What is Christian Zionism?
Zionism can be defined as “the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel”.
The term “Christian Zionism” in its most basic form is Christian support for Zionism. Christian Zionists believe that God has a continuing “special” relationship with, and covenantal purposes for the Jewish people, apart from the church, and that the Jewish people have a divine right to posses the land of Israel / Palestine.
This is based on a literal and futurist interpretation of the Bible and the conviction that Old Testament prophecies concerning the Jewish people are being fulfilled today in and through the contemporary secular State of Israel.
Christian Zionists are therefore defenders of, and apologists for the State of Israel, which involves the justification of Israel’s occupation and settlement of the West Bank, Golan and Gaza based on biblical grounds.
Quotes from prominent Christian Zionists:
“I firmly believe God has blessed America because America has blessed the Jew. If this nation wants her fields to remain white with grain, her scientific achievements to remain notable, and her freedom to remain intact, America must continue to stand with Israel.”
-Jerry Falwell
“For 25 almost 26 years now, I have been pounding the Evangelical community over television. The Bible is a very pro-Israel book. If a Christian admits “I believe the Bible”, I can make him a pro-Israel supporter or they will have to denounce their faith. So I have Christians over a barrel you might say.”
-John Hagee
(One Jerusalem Conference Call with John Hagee – 1.25.2007
http://www.onejerusalem.org/2007/01/audio-bloggers-conference-call-8.php)
Basic History of Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism basically started in the ninetieth century alongside the development of a theology called Dispensationlism. The founder of this theological view was John Nelson Darby. A key component of Dispensationlism is the idea that God is dealing with the Church (Body of Christ) separately from the Jewish people. Basically, that God has “2 Chosen peoples”, the church and Israel. Those that adhere to a Dispensational view, believe that we are now in the “Church Age” where God has put a hold on his divine dealings with the Jewish people in order to work with Gentiles through the Church. At the “end of days” God will then rapture the church, bringing an end to this age and will then continue his divine purposes with the Jewish people.
The theology of Dispensationlism became more widespread after Darby made a series of trips to the United States and people like Dwight .L. Moody and Cyrus I. Scofield were heavily influenced by Darby. The “Scofield Reference Bible” became one of the best selling Bible’s of all time and had in it many of Scofield’s personal notes involving interpretation of certain biblical passages regarding Israel and the end times. Rather then printing a separate commentary, Schofield chose to interweave his notes with biblical texts.
Today, the teachings of Christian Zionists such as Hal Linsey, Tim Lahaye, Mike Evans and others derive their teachings from Darby and Schofield.