by Joseph W
The BBC provides a moving profile of Mary Gardner, the Scottish lady who died in Wednesday’s bus bomb in Jerusalem:
Before becoming a bible translator, Ms Gardner worked as a teacher in Orkney.
Vice-convener of Orkney Islands Council James Stockan, a family friend, said he was saddened to hear of her death.
“She was a brave, tenacious lady whose incredible achievements in translating and teaching the Bible and putting the local dialect into print for the people of Togo were immense,” he said. “My thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.”
He added: “Terrorism incidents across the world can seem so far removed from our life in Orkney, but this incident shows that sadly this is not always the case.”
Eddie Arthur, executive director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, described Ms Gardner as a “lovely lady who was very popular” and would be “sorely missed”.
He said: “Mary worked with Wycliffe in Togo since 1989 where she was part of a team translating the New Testament into a language called Ife.
“The New Testament was finished in 2009 and Mary had then gone on to work helping other people.
“She was in Israel for six months studying Hebrew in order to go back to Togo to translate the Old Testament.”
Mary Gardner is the second Christian victim in four months to suffer from an anti-Semitic murder.
The first was Kristine Luken, an evangelical Christian murdered because her friend was wearing a Star of David.
Because of the nature of the new antisemitism, most Jews, many Christians and anyone else who supports Israel become victims of this evil hatred and prejudice.
Christians with any interest or concern for Israel, Jerusalem and the history of the Jewish people are dismissed as “Christian Zionists”.
Hamas once infamously declared:
“We do not consider the West as an enemy but we believe Christian Zionism is criminal.”
The former bishop of Durham effectively denounces Christian Zionists as heretics, imagining Jewish nationalism as a proto-fascist “blood and soil” ideology. Another Anglican vicar says that Christian tourists who visit Israel are playing into Zionist propaganda and supporting apartheid. Based on the writings of these two men, the Methodist Church launches an inquiry into whether “Christian Zionism” is compatible with the Gospels, or whether it should be dismissed as evil heresy.
Christians concerned about this rhetoric have tried to raise their voice, and I don’t think our concerns have been taken seriously enough by senior theologians and officials – even as Christians in Israel are dying at the hand of anti-Semites.
I’m sure some Christian theologians feel wonderfully clever, pouring over Zionist and Christian Zionist ideologies, comparing quotes from various Zionist figures with Jesus Christ’s Sermon of Mount, and concluding that Christians should lend no theological support to the Jewish nation.
They might complain that Christian friends of the Jewish nation are behaving in a heretical way, and therefore they are sinning.
But in Mary’s case, her sin was not her theology or her private travel arrangements. In any case, it’s likely that Israel didn’t feature particularly prominently in her theology. She was just in Israel to work on studying Hebrew, in order to better translate the Bible for the Togolese people.
Really, her only sin was studying Hebrew and using Israeli public transport.
So, two Christian women have been murdered in and around Jerusalem in four months. One murdered for looking Jewish and having a friend who looked Jewish. The other murdered for being on a bus full of Jews.
Would now that theologians and clergymen consider their words and motives carefully, when speaking of Israel!
In the words of the Psalmist,
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.