Christian Zionism: A Historical Analysis and Critique
Tens of millions of Christians believe that supporting the State of Israel is a biblical duty. Critics within the church argue that this belief rests on a misreading of scripture, and has real consequences for the Middle East.
Christian Zionism is the belief, held by many evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, that the modern State of Israel fulfils biblical prophecy and that Christians are obliged to support it. It is one of the most politically influential religious movements in the world, particularly in the United States. It is also the subject of a sustained critique from within the church. Missionaries, theologians and Middle Eastern Christians have argued that the movement misunderstands both the Bible and the region.
Where it came from
The movement's roots lie in nineteenth-century Britain, in the "restorationist" preaching of figures like Lord Shaftesbury and the dispensationalist theology of John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalism crossed the Atlantic and spread through the Scofield Reference Bible and Bible colleges. After the founding of Israel in 1948, and especially after its capture of Jerusalem in 1967, many American evangelicals saw prophecy unfolding in real time.
From the 1970s, bestselling books on the end times, televangelists and organisations such as Christians United for Israel turned the belief into a political force. They lobbied for US support for Israeli policies, including on Jerusalem and settlements.
The core claims
Christian Zionists typically hold that:
- God's promises of land to Abraham apply to the modern Jewish state;
- the gathering of Jews in Israel is a sign of the approaching end times;
- nations that bless Israel will be blessed, a reading of Genesis 12:3;
- Christians should therefore support the Israeli state politically.
The critique
Critics, including many evangelicals, raise several objections:
- Theological. They argue that the New Testament reinterprets the promises to Abraham around faith in Christ, open to all peoples, rather than land or ethnicity. On this reading, identifying a modern state with biblical Israel is a category error.
- Ethical. The prophets tie God's favour to justice. Critics argue that unconditional support for a state's policies, including occupation and settlement, conflicts with that tradition.
- Pastoral. Palestinian Christians, whose communities date back to the first century, often feel invisible or unwelcome in Christian Zionist thinking. Their numbers in the Holy Land have declined sharply.
- Political. Treating a complex conflict as a prophetic script, critics say, discourages compromise and makes peace harder.
A changing landscape
Surveys suggest that support for Israel among younger American evangelicals is lower than among their parents. Networks of Palestinian Christians and Western evangelicals, such as the Christ at the Checkpoint conferences in Bethlehem, have given the critique a wider hearing.
Christian Zionism remains powerful, but it is no longer unchallenged. The debate over its history and theology has become one of the most important conversations in world Christianity about the Middle East.