Table Of ContentAnxious for Armageddon : A Call to
title: Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western
Christians
author: Wagner, Donald E.
publisher: Herald Press
isbn10 | asin: 0836136519
print isbn13: 9780836136517
ebook isbn13: 9780585235738
language: English
Jewish-Arab relations--Religious aspects--
Christianity, Wagner, Donald E, Jewish-
Arab relations--1917- , Palestine in
Christianity, Christians--Middle East,
subject
Christian Zionism, Dispensationalism,
Middle East--History--20th century, Middle
East--Religion--2
publication date: 1995
lcc: BT93.6.W34 1995eb
ddc: 231.7/6
Jewish-Arab relations--Religious aspects--
Christianity, Wagner, Donald E, Jewish-
Arab relations--1917- , Palestine in
subject: Christianity, Christians--Middle East,
Christian Zionism, Dispensationalism,
Middle East--History--20th century, Middle
East--Religion--2
Page 3
Anxious for Armageddon
A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western
Christians
Donald E. Wagner
Foreword by
Fr. Elias Chacour
Page 4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wagner, Donald E.
Anxious for Armageddon : a call to partnership for Middle Eastern and
Western Christians / Donald E. Wagner ; foreword by Elias Chacour.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8361-3651-9 (alk. paper)
1. Jewish-Arab relationsReligious aspectsChristianity. 2. Wagner,
Donald E. 3. Jewish-Arab relations1917-4. Palestine in Christianity.
5. ChristiansMiddle East. 6. Christian ZionismControversial literature.
7. DispensationalismControversial literature. 8. Middle EastHistory
20th century. 9. Middle EastReligion20th century. I. Title.
BT93.6.W34 1994 94-
501
231.7'6dc20 CIP
The paper used in this publication is recycled and meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information
SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI
Z39.48-1984.
The Bible text is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible,
copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and is used by
permission.
COVER PHOTO: Jerusalem, dome and city viewed from Dominus
Flevit. Copyright © The Bible Lands Society, High Wycombe,
Englanda registered charity. Used by permission.
MAP CREDITS: Grateful acknowledgment is made to the United
Nations for permission to reproduce maps on pp. 249, 250, and to
Foundation for Middle East for maps on pp. 251, 252.
ANXIOUS FOR ARMAGEDDON
Copyright © 1995 by Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa. 15683 Published
simultaneously in Canada by Herald Press, Waterloo, Ont. N2L 6H7.
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 94-501
International Standard Book Number: 0-8361-3651-9
Printed in the United States of America
Book and cover design by Paula M. Johnson
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 00 99 98 97 96 95
Page 5
To my immediate family
Grandpa and Grandma Nelson;
Mom, Dad, and sister Karen;
My wife, Drew, and children Anna, Matthew, and Jay
To my inlaws: Dr. Gordon and Lynn McAllister
Who have provided me with the love of Christ and immeasurable joy
throughout my life.
And to my extended Middle Eastern family
Christians in the churches throughout the Middle East;
Israeli Jews committed to peace and security based upon justice for
Palestinians and Jews;
Muslim friends who work for religious tolerance, freedom, and full
human rights for all peoples, and peace based on dignity to each person
as a child of the one true God.
May God grant you many years and strength for the difficult journey
which lies ahead.
Page 7
Contents
Foreword 8
by Fr. Elias Chacour
Author's Preface 13
1. Raptured: The Case of the Empty Birdcage 19
2. The Holy Land I Never Knew 24
3. Journey to Beirut 31
4. Caught in the Cross Fire! 41
5. Where There Is No Vision 48
6. The Land of Palestine: Holy and Cursed 59
7. Jesus and Armageddon 69
8. Backing into the Future: Britain and Zion 85
9. Inside the Christian Embassy 96
10. Another Man from Galilee 114
11. Victims of the Victims 122
12. Stuck in the Old Patterns: Will Peace Ever Come to 131
the Holy Land?
13. The Incredible Shrinking Church 157
14. Signs of Hope 174
Epilogue 195
Appendix A 206
Second Note from Sir Henry McMahon to Sharif Hussein
of the Hejaz
Appendix B 208
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242
Appendix C 210
United Nations Security Council Resolution 338
Appendix D 211
Message of the Vth General Assembly of the Middle East
Council of Churches
Appendix E 215
La Grange Declaration I
Appendix F 218
Open Letter to Middle East Council of Churches General
Secretariat
A Chronology of Middle Eastern Christianity 224
Notes 231
Bibliography 237
Index 244
Maps 249
The Author 253
Page 8
Foreword
The biggest question facing present-day Christianity is how serious
Christians will deal with issues of justice and human rights. The
question is not "How clean are my hands?" The question is rather
"How dirty did I get my hands?" How dirty did I become to "bring the
good news to the poor.... to proclaim release for the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim
the year of the Lord's favor'' (Luke 4:1819)?
Serious Christians understand and live their faith in a God-made-
human so that men and women can become godlike. Christians
believe in a historical Lord who died and is risen from the dead.
Serious Christians understand and accept in their daily life and their
relations to each other the fruits of the resurrection. According to the
New Testament, these fruits include the crumbling once and forever of
the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles. All human beings are
called to become adopted children of God. This God is no more seen
as a regional or as a tribal Godbut as the universal God whose chosen
people are man and woman, created in his image with his likeness.
Page 9
Everything has been given through the resurrection, but everything
has not yet been received. Human beings are still called to adhere
through their lives to what God has given them through the death and
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one from Galilee. No more Jew,
no more Gentile; no more lord or slave; no more man or woman. Now
all are called to become adoptive children of God.
Eternity starts for believers on the day of their baptism. The
commission entrusted to Christians by the risen Lord from Galilee is
to live and to witness in a new way, with a renewed vision so that
others, "outsiders" seeing their good works, may praise their Father in
heaven (Matt. 5:16). It is crucial for Christians to keep in mind how
and on which points they will be judged worthy' or unworthy for the
kingdom of heaven. What shall decide whether Christians are fit for
punishment or for eternal life? Jesus' words quoted in Matthew
25:3536 give this clear answer: "I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger
and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was
sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me."
The task given to Christians by their Master should keep them busy,
no matter how long or short are their days on this earth, till they
depart this earthly life to eternity. How seriously, Christians should
ask themselves, did they accept the call to get their hands dirty like
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma
Gandhi, Oscar Romero, and of course Jesus Christ above all? How
seriously did they commit themselves to show God's compassion and
witness God's mercy?
If those from the household of the Lord are no more the good salt of
the earth, how can we expect others to be the salt? It is not a matter of
choice but a must for Christians to take the side of the oppressed, the
hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner.
