An Open Letter to Karen Wallace by Rebecca Prewett

Since Mrs. Wallace saw fit to publish her criticisms and insinuations publicly and yet in a forum to which she knows I am denied access, and since the sort of controversy and misunderstanding engendered by her post has, in past situations, given birth to vicious gossip and rumor and floods of email demanding personal statements from me, I felt that I should make the letter I wrote to her public as well. Hopefully it will clarify things and put this entire matter to rest.

Several GFI Forum members have shared their concerns with me about your recent post regarding my "Ezzo and Calvinism" article. One took the liberty of forwarding your post to me and asking for my comments. Based on your concerns, I've updated my article. Thank you for voicing them; I just wish you had come to me directly.

I would like to give you the courtesy of a more direct response to one of the issues you raised:

So this is what I am upset about... "The Jews, in Jesus' time, thought they had it all sewn up. They were circumcised; they were sons of Abraham. They and their children were IN. Jesus and Paul had strong words for them. No, they weren't sons of Abraham. Their circumcision was meaningless. It was more of a judgment than a blessing. Their hearts were unchanged."

The Jews? Meaning WHO? The whole Jewish nation? Is she claiming that there were no people of faith among the Jewish people? What does she know about Jews...then or now??? John told off "many of the Sadducees and Pharisees" and clearly indicated that THEY were not truely Sons of Abraham. But note, he was right in the middle of baptising JEWS at the time!!! And he didn't even pick on ALL of the Sadducees and Pharisees! Just MANY of them!

I had hoped that the context made clear which Jews I was referring to, but you're right---it comes across as overgeneralizing. I hope that my correction in the article makes clear what I meant.

As far as what I know about the Jews then, I base that knowledge on the Word of God. And for now? I fear, Karen, that you are assuming things on my part. But I hardly think my personal knowledge and experience, my family history and ethnic background, is relevant to this issue. It's not something I tend to share with those who are not my friends, in part for the following reason:

This friend of mine once asked me when I was raving about something..."Does EVERYTHING always end up being about the holocast for you???" You know what? The answer is, YES! Now on to today...

There is a danger in this. It is the same mistake that many feminists make, when suddenly everything---a construction worker leering at passersby, an obnoxiously flirty boss, unnecessary medical interventions during labor, burglary, etc.---ends up being about rape. Most of the rape survivors I know---especially those who've also experienced leering construction workers, sexually intimidating bosses, horrid births, and burglary---think that these are nothing compared to the nightmarish horror and depravity of rape. To suggest so trivializes the suffering and anguish of rape victims and trivializes the awful wickedness of rape.

When we make everything end up being about the Holocaust, there is the same danger. It diminishes the horror, the unspeakable evil. Because of the way I was raised, because of my family history, this is an issue that cuts deeply, far more deeply than most people can understand. (Maybe, Karen. you are one who could understand. I don't want to assume anything. There must be some reason that the Holocaust comes to your mind so readily and often. Perhaps you have seen and touched the scars...listened to the weeping of loved ones...felt your blood run cold at the sight of the hateful tattoo...mourned for relatives you will never meet in this lifetime...) Over the years, it has pained me when well-meaning Christians, ignorant of history, reduce the Holocaust to anti-Semitism at its extreme. To them, the Holocaust equals the death of six million Jews. That is already too horrific to contemplate, but the complete truth is yet more horrific. The Holocaust was even more than the racial genocide of the Jews. No one is saying, "Never Forget!" about the other victims, because they've already been largely forgotten. Who knows the number of Gypsies? (And, even worse, does anyone even weep for them? do you? when someone says, "I was gypped", does that become about the Holocaust for you?) Who knows the number of Christians, the number of handicapped, the number of children with such "problems" as malformed ears?

To me, imprecise language that inadvertently overgeneralizes about the Jews during Christ's time has nothing whatsoever to do with the Holocaust. The Holocaust was not just another instance of the anti-Semitism that you are unjustly, insensitively, and slanderously insinuating against me. The Holocaust was nothing short of a hellish attempt to attack God Himself, rebellion against Him carried to an extreme. It was Satanic evil. I'm trying to find words to communicate adequately...I can't. The horrors and depravity of men like Hitler and Stalin, their minions and others of their ilk, defy description.

To answer your question:

am I being too sensitive???

I would have to say so. Even if I were guilty of making blanket statements about the Jews in Jesus' time---even if I believed what you seem to think I did---such an error should hardly be linked with the mass murder of millions, as well as torture, imprisonment, blasphemy, persecution of Christians, government thievery, forced labor, war, and the many other evils of the Holocaust.

My article now includes this at the end:

Note: I would like to thank Karen Wallace for pointing out on the GFI Forum that I had over-generalized when referring to the Jews during Jesus' time. (I have added clarification in brackets to that section.) I would also like to assure her and others that, contrary to Mrs. Wallace's speculations, there is absolutely no connection between my imprecise language and the Holocaust. Furthermore, I would like to thank those who came to me directly with their concerns and questions about this article, as well as those who relayed Mrs. Wallace's concerns to me.

Let me thank you again personally as well---and extend to you an invitation to bring any of your concerns and questions about my articles to me directly. It is not only a more efficient way of handling things and finding the answers you seek (as well as generally considered to be the more Biblical approach) but it would leave you far less open to the sort of criticism that your post has already engendered. Just so that you know, I am also forwarding this email to several who have voiced concerns either publicly or privately.

God bless you!

Thanks for that letter, it made interesting reading.

Never meant to imply that you were responsible for the holocaust.

Still, would be nice if the theology debate in that article were a litle more honest.

Karen.

Where in my letter did I say that Mrs. Wallace implied that I was responsible for the Holocaust? I doubt that either of us would make such a ridiculous statement and I would urge a careful rereading of my letter to clarify what I did say.

As for the honesty of the theological issues I raised...I wish Mrs. Wallace would indicate exactly what I've written that needs to be "a little more honest". I was addressing one defense of the Ezzos' teaching. Similar defenses have been voiced to me via email. For example, I've been accused of not believing in the depravity of man, or else I would supposedly be fully of convinced that Prep is the only way to bring up babies. The truth of the matter is that I fully believe in the depravity of man and recognize that the only solution for man's condition is found in Jesus Christ. It is only by grace that anyone is saved. Infant feeding schedules are a faulty response to man's innate sinfulness.

I stand by my article (with its new corrections and clarifications) unless and until anyone can point out inaccuracies or theological error in what I have written. I do not believe there to be any, but I am neither arrogant nor forgetful enough to assume that I am incapable of mistake. At the same time, my family cannot spare my time in order for me to debate Calvinism with those readers who simply cannot believe that there is much truth in either the doctrines of grace or the doctrines of the Protestant Reformation. Furthermore, any light that I could shed on the subject would be a mere flickering candlelight to the bright light that has already been shed eloquently and powerfully on these topics.

copyright 1998 by Rebecca Prewett

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