No Future for Israel? Supersessionism 101

Douglas Brown

Israel is controversial. For the last seventy-five years, the nation of Israel and its enemies have dominated the headlines. The recent worldwide surge of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel protests in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict is shocking, albeit predictable. But controversy about Israel is not just relegated to the geopolitics of the Middle East. Israel is also very controversial among Christian theologians. There is great disagreement and division about the future of national Israel. Will Israel be saved and restored in the future? Or have God’s promises to Israel been fulfilled in Christ and the church?

In this article I will attempt to explain what supersessionism is, what some of its key interpretive features are, and why I disagree with it. I will argue against supersessionism that God plans to save national Israel and restore it.