I was invited to give a lecture in September on the following topic: Positions on the State of Israel in the context of eschatological decisions. One reason for inviting me must have been my doctoral thesis from 2007 on a similar topic: Christian Zionism in the Federal Republic of Germany.
That was a while ago. I have therefore taken the invitation as an opportunity to review recent research on the subject of Christian Zionism, not only in the Federal Republic of Germany. What in my work has proven itself and has been confirmed? What would have to be supplemented or even corrected?
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I started the lecture with this picture and the question: Who, where, when?
It’s a photo of Michelle Bolsonaro, October 2022, voting for the presidential elections in Brazil. Her husband would lose the election by a narrow margin.
„May the blessings of our God be upon Brazil and Israel. God, homeland, family and freedom,” said Michelle in the Instagram post. (The New Arab Staff: 2022)
I will come back to this picture.
I will present three points that I feel have been confirmed, and then (in the next issue) propose three important additions.
Of course, there are positions on the State of Israel that do not regard it as a theological entity and are neutral or even critical of it. Of course, this is also associated with an eschatological decision, for instance, that we do not know how God will fulfil his prophetic promise to biblical Israel (is the State of Israel really this fulfilment?) or that we find the ethical message of the prophets more important (an action or a policy that fulfils prophecy is not justified by it). Often, questions of justice then take on the leading role.
And, of course, it is possible to be pro-Israel without taking sides too one-sidedly. In Germany, precisely such an attitude is widespread in the pietistic-evangelical circles associated with the Evangelical Alliance (EA). On them, I wrote:
Overall, it can be said that large parts of the evangelical movement are determined by a pro-Israel attitude that can best be described with the term solidarity with Israel. The decisive factors are the expectation of restoration [of Israel] and premillennialism. The dogmatic and ideological militancy that characterizes Christian Zionism is by no means always evident. Often representatives strive for moderation, balance and equilibrium, and want to avoid one-sidedness or partisanship, even if this does not always succeed. (Hornstra 2010: 41)
I suspect that most official bodies today would position themselves in a similarly cautious manner. But that is a different topic.
So, first of all, what has been confirmed?
1. Distinction: Restoration, Christian Zionism, Dispensationalism
In my opinion, this distinction is of fundamental importance: that between belief in the restoration of Israel, somehow, as a people, as a country, whether before or after the conversion to the Christian Messiah, which is also expected, on the one hand, and on the other hand, Christian Zionism. The first is pure expectation, often passive. Restorationism developed after the Reformation. Old Testament prophecies and promises were taken literally, especially by the Puritans in England and later also by the Pietists in Germany (Lewis 2021: 85). This at least created the possibility of perceiving Jews and Judaism more positively. An eschatological decision that also made a country of Israel conceivable again. (A similar idea also existed in the Middle Ages, albeit mainly among marginalized groups. In 16th-century English Protestantism, something new developed, independent from these older versions.)
However, Restorationists remained largely passive. They may have started a mission to the Jews, but – most of the time – nothing more. This remained the case in Germany until long after the Second World War – but not only there.
Timo Stewart (2014) describes a similar situation in Finland from 1947 to 1949. Many were enthusiastic about the fulfilment of prophecy, but no one advertised that something should be done to help this new state.
Christian Zionism, on the other hand, takes action. It has a practical and an ideological component. Support for the State of Israel is active, concrete, not just mental (see also Smith 2013: 27).
One book that deserves special mention is Donald Lewis (2021; actually, an extension publication on the origin of the movement 2010), A Short History of Christian Zionism: From the Reformation to the Twenty-First Century. The title is not quite right. The book is not short. And a substantial part deals with the idea of restoration, which Lewis himself distinguishes from Christian Zionism and dispensationalism (ibid.: 2-4, 8; even if he is not always consistent). Christian Zionism is understood by Lewis as a movement that develops from the idea of restoration, something I absolutely agree with.
Too often, Restorationism and Christian Zionism are still equated or confused. In addition, they are also connected or even equated with dispensationalism, as if dispensationalism and its popular theological offshoots had given rise to Christian Zionism.
Dispensationalism has indeed adopted the restoration of Israel in its end-time scenario, but belief in a restoration of Israel towards the end of time does not have to be dispensationalism.
In fact, strictly speaking, Christian Zionism and classical dispensationalism are at odds with each other (e.g. Smith 2013: 159f); God’s plan for and with Israel should only restart after the rapture, and therefore there is nothing to support before that. Early dispensationalism was certainly not Christian Zionist.
2. Source: End Times or …?
The distinction between a movement of Christian Zionism and an expectation of restoration helps us to understand the origin of the movement and the motivation of its followers.
Some critics of Christian Zionism like to portray it as Armageddon theology. Titles like Anxious for Armageddon (Wagner 1995) and Christian Zionism: Road-Map to Armageddon? (Sizer 2021) do that. Both are evangelical authors. As they see it, a longing for the end of the world inspires the movement. The eschatological decision would then be primary and all-determining. I disagree.
Matthew Westbrook wrote a doctoral thesis on the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ) in 2014. The entire second chapter of his dissertation deals with this question, a long chapter. He draws a similar conclusion as I did about
the connection made by the majority of historians and scholars of religion between Christian Zionism and the 19th-20th century theological movement known as „dispensational premillennialism,” a connection which is ubiquitous in the scholarly literature but deeply problematic. I will argue that this connection is misleading as to both the beginnings of „Christian Zionism” and its various present manifestations. (Westbrook 2014: 36; cf. Phillips 2014)
Faydra Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew of American origin, writes:
In my research it became clear very quickly that the connection between premillennial dispensationalism and Christian Zionism has been vastly overdrawn. Overwhelmingly my informants either did not consider themselves dispensationalists or – more often – did not know what it or premillennialism meant. The International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ), for example, has repudiated dispensationalism’s teachings and officially distanced itself from dispensationalism. (Shapiro 2015: 12)
And Stephen Spector, an American Jew, notes:
Many commentators have argued, moreover, that these religious convictions helped define U.S. foreign policy under George W. Bush. I was prepared to discover that influence too. I found instead an unexpected pragmatism, flexibility, and nuance in evangelicals … I also found a lot of disagreement and uncertainty about the end of days. (Spector 2009: viii)
The claim that all Christian Zionists adamantly demand that Israel keep every inch of its biblical territory is vastly overstated. So is the charge that they are yearning for the Jews to convert or die at the end of time … And many of the most prominent evangelical supporters of Israel, despite their uncompromising public declarations, acknowledge that they will respect the right of the democratically elected Israeli government to give up land in the hope of gaining peace.
Many born-again Christians have only a very vague notion of Israel’s role in the final days, and even among evangelical elites there is remarkable diversity and nuance in their beliefs. That, in turn, allows flexibility about the principle of land-for peace [sic]. Indeed, though it flies in the face of the common stereotype, 52% of evangelical leaders are in favor of a Palestinian state on land that God promised to Abraham, as long as it doesn’t threaten Israel! (Ibid.: 161, based on Todd Hertz, „The Evangelical View of Israel?” Christianity Today, June 11, 2003; this surprises me a little less because it concerns evangelical leaders in general)
And then Spector writes something important:
For very many born-again Christians, the chief biblical imperative to bless Israel is God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, which promises a reward for those who bless the Jews and punishment for those who curse them … This verse is by far the most prominent reason that evangelicals cite for their backing of the state of Israel. Every evangelical Zionist I spoke with, leaders and laity alike, from Jerusalem to Washington, D.C., to Midland, Texas, alluded to this promise of blessing for those who bless Israel. (Ibid.: 22; we will come back to this)
Admittedly, the end-time reflexes run deep. With Covid and the Russian war against Ukraine, I was asked, by friends from whom I did not expect this, is this a sign of the end times? Is this Gog from Magog against Israel? As if the Ukraine war is about Israel.
End-time fever. Is that how the enthusiasm for Israel can be explained? Sometimes yes because there is an apocalyptic form of this movement; I don’t deny this. But it is not the only form.
By the way, especially in this apocalyptic form, one has to wonder if it is really about Jews or Israelis as human beings. Robert Smith quotes Gershom Gorenberg:
Jews as actors in a Christian drama leading toward the end of days … real Zionism, as a Jewish movement, is a movement aimed at taking Jews out of the mythological realm and making them into normal actors in history, controlling their fate and acting for pragmatic reasons connected to the here and now. So what’s called Christian Zionism is actually very distant from Zionism. (Smith 2013: 24)
Faydra Shapiro goes a little further:
… what Jews are for Christian Zionists is exceptional. Jews are not just people. They are fraught with significance, and the Jewishness [not their humanity] is the most important thing about them. (Shapiro 2015: 98)
But at the same time, end-time fever is not the whole story. There are different paths that lead to support and enthusiasm for Israel. The motivations are more complex and diverse than an end-time reflex.
For many, Israel is becoming the key to understanding world affairs. One sees oneself actively involved in God’s plan for the world, in the history of salvation, in its completion – this is also eschatology, but different.
Or Israel becomes the key to one’s own personal or national identity, the latter especially in American Christian Zionism (Smith 2013: 27; Durbin 2019).
A deep concern about the history of Jewish-Christian relations often plays an important role, not only in Germany.
An encounter with Israel and Jews, including with the Jewish state, is also important. Such an encounter can be very emotional.
One can certainly speak of love for the Jewish people and for Israel. It may be criticized that Israel and Judaism are thus being co-opted for Christian purposes. In my opinion, however, this does not take away the fact that at the same time, a deeply felt love can play a significant role.
Aron Engberg (2014: 33-60) describes the case of a Swedish Christian whose first visit to Israel sparked a passionate „love at first sight”. This was the „reason for his decision to quit his job in Sweden, his return to Israel, and his subsequent determination to join the IDF [Israeli Defense Force]” (ibid.: 48). He served in the Israeli army. Engbert identifies love „as the central element motivating his personal engagement with Israel” (ibid.).
This love can lead to a „second nationalism”. People find a part of their identity and that of their group or nation in Israel. Think back to Michelle Bolsonaro.
Recent research confirms this broader view of what moves the movement, especially this second or double nationalism.
One’s own national identity can also be defined in part by this other nation. Robert Smith (2013) describes the identity formation of Great Britain and America as based on exceptionalism, belief in the special vocation of the two nations, especially with regard to Israel, for America to this day.
Matthew Westbrook (2014: 177ff) uses the term ethnonationalism for this in his dissertation on the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (it is the topic in chapter 6 of his thesis; more on this later). But it is a very specific form of ethnonationalism: the ethnicity is not one’s own but still serves the vision for one’s own nation or state.
In such cases, eschatology is not absent, but it is not the determining factor and is not necessarily fixated on Armageddon.
3. A New Form: „Renewalist”
My evaluation of popular theological literature on the topics of the end times and Israel clearly showed that in Charismatic-Pentecostal (especially neo-Pentecostal) circles, Christian Zionism has taken on its own features and differs significantly. It forms its own type. These features include:
- Parallel restoration of Israel and the church, e.g.:
the beginning of Zionism (late 19th century) or the Balfour
Declaration (1917) and the beginning of Pentecostalism (1906); the revival of
the Hebrew language and the reappearance of glossolalia; the conquest of Jerusalem
in 1967 and the beginning of the Messianic Jewish movement and the Jesus
movement, as well as the breakthrough of the Charismatic movement in the traditional
churches. - Importance and influence of Messianic Jews.
- The adoption of Jewish customs, artifacts, and festivals.
- The One New Man made
from Jews and Gentiles, an ideabased on Ephesians 2:15. This did not
happen in the past, on the cross, but is happening now, when Jews and Gentile
Christians come together, which is therefore of great importance in the history
of salvation. Jews and Christians are brothers and sisters; they are one. - A unique role of Israel, e.g. the Greater Riches
World Revival (Finto 2001: 38). - Many additional positive and optimistic elements in its
end-time expectation.
This all sounds very eschatological. But I repeat: it is not the eschatology of end-time scenarios as we know it from dispensationalism and end-time books, which tend to be pessimistic about this world.
This turbo eschatology also acknowledges dark sides; the future is not only golden. But it loses itself above all in the exuberant. Israel, Messianic Jews, and the Christians who support them are playing the leading role in the last days.
I mentioned the PhD thesis of Matthew Westbrook (2014). The existence of such a variation with ethnonationalism as an essential feature is his main thesis. He refers to them as „Renewalist Christian Zionism”.
Yet another new study by Daniel Hummel (2017) agrees; he speaks of „the new Christian Zionism”. This type is international and strongly Pentecostal and less determined by end-time issues. (It is not to be confused with the „new Christian Zionism” in McDermott 2016, a comparatively moderate position on Israel, but by no means new; McDermott 2016: 15, 46-8, 319.)
So far so good. But what did I miss? To be continued!
Bibliography
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Unless indicated differently, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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