Movement 107

christian zionism
The broken promise land
Stephen Sizer is conce rned at Chrisf ian supportfor Zianism
and its effect on the West's approach ta the lvliddle Eastern crisis.
ARIEL SHARON'S PROVOCATIVE visit to the
courtyard of the Al Aqsa Mosque along with
over a thousand armed lsraeli soldiers
wiped out any hope of a peace a$reement
between Jews and Palestinians.
It also ignited not only a renewed Palestinian
lntifada but also a revival in Christian Zionist support
for lsrael.
Christian Zionism is simply 'Christian support for
Zionism.' Walter Riggans defines the term 'Christian
Zionist' in an overtly political sense as:
any Christian who supports the Zionist aim of the
sovereign State of /srael, its army, government,
education etc; but it can describe a Christian who
claims to support the State of lsrael for any
reason. (lsrael and Zonism)
ln 1975, the United Nations General Assembly
condemned the ethnic exclusivism of Zionism as 'a
form of racism and racial discrimination.' Contemporary
Christian Zionism is in part a reaction to
increasing world-wide criticism of lsraeli apartheid'
For example, in 1962 followingthe passing of UN Resolulion
242 condemning lsrael's occupation of the
West Bank, the international community closed their
embassies in Jerusalem, the lnternational Christian
Embassy (lCU) moved to Jerusalem expressly to show
solidarity with lsrael.
Christian Zionists see themselves as apologists for
the Jewish people, and in particular, the State of
lsrael. This support involves opposing those deemed
to be critical of lsrael. Hal Lindsey, for example,
accuses those who oppose Zionism of anti-Semitism
and making "the same error that founded the legacy
of contempt for the Jews and ultimately led to the
Holocaust of Nazi Germany."
Similarly, Tony Higton, General Secretary of the
Churches Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ)
lambnts:
It is so politically correct in many church circ,es to
condemn lsrae/?as the recent ritual condemnation
from Christian Aid illustrates) that to make
balanced comments about her brings accusations
of being a right-wing, fundamentalist, Zonist.
ln Der Judenstaat, published in 1896' Theodor
Herzl forcefully articulated the aspirations of Jewish
Zionists for their own homeland, but the Zionist
dream was largely nurtured and shaped by Christian
Zionists long before it was able to inspire widespread
Jewish support a century later. This was in part a
result of the rise of Dispensationalism, the growth in
travel to the Holy Land, and above all because French
and British colonial strategic interests saw control of
the Middle East as essential for maintainin$ their
trade routes to lndia and China. British politicians like
Lord Shaftesbury, Palmerston, Lloyd George, Balfour'
T.E. Lawrence and General Allenby were all Christian
Zionists.
Urnn-LrEnnltsut
Christian Zionism arose as a movement in the
1820s principally through the endeavours of J.N.
Darby, the founder of the Brethren, Lewis Way and
Edward lrving. lnfluential Christian leaders, meeting
at Albury in the home of Henry Drummond, began to
speculate that promises made in the Hebrew scrip
tures which had not been yet fulfilled literally must
therefore await future fulfilment' The borders of the
land promised to Abraham from the Nile to the
For many Christian Zionists the two nations
of America and lsrael are seen as Siamese twins,
linked not only by common self interest
but more significantly by similar religious foundations.
Euphrates must become the future borders of the
State of lsrael. Because the Jewish temple described
by Ezekiel has never been built, it must one day
replace the Moslem Dome of the Rock' Promises
made during the Babylonian exile of a return are
similarly made to apply 2500 years later to the emigration
of Soviet Jews todaY.
lnstead of recognising how Jesus and the Apostles
interpreted the Old Testament, it is made to speak
about present and future events almost as if the New
Testament were never written. Under the Old
Covenant, revelation from God came often in shadow,
image, form and prophecy. ln the New Covenant that
revelation finds its consummation in reality'
substance and fulfilment in Jesus Christ (see
Hebrews L:t-4, 8:L3,10:1). The question is therefore
not whether the promises of the covenant are to be
understood literally or spiritually as Christian Zionists
like to stress. lt is, instead, a question of whether they
should be understood in terms of Old Covenant
shadow or in terms of New Covenant reality. This is
the most basic hermeneutical error which Christian
Zionists consistently rePeat.
Christian Zionists fail to recognise that in the Bible'
'chosenness' progressively becomes universalised
becoming the gift of God's grace in Jesus Christ to all
. Rev, Stephen Sizer is vicar of
virginia watel, Suiley. He is engaged
in dostoral reseatch on Chlistian
Zionism and has wriften extensively
on lsrael/Palestine.
Ihis article is based on a lecture
given atthe Al Aqsa Nauonal
Conference on Justice forAl Quds,
6th May 2000, University of
Leicester.
8 | movement