John Hagee

John Hagee
Hagee in Washington, D.C., July 2007
Born
John Charles Hagee

(1940-04-12) April 12, 1940 (age 86)
Baytown, Texas, U.S.
Education
OccupationsPastor, author
OrganizationJohn Hagee Ministries
SpouseMartha Downing (1960–1975) Diana Castro (1976–current)
Websitewww.jhm.org

John Charles Hagee (born April 12, 1940) 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 and personal 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

Cornerstone Church

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 (CUFI). 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.

On 11 March 2018, John Hagee announced that he had passed leadership of Cornerstone Church to his son, Matt Hagee.

In 2023, Hagee endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican Primary.

Views

Dispensationalism

Hagee's theological views belong to a particular strand of dispensationalism within American evangelicalism, shaped in part by apocalypticism. A Christian fundamentalist, he holds eschatological views that lead him to believe the end of the world is imminent. He believes that the hypothesized return of Jesus will be preceded by a so-called "rapture", in which Christians will be disappeared up to heaven, leaving non-Christians to endure seven years of suffering before the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus will fight and win that battle, then create a new earth over which he will reign for 1,000 years.

Hagee believes the world is in the end times and that human actions cannot alter what is to come because events unfold according to God's plan. He has stated: "We do not 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 is what makes him God." Accordingly, Hagee denies that his views on subjects such as Zionism and support for the state of Israel stem from his eschatology. However, commentators have observed that dispensationalists such as Hagee appear to welcome the prospect of a war between Israel and Iran, as such a conflict would signal the predicted final confrontation. Hagee described the 2026 Iran war as part of a divine plan.

Jewish people

Hagee has stated that he believes the Christian Bible commands Christians to support the State of Israel, a controversial Christian doctrine known as Christian Zionism. Reform Jewish rabbi Eric Yoffie criticized Hagee in 2008 for being an "extremist" on Israeli policy and for disparaging non-Christian faiths. Despite his support for the State of Israel, Hagee has made claims about the Jewish people that have been interpreted as antisemitic and anti-Jewish. Using Jeremiah 16:16 from the Hebrew Bible as a supposed prooftext, he interpreted the passage's references to fishers and hunters as symbolizing, respectively, the positive motivation he attributed to Theodor Herzl and Zionism and the negative motivation he attributed to Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He argued that both men had been sent by God to bring Jews back to Israel, and suggested that God had willed the Holocaust because most Jews had ignored Herzl. Hagee has claimed that Adolf Hitler was born from a lineage of "accursed, genocidally murderous half-breed Jews". He has stated that the antichrist will be "a homosexual" and "partially Jewish, as was Adolf Hitler." Citing material from the Book of Jeremiah, he claimed that the persecution of Jews throughout history, implicitly including the Holocaust, was due to the Jewish people's disobedience of God.

Homosexuality

In 2006, he claimed that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for a planned pride parade. In January 2013 on "The Hagee Hotline", Hagee referred to anything outside of a heterosexual marriage as "two disturbed people playing house." In September 2013, Hagee announced his opposition to an ordinance in San Antonio that would protect LGBT rights, but later stated on television he no longer opposed it following the removal of a clause that allowed the city council to consider whether candidates for city boards and commissions had discriminated against LGBTQ people in “word or deed”, a removal he also took credit for.

Following the legalization of gay marriage in 2015, Hagee referred to America as "the new Sodom and Gomorrah", and said that "If God doesn't punish America, then God owes the world an apology for destroying Sodom and Gomorrah".

Catholicism

Hagee purported that Adolf Hitler's antisemitism was especially derived from his Catholic background, and he also purported that Hitler was "a spiritual leader in the Catholic Church," as well as purporting that the Catholic Church under Pope Pius XII encouraged Nazism. Hagee also blamed the Catholic Church for instigating the Dark Ages, claiming that it allowed the Crusaders to rape and murder with impunity. William Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, rejected the comments and Hagee's explanations for them. On May 12, 2008, after discussions with Donohue and other Catholic leaders, Hagee issued a letter of apology, expressing regret for "any comments that Catholics have found hurtful." The apology was accepted by William Donohue.

Islam

Hagee has made demonizing comments about Islam. Hagee has claimed that "Islam not only condones violence; it commands it". He has also claimed that a contrast exists between Islam's "violent nature" and Christianity's "loving nature" and that the Quran teaches, and Muslims have a mandate, to kill Jews and Christians.

Blood moon prophecy

Hagee, along with Mark Biltz, promoted the blood moon prophecy in a 2013 book. The two men claimed that a tetrad which began with the April 2014 lunar eclipse was a sign of the end times as described in the Bible, and the tetrad ended with the lunar eclipse on September 27–28, 2015. The prediction was criticized by scientists.

Global warming

During an interview in 2007, by Glenn Beck of CNN, Hagee stated that he does not believe in the scientific consensus on climate change, and that he sees the Kyoto Protocol as a conspiracy aimed at manipulating the U.S. economy. More generally, his belief, derived from his eschatology, and in line with other prominent American evangelicals such as Jerry Falwell, is that the prophesied end of the world is close, and concern about global warming is therefore an unnecessary distraction. Thus, Hagee has condemned the Evangelical Climate Initiative and opposes Christian involvement in climate issues. Nevertheless, critics have noted the disconnect between this hands-off position on climate change and the proactive approach towards the support of Israel.

References

  1. ↑ "Onward, Christian Zionists | The Weekly Standard". July 26, 2010. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  2. ↑ Inbari, Motti (2012). Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises. Cambridge University Press. p. 173. ISBN 9781107009127.
  3. ↑ Utter, Glenn H.; True, James L. (2004). Conservative Christians and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 230. ISBN 9781851095131.
  4. 1 2 3 Staff Writer (September 28, 2015). "Why Did John Hagee Divorce?". Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Matt Hagee". Trinity Broadcasting Network. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  6. ↑ Levy, Abe (March 10, 2013). "Cornerstone Church set to unveil $5 million Noah's Ark for kids". MYSanAntonio. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  7. ↑ Martin, William (January 15, 2006). "Cornerstone Church". Texas Monthly. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  8. ↑ Sharon, Jeremy (November 11, 2018). "Foreign Ministry honors rabbi for Jewish-Christian interfaith work". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  9. ↑ Vasquez, Juan (August 16, 1968). "Wallace Speaker Raps Demos, GOP". The San Antonio Express. p. 8F. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Wallace Youth to Stage Rally". San Antonio Express. July 30, 1968. p. 4.
  11. ↑ Juan M. Vasquez (July 31, 1968). "Wallace Youth Hold Rally". San Antonio Express. p. 36.
  12. 1 2 Clarkson, Frederick (April 24, 2008). "Will Alan Keyes Be John McCain's Worst Nightmare?". talk2action.org. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  13. ↑ Smith, Morgan (November 3, 2009). "A Brief History of Fratricide". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Hagee's Prosperity Gospel and Jews". talk2action.org. July 27, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  15. ↑ Santus, Rex (May 14, 2018). "Pastor who thinks Jews can't be saved led opening prayer at U.S. embassy in Jerusalem". Vice News. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  16. 1 2 Shear, Michael D. (May 14, 2008). "McCain Backer Apologizes For Anti-Catholic Remarks". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  17. ↑ Saperstein, David (May 23, 2008). "Hagee's Jewish Endorsers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 25, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  18. ↑ Banerjee, Neela; Luo, Michael (May 23, 2008). "McCain cuts ties to pastors whose talks drew fire". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  19. ↑ Stern Shefler, Gil (August 23, 2010). "John Hagee to cut Im Tirtzu funding". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  20. ↑ Horovitz, David (March 20, 2006). "Evangelicals seeing the error of 'replacement theology'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  21. ↑ Gutierrez Cachila, Suzette (May 22, 2016). "Donald Trump receives support in presidential bid from Pastor John Hagee". The Christian Times. New York, NY. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  22. ↑ "65 Years of Ministry". John Hagee Ministries. November 1, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2026.
  23. ↑ Savage, Sean (October 25, 2017). "Christian Zionist leader Matt Hagee hopes millennials 'will be as pro-Israel as we are'". Israel & Jewish News - JNS. Retrieved October 19, 2026.
  24. ↑ Benen, Steve (February 15, 2023). "Nikki Haley taps controversial pastor for campaign launch invocation". MSNBC. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  25. ↑ Rahm 2014, p. 123
  26. 1 2 Durbin 2018, p. 94
  27. ↑ Durbin 2018, pp. 94, 95
  28. ↑ Goldman, Shalom (March 12, 2026). "As Iran war expands, some conservative Christians interpret the conflict through biblical prophecies". The Conversation. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  29. 1 2 Blumenthal, Max (May 23, 2008). "Hagee: Pro-Israel, Anti-Semitic?". CBS News. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Jewish Leader Calls Hagee 'Extremist'". Associated Press. April 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 12, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2026 – via The Christian Post.
  31. ↑ Jeremiah 16:16
  32. ↑ Eden, Ami (March 10, 2008). "Q & A: John Hagee". JTA. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  33. ↑ Stein, Sam (May 29, 2008). "McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  34. ↑ Quaid, Libby (March 1, 2008). "McCain Seeks Distance From Pastor". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  35. ↑ Eilperin, Juliet; Kindy, Kimberly (May 23, 2008). "McCain Rejects Pastor's Backing Over Remarks". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  36. ↑ Wilson, Bruce (March 12, 2015). "'Half-Breed Jew' Committed Holocaust, Claims Netanyahu Ally John Hagee". The Huffington Post . Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  37. ↑ Blumenthal, Max (June 10, 2008). "Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  38. ↑ Hagee uses Jeremiah 9:13–16; 44:2–4, 15–17
  39. ↑ Yglesias, Matthew (March 7, 2008). "A Friend Indeed". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  40. ↑ Blumenthal, Max (March 14, 2007). "AIPAC Cheers an Anti-Semitic Holocaust Revisionist (and Abe Foxman Approves)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  41. ↑ Wilson, Bruce (March 5, 2007). ""Pro Israel" Christian Leader Blames Jews For The Holocaust". talk2action.org. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  42. ↑ Gross, Terry (May 16, 2008). "Pastor John Hagee on Christian Zionism, Katrina". NPR. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  43. ↑ Roberts, Scott (January 9, 2013). "Video: Anti-gay Christian radio host describes gay people as 'disturbed'". PinkNews. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  44. ↑ Levy, Abe (August 13, 2013). "Pastor Hagee no longer opposes gay ordinance". My San Antonio. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  45. ↑ Funaro, Vincent (July 1, 2015). "'God Will Have to Judge America' or 'Apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah' After SC Marriage Ruling, Says John Hagee". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on June 22, 2025. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  46. ↑ "'If God doesn't punish America, then God owes the world an apology'". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. September 2, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  47. ↑ Carnell, Henry; Pykeren, Sam Van (November 14, 2023). "He claimed God sent Hitler to create Israel. Now he's speaking at the pro-Israel rally. What?". Mother Jones. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  48. ↑ Hagee, John (1999). "Chapter 3 - He who curses Israel...". Final Dawn over Jerusalem. Thomas Nelson. p. 34. ISBN 9781418558697. Consider Adolf Hitler. As a spiritual leader in the Roman Catholic Church, Hitler made the following outrageous statements about the Jews...
  49. ↑ (pp. 79–81). Hagee previously argued that the same connections between the Roman Catholic Church and Hitler existed in his 1987 Should Christians Support Israel? (pp. 20–30) — summarizing it in the sentence, "Roman Church policy shaped the policy of the Third Reich". (p. 20)
  50. ↑ Hagee, John (1999). Final Dawn over Jerusalem. Thomas Nelson. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4185-5869-7.
  51. ↑ "Pastor Hagee Apologizes for anti-Catholic remarks". Fox News. May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  52. ↑ "Catholic League: McCain's Next Move". Catholic.org. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Minister Backing McCain Apologizes to Catholics" Goodstein, Laurie, New York Times, May 14, 2008
  54. ↑ Forsyth, Jim (May 14, 2008). "Pastor who backed McCain apologizes for remarks". Reuters. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  55. ↑ Quinn, Paul (2012). Ansari, Humayun; Hafez, Farid (eds.). "Anti-Catholicism, Islamophobia, and Modern Christian Multi-Media". From the Far Right to the Mainstream: Islamophobia in Party Politics and the Media. Campus Verlag: 136–137. ISBN 978-3593396484.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  56. ↑ Herron, Kyle W. (Fall 2011). "Embracing the Other: Toward an Ethic of Gospel Neighborliness" (PDF). Journal of Religious Leadership. 10 (2): 94–95.
  57. 1 2 Hagee, John (2007). Jerusalem Countdown. Charisma Media. p. 75. ISBN 9781599790893.
  58. ↑ Spector, Stephen. Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism. p. 85.
  59. ↑ Andresen, Kjersti Børke (Spring 2008). Det nye kristne høyre – finnes det i Norge? En analyse av to kristne aviser i lys av den amerikanske New Christian Right-diskursen (PDF) (Masters thesis) (in Norwegian). University of Oslo. p. 47. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  60. ↑ "Pastor John Hagee on Christian Zionism". NPR. September 18, 2006. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  61. ↑ Johnston, David L. (2016). "American Evangelical Islamophobia: A History of Continuity with a Hope for Change". Journal of Ecumenical Studies. 51 (2): 224–235. doi:10.1353/ecu.2016.0018. S2CID 152029042.
  62. ↑ Weise, Elizabeth (April 3, 2014). "Blood moon eclipse on April 15 is a special event". USA Today. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  63. ↑ Pulliam Bailey, Sarah (April 15, 2014). "'Blood moon' sets off apocalyptic debate among some Christians". The Washington Post. Religion News Service. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  64. ↑ Gaherty, Geoff (April 9, 2014). "Four Blood Moons: Total Lunar Eclipse Series Not a Sign of Apocalypse". Space.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  65. ↑ McClure, Bruce; Byrd, Deborah (March 30, 2014). "What is a Blood Moon?". Earth & Sky. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  66. ↑ Beck, Glenn (October 12, 2007). "Honest Questions with John Hagee". transcripts.cnn.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  67. ↑ Ansari & Hafez 2012, p. 138
  68. ↑ Rahm 2014, pp. 123–124

Bibliography