John Hagee

John Charles Hagee (born April 12, 1940) is an American Protestant pastor and televangelist. The founder of John Hagee Ministries, his ministry is telecast to the United States and Canada. Hagee is also the founder and chairman of the Christian-Zionist organization Christians United for Israel. Hagee is active politically and is known for his activism regarding the State of Israel. He has also attracted controversy over his comments on Catholicism, Jews and Islam, and promotion of the blood moon prophecy.

John Hagee
Hagee in Washington, D.C., July 2007
Born
John Charles Hagee

(1940-04-12) April 12, 1940
Goose Creek, Texas, U.S.
EducationBachelor of Science, History and Education; Master of Education Administration
Alma materTrinity University
University of North Texas
OccupationPastor, author
OrganizationJohn Hagee Ministries
TitleCEO
Websitewww.jhm.org
Cornerstone Church

Career

Hagee founded a series of churches in San Antonio, Texas starting in 1966, and each church outgrew its previous building, leading to him forming the Cornerstone Church in 1987.[1]

Beginning in 1981 in San Antonio, following Operation Opera, Hagee has organized "A Night to Honor Israel" events aiming to show support for the State of Israel.[2]

On February 7, 2006, Hagee and some 400 leaders from across the Christian and Jewish communities formed Christians United for Israel (CUFI). This lobbies members of the United States Congress, using a biblical stance for promoting Christian Zionism. Around that time he received death threats for his activism on behalf of the State of Israel and hired bodyguards for protection.[3]

Hagee was the primary funding source for the Israeli Zionist group Im Tirtzu, until he cut ties with the organization in 2013.[4]

Views

Hagee has stated that he believes the Bible commands Christians to support the State of Israel.[5]

In 2007, Hagee stated that he does not believe in global warming, and he also said that he sees the Kyoto Protocol as a "conspiracy" aimed at manipulating the U.S. economy.[6]

Hagee is anti-abortion and stopped giving money to Israel's Hadassah Medical Center when it began offering the procedure.[7]

Controversial statements

Hagee has been criticized for statements pertaining to Jews, the Catholic Church, and Islam. Some Jewish leaders, such as Reform Rabbi Eric Yoffie have criticized Hagee for being "extremist" on Israeli policy and for disparaging other faiths.[8]

After Hagee's 2008 endorsement of U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a furor arose over statements made by Hagee that were seen by some as anti-Catholic and antisemitic (despite Hagee's Christian Zionist and pro-Israel stance.)[9][10][3][11][12] Following Hagee's remarks, John McCain publicly distanced himself from Hagee.[13][14]

Catholicism

Hagee purported that Adolf Hitler's antisemitism was especially derived from his Catholic background, and he also purported that Hitler was "a spiritual leader in the Catholic Church,"[15] as well as purporting that the Catholic Church under Pope Pius XII encouraged Nazism.[16] Hagee also blamed the Catholic Church for instigating the Dark Ages, claiming that it allowed the Crusaders to rape and murder with impunity.[17] William Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, rejected the comments and Hagee's explanations for them. On May 12, 2008, after discussions with Donohue and other Catholic leaders, Hagee issued a letter of apology, expressing regret for "any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."[18][11][12][19] The apology was accepted by William Donohue.[18]

Jews

Hagee has claimed that Adolf Hitler was born from a lineage of "accursed, genocidally murderous half-breed Jews".[20][20] Citing material from Jewish tradition,[21][3] he claimed that the persecution of Jews throughout history, implicitly including the Holocaust, was due to the Jewish people's disobedience of God.[22][23][24][3]

In 2008, Hagee claimed that the anti-Christ will be "a homosexual" and "partially Jewish, as was Adolph [sic] Hitler"[25] and he also claimed that a reference in Jeremiah 16:16 to "fishers" and "hunters" was symbolic of positive motivation (Herzl/Zionism) and negative motivation (Hitler/Nazism) respectively, both men were sent by God for the purpose of having Jews return to Israel, and he even suggested that the Holocaust was willed by God because most Jews "ignored" Herzl.[26][27][28][29][3]

Islam

Hagee has been described as making slanderous or demonizing comments about Islam.[30][31] Hagee has claimed that "Islam not only condones violence; it commands it".[32][33] He has also claimed that a contrast exists between Islam's "violent nature" and Christianity's "loving nature"[32][34] and the Quran teaches, and Muslims have a mandate, to kill Jews and Christians.[35][36]

Blood moon prophecy

Hagee, along with Mark Biltz, created the blood moon prophecy, which they promoted in a 2013 book. The two men claimed that a tetrad which began with the April 2014 lunar eclipse was a sign of the end times as described in the Bible and the tetrad ended with the lunar eclipse on September 27–28, 2015. Hagee and Biltz's claims gained media attention.[37][38] The prediction was criticized by scientists and other Christians.[39][40][41]

Political activities

In 2002, Hagee endorsed the conservative State Representative John Shields in the latter's unsuccessful bid for the Republican primary for the District 25 seat in the Texas Senate. Hagee dubbed Shields's opponent, incumbent Jeff Wentworth, "the most pro-abortion" of 181 legislators in both houses of the Texas legislature.[42]

In 1996, Hagee spoke on behalf of Republican presidential primary candidate Alan Keyes, who in 2004 lost the U.S. Senate election in Illinois to Barack Obama. In 2008, Hagee endorsed Senator John McCain in the presidential contest against Barack Obama.[43] In 2016, Hagee endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.[44]

See also

References
  1. Cornerstone Church set to unveil $5 million Noah's Ark for kids Archived 2019-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, My San Antonion, 10 March 2013
  2. FOREIGN MINISTRY HONORS RABBI FOR JEWISH-CHRISTIAN INTERFAITH WORK Archived 2019-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, JPost, 11 November 2018
  3. "Hagee's Prosperity Gospel and Jews". talk2action.org. Talk to Action, LLC.
  4. "JOHN HAGEE TO CUT IM TIRTZU FUNDING". The Jerusalem Post.
  5. CBS: Hagee: Pro-Israel, Anti-Semitic?, May 23, 2008.
  6. Glenn Beck Honest Questions with John Hagee.
  7. Evangelicals seeing the error of 'replacement theology' Jerusalem Post.
  8. Jewish leader calls Hagee an 'extremist.' Archived July 12, 2008, at Archive.today
  9. WIlson, Bruce ‘Half-Breed Jew’ Committed Holocaust, Claims Netanyahu Ally John Hagee Huffington Post. 03/12/2015
  10. Santus, Rex Pastor who thinks Jews can’t be saved led opening prayer at U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Vice News. May 14, 2018.
  11. Washington Post: McCain Backer Apologizes For Anti-Catholic Remarks. May 14, 2008.
  12. "Catholic League: McCain's Next Move". Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  13. Jews defend Hagee's words, The Washington Times 5/24/08
  14. "Hagee's Jewish Endorsers".
  15. Hagee, John. Final Dawn Over Jerusalem. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc. 1998. online
  16. (pp. 79–81). Hagee previously argued that exactly the same connections between the Roman Catholic Church and Hitler existed in his 1987 Should Christians Support Israel? (pp. 20–30) — summarizing it in the sentence, "Roman Church policy shaped the policy of the Third Reich". (p. 20)
  17. (p. 73) Hagee, John. Final Dawn Over Jerusalem. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc. 1998. online
  18. "Pastor Hagee Apologizes for anti-Catholic remarks". Fox News. May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  19. "Minister Backing McCain Apologizes to Catholics" Goodstein, Laurie, New York Times, May 14, 2008
  20. Nationally Prominent Mega-Pastor Hagee Claims Hitler Was a "Half-Breed Jew" by Bruce Wilson, The Huffington Post, August 1, 2009
  21. Hagee uses Jeremiah 9:13–16; 44:2–4, 15–17
  22. Matthew Yglesias, A Friend Indeed The Atlantic.com March 7, 2008
  23. Max Blumenthal, AIPAC Cheers an Antisemitic Holocaust Revisionist (and Abe Foxman Approves) Huffington Post. March 14, 2007
  24. Bruce Wilson, "Pro Israel" Christian Leader Blames Jews For The Holocaust, Talk2Action, March 5, 2007
  25. Blumenthal, Max (10 June 2008). "Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  26. Ami Eden, "Q & A: John Hagee" Archived February 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  27. McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will, by Sam Stein, Huffington Post 5/21/08
  28. Libby Quaid (AP),"McCain seeks distance from Pastor" The Washington Post
  29. Juliet Eilperin and Kimberly Kindy. "McCain Rejects Pastor's Backing Over Remarks". The Washington Post
  30. Quinn, Paul (2012). "Anti-Catholicism, Islamophobia, and Modern Christian Multi-Media". From the Far Right to the Mainstream: Islamophobia in Party Politics and the Media. Campus Verlag: 136–137.
  31. Herron, Kyle W. (2011). "Embracing the Other: Toward an Ethic of Gospel Neighborliness". Journal of Religious Leadership. 10: 94–5.
  32. Hagee, John (2007). Jerusalem Countdown. p. 75.
  33. Spector, Stephen. Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism. p. 85.
  34. Andresen, Kjersti B. (2009). "Det nye kristne høyre - finnes det i Norge? : En analyse av to kristne aviser i lys av den amerikanske New Christian Right-diskursen": 47. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  35. "Pastor John Hagee on Christian Zionism". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  36. Johnston, David L. (2016). "American Evangelical Islamophobia: A History of Continuity with a Hope for Change". Journal of Ecumenical Studies. 51 (2): 224–235. doi:10.1353/ecu.2016.0018.
  37. Elizabeth Weise (April 3, 2014). "Blood moon eclipse on April 15 is a special event". USA Today. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  38. Sarah Pulliam Bailey (April 15, 2014). "'Blood moon' sets off apocalyptic debate among some Christians". Washington Post. Religion News Service. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  39. "Four Blood Moons: Total Lunar Eclipse Series Not a Sign of Apocalypse". Space.com. April 9, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  40. Bruce McClure; Deborah Byrd (March 30, 2014). "What is a Blood Moon?". Earth & Sky. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  41. Mike Moore (20 January 2014). "Blood Moon Rising". Mike's Musings. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  42. "Morgan Smith, "Primary Races Tend to Be Bloody," November 3, 2009". texastribune.org. 2009-11-03. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  43. "Will Alan Keyes Be John McCain's Worst Nightmare?, April 24, 2008". talkwaction.org. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  44. Gutierrez Cachila, Suzette (May 22, 2016). "Donald Trump receives support in presidential bid from Pastor John Hagee". The Christian Times. New York, NY. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
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