Denying a Jerusalem Post story that said he had embraced a “dual covenant” theology, Virginia evangelist Jerry Falwell said March 1 that he believes all people, including Jews, “must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to enter heaven.”
“I do not follow this teaching of ‘dual covenant’ theology and I believe it runs counter to the gospel,” the Lynchburg pastor said in a statement posted on www.falwell.com. “I have been on record all 54 years of my ministry as being opposed to ‘dual covenant’ theology.”
Dual covenant theology holds that Jews are saved through a special, unique relationship with God and need not trust in Christ for salvation.
The Jerusalem Post story, published March 1, said that pastor John Hagee and Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg—both from Texas—had “apparently persuaded” Falwell to adopt a dual covenant belief system. The story quoted only Scheinberg and did not quote Falwell.
“Falwell has altered his position, according to Scheinberg, apparently because the pastor decided to put End of Days theology aside in favor of the overriding need to support Israel, particularly against the mounting threat of a nuclear Iran,” the story, authored by Ilam Chaim, said.
The story noted that dual covenant theology “runs counter to mainstream evangelism.”
But a March 2 Jerusalem Post story said that Hagee had contacted the Post to say that he also doesn’t believe in a “dual covenant.”
“In a statement to the Post, the Texas-based televangelist Hagee said that neither he nor Southern Baptist pastor Falwell ‘believe or teach dual covenant,’ ” the Post reported.
Baptist Press