Christian Zionism

Historical Foundations and Restorationist Thought

Christian Zionism is a theological and political movement that advocates for the return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land as a prerequisite for the fulfilment of biblical prophecy.

The movement finds its early roots in the literal interpretation of scripture within seventeenth-century English Puritanism. During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell convened the Whitehall Conference in 1655 to discuss the readmission of Jews to England, a move petitioned by Puritans who viewed Jewish resettlement as a necessary step toward prophetic fulfilment.

By the nineteenth century, the restorationist movement gained significant momentum within British Protestantism. Influential figures such as Lord Shaftesbury and Edward Irving promoted the idea that the restoration of Jews to Palestine was essential for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Lord Shaftesbury, an evangelical politician and the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, was instrumental in pressuring the British Foreign Office to support Jewish resettlement, famously coining the slogan of a country without a nation for a nation without a country. This period also saw the establishment of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews in 1807, which initially focused on conversion but ultimately became a primary hub for restorationist thought.

Dispensationalism and the Scofield Bible

The theological framework of modern Christian Zionism is largely defined by dispensationalism, a system formulated by John Nelson Darby in the 1830s. Darby, the father of dispensationalism, rejected traditional historical grammatical methods of exegesis in favour of a complex system that divided salvation history into seven distinct eras or dispensations. These eras include innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and the final kingdom.

A central tenet of this system is the belief that God maintains two separate programs: one for the spiritual church and another for the earthly nation of Israel.

This theology was widely disseminated in the United States through the Scofield Study Bible, first published in 1909 by Cyrus Scofield. Scofield used extensive footnotes to reinterpret both the Old and New Testaments through a dispensationalist lens.

His work institutionalised the belief in a special theological role for the Jewish people that remains distinct from the Christian Church. The Scofield Bible became a staple among conservative American Protestants, particularly within Baptist, Pentecostal, and evangelical circles, and shaped the curriculum of major institutions such as the Dallas Theological Seminary and the Moody Bible Institute.

Esqueological Framework and End Times Expectations

Christian Zionism operates on a literal futuristic Eschatology that views modern geopolitical events as the fulfilment of biblical prophecy. The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 is regarded by dispensationalists as the primary prophetic milestone of the twentieth century, proof that the theological clock has restarted. Subsequent events, such as the capture of East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount during the Six-Day War in 1967, further electrified the movement.

Core features of this eschatology include:

• The Pre-Tribulational Rapture:  The belief that the spiritual church will be secretly caught up to heaven before a seven-year period of global judgment known as the Great Tribulation. This allows God to deal exclusively with ethnic Israel on earth.
• The Dual Covenant:  The teaching that Jews remain under a separate and parallel covenant with God, sometimes implying that they do not need to accept Christ for salvation in the present age.
• The Third Temple:  The expectation that a third Jewish temple must be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, involving the restoration of animal sacrifices. Many Christian Zionists support activist groups currently working toward temple reconstruction.
• The Antichrist and Armageddon:  The belief that the Antichrist will arise as a globalist political leader, possibly from a revived Roman Empire such as the European Union. He is expected to sign a covenant with Israel before betraying the nation, leading to the battle of Armageddon in northern Israel.

Political Influence and Institutional Expansion

In the latter half of the twentieth century, Christian Zionism transitioned from a theological niche into a dominant political force, particularly within American foreign policy.

This shift was accelerated by televangelists and authors who brought dispensationalist themes into popular culture. Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth, sold over fifteen million copies in the 1970s, framing Israel as a prophetic clock. Later, the Left Behind book series further embedded these ideas in the public consciousness.

The movement is characterised by formidable lobbying efforts. Christians United for Israel, founded by John Hagee, has grown into the largest pro-Israel lobbying organisation in the United States with over ten million members.

This influence is reflected in significant policy decisions, such as the Trump administration's relocation of the United States embassy to Jerusalem, a move celebrated as a victory for Zionist theology.

Currently, approximately 80% of White evangelicals in America believe that the existence of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy, creating a voting bloc of roughly fifty to sixty million people who view support for the Israeli state as a divine mandate.

Orthodox Theological Critique

The Orthodox Christian Church views Christian Zionism as a significant distortion of scripture and a modern heresy. This critique identifies the movement as a form of New Political Messianism that conflates secular politics with theological imperatives, bordering on the idolatry of a nation state.

The irreducible theological divide rests on several points:

• The Unity of Israel:  Orthodoxy maintains that the Church is the New Israel and the sole continuation of the covenant people of God. Prophecies of restoration are fulfilled in Christ and His Church, not in a secular political entity.
• Rejection of the Rapture:  Orthodox theology rejects the concept of a secret rapture, affirming only one public second coming of Christ. The need to remove the Church so God can deal with a separate ethnic group is viewed as a misreading of Saint Paul’s epistles.
• The Temple and Christ:  Since Christ is the final and perfect temple, the desire to rebuild a physical temple for animal sacrifices is considered an Antichrist spirit that rejects the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice.
• The New Covenant:  There is no parallel path to salvation outside of Christ. The idea of a dual covenant is dismissed as a judaising heresy that ignores the universal mission of the Church.

Christian Zionism is obsessed with apocalyptic scenarios, which undermines the present reality of the Kingdom of God as experienced in the liturgy and sacraments. By infusing secular nationalism with quasi-sacramental status, the movement is a betrayal of the spiritual nature of the Christian faith.