Protestants in the State of Israel: The Case of Nes Ammim 1957-1967
After the impact of the Holocaust the Jewish missions of most European Protestant churches went into a steep decline. This rapid and rather unanticipated change is generally understood by historians as a movement away from display of Christian superiority, and towards dialogue and support for the St...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Amsterdam University Press
[2017]
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| In: |
Trajecta
Year: 2017, Volume: 26, Issue: 2, Pages: 344-360 |
| IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBL Near East and North Africa KDD Protestant Church |
| Further subjects: | B
Christians
B Germany; Foreign relations B Protestants B Jewish Christians B Christian Missions |
| Summary: | After the impact of the Holocaust the Jewish missions of most European Protestant churches went into a steep decline. This rapid and rather unanticipated change is generally understood by historians as a movement away from display of Christian superiority, and towards dialogue and support for the State of Israel. This article argues that national and denominational differences between Protestants from different countries should be accounted for in this general picture, to understand the complexities of their attitudes towards the State of Israel. The case study of the Protestant moshav Nes Ammim demonstrates the commitment to a common goal of Swiss, Dutch, American and German participants: support for the Jewish people in their new homeland after 1948. However, the motives to pursue these goals differed widely. The Swiss maintained their neutrality in the Middle East conflict. Americans claimed the right of free speech and insisted on the participation of Jewish Christians in the moshav. The Dutch pioneers of Nes Ammim professed Jewish-Christian dialogue and solidarity to the Jewish State, as proposed by the Dutch Reformed Church. At the same time, they were hampered by the Jewish mission of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands, also a sponsor of Nes Ammim. The Germans were emphatically opposed against any mission or even "witness) and as an extension also against the participation of Jewish Christians. Unlike participating free churches from Switzerland and America, who maintained the principle that no State should ever control the inner affairs of a Christian enterprise, Nes Ammim-Germany accepted Israeli supervision of the moshav. The Dutch hesitated, before finally opting for the German position. As a result, the international leadership of Nes Ammim fell apart in 1967. The Swiss and American boards withdrew, after they had been given to understand that they no longer enjoyed the trust of the Israeli government. Germany and Holland continued. |
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| ISSN: | 2665-9484 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Trajecta
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