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Christian Zionism

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Christian Zionism is the belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy, and is a necessary precondition for the return of Jesus to reign on Earth. This belief is commonly though not exclusively associated with evangelical Protestants in the United States.

This belief is distinct from the general political belief that the Jews have a right to a national homeland in Israel (see Zionism). Christian Zionism, as a specifically theological belief, does not necessarily entail sympathy for the Jews as an ethnicity or for Judaism as a religion. It is common for Christian Zionists to emphasize the Jewish roots of Christianity, and even to promote Jewish practices and Hebrew terminology as part of Christian practice; however, Christian Zionists commonly believe that to fulfill prophecy, the Jews will accept Jesus as the Messiah, and that in the last days, all non-apostate Jews will practice a thoroughly Judaistic form of Christianity. For this reason, somewhat ironically, Christian Zionism fits one definition of anti-Semitism, as this term is presently used in modern interfaith relations.

Some Christians believe that the Jews remain the chosen people of God and that this precludes the possibility of any hatred for the Jews by Christians. It is for this reason that Jewish families such as the Franks, in Holland, were hidden and supported by Christians during the Nazi persecutions.

Biblical and historical roots

The sources of Bible prophecy on which Christian Zionism depends are two books of the Jewish Bible or Old Testament: the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezekiel, and one book of the Christian Bible or New Testament: the Book of Revelation. The Old Testament books describe the Apocalypse, a Jewish vision of the end of the world, while the New Testament sets out an early Christian version of the same subject, in allegorical language which can be interpreted in many ways. The contents of these books are discussed at the relevant articles, particularly in the article Book of Revelation.

Recent theological development

Main articles: End times and Dispensationalism

Christian Zionism is a name applied to the political implications of a theological belief. Most people and groups who are called Christian Zionist subscribe to the theological belief self-consciously, but the political implications are a by-product.

The contemporary theology which results in the most representative stream of Christian Zionism, was popularized by the 19th century evangelical Cyrus Scofield (1843-1921), who promoted the doctrine that Jesus could not return to reign on Earth until certain events occurred. In the interim, prior to these last days events, Scofield's system taught that the Christian church was primarily for the salvation of the Gentiles, and that according to God's plan the Jewish people are under a different dispensation of God's grace, which has been put out of gear so to speak, until the last days (the convenient name of this view is, dispensationalism), when the Christian Church will be removed from the earth by a miracle (called the Rapture).

Scofield writing in the 1800s said that, in those last days, the Bible predicts the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and particularly to Jerusalem. Scofield further predicted that, Islamic holy places would be destroyed, and the Temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt - signalling the very end of the Church Age when the Antichrist would arise, and all who seek to keep covenant with God will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah in defiance of the Antichrist.

Charles Taze Russell was another early Christian advocate of Zionism.

"Newspaper exegesis"

With the Jewish settlement of Palestine thereafter, and the establishment of a modern Jewish state on May 14, 1948, dispensationalism (already popular among American Christian fundamentalists) enjoyed an immediate boost of credibility. It seemed to many that biblical prophecy was being explained by the headlines of the newspaper, sparking intense interest in events of the Middle East, which has continued unabated. Modern Christian Zionism is a politically potent consequence of this religious interest in the modern state of Israel, as contemporary events are interpreted in light of their understanding of biblical prophecy.

The Christian role in supporting the establishment of Israel following World War II is well known; and it is regarded by some critics as, in part, a kind of self-willed fulfillment of prophecy. Given this, some are alarmed by what else Christian Zionists envision being done to bring about the conversion of the Jews and the end of the world. As an example, Hal Lindsey, one of the most popular American promoters of dispensationalism, has written in one of his books about the end times: "the valley from Galilee to Eilat (a town in southern Israel) will flow with blood and 144,000 Jews would bow down before Jesus and be saved". According to Lindsey, the rest of the Jews, and presumably all non-Christians, will perish in "the mother of all Holocausts", a great battle of religion called Armageddon. In the current political environment, such beliefs asserted as inevitable fact, and a basis for human action, are often criticized in alarmed tones.

Politically, Christian Zionism is important because it mobilises an important Republican constituency; fundamentalist and evangelical Protestants who support Israel. Although the Democratic Party, which has the support of most American Jews, is also pro-Israel (with some notable exceptions such as Cynthia McKinney), the policies favored by the party tend to be too nuanced to attract Christian Zionist support.

The mobilisation of evangelicals has tended to bolster the so-called neo-conservative policies of the Republicans, because Christian Zionists more unequivocally favor a harder line against Palestinian claims than do the Democrats.

Examples of Christian leaders combining political conservatism with Christian Zionism are Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, leading figures of the Christian Right in the 1980s and 1990s. Falwell said in 1981: "To stand against Israel is to stand against God. We believe that history and scripture prove that God deals with nations in relation to how they deal with Israel." They cite part of Genesis 27:29 Those who curse you [Israel] will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed. (HCSB) as prooftext.

Sociologically, Christian Zionism can be seen as a product of the peculiar circumstances of the United States, in which the world's largest community of Jews lives side by side. Their mutual reverence for the texts of the Hebrew Bible has brought them together, as has their opposition to secularism and the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli tendencies of the political left.

The government of Israel has given official encouragement to Christian Zionism, allowing the establishment in 1980 of an "International Christian Embassy" in Jerusalem. The main function of the embassy is to enlist worldwide Christian support for Israel. The embassy has raised funds to help finance Jewish immigration to Israel from the former Soviet Union, and has assisted Zionist groups in establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The Third International Christian Zionist Congress, held in Jerusalem in February 1996, issued a Proclamation which said:

God the Father, Almighty, chose the ancient nation and people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to reveal His plan of redemption for the world. They remain elect of God, and without the Jewish nation His redemptive purposes for the world will not be completed.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and has promised to return to Jerusalem, to Israel and to the world.
It is reprehensible that generations of Jewish peoples have been killed and persecuted in the name of our Lord, and we challenge the Church to repent of any sins of commission or omission against them.
The modern Ingathering of the Jewish People to Eretz Israel and the rebirth of the nation of Israel are in fulfilment of biblical prophecies, as written in both Old and New Testaments.
Christian believers are instructed by Scripture to acknowledge the Hebraic roots of their faith and to actively assist and participate in the plan of God for the Ingathering of the Jewish People and the Restoration of the nation of Israel in our day.

The Proclamation said nothing about the necessity for the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah, and while it explicitly condemned Islam as a false religion ("We are convinced from a biblical stand-point that the Muslim concept of "Allah" is an anti-Jewish and anti-Christian distortion of how God revealed Himself to the Patriarchs, Kings and Prophets of Israel, and how God has revealed Himself through our Lord"), it made no comment on the failure of Judaism to recognise Jesus as the Messiah.

Popular interest in Christian Zionism was given a major boost around the year 2000 in the form of the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The novels are built around the prophetic role of Israel in the apocalyptic End Times.

See also

Further reading

  • Gorenberg, Gershom. The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount (New York: The Free Press, 2000).
  • Boyer, Paul. "John Darby Meets Saddam Hussein: Foreign Policy and Bible Prophecy," Chronicle of Higher Education, supplement, February 14, 2003, pp. B 10-B11.
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