Page 26 - Holyland Magazine - 2025 Edition
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Dr. A. J. Nolte                                      long-standing positive relationships with           which will give three exceptional Regent
                                                     the local Jewish community, an attitude of          students the opportunity to work as fellows
Since October 7, the anti-Israel                     support for Israel and the Jewish people is         at the Institute for one semester, and then
            protests that have rocked elite          in Regent’s DNA. Now, with the launch of            study at Hebrew University free of charge for
            college campuses in the United           Regent University’s Israel Institute, Regent        the following semester.
            States have shocked many                 is taking this commitment to the next level.        In all of our work, the Israel Institute has been
            observers. But these protests                                                                blessed to have valuable partners, from the
did not happen in a vacuum. For decades,             Established in May of 2024, the Israel Institute’s  local United Jewish Federation of Tidewater
academia, particularly in departments of             mission is to educate the Regent community          to the U.S. branch of the International
Middle East studies, has incubated a toxic           and the public about the history and politics       Christian Embassy of Jerusalem. CBN Israel has
ideology based on warmed-over Marxism.               of the modern State of Israel. The Institute        emerged as our most critical partner in the
Dividing the world into “oppressors” and             works with Regent’s various academic units          past year. Through their outstanding work
“oppressed,” this ideology has cast Jews             to promote collaboration with Israeli partners      covering news in Israel, their tremendous
and Israel in the camp of the "oppressors,"          and research focusing on Israel. We also seek       humanitarian work in the country, and
meaning that anything they do is judged              to counter the most common myths about
as evil, and anything their enemies do is            Israel and strengthen the alliance between           Countering Antisem
judged as good.                                      Jews and Christians in support of Israel and
                                                     against new antisemitism.                                 Student praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem,
Christian colleges and universities must                                                                       the most holy site for the Jewish people.	
resist this ideology for five reasons. First, it is  Since its foundation, the Institute has held
objectively false to claim that Israel is a settler  three major events at Regent, featuring:
colonialist enterprise, an apartheid state,          Ambassador David Friedman and MK
intrinsically racist, or any of the other easily     Ohad Taal in Fall 2024; Ambassador Danny
debunked myths this ideology propagates.             Danon this March; and a colloquium on
Second, most Christians in the United States         the Hebrew Bible and the roots of Western
see Israel, in some sense, as part of God’s          civilization this March, with Rabbi Pesach
redemptive work through history, rather              Wolicki of Israel 365 and prominent Christian
than embracing the false narratives of critical      intellectual Os Guinness. We also sponsored
theory. Christian academics need not embrace         a screening of the film Tragic Awakening with
this perspective simply because many                 Rabbi Raphael Shore this Spring. In addition,
Christians hold it, but it would be responsible      Dr. A.J. Nolte, Director of the Institute, has
for Christian colleges and universities to           spoken on Christian support for Israel
seriously, and constructively engage in this         and the Jewish people at Gratz College in
perspective without the intrinsic ideological        Philadelphia, Jewish Theological Seminary in
bias critical theory imposes.                        New York City, and Old Dominion University
                                                     in Norfolk Virginia.
Third, the critical theory paradigm undermines
the critical thinking required to analyze a          The Israel Institute has also fostered strong
region as complex as the Middle East. As a           partnerships with academic units at
result, it also undermines the foundations           Regent. We’re working with the School of
of liberal education and free inquiry. Fourth,       Business and Leadership to connect SBL
the same critical theorists that attack Israel       alumni with opportunities to mentor Israeli
as "colonial" level the same false accusation        companies seeking to enter the U.S. market.
about America. Fifth and finally, the “colonial”     We’ve co-sponsored an event on Israel
trope has been used against Christians, even         and international law with the Center for
in countries where they are persecuted. So           Global Justice at Regent’s Law School, and
long as critical theorists code Christianity         we look forward to advancing this research
and Judaism as “colonial” and Islam as “anti-        program further. Within the Robertson
colonial,” their ideology will continue to justify   School of Government, we’re creating a new
anti-semitismand Christian persecution alike.        concentration in Israel studies for our MA in
                                                     government, and preparing PHD candidates
Tragically, few Christian colleges have answered     to produce dissertations focused on Israel.
the challenge since October 7. But Regent            Most significantly, with the generous support
University is a shining example that counters        of CBN Israel, we are launching a fellowship
this trend. From Regent’s early embrace of           program through Regent’s Honors College,
the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance's definition of antisemitism to our

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