Can you imagine what it must be like to be the evangelical world's self-proclaimed "Bible Answer Man"?

Quite a billing to live up to, I'd say!

A friend from Ohio just sent us this cover from a past issue of Hank Hanegraaff's Christian Research Journal:

Of course, we all know that Hanegraaff had some nasty things to say about Israel (and also about Tim LaHaye) in his book The Apocalypse Code (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007). We won't go into detail here because Tommy Ice and I reviewed TAO a few years ago in Messianic Perspectives: click here

Hanegraaff has said that Israel should not be a Jewish state because that constitutes some sort of ill-advised ethnic exclusivity (CRI Position Statement PSN001 at www.equip.org). Never mind that the tiny Jewish state is surrounded by an enormous community of Arab states--it's just wrong to allow the existence of even one Jewish state, according to this dubious line of reasoning.

So Hank and CRI already have a track record. He has been associated with outspoken anti-Zionists like Stephen Sizer and Gary Burge. This, in part, is why no one (at least, none of my acquaintances) was surprised when he showed up at an Occupy Wall Street conference in Tehran, Iran, last year (2012): click here

The magazine cover (above) evidently has some people wondering just how reliable CRI's scholarship is if they don't know the difference between the noun "prophecy" and the verb "prophesy." Our friend in Ohio mused, "These people should learn the correct spelling of 'prophecy' before claiming to be an expert in it."

However, here at CJFM, we're going to give CRI the benefit of the doubt and say it's a simple typo (even though it's in 80 point type!). We'd rather keep the focus where it belongs: that is, on the issues of replacement theology, futuristic eschatology, Israel's right to dwell in the Land (even when she's corporately--but temporarily--in a state of unbelief), and other, substantive matters, rather than typographical errors.

By the way, Bill Koenig has a germane piece in today's edition of his International News. It includes a transcript of an interview in which Hank elaborates in some detail on his partial preterist views: click here

If you don't know what partial preterism is, you'll find helpful info here and here.

Stay strong, friends!