{"id":2195,"date":"2024-03-31T21:11:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T01:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midwestapologetics.org\/blog\/?p=2195"},"modified":"2026-03-28T09:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T13:39:08","slug":"is-it-antisemitic-to-say-christ-is-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midwestapologetics.org\/blog\/?p=2195","title":{"rendered":"Is it Antisemitic to Say \u201cChrist Is King\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Candace Owens speaking with attendees at the 2022 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center. Photo by Gage Skidmore.<\/p><\/div>\n

In November 2023, political and social commentator Candace Owens sparked an online firestorm by tweeting \u201cChrist is King.\u201d By itself, that phrase would hardly be surprising to read from a person who calls himself or herself a Christian. After all, Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God incarnate, and as ruler of the universe, He rules over everything, including the kingdoms of this world. However, Owens\u2019 words were not said in a vacuum, and they were not stated in the midst of a conversation about Jesus and His position in the cosmos. Let\u2019s unpack this a bit before answering the question of whether Christians should say \u201cChrist is King\u201d to Jewish people.<\/p>\n

Comments Made by Candace Owens<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Please note that the following description of Owens was made in early 2024. Since then, I believe she has become one of the largest grifters in history, and her blatant antisemitism and shameful attacks on Erika Kirk are disgusting. I also don’t believe it is accurate to label her as a conservative anymore.] Candace Owens is known for taking strong stands on various topics. I can appreciate her boldness, and as a fellow conservative, I tend to agree with some of her views. However, I think she occasionally comes across as condescending, as she did in a discussion with Chris Cuomo where I agreed with her view that we can acknowledge an enemy\u2019s intelligence, but I disagreed with her attitude. And at times, she is very uninformed, such as in her conversation with Jewish comedian Ami Kozak. She told him that the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem was like the segregated South in which her grandfather grew up. She said, \u201cWhen I\u2019m walking through Jerusalem, and you see, and they say \u2018these are the Muslim quarters [sic<\/em>], this is where the Muslims are allowed to live,\u2019 that doesn\u2019t feel like a bastion of freedom to me.\u201d For the record, Muslims are not restricted to live only in the Muslim Quarter (not quarters) of the Old City. They can live anywhere in Israel and they have full rights as citizens. This is not some apartheid system set up since Israel became a nation in 1948. The four quarters of the Old City existed for at least a century before that time. Thankfully, Kozak quickly corrected her. Owens was badly misinformed, and this gaffe came at a time when she made other statements that could easily be construed as antisemitic.<\/p>\n

This conversation with Kozak took place following a tweet where she implied that Israel was guilty of committing genocide against the people of Gaza. She wrote, \u201cNo government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide, ever. There is no justification for a genocide. I can\u2019t believe this even needs to be said or is even considered the least bit controversial to state.\u201d There are major problems with this statement. First, Israel is not committing genocide against the people of Gaza. If that\u2019s what they wanted to do, they wouldn\u2019t warn Gazan civilians to move away from certain areas before beginning their bombing, and they wouldn\u2019t be so precise in their attacks. In nearly six months of fighting, close to 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza out of a population of two million. If Israel truly wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed many times more people than they have. It should go without saying that the loss of any life is tragic, particularly innocent civilians during war. Yet, the way Hamas fights practically guarantees that far too many civilians will die. They build their bases under hospitals and launch missiles from schools, essentially using schoolchildren as human shields. When those innocents are killed in a war with Israel that Hamas started, then Hamas is to blame\u2014not Israel.<\/p>\n

The second big problem is that Owens did not speak up to condemn Hamas\u2019 terrorist attack on Israeli civilians that left 1,200 men, women, and children dead and more than 200 others kidnapped. In the weeks that followed, she continued to avoid condemning the attack and instead seemed to either equivocate Israel\u2019s military response to the terrorist attack or defend those who attacked Israel. So, she didn\u2019t speak against genocide of Jews, despite it being found in Hamas\u2019 original charter. ((The 1988 version begins with \u201cIsrael will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.\u201d It goes on to quote from a hadith (viewed by Muslims as a record of the words or actions of Muhammad), \u201cThe Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say \u2018O Muslims, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.\u2019 Only the Gharkad tree would not do that, because it is one of the trees of the Jews.\u201d While the revised charter of 2017 slightly softened the language against the Jews, the actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023 show that they are unwavering in their commitment to annihilate the Jews.))<\/p>\n

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Ben Shapiro speaking with attendees at the 2018 Young Women’s Leadership Summit. Photo by Gage Skidmore.<\/p><\/div>\n

Keep in mind that almost exactly one year earlier (October 10, 2022), Owens defended Kanye West when he tweeted, \u201cIm going Deathcon 3 on jewish people.\u201d She wrote, \u201cIf you are an honest person, you did not think this tweet was antisemitic. You did not think that he wrote this tweet because he hates or wants to genocide jewish people. This is not the beginning of a holocaust.\u201d I\u2019m curious how else a person is supposed to take West\u2019s tweet. Assuming he was referring to \u201cDEFCON 3,\u201d then West was using a term about military defense readiness in relation to the Jewish people, and Owens defended it.<\/p>\n

With that background, let\u2019s return to the question posed at the beginning of this post. In the week that followed Owens\u2019 conversation with Kozak, Ben Shapiro told a crowd at a private event that he thought her comments about Israel were \u201cabsolutely disgraceful.\u201d He added, \u201cHer faux sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous. Everybody can see the moves that she\u2019s making, the things that she\u2019s saying and I find them disreputable.\u201d Until last week, Owens was employed by the Daily Wire, a popular conservative news outlet Shapiro helped start. So, both individuals worked for the same organization at the time of these comments.<\/p>\n

It was at this point when Owens started quoting the Bible. She tweeted the following:<\/p>\n

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.<\/p>\n

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.<\/p>\n

You cannot serve both God and money.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She followed up this tweet with:<\/p>\n

Christ is King.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, blessed are the peacemakers. Does Owens realize that these words were spoken by a Jewish man (Jesus) to a Jewish audience? Has Owens ever called on Hamas, Hezbollah, or any of the nations that routinely attack Israel to seek peace? Why did Owens wait to call for peace after Israel responded to the worst terrorist attack on Jews since the Holocaust? Is it possible that sometimes the path to peace involves the destruction of a terrorist organization bent on your destruction? And why has she been so passive aggressive in these tweets rather than just coming out and stating clearly what she is referring to? After all, she is known for being very bold about her beliefs.<\/p>\n

As Christians, how should we respond to the use of \u201cChrist is King\u201d given this backdrop? Clearly, there are some who are promoting antichristian ideas who have coopted the phrase, such as the Hitler-praising white nationalist Nick Fuentes. I think we should all agree that it is absolutely wrong for people like him to use it as a weapon in an attempt to justify their hatred for the Jews.<\/p>\n

Is Owens\u2019 use of the term any better here? I would argue that her use of it is nearly as despicable because she was using it to mock or troll Ben Shapiro, who is widely recognized as an Orthodox Jew. Given her comments about Israel and the Jews in the prior month, how is someone supposed to read her tweet apart from seeing it as an attack on Jews? She also implied the common antisemitic trope about Jews being all about money. If Owens and Shapiro were having a civil conversation, and she told him that she believes \u201cChrist is King,\u201d then I would have no problem with it, and I doubt that Shapiro would either. He knows what Christians believe, and he would expect a Christian to espouse Christian beliefs. One can watch his interviews with John MacArthur and William Lane Craig to see that he is fully capable of holding discussions about these topics in a respectful manner.<\/p>\n

Speak the Truth IN Love<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some people have argued that Owens is just speaking the truth, and she\u2019s quoting the Bible. Well, the Bible also encourages Christians to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Notice, it does not say that speaking the truth IS love. It says to speak the truth IN love. There can be a huge difference, and it is vital that Christians recognize this truth. For example, in 2006, I was diagnosed with leukemia. Imagine if my doctor would have looked at my test results and then pointed in my face while laughing and then shouting, \u201cYou have leukemia!\u201d It would have been true, but it would have been extremely unloving.<\/p>\n

Far too many Christians misapply Ephesians 4:15 and other verses as a license to bludgeon people with Bible verses as though the Bible were a sledgehammer, and they often seem to exhibit a \u201crighteous\u201d pride after doing so. The same author (Paul) wrote the following in another letter:<\/p>\n

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;\u00a0to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel\u2019s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. (1 Corinthians 9:19\u201323).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We must be willing to humble ourselves and speak the truth in love. Scripture is not to be wielded like a shotgun to blast truth at unbelievers and let the pieces fall where they may. Paul spent countless hours attempting to convince and persuade unbelievers of the truth. \u201cKnowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:11; cf. Acts 17:1\u20134, 18:4). For a professing Christian to use \u201cChrist is King\u201d as a taunt designed to mock a Jewish man and act as if you just scored a mic drop moment is petty and disgraceful, and I believe it brings shame to the name of Jesus. This is especially true when one understands how horribly many in the church have treated Jewish people over the past two millennia. The church\u2019s shameful slander, persecution, and occasional killing of Jews reflects the exact opposite attitude displayed by Jesus and His followers.<\/p>\n

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Michael Brown details the sad history of the church’s mistreatment of Jews in Our Hands Are Stained with Blood<\/i><\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jesus wept over Jerusalem after the Triumphal Entry because He knew it would soon be destroyed since its leaders had (for the most part) rejected their Messiah (Luke 19:41\u201344). Then He lamented over the city, saying, \u201cO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, \u2018Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!\u2019\u201d (Matthew 23:37\u201339)<\/p>\n

At the start of Romans 9, Paul expressed his ongoing great sorrow and grief over the fact that most of his \u201ccountrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites\u201d had refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah. He even stated that he was willing to be condemned if they could be saved.<\/p>\n

Do the statements from Candace Owens come close to matching the attitude displayed by Jesus and Paul regarding the Jewish people? Absolutely not. Paul specifically charged Christians not to boast against the Jews (Romans 11:16\u201324). Instead of boasting, he said that through his ministry he hoped to \u201cprovoke to jealousy those who are of my flesh and save some of them\u201d (Romans 11:14). Paul wanted his fellow Jews to see his godly life and fellowship with God, so that they would long to be restored to a right relationship with God. That is the attitude Christians should have toward Jews. Sadly, the church has a shameful 2,000-year history in this area. As a reminder, Christians are called to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), love one another (John 13:34), and love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27\u201337, in case you\u2019re wondering how to define neighbor, this is in the context of the parable of the Good Samaritan). That covers pretty much everybody. So, we are commanded to love everyone, and I\u2019m confident the Jewish people are included among everybody.<\/p>\n

If you are still having trouble seeing how saying \u201cChrist is King\u201d to a Jew can be unhelpful, let\u2019s take a look at a tweet from Jeremy Boreing, the man who helped Shapiro start the Daily Wire.<\/p>\n

How is saying \u201cChrist is King antisemitic?<\/p>\n

The same way anything becomes antisemitic \u2013 when it is used for the purpose of expressing antisemitism. It\u2019s like asking \u201chow does a shovel become a murder weapon?\u201d When it is used to murder someone. This isn\u2019t hard. A shovel is not innately a murder weapon. Saying \u201cChrist is King\u201d is not innately antisemitic. It\u2019s all about how a thing is used. Saying \u201cEat some cornbread\u201d is not racist if I say it to my three-year-old when she is refusing her dinner. If I start saying it as a response to X [formerly Twitter] posts by black commentators I don\u2019t like, it has taken on a meaning beyond what is innate. In other words, it is connotatively racist, not denotatively racist. So too \u201cChrist is King\u201d may be antisemitic in connotation while not in denotation when it is being used to express antisemitism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Boreing nailed it. Context matters. Intent matters. One\u2019s heart matters. The truth must be spoken in love because our audience matters.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Christians, if we ever hope to reach Jewish people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we must learn to live and love like Jesus Christ. After all, the New Testament confirms that He is the Jewish Messiah. We should be concerned about the souls of all those who are lost, whether Jew or Gentile, and we should be speaking the truth in love and sharing the gospel with all people, because \u201cit is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek\u201d (Romans 1:16). Let us get rid of any hint of antisemitism from the church (and anti- any other people group), and show them the love of Christ in hopes that they might turn in faith to our Creator, Savior, and Lord.<\/p>\n

Update on 8\/26\/2024: Sadly, Candace Owens has made many more absurd antisemitic claims. Instead of taking the time to list them here, I encourage you to watch the first ~20 minutes of a recent episode of The Line of Fire with Michael Brown. He plays some of her clips and then sets the record straight on her bizarre claims.<\/p>\n