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Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to "Holy Land" Theology
This accessible volume describes first-century Jewish and Christian beliefs about the land of Israel and offers a full survey of New Testament passages that directly address the question of land and faith. Respected New Testament scholar Gary M. Burge examines present-day tensions surrounding "territorial religion" in the modern Middle East, helping contemporary Christians develop a Christian theology of the land and assess Bible-based claims in discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.
168 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2010
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215 people want to read
About the author
Gary M. Burge
63 books27 followersGary M. Burge (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is dean of the faculty and professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary. He previously taught for twenty-five years at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Among his many published books are The New Testament in Seven Sentences, Theology Questions Everyone Asks (with coeditor David Lauber), A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion, Mapping Your Academic Career, The New Testament in Antiquity (coauthored with Gene Green), and the award-winning Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 16, 2018
I pushed myself hard to finish a book that tears at the foundation of who I am and what I believe as a messianic Jew. Gary Burge is well known as an anti-Israel evangelical who often aligns himself with Palestinian theologians who cry out at the alleged injustices of Israel towards the Palestinians and at the same time ignore the mistreatment of Palestinian Christians at the hands of Muslim Hamas.
Several points need to be stated about Burge’s expose of what he calls territorial theology.
First, Burge carefully quotes passages from the Torah which describe God’s giving of the land of Israel as well as the scattering of Israel from the land upon their disobedience to the Torah. However, Burge neglects to include passages from the Tenach in which God promised to restore Israel back to the land. The author did this quite frequently which makes his theology disingenuous.
Second, like the first point, Burge, a NT Johannine scholar failed to demonstrate any comprehensive grasp of the multitude of OT prophetic passages which prophesied Israel’s return to the land after the 70 AD destruction of the temple and the worldwide exile of Israel. Like the majority of supersessionists or replacement theologians, he did not dare try to exegete passages from the prophets that contradicted his tightly wound anti-Israel theology. This is most likely the downfall of his book.
Third, Burge is truly a gnostic Christian theologian who makes Jesus out to be the Gnostic Messiah of the anti-materialistic Hellenists. According to the former Wheaton professor, there are no more land promises since Jesus is the land. In addition, there is no need for a physical temple in Jerusalem since Jesus as well as His followers are the Temple of God. Regardless of all the OT prophetic passages that speak of the millennial Temple, or the centrality of Jerusalem in the messianic kingdom or the restoration of Israel to the land, according to Gary Burge, these physical realities have been replaced by the Gnostic Christ of Gary Burge. At times I thought I was reading one of Plato’s works.
Last, Burge, a NT exegetical expert, did a suspect job interpreting key passages in the NT regarding Israel. According to Burge in Matthew 5:5, “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth or the land,” Jesus was telling His Jewish followers that only those who are meek and humble will be given the land of Israel. Of course, later in the book, Burge dispels the promises regarding the holy land and replaces it with heaven. But nowhere in the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus discussing any territorial issues let alone Israel’s inheritance of the land. ‘Earth” might refer to earthly authority and Jesus is telling His followers that authority in earth and rulership in this world is not through grabbing and force but humble dependence on God. To interject the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant into Jesus’ teaching at this juncture in Jesus’ ministry is bad eisogesis by Burge.
The list goes on through Romans, Galatians, Hebrews and Revelation where the author misinterprets scripture to do away with any suggestion that the land of Israel had any significance to first century messianic Jews.
Read the book. Interact with Burge’s anti-land premise and his distasteful Gnostic Christ. This book has been refuted elsewhere by Barry Horner and others. See http://www.pre-trib.org/data/pdf/Horn....
Several points need to be stated about Burge’s expose of what he calls territorial theology.
First, Burge carefully quotes passages from the Torah which describe God’s giving of the land of Israel as well as the scattering of Israel from the land upon their disobedience to the Torah. However, Burge neglects to include passages from the Tenach in which God promised to restore Israel back to the land. The author did this quite frequently which makes his theology disingenuous.
Second, like the first point, Burge, a NT Johannine scholar failed to demonstrate any comprehensive grasp of the multitude of OT prophetic passages which prophesied Israel’s return to the land after the 70 AD destruction of the temple and the worldwide exile of Israel. Like the majority of supersessionists or replacement theologians, he did not dare try to exegete passages from the prophets that contradicted his tightly wound anti-Israel theology. This is most likely the downfall of his book.
Third, Burge is truly a gnostic Christian theologian who makes Jesus out to be the Gnostic Messiah of the anti-materialistic Hellenists. According to the former Wheaton professor, there are no more land promises since Jesus is the land. In addition, there is no need for a physical temple in Jerusalem since Jesus as well as His followers are the Temple of God. Regardless of all the OT prophetic passages that speak of the millennial Temple, or the centrality of Jerusalem in the messianic kingdom or the restoration of Israel to the land, according to Gary Burge, these physical realities have been replaced by the Gnostic Christ of Gary Burge. At times I thought I was reading one of Plato’s works.
Last, Burge, a NT exegetical expert, did a suspect job interpreting key passages in the NT regarding Israel. According to Burge in Matthew 5:5, “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth or the land,” Jesus was telling His Jewish followers that only those who are meek and humble will be given the land of Israel. Of course, later in the book, Burge dispels the promises regarding the holy land and replaces it with heaven. But nowhere in the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus discussing any territorial issues let alone Israel’s inheritance of the land. ‘Earth” might refer to earthly authority and Jesus is telling His followers that authority in earth and rulership in this world is not through grabbing and force but humble dependence on God. To interject the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant into Jesus’ teaching at this juncture in Jesus’ ministry is bad eisogesis by Burge.
The list goes on through Romans, Galatians, Hebrews and Revelation where the author misinterprets scripture to do away with any suggestion that the land of Israel had any significance to first century messianic Jews.
Read the book. Interact with Burge’s anti-land premise and his distasteful Gnostic Christ. This book has been refuted elsewhere by Barry Horner and others. See http://www.pre-trib.org/data/pdf/Horn....
November 30, 2010
I really enjoyed this book, and right after I started reading it I noticed two other authors I respected had also recently made mention of it, so I figured it should be a good read. The issue of Zionism, or those who feel Israel deserves to be back in their land due to some biblical, covenantal, or eschatological reason, really need to examine the issue further; and this book is a great place to start.
I was thinking it was going to just be a book to counter the many modern arguments in support of modern Israel, but instead it is a fairly thorough historical march through the Bible, covering the covenant, the promises, and the importance of the land along the way. Most of the way through, it spoke so much in favor of the importance of the land, that I thought it was going down a path other than what I thought the intent was. Then as he approached the New Testament, and the new covenant, the shift began, and the last couple chapters examine the view of the land in those last days for the Christians.
Kenneth Gentry recently commented, saying this book is one of a few books that has greatly shaped his view of Israel and the land, and that after reading this and the couple others, if someone still could cling to a modern dispensational view of the land, then they are probably beyond hope (that is a paraphrase as I understood it).
Maybe this book had more of an excitement and impact on me due to it's heavy look into Israel's past and understanding of the land, since I had recently finished the Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel which examined a lot of historical understandings in Hebrew thought; but either way, this book was full of great content, history, and biblical conclusions. I have so many highlighted remarks throughout, it would be hard to narrow it down to give a brief synopsis, but I just encourage you to check this book out if you have any interest in the modern crisis in Israel over who has the rights to the land.
I was thinking it was going to just be a book to counter the many modern arguments in support of modern Israel, but instead it is a fairly thorough historical march through the Bible, covering the covenant, the promises, and the importance of the land along the way. Most of the way through, it spoke so much in favor of the importance of the land, that I thought it was going down a path other than what I thought the intent was. Then as he approached the New Testament, and the new covenant, the shift began, and the last couple chapters examine the view of the land in those last days for the Christians.
Kenneth Gentry recently commented, saying this book is one of a few books that has greatly shaped his view of Israel and the land, and that after reading this and the couple others, if someone still could cling to a modern dispensational view of the land, then they are probably beyond hope (that is a paraphrase as I understood it).
Maybe this book had more of an excitement and impact on me due to it's heavy look into Israel's past and understanding of the land, since I had recently finished the Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel which examined a lot of historical understandings in Hebrew thought; but either way, this book was full of great content, history, and biblical conclusions. I have so many highlighted remarks throughout, it would be hard to narrow it down to give a brief synopsis, but I just encourage you to check this book out if you have any interest in the modern crisis in Israel over who has the rights to the land.
October 22, 2011
Is this book ever powerful walking through every part of the Bible to help us understand what the land of Israel meant then and now! And it's a devastating critique of Christian Zionism which has captured much of American evangelicalism and actually affects US policy in the Middle East--and not in good ways. Burge's main argument is that the New Testament corrects the misuse of Old Testament texts by Christian Zionists. I'm now beginning to wonder if guys like Hal Lindsey and John Hagee are actually false teachers? Are we witnessing the rise of a heresy?
August 14, 2025
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has prompted no end of stormy debate. Christian Zionists in particular, have been vocal in their support for Israel (often neglecting to pay attention to Palestinian Christians in the land). These believers wield the Bible to justify their allegiance to Zionism, determined to prove that Scripture testifies to Israel's legitimate ownership of the land.
Gary M. Burge, professor at Wheaton College, tackles this "holy land theology" through examining how the New Testament speaks of the "land." He notes that Christian Zionists depend upon the Old Testament (especially the prophets) when defending their claims as to modern-day Israel's entitlement to the land, but he persuasively showcases how the New Testament makes no affirmations about Israel's right to the land. He effectively shows that it is Christ himself, not Jerusalem, not the Temple, which becomes the focus of Christian devotion.
This is more a biblical studies book than one addressing the contemporary conflict in Palestine (though he provides a good list of recommended books at the end of this one). Still, for those wrestling with dispensationalism and Christian Zionism, Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to "Holy Land" Theology, this book makes a convincing case for abandoning such ideology.
Gary M. Burge, professor at Wheaton College, tackles this "holy land theology" through examining how the New Testament speaks of the "land." He notes that Christian Zionists depend upon the Old Testament (especially the prophets) when defending their claims as to modern-day Israel's entitlement to the land, but he persuasively showcases how the New Testament makes no affirmations about Israel's right to the land. He effectively shows that it is Christ himself, not Jerusalem, not the Temple, which becomes the focus of Christian devotion.
This is more a biblical studies book than one addressing the contemporary conflict in Palestine (though he provides a good list of recommended books at the end of this one). Still, for those wrestling with dispensationalism and Christian Zionism, Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to "Holy Land" Theology, this book makes a convincing case for abandoning such ideology.
February 13, 2015
This is one of those books that, if you agree with it, you don’t need to read it. A few simple sentences would suffice to reimburse the conclusions you have already come to. Well, I suppose it is worth reading if you are gearing up for an argument with people who don’t agree. And, I suppose, it would do well to arm up on the whole book's worth of arguments, knowing the kind of people who would argue in opposition.
For sure, this is not the kind of book for people who don’t agree. They simply won’t read it. That’s just how people are. And if they do read it but don’t already agree with the basic idea, they’ll give it one star. That’s just the nature of this topic. It would take a faith-shattering, doubt-inflicting experience to force somebody to rebuild their belief system along the opposite pole of this argument.
That being said, I suffered one such pole-shift a decade ago, which led me to a much deeper understanding of Christ’s mission here on Earth and God’s will for humanity. Having been born amongst those who think Jerusalem lies at the center of the universe, it was a complete one-eighty for me to realize that God is bigger than a box on top of a mountain—even a box made of gold and housed in a pretty little temple. God’s plan is not to be owned by a few people, nor to favor a single tract of land while shunning all others. The God I have come to understand is one who does not hide His truth from those who seek Him…whether they are inhabiting the “Holy Land” of Israel or living in darkest Africa or ancient China or the Jungles of Central America. As this book clearly points out early on, it is the nature of man to want to favor a land. Those who do not understand this might just be surprised to find that they are the ones who have failed to fully understand the teachings of Jesus.
For sure, this is not the kind of book for people who don’t agree. They simply won’t read it. That’s just how people are. And if they do read it but don’t already agree with the basic idea, they’ll give it one star. That’s just the nature of this topic. It would take a faith-shattering, doubt-inflicting experience to force somebody to rebuild their belief system along the opposite pole of this argument.
That being said, I suffered one such pole-shift a decade ago, which led me to a much deeper understanding of Christ’s mission here on Earth and God’s will for humanity. Having been born amongst those who think Jerusalem lies at the center of the universe, it was a complete one-eighty for me to realize that God is bigger than a box on top of a mountain—even a box made of gold and housed in a pretty little temple. God’s plan is not to be owned by a few people, nor to favor a single tract of land while shunning all others. The God I have come to understand is one who does not hide His truth from those who seek Him…whether they are inhabiting the “Holy Land” of Israel or living in darkest Africa or ancient China or the Jungles of Central America. As this book clearly points out early on, it is the nature of man to want to favor a land. Those who do not understand this might just be surprised to find that they are the ones who have failed to fully understand the teachings of Jesus.
December 31, 2024
Six or seven stars out of five. Burge is a Bible scholar, translator and Christian of the highest order and this little book is one of the most important and inspiring I read during my ten years of doctoral research. Yes, it could benefit from a minor repetitive phrasing edit, but WOW! This book is worth reading.
Burge's concise explanation for an acceptable Christian theology of the land is profound, insightful and cogent. Indeed, across forty years in pentecostal churches I never heard teaching on the topic of the Gospel of John's 'Book of Signs' that was as focused, meaningful and beautiful. (Sadly, in all those Sundays I never heard anything that tied together this important topic in as well-educated a way.)
Burge graciously but effectively debunks malformed Christian Zionist (CZ) rapture-themed nonsense about a supposed final eschatological cycle (loc.2214) involving land restoration to Israel. For Burge, this "type of territorial theology … has been foreign to Christianity since its inception" (loc. 2166) and he argues from Scripture and scholarship for its "replacement" with better informed and more reliable interpretation, theology and understanding.
Burge covers his topics in eight easy chapters, briefly but effectively outlining relevant and important aspects of theology, interpretation and history. He briefly traces, for example, CZ's uptake among evangelicals from its early promoter William Blackstone to recent and present advocates including Jerry Falwell, Hal Lindsay and John Hagee. Burge also traces from the Old to New Testament, relevant theological treatments and interpretive approaches to the land and key promises to Abraham.
Burge's references include a number of other useful and accessible scholarly entries on the topic that ought to also be helpful reading for anyone interested in Israel, Christian Zionism and evangelical theology.
Burge's concise explanation for an acceptable Christian theology of the land is profound, insightful and cogent. Indeed, across forty years in pentecostal churches I never heard teaching on the topic of the Gospel of John's 'Book of Signs' that was as focused, meaningful and beautiful. (Sadly, in all those Sundays I never heard anything that tied together this important topic in as well-educated a way.)
Burge graciously but effectively debunks malformed Christian Zionist (CZ) rapture-themed nonsense about a supposed final eschatological cycle (loc.2214) involving land restoration to Israel. For Burge, this "type of territorial theology … has been foreign to Christianity since its inception" (loc. 2166) and he argues from Scripture and scholarship for its "replacement" with better informed and more reliable interpretation, theology and understanding.
Burge covers his topics in eight easy chapters, briefly but effectively outlining relevant and important aspects of theology, interpretation and history. He briefly traces, for example, CZ's uptake among evangelicals from its early promoter William Blackstone to recent and present advocates including Jerry Falwell, Hal Lindsay and John Hagee. Burge also traces from the Old to New Testament, relevant theological treatments and interpretive approaches to the land and key promises to Abraham.
Burge's references include a number of other useful and accessible scholarly entries on the topic that ought to also be helpful reading for anyone interested in Israel, Christian Zionism and evangelical theology.
September 26, 2024
This is the third in a series of books I have been given regarding eschatology. This book had a different focus though. The book's main theme deals with the land of Israel itself and how our view of our native land motivates us in various ways especially theologically.
Being from a dispensational background many of the author's arguments hit home. One challenging statement he made concerning the return of the Lord - do we want the Jews to return to the land because we generally care about their going back or do, we want them back because we want the Lord to return? I guess it hit a little different with me.
Chapter 4 is worth in my opinion revisiting. The contrasts between the covenant land promise, and temple between the Old and New Testaments were great. The whole of the book is outlined this way with material covering God's covenant promises and how the land fit in with those promises.
Towards the end of the book, he begins a bit of a shift and covers how Christians should view the land.
Some may accuse the author of being antisemitic nothing could be further from the truth. This is not an attack on the Jews this isn't an attack on anyone just a biblically based, well-thought-out argument on how we should view the land promises to Israel and this shift that resulted with Christ.
The book was easy to read, well documented, with plenty of scripture, and written with a gracious spirit.
Being from a dispensational background many of the author's arguments hit home. One challenging statement he made concerning the return of the Lord - do we want the Jews to return to the land because we generally care about their going back or do, we want them back because we want the Lord to return? I guess it hit a little different with me.
Chapter 4 is worth in my opinion revisiting. The contrasts between the covenant land promise, and temple between the Old and New Testaments were great. The whole of the book is outlined this way with material covering God's covenant promises and how the land fit in with those promises.
Towards the end of the book, he begins a bit of a shift and covers how Christians should view the land.
Some may accuse the author of being antisemitic nothing could be further from the truth. This is not an attack on the Jews this isn't an attack on anyone just a biblically based, well-thought-out argument on how we should view the land promises to Israel and this shift that resulted with Christ.
The book was easy to read, well documented, with plenty of scripture, and written with a gracious spirit.
January 17, 2024
In conclusion, to the Christian who has an opinion on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, I won’t say you must read this book, but I would say you must have a theological underpinning for your opinion. Your opinion needs to be informed by both the Old Testament and the New Testament. And if you want to be as well-informed as you can be on this issue that is often played on Christian sentiments, then I would recommend “Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to ‘Holy Land’ Theology”. It’s just as relevant as it was the day it was published 14 years ago, which is one of the rare cases where the writer must wish his book was less relevant today.
Full 3,115 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
Full 3,115 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
October 23, 2023
Really timely read. I haven’t dug into the theological reputation of Burge but it sounds like there’s some strong opinions about him. I do think—from the Christian perspective—holy land theology is refuted by the new covenant. This doesn’t reduce the significance of Israel or its placement in Christian history, but I think a lot of Christians are unaware Jesus was unconcerned with the maintenance of the Jewish state. The holy land became the world once the faith was opened up beyond the Middle East. Jesus didn’t come for political revolution and was uninterested in state affairs.
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November 20, 2024There is an astounding number of comma splices, run-on sentences, and other such grammatical atrocities in this book which were shockingly left unedited before its publication. Additionally, it’s a slog to get through. Despite being such a short book, it took me a couple of months to work my way through it from beginning to end. It’s certainly more academic than it is publicly accessible, which is ironic considering all of its grammatical errors. All of that aside, however, the arguments of Jesus and the Land are compelling and worth mulling over.
December 26, 2024
I reread Burge's book after I listened to a podcast describing his journey from only seeing Israel through the Israeli viewpoint and listening to the stories of Palestinian Christians. This title doesn't include those personal stories. Instead it's a profoundly biblical approach to the land that leads readers to see how the church is the place where God dwells and so all lands are holy. Profoundly Christian with a view that lets us love all inhabitants of the geographic land where Jesus lived.
March 24, 2025
No doubt his reformed calvinist roots led to his egregious anti-Semitism. There can be no doubt as well that this led to his distortion of the Old Testament and also his inability to accurately teach the New Testament. NOTHING he writes is worth reading or buying.
February 14, 2025
An important read
Important perspectives to be digested particularly by those who claim to follow Jesus and especially relevant in the current genocide
Important perspectives to be digested particularly by those who claim to follow Jesus and especially relevant in the current genocide
February 22, 2021
This is a very helpful guide for understanding how the land promises given in the Old Testament are taken up and reinterpreted in the New Testament.
May 15, 2013
Burge's extreme angle on this critical issue is the result of serious errors. Inadequate time was spent addressing the philosophical ramifications of God's initial choosing and blessing of Israel. Burge's humanism that protests God's promises to Israel would fall flat if these issues were addressed. His argument that God's focus moves away from the Land in the New Testament comes from a failure to understand the age we live in (The time of the Gentiles, Luke 21:24), as well as what the Land represents for Israel (It is more than just land!). Burge simply neglects all of what the Scriptures have to say about the conclusion of this time, seriously damaging his ability to speak to this issue with any credibility.
In short, this book amounted to an anti-Israel polemic rooted in humanistic philosophy and poor exegesis.
In short, this book amounted to an anti-Israel polemic rooted in humanistic philosophy and poor exegesis.
February 20, 2012
Great, sweeping look at the role of the land in the Bible and how it is presented and understood. The book deals pretty strictly with the biblical aspect, without delving into the politics and present-day problems, although the author does recommend lots of wonderful books on both sides of the aisle.
May 21, 2013
A thorough overview of many, many texts in play on this issue. Does a fantastic job of clarifying the NT's vision of what Jesus accomplished and how it supersedes any theology tied to land. This is a lot of work packed into a quick 130-page read and easily could have been 500. Very good introduction to the relevant passages, though. I wish all American Christians would read this.
August 28, 2014
This is an excellent example of good Biblical scholarship that helps us to understand the world of scripture and speaks a relevant word to real world situations now. Whether you find yourself in agreement with the author politically there is much here to contemplate and consider. An excellent resource.
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August 6, 2011Excellent look at NT theology concerning the Land (Israel) which brings challenge, balance, and perspective to the popular Zionist movement and lays out an understandable template for understanding how Christ fulfills and expands OT promises and intentions.
March 3, 2011
amazing theological refutation of Christian Zionism - so well written and so well argued!
May 14, 2012
Good look at the theological issues related to the Land
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February 9, 2016With all that's going on in the Middle East, it's good to read a healthy Biblical perspective about the Land where Jesus walked.
February 14, 2016
Very well written
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews