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American Christian Zionism American Christian Zionism History, Theology and Implications by Michael Newkirk 8/15/2009 AN INTEGRATIVE THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS THESIS ADVISOR: Richard Belcher, Ph.D. RTS/VIRTUAL PRESIDENT: Andy Peterson, Ph.D. This paper examines the historical roots, biblical and theological aspects and implications of key issues of American Christian Zionism and its current impact and direction. Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 II. The History of Christian Zionism ........................................................................................... 5 A. Reformation and Puritan Roots ...................................................................................... 5 B. The Beginning of the End of Optimism .......................................................................... 8 C. The Father of Modern Dispensationalism ..................................................................... 11 D. The Father of Political Christian Zionism ..................................................................... 15 E. A Sad Tale of American Zeal for Zionism .................................................................... 17 F. Darby and His American Foray ..................................................................................... 19 G. The Premillennial Presbyterian ...................................................................................... 19 H. The Connection Point of British and American Christian Zionism ............................... 22 I. Long Before Left Behind ............................................................................................... 26 J. A Foretaste of American Political Christian Zionism .................................................... 26 K. The Study Bible That Changed Everything .................................................................... 29 L. Contemporary Dispensationalist Prophecy Teachers and Writers ................................. 32 1. Academic Foundations of Christian Zionism ............................................................. 32 2. The Book of the Decade ............................................................................................. 33 3. Non-Fiction is Left Behind ......................................................................................... 35 4. Israel’s Best Friend in America .................................................................................. 38 III. The Biblical and Theological Core of Christian Zionism .................................................. 41 A. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 41 B. The Land Promises ........................................................................................................ 43 1. A Brief Historical Recapitulation of the Promised Land in Modern Times ............... 43 2. An Exegesis of the Land Promises ............................................................................. 45 C. The Extent of the Land ................................................................................................... 55 D. Was the Land Promise Fulfilled? ................................................................................... 58 E. Two Peoples of God? ...................................................................................................... 62 F. One People: The Israel of God ....................................................................................... 66 IV. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 74 V. Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 81 VI. Appendix A: Glossary of Eschatological and Theological Terms ..................................... 85 VII. Appendix B: Maps and Documents ............................................................................ 91 VIII. Appendix C : The UN Partition Plan ................................................................................. 97 IX. Appendix D: Premillennial Dispensational Charts ............................................................ 99 ii X. Appendix E: The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism ...................................... 100 XI. Appendix F: YouTube Videos on Christian Zionism ...................................................... 102 Inside Pastor John Hagee’s 2008 Washington Summit .......................................................... 102 Pastor Hagee's Fixation on Iran: A Self-fulfilling Prophecy? ................................................ 102 Pastor John Hagee: A Preoccupation with the Jews (excerpts): ............................................. 102 Onward, Christian Zionists: .................................................................................................... 102 Burning Conscience: Israeli Soldiers Speak Out: ................................................................... 102 Israelis Soldiers refuse to serve in Gaza ................................................................................. 103 If Americans Knew What Israel Is Doing! ............................................................................. 103 "Sit Down!" The Power to Silence the Truth about 9/11 ........................................................ 103 iii I. Introduction “What do you mean,’ he corrected him, ‘helped create? I am Cyrus, I am Cyrus.’”1 President Harry S. Truman Our modern world faces many challenges that are complex, threatening and give us anxiety about the future. However, one conflict surpasses them all in its current expression and potential escalation, a conflict that seems intractable and unsolvable. Its hostility and scale of violence have escalated exponentially for six decades. Since May 15, 1948, the day after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the modern State of Israel and the day that modern Israel was recognized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, the region has been engulfed in a non-stop war only briefly interrupted by occasional periods of uneasy, hostile “peace,” punctuated by suicide bombers and tank-led incursions. More than 50 years earlier, in 1891, American Christian Zionist William Blackstone had urged President Benjamin Harrison to support the establishment of a modern state of Israel, but Harrison declined.2 Although Truman’s 1948 State Department argued against supporting modern Israel and Truman initially agreed, he ended up accommodating the political momentum of his time and went against his Secretary of State, George C. Marshall.3 Later on, he would declare himself the modern-day Cyrus; the new restorer of Israel. 1 Allen Wanston and Moshe Ma’oz, eds, Truman and the American Commitment to Israel (Jerusalem, Magnes Press, 1981), 84. Five years after his presidency, Truman’s longtime Jewish friend Eddie Jacobson introduced him to a group of academics by saying, "'This is the man who helped create the state of Israel,' but Truman corrected him: 'What do you mean "helped to create"? I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus.'" Truman was comparing himself to Persian King Cyrus, who is recorded in 2 Chronicles 36, Isaiah 44-45, Ezra 1,3,4,5,and 6 and Daniel 1, 6 and 10, who defeated the Babylonians and enabled the Jews to return to their land in the sixth century B. C. after their 70-year captivity. 2 Victoria Clark, Allies for Armageddon: The Rise of Christian Zionism (London: Yale University Press, 2007), 95- 96 3 This is acknowledged as the biggest disagreement that Truman and Marshall had. From the Truman library this is documented, “President Truman's regard for Secretary of State George C. Marshall was tremendous. The Secretary's 1 Since then, through 2005, the United States has given a cumulative total of $154 billion in direct economic and military aid to Israel.4 The amount raised by American Christian Zionists in indirect aid is difficult to estimate, but could be imagined by considering just one Christian Zionist organization, the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which has raised over $250 million from 1995 to 2005 with a 500,000-member donor base.5 But what if the Christian Zionists are wrong about their beliefs concerning what the Bible says about the land of Israel, the Jews in history and the events during the end of modern history? Should we not seriously question the underlying Biblical arguments before we lobby secular governments for support of modern Israel? When John Hagee states that pastors are “America’s spiritual generals” and calls for the President of the United States to bomb Iran because his reading of the Old Testament tells him that the Bible predicts a conflagration of immense proportions, 6 should we not investigate the Biblical interpretations underlying his message? It would be an abdication of responsibility by American Christians to trust silently in President Obama to defuse Middle East tensions, who recently boasted that America is “one of opposition to recognition of a new Jewish state in Palestine troubled President Truman and resulted in the sharpest disagreement the two ever had. As partition approached, President Truman had to decide whether to officially recognize the Jewish state that would be proclaimed on May 15th. On May 12th,
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