Visit Your Local PBS Station PBS Home PBS Home Programs A-Z TV Schedules Support PBS Shop PBS Search PBS
Photo of Bill Moyers Bill Moyers Journal
Bill Moyers Journal
Bill Moyers Journal
Watch & Listen The Blog Archive Transcripts TV Schedule
Rabbi Michael Lerner and Dr. Timothy P. Weber
May of Israel
Watch Video
Read Transcript
Comment
October 5, 2007

Bill Moyers sits down with Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun, a Jewish journal of politics, culture, and spirituality, and Dr. Timothy P. Weber, an evangelical Christian, historian, and the author of ON THE ROAD TO ARMAGEDDON: HOW EVANGELICALS BECAME ISRAEL'S BEST FRIEND, who discuss the growing Christian Zionist movement in America, from different religious perspectives.
"In previous attempts to understand Bible prophecy, Iran did not show up on anybody's radar screen. As history takes these unexpected turns, the Bible teachers, the preachers, the dispensational theologians, they adjust the scenario to fit. In short, dispensationalists know how to change the subject, when it's necessary." -Dr. Timothy P. Weber

"It is possible to create a different understanding of the Islamic world, one that doesn't put them all together in one evil category, just as it's possible to understand that there are evangelicals who are very hurtful in their world view, and there are evangelicals who are very loving in their world view." -Rabbi Michael Lerner
Rabbi Michael Lerner

Rabbi Michael Lerner is the editor of TIKKUN magazine, which he founded in 1986 as a journal of liberal and progressive Jewish thought. He holds doctorates in both philosophy and clinical psychology and has written 11 books, including JEWISH RENEWAL, SPIRIT MATTERS, and his most recent, THE LEFT HAND OF GOD.

Michael Lerner by Robin Holland Rabbi Lerner studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary and was a student and protégé of Abraham Joshua Heschel. He received an A.B. from Columbia. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1972 from the University of California in Berkeley and a second Ph.d. in clinical psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley in 1977.

In 2002 Lerner founded the Tikkun Community, an "international interfaith organization dedicated to peace, justice, non-violence, generosity, caring, love and compassion," which he chairs with Cornel West. A recent project of the Community is the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP).

>Lerner discusses the Network of Spiritual Progressives

Dr. Timothy P. Weber

Dr. Timothy Weber is an evangelical Christian, author, and educator. For thirty years, Dr. Weber served as a teacher, scholar, vice president of academic affairs, and president in four institutions of graduate Michael Lerner by Robin Hollandtheological education, including teaching general church history and the history of American religion at Denver Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Vice-President at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, IL, and President of Memphis Theological Seminary in Tennessee.

Timothy Weber has also been a member of the Panel of Advisors of the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education in New York, directing a project on "Faith and Finances," examining "how theological schools and denominational judicatories can better prepare ministry students as financial managers in local congregations."

He is the author of LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE SECOND COMING and more recently, ON THE ROAD TO ARMAGEDDON: HOW EVANGELICALS BECAME ISRAEL'S BEST FRIEND, which was nominated for a Grawemeyer Award in Religion. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from University of Chicago, a M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and a B.A. from U.C.L.A.

Published on October 5, 2007

Guest photos by Robin Holland

Related Media:
Watch "Is God Green?"
MOYERS ON AMERICA, October 11, 2006
References and Reading:
Letter to President Bush From Evangelical Leaders
NEW YORK TIMES, July 29, 2007
"We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth."

When U.S. Foreign Policy Meets Biblical Prophecy
By Paul S. Boyer, AlterNet. February 20, 2003
"Does the Bible foretell regime change in Iraq? Did God establish Israel's boundaries millennia ago? Is the United Nations a forerunner of a satanic world order? For millions of Americans, the answer to all those questions is a resounding yes."

More on Rabbi Michael Lerner

Tikkun Web site
Rabbi Lerner founded TIKKUN magazine in 1986 as a journal of liberal and progressive Jewish thought. Read current and past articles and learn more about the magazine's mission and staff here.

Bringing God Into It
by Rabbi Michael Lerner, THE NATION, April 6, 2006
"...conservatives have historically used religion to justify oppressive social systems and political regimes. But this can't be the whole answer, since it's not as if the left has never seen anyone misuse its own ideas to serve hateful and repressive purposes, from the Terror during the French Revolution to the Stalinist gulag in the Soviet Union."

What the Left Hand's Doing
by David Roberts, GRIST, March 22, 2006
"Rabbi Michael Lerner calls on environmentalists to develop a spiritual vision."

Democrats Need a Religious Left
by Rabbi Michael Lerner, BELIEFNET
"Values that the Left already holds, like loving your neighbor and turning the other cheek, need to be embraced politically."

More on Timothy P. Weber

Excerpt from ON THE ROAD TO ARMAGEDDON
by Timothy P. Weber, BELIEFNET
"How evangelicals became Israel's best friend."

Read Weber's Bio at EFL Associates

The Israel Lobby Debate

The Israel Lobby
by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS, March 23, 2006
"For the past several decades, and especially since the Six-Day War in 1967, the centerpiece of US Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread 'democracy' throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardized not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world."

There Is No New Anti-Semitism
by Rabbi Michael Lerner, BALTIMORE CHRONICLE, February, 2, 2007
"What the Jewish establishment organizations have done is to make invisible the strong roots in Judaism for a different kind of policy."

Yes, It's Anti-Semitic
By Eliot A. Cohen, WASHINGTON POST, April 5, 2006
"Mearsheimer and Walt conceive of The Lobby as a conspiracy between the WASHINGTON TIMES and THE NEW YORK TIMES, the Democratic-leaning Brookings Institution and Republican-leaning American Enterprise Institute, architects of the Oslo accords and their most vigorous opponents."

ScribeMedia.org: The Israel Lobby Debate
Watch the LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS debate about John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's Israel lobby piece.

Democracy NOW
"Study Alleging Dominant Influence of Israeli Lobby Sparks Heated Fallout," May 24, 2006.

A Beautiful Friendship?
By Glenn Frankel, WASHINGTON POST, July 16, 2006
"In search of the truth about the Israel lobby's influence on Washington."

A 'Two-State Solution,' Palestinian-Style
By Martin Indyk, WASHINGTON POST, June 15, 2007
"Abbas and Fatah have in effect conceded Gaza to Hamas while they hold on to the West Bank. Hamastan and Fatahstine: a "two-state solution" -- just not the one that George W. Bush had in mind."

The Saban Center for Middle East Policy
"The Saban Center conducts original research and develops innovative programs to promote a better understanding of the policy choices facing American decision-makers in the Middle East."
Also This Week:

CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL
BILL MOYERS JOURNAL reports on the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel, whose leader, Pastor John Hagee, advocates for a preemptive strike against Iran.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHRISTIAN ZIONISM
Bill Moyers talks with Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of TIKKUN, a Jewish journal of politics, culture, and spirituality, and Dr. Timothy P. Weber, author of ON THE ROAD TO ARMAGEDDON: HOW EVANGELICALS BECAME ISRAEL'S BEST FRIEND.

IRAN: THE TALK OF THE TOWN
A look at the media frenzy over Iran and its President

ON THE GRACE OF THE AMISH
A year after the tragic shooting, Bill Moyers looks at what the Amish can teach us about healing.

WATCH last week's show
EXPLORE the archive
TALK BACK: THE MOYERS BLOG
Our posts and your comments
OUR POSTS
YOUR COMMENTS
Newsletter    For Educators    About the Series    Bill Moyers on PBS    Feedback

© Public Affairs Television 2008    Privacy Policy    TV Schedule    DVD/VHS    Terms of Use    FAQ   
SIGN UP FOR BLOG UPDATES AND PODCASTS EMAIL US