Luther Seminary Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary Master of Theology Theses Student Theses 2017 The hC allenge of Being in the Minority: Palestinian Christian Theology in Light of Christian Zionism Post-1948 Medhat S. Yoakiem Luther Seminary Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/mth_theses Part of the Christianity Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Yoakiem, Medhat S., "The hC allenge of Being in the Minority: Palestinian Christian Theology in Light of Christian Zionism Post-1948" (2017). Master of Theology Theses. 7. http://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/mth_theses/7 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Theology Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CHALLENGE OF BEING IN THE MINORITY: PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY IN LIGHT OF CHRISTIAN ZIONISM POST-1948 by REV. MEDHAT S. YOAKIEM A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Luther Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF THEOLOGY THESIS ADVISER: DR. GUILLERMO HANSEN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 2016 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful for everyone who works for peace and justice in the Middle East, and for all the theologians, in the past and present, who work to dismantle theologies of fear and prejudice. I am equally grateful for my teachers and my family who guide me and support my efforts. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. vi 1. THE ROOTS OF ZIONISM, 1897-1948.......................................................................1 Origins of Zionism ................................................................................................1 Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) ...........................................................................3 William I. Hechler (1845-1936), the First Christian Zionist in Britain .........5 Henri Dunant (1828-1910) .............................................................................7 British Theological and Political Roles .................................................................7 Edward Irving (1792-1834) ............................................................................8 John Nelson Darby (1808-1882) ....................................................................8 Dispensationalism ........................................................................................10 Shaftesbury (1801-1885) ..............................................................................11 Arthur Balfour (1848-1930) .........................................................................13 The Balfour Declaration of 1917..................................................................14 David Lloyd George 1863-1945: .................................................................15 American Theological and Political Roles ..........................................................16 William Blackstone (1841-1935) .................................................................17 Cyrus Scofield (1843-1921) .........................................................................19 Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) ....................................................................20 Harry Truman (1884-1972) ..........................................................................22 2. THE PERSPECTIVE OF AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ZIONISM ON ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN CONFLICT (1948-1967): FROM THE SIX-DAY WAR TO THE PRESENT ..........................................................................................................................24 American Christian Zionism ...............................................................................25 Hal Lindsey (1929 - ) ...................................................................................26 Jerry Falwell (1933 - 2007) ..........................................................................28 Pat Robertson (1930 - ) ................................................................................31 John Hagee (1940 - ) ....................................................................................33 International Christian Zionist Organizations .....................................................36 International Christian Embassy Jerusalem .................................................36 Other Christian Zionist Organizations .................................................................38 Christians for Israel ......................................................................................38 Christian Friends of Israeli Communities ....................................................39 Bridges for Peace .........................................................................................40 The American Messianic Fellowship ...........................................................41 iv 3. PALESTINIAN CONTEXTUAL THEOLOGY AFTER THE SIX-DAY WAR: 1967-2010 ..........................................................................................................................44 The Transformation of Palestinian Society during the Twentieth Century .........44 History of Christianity in Palestine .....................................................................45 Relationship between Eastern and Western Christianity .....................................46 The Response of the Palestinian Churches to New Political Realities ................48 Zionist Theology and The Palestinian Christian Challenge ................................49 The Need for Palestinian Contextual Theology ..................................................49 The Leaders of Palestinian Contextual Theology ...............................................51 Father Naim Ateek ..............................................................................................52 Sabeel’s Organization and Liberation Theology: Father Ateek ...................52 Palestinian Christians ..........................................................................................57 4. THE MAIN THEOLOGICAL CHALLENGES FROM THE PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN CONTEXT: PROBLEMS THAT WILL NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BY PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS .........................................................................................59 Difficulties in Biblical Interpretation ..................................................................59 Three Schools ...............................................................................................59 The Traditional School ..........................................................................59 Ateek’s School of Liberation Theology ................................................60 The Dispensational School ....................................................................62 Contextualizing Biblical Interpretation ...............................................................63 Combating Explicit Racism .................................................................................66 Difficulties in Articulating Middle Eastern Protestant Theology ........................67 5. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................69 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................71 v INTRODUCTION I am an Egyptian Arab Christian, who, like any other person growing up in the Arab world, has always been aware of the conflict between Arabs and Israel and recently between the East and West. After I became a pastor and started my studies in the Master’s program at ETSC (Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo), I heard about Christian Zionism and was alarmed at the implications of its theology. As I studied this issue, I learned how other Arab Christians and especially the Palestinians were responding. At that time, I came in contact with Father Ateek’s understanding of liberation theology in light of the Palestinian occupation. At the same time, one of my concerns is how some Arab Christians have disowned the Old Testament due to Christian Zionists’ use and abuse of the texts in order to justify killing and oppression. The writings of Dr. George Sabra, a Lebanese theologian, have helped me to balance this view by formulating a theology that rejects Zionism grounded in a novel hermeneutic of the Old Testament. My aim is to seek to help myself and my people in the Middle East to understand the Bible in a way that uplifts the narrative of liberation against oppression, while situating these narratives within the rich Middle Eastern cultural and social heritage. My hope for this thesis is to cover the historical and theological aspects on Christian Zionism so we can better understand the challenges presented to a Palestinian contextual theology. Therefore, I seek to investigate how a “Palestinian contextual theology” can address or respond to Christian Zionism. Toward this purpose, I analyze certain key features of vi Biblical theology that are in tension with the Zionist interpretation, such as the theology of the Land,