1. Innocence (Genesis 1,28);
2. Conscience or Moral Responsibility (Genesis 3,7)
3. Human Government (Genesis 8,15);
4. Promise (Genesis 12,1);
5. Law (Exodus 19,3);
6. Church (Acts 2,1);
7. Kingdom (Revelation 20,4)

...Christian Zionism": Some folks, unaware of the term's definition, never get past its pronunciation before walking the other way. "It sounds so extreme and fanatical.", they'll undoubtedly retort. The ill-informed will often ask, "What does 'Zionism' have to do with being a Christian?" The answer is quite simple, as you will soon see, and once Christians begin focusing less on the nomenclature, and more on the true, literal meaning of what it means to be a "Christian Zionist", they will soon realize that these are a blessed group of people. They are "blessed" because they bless. They bless because they love His people, and in doing so, are hated for it.

Although the term "Zionism" is considered a political movement in secular circles, it is entirely biblical in nature. Zionists seek to support, facilitate and advance the return of the Jewish people and sovereignty to their native homeland--the land of Israel. Christians who see the regathering of the Jewish people in their land, as well as the establishment of the sovereign nation of Israel in 1948, as the literal fulfillment of biblical prophecy are known as "Christian Zionists". Christian Zionists see the Jewish people as the "apple of God's eye"--His Chosen people, and hold firm that God's promises, established in the Abrahamic Covenant, remain in effect today. Christian Zionists also seek to stand with Israel, showing her unconditional support, solidarity and love whilst praying for her spiritual return to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who "foreknew" her.... (The Christian Zionist - Hated by the world, blessed by God by Mikael Knighton)

 

A different sympathetic author makes these assertions: 

WHAT CHRISTIAN ZIONISM IS NOT

It is not a belief that everything Israel does today carries Divine sanction, nor that her leaders at any time carry divine authority outside that defined in Romans chapter 13:1-6.

It is not a rejection of the Arab people, especially those who live in the land of Israel.

It is not a belief that the ONLY criterion of Divine judgement on nations and individuals is their attitude to and treatment of the Jews. (source: Christian Zionism by Derek White)

The text in bold might contradict "showing her unconditional support, " The italicized text might contradict "diametrical opposition to land concessions of any sort which involve the forfeiture of the holy land of Israel." At least these assertions are not in the same spirit as those made by Knighton. The same author goes on to define Christian Zionism (or to avoid defining it) in this way: 

TRUE CHRISTIAN ZIONISM, BIBLICAL ZIONISM OR RESTORATIONISM

Recognises that the Bible promises a future restoration of the Jewish people to their land, and that their restoration as a nation is part of God's end-time plan for the redemption of the world.

Recognises that Christians should pray for, and be involved in the upbuilding and wellbeing of the reborn nation, especially in view of the enemies around her who seek her destruction.

Recognises that God does not automatically endorse the actions of the State of Israel and her leaders, especially while the majority of her people live in unbelief in their own God and without her promised Messiah, neither does it feel bound to uncritically support all the policies and political agendas of her government.

Recognises that God is committed to defend Israel, despite her disobedience, because of the Abrahamic covenant which says: "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse." (Genesis 12:3)

Recognises that the full restoration of the nation of Israel will take place when she comes to a place of national repentance, cries out to her God, and recognises her own Messiah. This is the completion of the restoration spoken of by Moses and the prophets, and as a result of which the whole world will be blessed. It is also referred to in the New Testament as the "fullness" and "acceptance" of Israel (Romans 11:12,15).
 

He also states:

The term "Christian Zionism" which has become prominent relatively recently is in one sense unfortunate in that Zionism in its normal non-religious sense, is essentially a humanistic/political movement which indeed, through its early pioneers and leaders, sometimes repudiated divine involvement in the restoration of the Jewish people and in the new-born State of Israel. The term "Christian Zionism" is therefore understandably, in the eyes of its opponents, an un-Biblical mismatch of terms. Having said this, it must be emphasised that BIBLICAL ZIONISM - the longing of the Jewish people for their return to their own land of Eretz Israel and their love of the land and the city of Jerusalem - is indeed part and parcel of the Biblical revelation and experience of the Jewish people. It can be said that God is the greatest of all Zionists! "The Lord has chosen Zion ... " (Psalm 132:13) and, "The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." (Psalm 87:2). The word "Zion" (referring to the land of Israel, Jerusalem, or the people of Israel) in fact occurs 161 times in the Bible (including seven in the New Testament).

Nevertheless, it is more accurate and helpful to speak of "Restorationism", a term introduced by the Pietistic Protestants of the 16th century, or the "Restoration of the Jews", or the "Restoration Movement" - phrases which were commonly used in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries when an understanding of a future restoration of the Jewish people to their own land, and to their own God, was widely held in Britain and the U.S.A.
 

That is fair, inasmuch as it seems that the term "Christian Zionism" was first adopted by detractors of Christian support for Israel. Note that both Knighton and White acknowledge their concern for conversion of the Jews, but at the same time do not advocate an active program to convert the Jews. Not all Christian Zionists are interested in converting the Jews:

For example, an information leaflet distributed by Christian Friends of Israel states:

We believe the Lord Jesus is both Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world; however, our stand alongside Israel is not conditional upon her acceptance of our belief. The Bible teaches that Israel (people, land, nation) has a Divinely ordained and glorious future, and that God has neither rejected nor replaced His Jewish people..

D.A. Rausch in the Elwell Evangelical Encyclopedia article on Christian Zionism avoids giving a definition of Christian Zionism, but tells us:

This little article is indicative of the confusion of terminology and likewise the confounding of political views with theological ones attendant upon discussions of Christian Zionism.

The Christian Zionism of John Hagee

John Hagee

John Hagee of the Cornerstone church in San Antonio Texas created a sensation when he apoke not long ago at an AIPAC convention.  is probably the foremost Christian Zionist at present. He is an evangelical Christian and his name evokes strong emotions among liberal Jews, even those who support Israel, and among anti-Zionists. However, his public theological statements seem to advocate a rather moderate approach.  Hagee's Christian Zionism, his reasons for supporting Israel and his theology are explained at his Web site: 

The support of Israel is a biblically based mandate for every Christian. All other nations were created by an act of men, but God Himself established the boundaries of the nation of Israel. God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a covenant of land that was eternally binding, and it's recorded in the book of Genesis. God also told Abraham that He would make Abraham's descendants into a great nation and through them He would bless all the families of the earth. In the same passage, God said He would "bless those who bless you" (Abraham), and "curse him who curses you" (Gen. 12:3). That gets my attention. I want to be blessed, not cursed, by God.

The Bible shows God as the protector and defender of Israel. Psalm 121:4 says that He never slumbers or sleeps in His watching over the nation of Israel. The prophet Zechariah said that the Jewish people are "the apple of God's eye" (2:8). Any nation that comes against Israel is, in effect, poking God in the eye-not a very wise thing to do! If God created Israel, if God defends Israel, if God considers Israel the apple of His eye, then it is logical to say that those who stand with Israel are standing with God.

Every Christian should remember the debt of gratitude the Christian community owes to the Jewish community. The Jewish people do not need Christianity to explain their existence or their origin. But Christians cannot explain their existence without Judaism. It was the Jewish people who gave us the written Scripture. They gave us the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They gave us the disciples and the apostle Paul. The Jewish people gave to Christianity the first Christian family, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus-our Savior! If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there is nothing left.

Geopolitically speaking, we should support Israel because it is the only true democracy in the Middle East. The tiny democracy of Israel is surrounded by feudal states and brutal dictatorships that control vast regions of land and oil resources. The presence of the Israeli Defense Forces brings stability to that part of the world.

The current conflict in the Middle East is not just about land; it's about Israel's right to exist as a nation...

He also provides similar theological support for Christian Zionism and support both Israel and the Jews here:

....

Christians owe a debt of eternal gratitude to the Jewish people for their contributions that gave birth to the Christian faith. Jesus Christ, a prominent Rabbi from Nazareth said, "Salvation is of the Jews!" (St. John 4:22) consider what the Jewish people have given to Christianity:

a) The Sacred Scripture b) The Prophets c) The Patriarchs d) Mary, Joseph, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth e) The Twelve Disciples f) The Apostles

It is not possible to say, "I am a Christian" and not love the Jewish people...

...

While some Christians try to deny the connection between Jesus of Nazareth and the Jews of the world, Jesus never denied his Jewishness. He was born Jewish, He was circumcised on the eighth day in keeping with Jewish tradition, He had his Bar Mitzvah on his 13th birthday, He kept the law of Moses, He wore the Prayer Shawl Moses commanded all Jewish men to wear, He died on a cross with an inscription over His head, "King of the Jews!"

Jesus considered the Jewish people His family. Jesus said (Matthew 25:40) "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren (the Jewish people… Gentiles were never called His brethren), ye have done it unto me."

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee." (Psalm 122:6) the scriptural principle of prosperity is tied to blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem.

...

We support Israel because all other nations were created by an act of men, but Israel was created by an act of God! The Royal Land Grant that was given to Abraham and his seed through Isaac and Jacob with an everlasting and unconditional covenant. (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-18, 15:1-21, 17:4-8, 22:15-18, 26:1-5 and Psalm 89:28-37

Hagee does not believe that conversion of the Jews is necessary at all for their ultimate salvation, a belief that has earned him the opprobrium of more orthodox Christian Zionists, like David Reagan who consider him to be an "apostate."

Typical Critiques of Christian Zionism

Stephen Sizer

Stephen Sizer, who has contributed a great deal of the criticism and the confusion, offers this definition of Christian Zionism at: cc-vw.org/articles/czdefine1.html:

"At its simplest, Christian Zionism has been defined as 'Christian support for Zionism.' (Citing: Colin Chapman, Whose Promised Land, Israel or Palestine? rev. edn. (Oxford, Lion, 1992), p.277.)"

That definition might include anyone from the Pope to Pat Robertson to any Presbyterian or Congregationalist who supports the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and therefore is providing "Christian Support for Zionism."

Sizer is one of the outstanding critics of Christian Zionism. Whereas on the one hand he seeks to include all Christian support for Israel under the heading of "Christian Zionism," when he discusses the specifics of Christian Zionism, it is usually with specific reference to the doctrines of dispensationalists like Darby and to Hal Lindsey and other extremists. He presents an alarmist and extremist view of Christian Zionist theology which in fact seems to reflect the view of only a tiny minority of Christian Zionists, if at all.

His theological claims aside, the major thrust of Sizer's argument is not against Christian Zionism, but against Jews and Israel. For example, he writes:

The question is whether we have good biblical and theological reasons for giving whole-hearted support to the Zionist vision? Or, do we find in Scripture grounds for criticising and rejecting this ideology as sub-Christian or even heretical?

The first part is a valid question in Christian theology. The second part is not. Sizer moved quickly from rejecting "Christian Zionism" as a theological doctrine to rejecting Zionism in general, a sleight of hand. That is not the only place where Sizer deliberately confutes Zionism with Christian Zionism, just as he confutes Christian Zionism with Christian support for Israel and tries to attribute all of them to dispensationalism of the most extreme variety. Zionism as such (as opposed to some doctrines of Christian churches that support Zionism) is not a Christian doctrine or even a Jewish religious doctrine. It therefore cannot be considered heretical or "sub-Christian." As Sizer notes, it is an ideology - a secular political viewpoint.  It is a political ideology and not theology. The danger of using theological arguments to discredit the ideological basis of the national liberation movement of a people, the Jewish people, is clear. It is a platform for mixing politics and religion, and it is also a launching pad for using theology to justify anti-Semitism.

The payoff is not long in coming. In the same article, Sizer writes:

"the present brutal, repressive and apartheid policies of the State of Israel would suggest another exile on the horizon rather than a restoration. " (source- cc-vw.org/articles/churchmanland.HTM)

In other words, the heart of Sizer's argument depends on his view that the policies of the State of Israel are "brutal, repressive, Apartheid" policies, couples with the belief that the Jews have not shown "repentance" (presumably for the crucifixion of Christ) and are therefore being "punished." It is once a political view which misstates facts, and an anti-Semitic doctrine. 

The Reverend Stephen Sizer is probably the most outspoken critic of what he calls "Christian Zionism," views which he variously attributes to all Christian supporters of Israel, or to dispensationalists. His "Road to Armageddon" rang alarm bells over the doctrines of a supposed army of fanatics poised to bring on the end of the world. The truth apparently, is that people with such beliefs constitute a tiny minority among Christian supporters of Zionism. Sizer's major theological contention is basically replacement theology or supersessionism, coupled with the curse of Eusebius: the Jews lost favor, the chance for salvation, and the right to Israel, when they did not accept Jesus as Messiah.  To support his view, Sizer cites the following quote, which is classic replacement theology of the variety that expresses the theological bases of anti-Semitism: 

H. C. Leupold, professor of Old Testament exegesis at the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, in his commentary on Genesis 12:3 and the promise made to Abraham, makes the following critique of Darby's dispensationalism,

Again, Sizer is mixing politics with theology.

Another condemnation of Christian Zionism was offered by a Palestinian group of local Church heads (source hcef.org/index.cfm/mod/news/id/16/subMod/NewsView/NewsID/1595.cf ). It states:

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist programme provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it places an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ's love and justice today.

We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.

As in the case of Sizer, the most extreme views are taken as characteristic of all Christian Zionism. No theological basis is offered for the condemnation of the theology. Ironically, the signatories include Palestinian leaders of the Sabeel group and others who have been leading the effort to sabotage the peace process and opposing a real two-state solution.

In the United States, the fundamentalist attack on Christian support for Israel is probably lead by the outspoken Hank (Hendrik) Hanegraaff and his "Preterist" ministry. Hanegraaff, like Sizer, insists that Christian Zionists are an apocalyptic cult. He has called Israel the "harlot of revelations," and has written a book, the Apocalypse Code, denouncing dispensationalist theology.

Among the mainline Protestant churches, the Presbyterian Church USA has also been a leader in criticizing "Christian Zionism." They published a call to combat "Christian Zionism" in 2004, citing Stephen Sizer's book among others (see pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/christianzionism.htm). A document they published (see pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/ resources/21christianzionism.pdf ) states:

Overview

• Christian Zionism is a predominantly American movement that believes that the modern state of Israel is the catalyst for the end of times, the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and the return of Jesus with final judgment.

• This dispensationalist view of the Bible looks forward to Jesus’ second coming, an event only possible, it is believed, when the state of Israel reclaims its ancient borders with an undivided Jerusalem as its capital.

• Christian Zionists tend to support any action toward this end, neglecting the cries for justice from those who would be affected.

• Christian Zionism, however, does not refer in a generic way to “Christians who support the state of Israel.

The same document states:

• Most Christian Zionists are Dispensationalists...

It goes on to make the usual accusations about Armageddon and obstruction of peace, quoting Gary Burge and others. The document does note that not all Christian supporters of Israel are dispensationalists, but the insistence that Christian Zionists are dispensationalists is a characteristic caricature of Christian Zionism. The same language precisely is repeated in many places, with references to denunciations of Christian Zionism by Palestinians and other anti-Zionists. Interestingly, PC-USA is not attacking pre-millennialism. In other words, rapture, Armageddon and other such beliefs are not counter to their views apparently, so long as they do not involve support for Israel. The document is incorrect in associating Christian Zionism so closely with dispensationalism.

What is peculiar about the PCUSA publications on Christian Zionism, are that they are neither fish nor fowl. Had they been intended as a serious examination of the theological validity of Christian support for Israel, they would have had to include pre-dispensationalist support for restoration of Israel, as well as views based on covenant theology, and they would have needed to deal with supersessionism ("replacement theology") as well. Had they been meant as a serious examination of dispensationalist theology, they would have needed to deal with all aspects of the doctrine, which have a far wider scope than support for Israel. The series of documents appear to be politically inspired attacks on Christian support for Israel, which operate by discrediting Christian Zionism as dispensationalism. 

Jewish and Zionist objections to Christian Zionism

Jewish and Zionist objections to Christian Zionism take up the following points:

Opposition by peace camp and anti-Zionists to Greater Israel doctrines of most Christian Zionist groups.

Opposition by American Jews to conservative domestic policies of Christian Zionists, including "right to life," opposition to evolution and opposition to separation of church and state.

Objection to conversion of the Jews and to missionary and evangelical work of some Christian Zionists, and objection to the doctrine of conversion of the Jews at the end of days.

There are number of evangelical groups and churches that engage in conversion of Jews who are anti-Zionist and equally conservative in their domestic views. The Presbyterian Church USA runs a church for converted Jews. Conservative politician Pat Buchanan has identified himself as a holder of conservative Christian views, conservative political views and an opponent of Israel. By condemning "Christian Zionists" and focusing on them, Jewish and Zionist criticism seems to be absolving their enemies and seeking out to specially criticize their potential friends.

Max Blumenthal made this claim: (source: democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1326256 -)

And if you look at what John Hagee has written in his books, like Jerusalem Countdown, his most recent book, which cites 17 unnamed Israeli intelligence sources to claim that Iran is producing nuclear suitcase bombs..

The logical conclusion from the above would seem to be that Iran might have an apocalyptic theology, but Blumenthal continues:

... and that Israel must engage in a "nuclear showdown" with Iran or risk committing national suicide.  if you look at what he's written, he does have an Armageddon-based agenda.

There are numerous non-religious political analysts and analyses that have reached the same conclusion about Iran. It is not clear why this view should be attributed to an "Armageddon-based agenda."

A brief history of Christian Zionism

"Christian Zionism" or Christian support for restoration (which we will call "restorationism," though this doctrine has a different meaning for Calvinist theology) of the Jews did not begin with Darby and the dispensationalists. Rather, it began in sixteenth century England, and was especially, though not exclusively, a popular idea among puritans. The puritans brought this tenet of their faith with them to the American colonies.

In the first century AD, the church was a part of Judaism. The break between the Jewish Church of St James began with the teachings of Paul. Before the first Jewish revolt in AD 66, Christianity was basically a sect of Judaism, like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Following the failure of  the second Jewish revolt of Bar Kochba in AD 133-135 and the banishment of Jews from Jerusalem,  political power moved from Jewish believers to centers of Gentile Christian leadership in Asia minor (Galatians), Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. This important change was reflected in the changing theology of the fathers of the church, which  began to disconnect itself from its Jewish roots. The church became an active rival of Judaism. In the second century, Marcion had proclaimed that the Old Testament was not part of the Christian religion, having been replaced by the New Testament, but he was condemned as a heretic. The antagonistic view of Judaism, however, took hold.

In AD 321. Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire, and official Christian persecution of Jews for religious, rather than national reasons, began.  By the middle of the fourth century, it was an accepted belief among most Christians that the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews were God’s method of showing the world that He no longer favored them, and was punishing them eternally for the crucifixion of Christ. This was exemplified in the teachings of Eusebius of Caesaria, who claimed that God would not let the Jews rebuild Jerusalem, and in the theology of St. Augustine and others, who taught that the favors of God had been removed from the Jews and transferred to the church, which was the true "Israel."  These beliefs became an important part and justification, if not the foundation, for anti-Semitic persecutions, including expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem and later from various European countries, wholesale slaughter of Jews as occurred during the Crusades, and forced conversions. This view of the Jews remained fixed and almost universal in European culture until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

Christian support for restoration of the Jews became popular when Protestant theology began to base its beliefs and sermons on printed copies of the Bible, in spoken languages that everyone could understand. From these, it was evident that God had made explicit promises to Israel and Judah and the fleshly heirs of David, and that these were not necessarily transferred to the Christian Church. Restoration of the Jews was a peculiarly British doctrine, perhaps because of the exceptional success and popularity of the English language Tyndale bible and the King James Version. Eventually, support for restoration of the Jews was to become an important theme in British, and especially in American culture, where it achieved the status of a cultural norm alongside anti-Semitism, and not always opposed to it.

In 1585, one Francis Kett, a Cambridge scholar, published a book entitled The Glorious and Beautiful Garland of Man's Glorification Containing the Godly Misterie of Heavenly Jerusalem. The book had a section in which he mentioned "the notion of Jewish national return to Palestine." For these views, he was burned at the stake as a heretic on January 14, 1589.

The puritan faith adopted both restoration of the Jews and to a greater extent, "Hebraicization," identifying themselves and their cause with the Jewish people.

"Restoration" of the Jews was initially synonymous with their conversion to Christianity. In 1635, Brightman wrote  a commentary on Daniel 11-12 which he sub-titled, 'The restoring of the Jewes and their callinge to the faith of Christ after the utter overthrow of their three enemies is set forth in livelie colours.'

In 1641, the British Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell stated, "And it may be, as some think, God will bring the Jews home to their station, 'from all the isles of the sea,' and answer their expectations 'as from the depths of the sea.' (Tuchman, p. 141). It is not clear if Cromwell was referring to the actual Jews, or to the Puritans as Jews. The Puritan government also rescinded the banishment of the Jews from England.

In 1649 the English Puritans, Ebenezer and Joanna Cartwright,  living in Amsterdam, petitioned the British Government to  lift the ban on Jews settling in England, and to assist them to move to Palestine:

That this Nation of England, with the inhabitants of the Netherlands, shall be the first and the readiest to transport Israel's sons and daughters on their ships to the land promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for an everlasting inheritance. (Tuchman, p. 121)

In later years a more secular version of Christian Zionism evolved in parallel to the evangelical one, sometimes relying on moral arguments, sometimes on evangelical arguments and sometimes on practical imperialist ones. Support for Zionism was no longer premised on visions of the end of days and conversion of the Jews. Among the first of these may be counted Isaac de la Peyrere (1594-1676), the French Ambassador to Denmark, who wrote a book wherein he argued for a restoration of the Jews to Israel without conversion to Christianity.

Thomas Newton, the Bishop of Bristol  believed Jews would be restored to their native city and country, and at the same time he condemned anti-Jewish prejudice.

Lord Shaftsebury

It is likely that the religious movement for return of the Jews was inspired in part by French Revolution and the attendant emancipation of the Jewish people in parts of Europe. Likewise, it was no doubt influenced by the weakening of the Ottoman empire and by Napoleon's proclamation to the Jews, for the early 19th century saw a revival in restorationist beliefs, which also spread to the United States. The greatest part of this interest was purely religious, but restorationism was influenced by imperialist motives as well. In 19th century England, early British proponents of  Jewish Restoration included Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. He noted in his diaries that the signs were propitious for the return of the Jews to Palestine, and was later active in promoting proto-Zionist schemes. Charles Henry Churchill, a British resident of Damascus,  became a zealous proponent for the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. In 1841 he wrote  to the Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore,  "…I consider the object to be perfectly obtainable. But, two things are indispensably necessary. Firstly, that the Jews will themselves take up the matter unanimously. Secondly, that the European powers will aid them in their views..," At the time, Montefiore had been approached by proto-Zionists with schemes of settling Jews in Palestine and of purchasing Palestine, or at least the temple mount, from the Turks. 

The idea of restoration of the Jews became as firmly rooted in British and American Protestantism as the idea of the damnation of the Jews had been previously rooted in Medieval Catholic theology. In England, John Nelson Darby founded the small but influential Plymouth Brethren group. Darby had disciples throughout England and in the USA.

Shaftesbury, Oliphant and others furthered the idea of Jewish restoration in England in the 19th century, and it made its appearance in the first "Zionist" novel, Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot.

Why not give Palestine back to them again? According to God's distribution of nations it is their home, an inalienable possession from which they were expelled by force. Under their cultivation it was a remarkably fruitful land, sustaining millions of Israelites, who industriously tilled its hillsides and valleys. They were agriculturalists and producers as well as a nation of great commercial importance - the centre of civilization and religion. Why shall not the powers which under the treaty of Berlin, in 1878, gave Bulgaria to the Bulgarians and Servia to the Servians now give Palestine back to the Jews?

Arthur Balfour, author of the Balfour declaration, was said to have been a Christian Zionist. However, his support for Zionism, as explained in the introduction he wrote to a book on Zionism, does not appear to have any elements of religious extremism or "fundamentalism." He wrote, for example:

If Zionism can be developed into a working scheme, the benefit it would bring to the Jewish people, especially perhaps to that section of it which most deserves our pity, would be great and lasting. It is not merely that large numbers of them would thus find a refuge from religious and social persecution; but that they would bear corporate responsibilities, and enjoy corporate opportunities of a kind which, from the nature of the case, they can never possess as citizens of any non-Jewish state. (from Lord Balfour on Zionism, 1919)

Christian Zionism in America

Christian Zionism in America, like that in Britain,  predates John Nelson Darby and dispensationalism by hundreds of years.  Identification and affinity for the ancient Jews was brought over from England in the boats that transported the first puritan settlers. Americans frequently studied Hebrew, identified with Israel and the Jews, and gave their children strange and characteristically biblical Hebrew names such as Abednego, Amos, Obadiah, Habakkuk, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Elnathan, Ichabod, Jared, Jedediya and Levi for men, and Rebecca, Hannah, Sarah and like names for women. Colleges like Harvard and Yale had serious programs for the study of Hebrew and adopted Hebrew mottos.

Increase Mather, first president of Harvard, and John Cotton, leading minister of Massachusetts Bay, called for destruction of the Ottoman Empire in order to make way for return of the Jews, and they were not alone in this idea.  However, it was not until after the colonies had attained independence that the notion of restorationism took hold in earnest. Ezra Stiles, at Yale, advocated the return of the twelve tribes to the holy land, which would generate enough spiritual energy to "convert a world." David Austin, also in New Haven, spent his fortune on building docks, inns and warehouses  for the use of the Jews in departing to Palestine. The fall of the Ottoman Empire was considered imminent, and it would provide an opportunity for the return of the Jews. Asa McFarland, a Presbyterian, declared in 1808 that "When that empire falls... the Jews will begin to be restored to... and Christ will take to himself his power and his reign." (Oren, page 89).

Likewise in 1819, America's first missionaries to the land of Israel set out. They were Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons. They arrived in Jerusalem in 1820. Parsons succumbed to the rigors of the Middle East in 1822, but Fisk returned to Egypt , where he was well received, and made his way to Palestine. There however, he declared that "the Arabs poured down on us like a torrent...with drawn swords, guns and heavy clubs... setting up a terrible yell, like the war whoop of the savages of North America." Though Fisk continued to Beirut, he was not to be deterred from his purpose. He set up a school in Beirut,  but returned to Jerusalem as well, and was arrested there for distributing leaflets. He also made a trip to Nazareth in 1825, which was his undoing. He was waylaid and beaten by brigands, and died soon after. (Oren, p. 90 ff)

American missionaries and explorers continued to travel to the land of Israel and the Middle East, some with restorationist intent, others as explorers, like Edward Robinson, founder of biblical archeology, and others from curiosity.. Sarah Haight, of Long Island, a Middle East traveler of the 1830s wrote, "God's own peculiar people shall again be brought... to rebuild and worship in their own temple."  

A rather explicit and modernistic thesis, with overtones of modern Zionism, appeared soon after. In 1844, a professor of Hebrew at New York University published a tract entitled, "The Valley of the Vision, or The Dry Bones of Israel Revived. He called for "elevating" the Jews "to a rank of honorable repute among the nations of the earth" by restoring them to the land of Israel. Like many American restorationists, he believed that this would have momentous repercussions for mankind, not necessarily associated in a literal sense with the "end of days." The author was George Bush, whose descendants include two presidents of the United States.

In 1841, John Smith, the founder of Mormonism, sent his emissary Orson Hyde to Jerusalem. Hyde erected an alter on the the Mount of Olives and beseeched God to "restore the kingdom unto Israel..." a prayer that would be integrated into the Mormon liturgy.

In 1844, Warder Cresson, formerly a Quaker and then a Mormon, was influenced by  Mordecai Manuel Noah to take up the cause of restorationism. He applied for, and received, the post of U.S. consul in Jerusalem. He made it his business to protect the Jews and further their interests there. He impressed various interlocutors as eccentric and ignorant. Cresson and a succession of other restorationists pioneered actual active Zionism - aiding in resettlement of Jews and the attempt to teach them agriculture. Harriet Livermore settled in Jerusalem, where she planned to found a colony for the Jews. Funding was not forthcoming however, and she died destitute in a Philadelphia poorhouse. Like Livermore, James Turner Barclay, an architect wanted to initiate an agricultural settlement for Jews. To fund the endeavor, he obtained a commission to renovate the Dome of the Rock, and authored a best selling book about Jerusalem, The City of the Great King, advocating return of the Jews.

Following the United States Civil War, America had begun to view itself as a world power. Americans, along with other powers, showed concern for the plight of Russian Jews and the US government beseeched the Sultan to open the doors of Palestine to Jewish immigration. The policy was furthered by the US Consul in Istanbul, Lew Wallace, an ardent restorationist and the author of Ben Hur, and by subsequent consuls. The Turks were obdurate however, and persisted in obstructing Jewish immigration, while at the same time encouraging the migration to Palestine of Muslims from other parts of the Ottoman Empire.

The Niagara Bible Conference

The dispensationalist movement and the preaching of Darby began to take root in the United States. The Niagara Bible Conference, grew out of the  Believers' Meeting for Bible Study, It began in New York City in 1868 with various pre-millennialist and dispensationalist activists.  From 1883 to 1897 the conference met at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and thus acquired its name. Over 120 leaders and speakers virtually everyone of any significance in the pre-millennial movement attended the conference. In 1878, this group issued a proclamation of 14 points. The last point stated:

...that the Lord Jesus will come in person to introduce the millennial age, when Israel shall be restored to their own land, and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord; and that this personal and premillennial advent is the blessed hope set before us in the Gospel for which we should be constantly looking." Luke 12:35-40; 17:26-30; 18:8 Acts 15:14-17; 2 Thess. 2:3-8; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Titus 1:11-15).

The Blackstone Memorial

William E. Blackstone

Some restorationists began to advocate that the United States take the lead in freeing the land of Israel from the Turks and restoring it to the Jews. T.  DeWitt Talmage, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, envisioned the increase of anti-Semitism in eastern Europe and Russia. At the same time, he asserted that "All the fingers of Providence are pointing now-a-days to that resumption of Palestine by the Israelites." (Oren p. 277). He arrived in Jaffa in 1889. Talmage soon joined forces with another restorationist, real estate tycoon William E. Blackstone. Blackstone was once dubbed the American Christian "Father of Zionism." In 1878, he attended the Niagara conference,  and he took up the cause. He wrote Jesus is Coming, which was remarkable because it absolved the Jews of the need to convert to Christianity, either before or after the return of the Messiah. 

Blackstone, a follower of Darby, presented President Benjamin Harrison in 1891 with a petition, the Blackstone Memorial signed by over 400 Christians and Jews, calling on the US to facilitate the restoration of the Jews, and presaging the Political Zionism of Herzl: In addition to Blackstone and Talmage,  the petition was signed by Charles Scribner, J. Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Chief Justice Melville Fuller and Congressman William McKinley. This wide support attests to the fact that Christian support for Israel was well rooted in American culture.  Later, Blackstone was to be influential in moving President Wilson to support the Balfour declaration and the British mandate.

The American Colony and the Spaffords

Horatio and Anna Spafford underwent a series of personal calamities. After surviving the Chicago fire, Anna and the four daughters went on cruise to Britain. The ship struck another vessel and sank. The four daughters died. Soon after their only son succumbed to scarlet fever. These experiences induced a religious conversion. The Spaffords founded a new sect, the Overcomers and a decade later, moved to Jerusalem with twelve of their followers, founding the American Colony, a communal settlement that in some ways presaged the kibbutz. Like the kibbutz, the American Colony generated lewd rumors about free love and other practices. Though they were restorationists, the Spaffords and their followers made no attempt to convert the Jews. The project prospered to an extent, though it was harassed by the incessant persecution by the American Consul, Selah Merrill. He denounced them, dug up the bones of Horatio Spafford who was buried in the cemetery of the American colony and accused them of various crimes, apparently because he opposed their communal life style. Merrill was also an ardent anti-Semite, who insisted that the Jews were to blame for their own suffering, and that "The Jew needs to learn his place in the world." Merrill ridiculed the Blackstone Memorial. asserting that the Jews were retarded by "trifling observances," and interested only in money. He insisted that Jews are "a race of weaklings of whom neither soldiers, colonists nor enterprising citizens can be made."

Dispensationalism and Christian Zionism in the United States

John Nelson Darby, founder of the Dispensationalist Plymouth Brethren,  visited the United States and Canada seven times between 1862 and 1877. By the 1870s, followers had set up significant congregations in New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis and other major cities. In Chicago Darby met Dwight L. Moody several times. Moody never became an ardent promoter of dispensationalism, but Darby had a marked influence on his theology, both directly and even more through his popularizer, C. H. Mackintoch. Moody provided leadership to the pre-millennialist movement and founded the Moody Bible Institute. From this circle, a project grew to publish an annotated bible. This was the "Scofield Reference Bible" of C.I. Scofield and Arno Gaebelin, conceived in 1901 and published in 1909. The exegesis provided by the notes in this bible apparently had a significant effect in spreading support for restoration of the Jews and other pre-millennialist ideas. However, given the long tradition of restorationist ideas both in the United States and England, it would be a gross distortion to say that this particular edition of the bible was the source of Christian Zionism, as some claim.

Christian Zionists  founded several educational institutions in the United States, including the Moody Bible Institute and the Dallas Theological Seminary.

American Christian support for Israel in Modern Times

American Christians played a significant role in furthering the project of the Jewish state both during and following World War II. President Harry S. Truman's support for Israel was based in part on religious-cultural motives as well as the feeling that the world owed a debt to the Jews following the Holocaust, and political considerations. The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 energized some Christians, who believed that it heralded the Second Coming. The reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six day war, as well as the swift victory of Israel over its enemies, likewise captured the imagination of many. Though the left leaning governments of Israel kept a polite distance from conservative Christian evangelical movements, this attitude changed when the Likud party came to power in 1977. In 1978, a plan to encourage fundamentalist churches to give their support to Israel" was published by the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was authored by  Yona Malachy, and  titled "American Fundamentalism and Israel: The Relation of Fundamentalist Churches to Zionism and the State of Israel."

The International Christian Embassy (ICEJ) was founded in Jerusalem on September 20, 1980, and became a strong lobby for Israel. The ICEJ is not a dispensationalist movement. Later in the 1980s, the National Unity Coalition for Israel was founded.

Tim LaHaye

Hal Lindsey

Two popular works by graduates of the Moody Bible Institute have both attracted a following for the millennial and extremist conceptions and Christian Zionism and at the same time have been easy targets for critics like Sizer and Hanegraaff. Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, published in 1970,  introduced dispensationalism to a popular audience and remained a best seller for many years. Tim LaHaye's 'Left Behind" books popularized the idea of rapture as an actual event that could really happen at any moment.

In 2002, Christian Zionists helped bankroll the emigration to Israel of 371 American Jews. This was a very trying time for Israel, in the midst of widespread Palestinian violence, and the support of Christians was a welcome morale booster  Bishop Huey Harris, of the First Pentecostal Tabernacle Church in Elkton, MD, raised $2,500 to help them. He said: "What I'm seeing is the Scriptures being fulfilled right before our very eyes....What's next? I'm looking for the church to be raptured, Jesus returning for the church...and the Jews would receive him as their Messiah..."  Some $60 million were raised from Christian evangelical sources. American politicians ranging from Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to George Bush Jr. Gary Bauer, and Earl G. Cox have expressed support for Israel based on religious as well as practical motivations. (Danielle Haas, "U.S. Christians find cause to aid Israel Evangelicals " San Francisco Chronicle, 2002-JUL-10 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/10/MN17001.DTL)

Ami Isseroff

Notice - This is a draft work in progress.

Bibliography Sources (off line works cited in the text)

Oren, Michael, Power, Faith and Fantasy, New York, 2007 ("Oren")

Tuchman, Barbara W. Bible and Sword, New York, 1956.  ("Tuchman")

Copyright

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Further Information:  British Zionism ,  Christian Zionism   Replacement theology: To divorce or not to divorce Christian Zionism and Israel 

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