Amidst concerns of growing antisemitism, pastor Greg Laurie is leaving no doubt where he stands. “Everything we have came to us through God’s chosen people, the Jews,. [God] established a covenant with them in Genesis 12 with Abraham and his descendants. He said, ‘I will bless those that bless you. I will curse those that curse you,’” said Laurie. Amongst Christians, there are competing ideas of whether or not God’s promise to the Jews still remains after the coming of Christ and the new covenant. Two main schools of thought are Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. Covenant Theology, sometimes referred to as “replacement theory,” sees the covenant of God transferring from Israel to the church as a whole. Dispensationalism, meanwhile, sees Israel as separate from the Church, with God’s promises to Israel yet to be fulfilled.

Laurie rejected the idea that God’s promises no longer apply to Israel and warned that a growing resentment towards Israel could lead to dangerous conclusions. “It happened on the heels of something called the Holocaust. And I think a lot of young people don’t know about that, and that is that horrible event that happened really not that long ago, when you … look at the big picture, where 6 million Jewish men, women, and children were put to death in Nazi concentration camps, extermination camps, as part of Hitler’s so-called final solution,” he warned.

Since the October 7 attacks and Israel’s subsequent retaliation against Hamas, antisemitism appears to be growing from both the right and the left. Popular right-wing podcasters like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have firmly called out Zionists and asserted that American policy is being controlled by a covert group of Jews. “I think we’re past subtle anti-Semitism,” warned Laurie. “It seems like people want to blame the Jews and the nation of Israel for everything that’s going wrong in our world today. And, look, the modern state of Israel is not a perfect nation any more than America is. But having said that, they are a Jewish homeland, and I do believe their being in the land is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy,” he insisted, pointing to the creation of Israel after the Holocaust. He firmly insisted that God’s promises are never broken and called on Christians to support the Jewish people. “There is a rise of anti-Semitism in our nation right now, and I believe it’s evil, and I believe we as Christians should speak up for our Jewish friends.”