Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

Chapter 2: The Historical Roots of Christian Zionism since 1800
An analysis of the history of Western Christian attitudes toward the Jewish
people and State of Israel lies beyond the scope of this study and has already
been examined by others comprehensively. 89 Furthermore, the development
of non-Jewish Zionism 90 and its origins in Puritanism, 91 Millenarianism 92 and
the apocalyptic writings popular between the 17th and 19th centuries has
been well researched. 93
This chapter will instead focus on specific historical events, sociocultural
factors and theological developments which have been determinative
in the rise of evangelical Christian Zionism within British and American
religious and political circles, from the early 19th Century until the present
day. It examines the influence of a relatively small group of British evangelical
Christian leaders who were instrumental in revitalising Historic or Covenantal
Premillennialism out of which emerged the theological system known as
Dispensationalism. While both are based on a literal and futurist hermeneutic
and favour Jewish restoration, Covenant Premillennialism teaches that God’s
89
90
Kenneth Cragg, The Arab Christian, A History in the Middle East, (London,
Mowbray, 1992); Thomas A. Idinopulos, Jerusalem Blessed, Jerusalem Cursed, Jews,
Christians and Moslems in the Holy City from David’s Time to Our Own, (Chicago, Ivan
R. Dee, 1991); Michael Prior & William Taylor, eds., Christians in the Holy Land,
(London, World of Islam Festival Trust, 1994); Barbara W. Tuchman, Bible and Sword,
How the British came to Palestine, (London, Macmillan, 1982); P.W.L. Walker, ed,
Jerusalem, Past and Present in the Purposes of God, 2nd edn. (Carlisle, Paternoster Press,
1994); Michael Prior, Zionism and the State of Israel, A Moral Inquiry, (London,
Routledge, 1999).
Regina Sharif, Non-Jewish Zionism, Its Roots in Western History, (London, Zed,
1983); Paul C. Merkley, The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948, (London, Frank Cass,
1998).
91
Douglas J. Culver, Albion & Ariel, British Puritanism and the Birth of Political
Zionism, (New York, Peter Lang, 1995); Peter Toon, ‘The Latter-Day Glory’, in Puritans, the
Millennium and the Future of Israel: Puritan Eschatology 1600-1660, edited by Peter Toon,
(Cambridge: James Clarke, 1970); Ian Murray, The Puritan Hope: Revival and the
Interpretation of Prophecy, (London, Banner of Truth, 1971).
92
J.F.C. Harrison, The Second Coming, Popular Millenarianism 1780-1850, (London,
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979); J. A. DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea: Millennial
Expectations in the Rise of Anglo-America Missions, 1640-1810, (Kampen, J. H. Kok,
1970).
93
David A. Rausch. Zionism within early American Fundamentalism, 1878-1918; a
convergence of two traditions, (New York: Mellen Press, 1979); Grace Halsell, Prophecy
and Politics, Militant Evangelists on the Road to Nuclear War, (Westport, Connecticut,
Lawrence Hill, 1986); Donald Wagner, Anxious for Armageddon, (Scottdale,
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