing respect toward the Jews.

He concludes:

"Then you will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.' That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off." - Romans 11: 19-22

Lastly, Paul warns the Gentiles that if they don't continue on in God's good graces, they too will be cut off from the tree.  In other words, Paul warns them of the possibility of their conduct forfeiting their salvation.

So in total, this passage teaches us two things:

• Don't mistreat Jews
• Christians can lose their salvation through sin

Two lessons which the Poway synagogue shooter would have benefited from.


The Church, Yesterday and Today:

The history of Catholic relations with the Jewish people is a troubled one... to put it mildly.  Catholics have, at times, treated the Jewish people in mindbogglingly terrible fashion.  Thankfully, the Second Vatican Council began formalizing teaching against this.

In the document Nostra Aetate, the Council said:

"As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation, nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a few opposed its spreading. Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle." [...]

"True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures." [...] 

"Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone."