Christian Zionism Theopolitics And Biblical Myth Making

This book is meant to serve as a reader material, an instrument designed to help students of Christian Zionism, regardless of their background, age and ultimate interest, find their way in existing literature.

The issue of Christian Zionism is one that is fiercely debated within theology, the church, politics, and society. Comprehending Christian Zionism brings together an international consortium of scholars and researchers to reflect on the network of issues and topics surrounding this critical subject. The volume provides a lens on the history of Zion

Most observers explain evangelical Christians' bedrock support for Israel as stemming from the apocalyptic belief that the Jews must return to the Holy Land as a precondition for the second coming of Christ. But the real reasons, argues Stephen Spector, are far more complicated. In Evangelicals and Israel, Spector delves deeply into the Christian Zionist movement, mining information from original interviews, web sites, publications, news reports, survey research, worship services, and interfaith conferences, to provide a surprising look at the sources of evangelical support for Israel. Israel is God's prophetic clock for many evangelicals - irrefutable proof that prophecy is true and coming to pass in our lifetime. But Spector goes beyond end-times theology to find a complex set of motivations behind Israel-evangelical relations. These include the promise of God's blessing for those who bless the Jews; gratitude to Jews for establishing the foundations of Christianity; remorse for the Chu

Can a theological case be made from Scripture that Israel still has a claim to the Promised Land? Christian Zionism is often seen as the offspring of premillennial dispensationalism. But the historical roots of Christian Zionism came long before the rise of the Plymouth Brethren and John Nelson Darby. In fact, the authors of The New Christian Zionism contend that the biblical and theological connections between covenant and land are nearly as close in the New Testament as in the Old. Written with academic rigor by experts in the field, this book proposes that Zionism can be defended historically, theologically, politically and morally. While this does not sanctify every policy and practice of the current Israeli government, the authors include recommendations for how twenty-first-century Christian theology should rethink its understanding of both ancient and contemporary Israel, the Bible and Christian theology more broadly. This provocative volume proposes a place for Christian Zionism in an integrated biblical vision.

The book provides an insightful study of the Jewish theologian Martin Buber, and combines a review of the unconventional Zionism he proposed with a sensitivity to myth as the basis of an inclusive civil religion. The multifaceted nature of this work examines Buber’s embrace of myth, and his application of myth to both biblical studies and political theory. It pays special attention to the way Buber’s thinking about Zion applied to religious ethical issues such as ecology, education, ritual, and, as a continuing theme throughout the book, to the conflict between those Buber called Jews and Arabs in the land of Palestine.

"In this enormously well researched and gracefully argued book, Ariel develops a nuanced theme: the complexity, ambivalence, and even paradox that has characterized conservative Protestant beliefs regarding Jews and Israel, and the diverse responses among Jews. . . . First-rate scholarship presented in a pleasingly accessible style." —Stephen Spector, author of Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism It is generally accepted that Jews and evangelical Christians have little in common. Yet special alliances developed between the two groups in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Evangelicals viewed Jews as both the rightful heirs of Israel and as a group who failed to recognize their true savior. Consequently, they set out to influence the course of Jewish life by attempting to evangelize Jews and to facilitate their return to Palestine. Their double-edged perception caused unprecedented political, cultural, and theological meeting points that have revolutionized Christian-Jewish relationships. An Unusual Relationship explores the beliefs and political agendas that evangelicals have created in order to affect the future of the Jews. This volume offers a fascinating, comprehensive analysis of the roots, manifestations, and consequences of evangelical interest in the Jews, and the alternatives they provide to conventional historical Christian-Jewish interactions. It also provides a compelling understanding of Middle Eastern politics through a new lens. Yaakov Ariel is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His book, Evangelizing the Chosen People, was awarded the Albert C. Outler prize by the American Society of Church History. In the Goldstein-Goren Series in American Jewish History

Pervading culture and politics alike, Christian Zionism is the fastestrowing religious movement in Christianity today, with current believershought to exceed five million in the US alone. Proposing a literal readingf the bible, it states that a Jewish return to the Holy Land is aequirement for the Second Coming and inevitable Armageddon. Promoting commonnterests between Israel and the Christian World, and possessing manyell-moneyed advocates, Christian Zionism has a far-reaching influence inoday's world. In this illuminating book, professor and rabbi Danohn-Sherbok traces the transition of Christian Zionism from Puritan times tohe present, examining the ever increasing role of Armageddon in its belieftructure and studying its deep-rooted sway on both the Middle East peacerocess and the American political system. Covering Hal Lindsey's books andis invitations to White House Seminars, Cohn-Sherbok inspects the growth ofhe movement and its quintessential role as a political lobbying force.;nvaluable to anyone who seeks a greater understanding of the interplay