Explanation

Christian Zionism’s teachings, espoused by many Christian evangelicals and biblical literalists, arise from a rigid interpretation of certain Hebrew Bible passages, which these Christians employ to justify unconditional support for the establishment of an exclusive Jewish state in the Holy Land.  Christian Zionist doctrine teaches that, as written in Genesis 12:2-3, God blesses those who bless Israel and curses whoever curses Israel—meaning, in today’s context, that God blesses whoever, like Christian Zionists themselves, unquestioningly supports the state of Israel and condemns all who criticize Israel for any reason.  These teachings are a corruption both of God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible and of the Gospel message of justice and love that is at the heart of our Baptismal Covenant.

Although the theology of Christian Zionism emerged in the 19th century, the influence of this theology has grown exponentially in the United States since the 1980s and particularly during the early 21st century.  This was especially true during the Trump Administration, when Christian Zionist leaders enjoyed easy access to the President to discuss their pro-Israeli stance, and when Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, both Christian Zionists themselves, used their beliefs to solidify U.S. support for Israel.  Christian Zionist leaders, including John Hagee of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and many others, together claim a following of tens of millions of Americans.  Many evangelical churches display the Israeli flag at their churches, both outside and in their sanctuaries during services.

Christian Zionists interpret Israel’s creation in 1948 and its capture of the remainder of Palestine and all of Jerusalem in 1967 as divinely inspired events that marked the beginning of the last “dispensation,” or historical period, before Jesus’ return.  Among the biblical texts said to justify Israel’s triumph and sole domination in the land is Zechariah 8:3 (“Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain”).  Christian Zionists view this text as an End Times prophecy that foresees the building of the Third Temple and the consequent destruction of non-Jewish holy sites, leading to an apocalyptic war that will pave the way for Christ’s Second Coming.  This Christian Zionist vision is at its base grossly antisemitic, in that it foresees the conversion of Jews to Christianity, or destruction of any Jews who do not convert.

The Christian Zionist worldview mandates total support for Israel’s colonization and military occupation of all parts of Palestine, including its ethnic cleansing and displacement of Palestinians and its rejection of Palestinian legitimacy.  Christian Zionists reject as sinful any move toward a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement that would require Israel to cede control of land to the Palestinians.  Christian Zionists encouraged the Trump Administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, its move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and its stated belief that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory do not violate international law.  (The Biden Administration has not reversed these Trump decisions.)

Indigenous Palestinian Christians have been leaving the Holy Land in increasing numbers, in no small measure because of policies advocated by Christian Zionists.  For years, Palestinian Christian leaders have been pleading with mainstream Christian churches for help in confronting the threat posed to indigenous Christians from this politicized theology.  This plea has come in many conferences on the topic and most notably through the document Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth: A Word of Faith, Hope and Love from the Heart of Palestinian Suffering—a major political-theological statement composed by the leaders of all the multiple Eastern and Western Christian denominations in Jerusalem, issued in 2009 and formally reaffirmed in 2019.  In a plea directed pointedly at the threat from Christian Zionism, Kairos Palestine called for support and solidarity from world Christianity; the call was issued to Christian churches everywhere to “revisit fundamentalist theological positions that support certain unjust political options with regard to the Palestinian people”; to stand in solidarity with oppressed Palestinians rather than turn the word of God “into a weapon with which to slay the oppressed”; and to avoid offering “a theological cover-up for the injustice we suffer, for the sin of the occupation imposed upon us.”

Although Christian Zionism is not directly allied with the phenomenon of Christian Nationalism, which arose during the Trump Administration and was a motivating force behind the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the two movements arise from a similar rightwing fundamentalist impulse and, to one degree or another, share a distorted belief in the superiority of Christianity and of Western, White culture and civilization over peoples of color everywhere.