John Hagee
John Charles Hagee is an American pastor and televangelist. He founded John Hagee Ministries, which telecasts to the United States and Canada. He is also the founder and chairman of the Christian Zionist organization Christians United for Israel, the largest Zionist organization in America.
Hagee has attracted controversy over his comments on the Catholic Church, Jewish people and Islam, and promotion of the blood moon prophecy.
Early life
Hagee was born in Baytown, Texas, on April 12, 1940. He studied at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas, and received a Bachelor of Science, and then studied at Trinity University and obtained a second Bachelor of Science. He also studied at the University of North Texas in educational administration and received a master's degree in 1966.Hagee has been married twice. In 1960, he married Martha Downing, and they divorced in 1975. In 1976, he married a member of his congregation, Diana Castro.
He has a son, Matt Hagee, who is also a pastor.
Career
Hagee founded Trinity Church in San Antonio, Texas, in 1966. In 1975, Hagee wrote a letter to his congregation that he was guilty of immorality, after which he divorced his wife, Martha Downing. Criticism from the divorce caused Hagee to resign.Hagee founded The Church at Castle Hills in 1975. The church grew in size and following two expansions, its second sanctuary was named Cornerstone Church. The church has adopted Pentecostal beliefs, including biblical literalism, speaking in tongues, divine healing, the prosperity gospel, and absolute opposition to abortion. Beginning in 1981 in San Antonio, following Operation Opera, Hagee has organized "A Night to Honor Israel" events aiming to show support for the State of Israel.
Hagee has been politically active. In 1968, he endorsed Democrat George Wallace in his bid for president. His advocacy included organizing and mobilizing a youth movement called "Wallace Youth".
In 1996, Hagee spoke on behalf of Republican presidential primary candidate Alan Keyes, who in 2004 lost the U.S. Senate election in Illinois to Barack Obama. In 2002, Hagee endorsed the conservative State Representative John Shields in the latter's unsuccessful bid for the Republican primary for the District 25 seat in the Texas Senate. Hagee dubbed Shields's opponent, incumbent Jeff Wentworth, "the most pro-abortion" of 181 legislators in both houses of the Texas legislature.
On February 7, 2006, Hagee and some 400 leaders from across the Christian and Jewish communities formed Christians United for Israel. This lobbies members of the United States Congress, using a biblical stance for promoting Christian Zionism. Around that time he received death threats for his activism on behalf of the State of Israel and hired bodyguards for protection.
In 2008, Hagee endorsed Senator John McCain in the presidential contest against Barack Obama. After Hagee's endorsement of McCain, a furor arose over statements made by Hagee that were perceived by some as anti-Catholic and antisemitic. Following Hagee's remarks, McCain publicly distanced himself from Hagee.
Hagee was the primary funding source for the Israeli Zionist group Im Tirtzu, until he cut ties with the organization in 2013. He is also anti-abortion and stopped giving money to Israel's Hadassah Medical Center when it began offering the procedure.
In 2016, Hagee endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
In 2023, Hagee endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican Primary.
Views
Hagee's theological views sit within a particular strand of dispensationalism found in American evangelicalism that includes the influence of apocalypticism. He is a fundamentalist whose views on eschatology lead him to a belief that the end of the world is imminent and that the return of Christ will be preceded be a secret rapture of the church, who will be taken into heaven, leaving behind everyone else to suffer for a period of seven years prior to the battle of Armageddon, which will be fought and won by Christ, who will then create a new earth which he will rule over for 1,000 years.Hagee's view is that We are living in the end times, and that our actions cannot change what is about to happen, as the events are following God's plan, stating: "We don't believe that we can speed up the End of Days one second. Why? Because we believe God is sovereign. That He has set the time. We are powerless to change God's timetable. That's what makes him God." As such, Hagee specifically denies that his views on subjects such as Zionism and support for the state of Israel derive from his eschatology, although commentators have remarked that dispensationalists such as Hagee appear to welcome the prospect of a war between Israel and Iran, since this would herald the predicted final confrontation.
Jewish people
Hagee has stated that he believes the Bible commands Christians to support the State of Israel.Reform Rabbi Eric Yoffie criticized Hagee for being "extremist" on Israeli policy and for disparaging other faiths.
Hagee has claimed that Adolf Hitler was born from a lineage of "accursed, genocidally murderous half-breed Jews". Citing material from Jewish tradition, he claimed that the persecution of Jews throughout history, implicitly including The Holocaust, was due to the Jewish people's disobedience of God.
In 2008, Hagee claimed that the anti-Christ will be "a homosexual" and "partially Jewish, as was Adolf Hitler" and he also claimed that a reference in Jeremiah 16:16 to "fishers" and "hunters" was symbolic of positive motivation and negative motivation respectively, both men were sent by God for the purpose of having Jews return to Israel, and he suggested that the Holocaust was willed by God because most Jews "ignored" Herzl.