[lit-ideas] Re: Evangelicals challenge Christian Zionists
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:25:39 -0700
Omar,
Unfortunately most of what you have quoted here is probably true. I'm not
familiar with Christian Zionism but am very familiar with Dispensationalism.
I have had countless arguments with Dispensationalists in Theological
discussion groups and in person. Dispensationalism claims to take a Literal
view of some passages primarily in Revelation, Matthew 24 (also known as the
Little Apocalypse), Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and Joel that most
theologians throughout history have taken figuratively. Dispensationalism
was originated by John Darby a British preacher who formulated this
eschatological scheme. Certain prophecies are considered to remain to be
fulfilled. The Jews going back into the land was a primary milestone for
them. More predictions of "the end" resulted from this. Unfortunately for
this anti-intellectual theological position, they don't read their history.
They invariably believe the "the end" is imminent so they practice (being
also Arminian) getting souls saved prior to the "tribulation."
Dispensationalism isn't quite equal to "Fundamentalism" but nearly so. There
was a several volume work entitled "The Fundamentals" early in the 20th
century designed to combat Germanic schools of theology that re-described
the Bible as a document entirely created by man. Also being combated were
scientific claims that God didn't exist. A number of different schools of
theology contributed articles to The Fundamentals, but the group that came
away with the name, Fundamentalists, were the Dispensationalists.
Someone, I forget whom, draw attention to the fact that some form of
Fundamentalism arose in all the major religions at about the same time. I
didn't read this guy's book and can't even recall his name, but thee is a
serious difference between Christian Fundamentalism and Islamic
Fundamentalism. Both take narrow literalistic views of certain passages in
their religious documents, but the narrowness of Christian Fundamentalism
makes them partial to a comic-book type future. The narrowness of Islamic
Fundamentalism causes them to adhere to an idealized past with the goal of
carrying on Muhammad's conquering of the world for Allah. The Christian
Fundamentalists are supposed to wait for certain events to happen, much as
Shiites are supposed to wait for the Mahdi. As the articles below indicate,
some Dispensationalists are becoming activists, but by and large most
Fundamentalists (unless things have radically changed since the last time I
checked into it) are content to wait. There are passages which urge
Christian's to be about the Lord's business rather than engaging in crusades
to advance eschatological prejudices. Islamic Fundamentalists are,
unfortunately, urged to embrace the idea of the Jihad in such a way that
they actively do something to promote the advance of Islam. They are
encouraged to violence
For the record, I support Israel because it is a Liberal Democracy, not
because of any crackpot Dispensational scheme.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Omar Kusturica
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 11:37 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Evangelicals challenge Christian Zionists
An interesting website. O.K.
http://www.christianzionism.org/
On July 19 & 20 Christians United For Israel (CUFI)
met in Washington DC with an agenda which included
encouraging Israel to give serious consideration to a
pre-emptive strike on Iran as well as calling for full
American support for Israel's increasingly violent
campaign in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. This approach
to the issues of our day is harmful to all persons -
Christians, Muslims, and Jews - in the Middle East and
around the world.
The Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism
(ISCZ) represents a different perspective. With the
vast majority of U.S. Evangelicals and an even higher
percentage of U.S. Christians generally, the ISCZ
believes that seeking God's justice and peace is a
crucial element of Jesus' mandate for his Church. We
believe that the ideology of Christian Zionism turns
the good news of Jesus Christ into a militant,
Crusader ideology that justifies violence in the name
of God, increasing the cycles of terrorism,
insecurity, and injustice. ISCZ works and prays for
the security of all of God's people in the Middle East
and fears that CUFI's call for military solutions
makes not only Israelis and their Arab neighbors less
secure, but also citizens of Europe and the United
States more vulnerable to potential terrorist acts.
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/cgi-bin/magazine.cgi/Yr%202005/May/Views/T
he_Christian_Zioni.html?seemore=y
In assessing the political conditions necessary to
establish a lasting peace in Israel-Palestine,
Americans are confronted with a theological question:
Does the Bible insist that Christians take a certain
view regarding the treatment of the Jewish people in
particular, their presence in the Holy Land, or the
placement of the borders of Israel?
One particular subset of American Christianity answers
that question in the affirmative. Yes, they believe,
the Bible does mandate that we treat the
Jews-specifically, the Jews of Israel-not merely as
another ethnic group of fallen (sinful) people, made
in the image of God and in need of the Gospel, but as
one that holds God's unique favor and is deserving of
our full, unconditional support. This subset is made
up largely of American evangelicals who are committed
to something called dispensationalism. "The essence of
Dispensationalism," according to Charles Ryrie, a
dispensationalist theologian, "Is the distinction
between Israel and the Church. This grows out of [our]
consistent employment of normal or plain
interpretation, and it reflects an understanding of
the basic purpose of God in all His dealings with
mankind as that of glorifying Himself through
salvation and other purposes as well."
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The fruits of this "normal or plain interpretation" of
the Bible have raised any number of red flags for
conservative theologians of all Christian
denominations. Of greater concern to us here, however,
is the way in which many popular and powerful
dispensationalist leaders apply their apocalyptic
understanding of the place of the modern state of
Israel on the stage of world history-the "other
purposes" by which God must be glorified-in the form
of "Christian Zionism."
When President Bush, himself an evangelical, proposed
statehood for Palestine in his 2002 "Road Map,"
several key evangelical leaders denounced the plan,
hinting that they would withdraw support for him if he
failed to reconsider. According to their Christian
Zionist understanding of dispensationalism, there
simply cannot be a Palestinian state, because God has
promised all of Eretz Israel to the Jews-forever. The
borders of the state of Israel must extend, literally,
to biblical proportions, including all of the land
that is now in dispute-the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan
Heights, and all of Jerusalem-and we must do
everything in our power to make it so.
Addressing this way of thinking is essential to the
success of any peace plan for the Middle East that
involves the United States, because the sheer size of
the umbrella group that we call evangelical-there are
an estimated 65 million evangelicals in the United
States-means that, in a democracy, their deeply held
beliefs matter. (President Bush won the White House in
November 2004 with fewer than 61 million votes.)
Although, obviously, all 65 million evangelicals are
not militant Christian Zionists, many are beholden to
leaders who are unflinching supporters of the state of
Israel and actively hostile toward the Palestinians.
Paul Charles Merkley, author of Christian Attitudes
Towards the State of Israel, conservatively estimates
that Christian Zionists number in the "tens of
millions."
The greatest source of Christian Zionist influence is
found in the Christian media. Evangelical Christians
are fed a steady diet of dispensationalist/Zionist
interpretations of the news every day through the
radio and television programs of Pat Robertson (CBN
News, The 700 Club); Jerry Falwell (the Liberty
Channel, which broadcasts, among other things, Zola
Levitt Presents); John Hagee; Benny Hinn (This Is Your
Day!); Kerby Anderson (Point of View); Jack Van Impe
(Jack Van Impe Presents); and countless others, with
audiences in the millions. Megachurches, which are
virtual media centers, hold prophecy conferences all
across America and invite rabbis to come and speak to
Christians on Israeli history and politics. Perhaps
most influential have been the best-selling books of
the Left Behind series, by Timothy LaHaye and Jerry B.
Jenkins. The 12-book series, offering a fictional
account of the playing-out of dispensationalist
interpretations of biblical prophecy, has enjoyed
sales of over 62 million units, eclipsing Hal
Lindsey's dispensationalist fantasy novel, The Late
Great Planet Earth, the best-selling book of the
1970's.
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