At the best of times, Zionism is a controversial topic, and guaranteed to stir emotions in anyone who has engaged with the subject There’s no doubt that supporting each others’ religions is generally a good idea, but where do you draw the line, and to what extent does one question the motivations of extra-religious supporters? And how do you react when you feel that others are “supporting” elements within your religion in an inappropriate way?

Jenny explores the history of and ethos of Christian Zionism in her article below, adapted from a chapter in her Ph.D thesis.

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There is a wide range of belief within the term Christian Zionism. In its simplest form Christian Zionism is defined as Christian support for Zionism, the return of Jews to their homeland, Israel. But, the term also describes beliefs referred to as premillenium dispensationalism, a pessimistic view of a time of the second messianic age. Although Christian Zionism, at first glance, seems to consist of Christians supporting the Jewish right to a homeland, a closer inspection reveals that Christians Zionists support Israel as a means to their own redemption at the Apocalypse.

Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth, a well known work of ‘biblical prophesy’ identifies the ‘restoration of Jews’ to be God’s faithfulness to the covenant God made with Abraham. However, Lindsay says, many Jews will die in Armageddon and the church will replace God’s chosen people as Israel, on earth.
In Tim LaHaye’s prophecies, played out in the Left Behind series of popular apocalyptic novels, those left behind after the rapture will live in what might be described as a ‘one world socialist gulag’.

Using the same eccentric eisegesis as Lindsay and LaHaye, in The Next World War Grant Jeffrey writes that:

Christians and others who are familiar with the Old Testament should not be surprised that extreme Islam is waging all-out war against Israel and the West. God prophesised that there would be irreconcilable hatred in the heart of Ishmael, the son of the Egyptian Hagar, toward his brother, Isaac, the ancestor of the Jewish people.

Support for Israel is not always because Israel is entitled to the promised land. John Hagee in his book Jerusalem Countdown, in a chapter entitled ‘Five Bible reasons Christians should support Israel’ explains in his third reason that ‘Christians are to support Israel because it brings the blessings of God to them personally’.

Many Christian Zionists believe that supporting Israel fulfils Biblical prophesies and accelerates the coming of the second messianic era.

Amongst other Christian Zionist beliefs are:

• Genesis 12:3 should be interpreted literally which leads to unqualified support of the modern state of Israel.
• Scripture should be interpreted literally and apocalyptic texts, Revelation and Daniel, and chapters from Zechariah, Ezekiel, and 1 Thessalonians which Christian Zionists believe refer to actual and future events.
• The return of all of historic Palestine, that is all the land occupied by Israel after the 1967 war, west of Jordan, and the Sinai to Israel

Christian Zionism is found within most protestant, charismatic, fundamentalist and pentecostal churches. Some support is found in the evangelical wings of the mainline churches; premillenilist dispensationalist themes cross denominational boundaries because of there prevalence in Christian radio and television broadcasting. The National Religious Broadcasters organization which controls almost 90 percent of religious radio and television in the U.S., is dominated by a Christian Zionist orientation.

In the United States, where Christian Zionist beliefs are most prolific, a 1984 Yankelovich poll found that 39% of Americans believed that when the Bible says the earth would be destroyed by fire, this meant that we would destroy the earth in a nuclear Armegedon.

A number of commentators have described the relationship between Christian Zionists and political power. Grace Halsell in the book Burning Issues describe the relationship between Jerry Falwell and the Israeli government.

Halsell describes an incident in 1985 when she took part in a Jerry Falwell sponsored tour: “…I heard Falwell say, in an aside to (Israeli Defence Minister) Moshe Arens, ‘By the way, I want to thank you for that jet plane you gave me’.”

Halsell explains that she had seen the jet on a visit to Lynchburg, Virginia, Falwell’s base, and had been told that the jet was a gift from the Israelis in payment for what he had done for them.

Sixty Minutes journalist, Ted Wagner says that in April 2002 after the Passover bombings, when Israel in retaliation attacked ‘several cities and refugee camps in the West Bank’ the President of the United States, George W Bush, ‘repeatedly appealed to Sharon to withdraw from the West Bank city of Jenin’. The pro-Israel lobby co-ordinated with the Christian right ‘urging the President to avoid restraining Israel’. Jerry Falwell, commenting in a 60 minutes interview said: ‘I really believe when the chips are down Ariel Sharon can trust George Bush to do the right thing every time,’ In the same interview Falwell said ‘It’s my belief that the Bible Belt in America is Israel’s only safety belt right now’.

In Israel, the International Christian Embassy Jersualem, is cross denominational and sponsors a number of activities. The embassy is a good example of a Christian Zionist organisation which the website says ’views both the Jewish people and the Land of Israel as chosen by God long ago for purposes of world redemption’.
According to the website, it was founded in 1980 as an evangelical Christian response to the need to comfort Zion, according to the command of scripture found in Isaiah 40:1-2: ‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem…’

The embassy’s website describes the embassy as having a ‘theology, actions and motives…based on ‘biblical principles and promises’, and that it is ‘covenantal’.

The first two chapters of the monograph ‘Swords into Ploughshares’ published on the ICEJ website, states that before the return of the Messiah there will be a final battle of Armageddon when the nations will fight against Israel. This is consistent with traditional dispensationalism‘.

The two largest activities the Embassy promotes are resettling Soviet Jews and holding a feast of the Tabernacles. The embassy also promotes tours of Israel, using Israeli guides.

The ICEJ aliyah programme helps Jews from ‘remote areas of Siberia and other former Soviet republics as well as North and South America, encouraging the Jewish population to return to the land of Israel’. The website boasts that ’52 plane loads of people have been assisted in this way’.

The annual ‘Feast of the Tabernacles’ which the ICEJ hosts, invites ‘thousands of Christians’ from around the world ‘come up to Jerusalem in answer to God’s call to celebrate the ancient biblical festival of Succcot’. This, press reports from the ICEJ say, is the largest single tourist attraction in Israel. Since it’s inception in 1980, successive Israeli Prime ministers have addressed the ‘Feast of the Tabernacles’ gatherings.

It seems that apart from the Israeli political contacts the website informs readers that1 the ICEJ has also jointly formed an organisation which seeks to inform officials and members of the European Parliament and other political leaders across the 25-state European Union about the complex realities of the Middle East conflict by acknowledging Israel’s right to exist in peace within secure borders.

However, in keeping with literal and prophetic Biblical prophecies, the Embassy believes that ‘comfort’ is conditional upon the Jewish people meeting certain conditions. In an statement entitled A Biblical stand on Zionism #2, the authors write in the first conclusion that “Israel’s right of domicile is dependent on her reconciled relationship with God” and in the second they observe that “the Jewish people have returned to Israel a secular people (and) correction and judgement are to be expected…”

The eight points in the conclusion warn that Israel will be judged and “God’s process of dealing with Israel does not legitimize those like the PLO, Hamas, etc, who are actively working for Israel’s destruction… ”

The ICEJ is not however, supported by the indigenous churches of Jerusalem. A statement entitled ‘We Stand for Justice. We can do no other’ and issued by church leaders, representing the Latin and Syrian Orthodox churches and the Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran Churches, begins with the definition:

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel.

The seventh statement clarifies this further holding that “the teachings of Christian Zionism advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ.”

Christian Zionism, a cross denominational belief brings strong reactions. It’s not supported by orthodox Christians, and certainly not by those Christians who want to contribute to an authentic Jewish homeland. Jews should also be wary of Christian Zionists, in the end, Christian Zionist support of Israel is only so that Christian Zionists might be ‘saved’ at the end times.