KANSAS CITY, Neb.: The 20th century witnessed extreme anti-Semitism, vicious massacres and the unimaginable Holocaust. More than a third of the world’s Jews were killed. Yet today, the largest concentration of Jews resides in Israel.
In his new book, A Covenant People, theologian and historian Dr. Jim Eckman presents a history of God’s covenant people from the initial promises God made to Abraham to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
“Written for the lay person, I hope the book will serve church members by providing a clear, succinct history of the Jewish people,” says Eckman.
Through enslavement in ancient Egypt and the Holocaust in Europe, the Jewish people have survived. For almost 1,900 years, the Jews were dispersed and despised as “Christ-killers.”
In A Covenant People, Eckman traces ten major historical events that changed the West’s attitude from one of hostility or indifference toward the Jews to embracing the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.
“Not only are people generally ignorant of the Bible, they are woefully ignorant of Old Testament history and the general sweep of history as it applies to the people of Israel,” Eckman says.
About the author
James P. Eckman is president emeritus and professor of history, theology and ethics at Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska. He holds graduate degrees from Lehigh University (MA), Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) and the University of Nebraska (PhD). An ordained minister, Dr. Eckman lectures and teaches widely on historical theology, ethics, and worldview issues.
