Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

plans to construct a Jewish Temple on Haram Al-Sharif. 1280 Pat Robertson’s
700 Club and Christian Broadcasting Network as well as the ICEJ have also
assisted in fund raising for Gershon Salomon’s Temple Mount Faithful. 1281
Professor Gordon Welty of Wright State University, Ohio, a sociologist
and anthropologist, explains the apparent contradiction of evangelical
Christians supporting Jewish terrorists:
‘Their power is to keep inconsistencies in airtight compartments, so
that they themselves never recognize these inconsistencies ... If the
money a muscular Christian donates to the Jewish terrorists buys the
dynamite that destroys the mosque, the muscular Christian will say
simply, “It was an act of God.”’ 1282
As Lawrence Wright has also observed, ‘Jewish longing for the Temple,
Christian hopes for the Rapture, and Muslim paranoia about the destruction of
the mosques [are being] stirred to an apocalyptic boil.’ 1283 The implacable
hostility Christian Zionists show towards any compromise over the competing
claims to the Land, the status of Jerusalem or plans to rebuild the Jewish
Temple, combined with their formidable influence in US Middle East policy
makes for an ominous future, given the inherent pessimism of their
eschatology.
6. The Future : Opposing Peace and Hastening Armageddon
Christian Zionism finds its consummation in the future hope of all Israel
restored to their land and to their Lord, bringing blessing to the whole world.
While Britain was the principal sponsor and protector of Zionism in the 19 th
Century, the United States has fulfilled the role of benefactor and guardian in
the 20 th Century. While the United Nations is invariably viewed with mistrust,
the special relationship between America and Israel ensures their mutual
survival against global terrorism. 1284 Antipathy for Arabs generally has led to
the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the demonisation of Islam, while Arab
leaders such as Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein are cast for the role of
1280 Ibid., p98.
1281 Jay Gary, ‘The Temple Time Bomb’ Presence Magazine,
http://www.christianity.com/partner
1282 Halsell, Forcing, op.cit., p115.
1283
Lawrence Wright, ‘Forcing the End’, Frontline,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/readings/forcing.html
284