4 - Evangelicals and Christian Zionism: Standing with Israel

Summary

To stand against Israel is to stand against God.

—Rev. Jerry Falwell

Introduction

One of the most talked-about elements of America’s relationship with Israel is the rise of evangelical support for Israel. Critics view this group as a “bunch of crazy extremists” working to block peace and induce Armageddon. Their defenders claim they are driven less by end-times theology and more by a sense of being commanded by the Bible to support the “Children of Israel,” and that they express this through financial and political support for Israel in general, as opposed to the Israeli Far Right. This chapter will address these issues by analyzing the nature and extent of evangelical support for Israel. The chapter begins by examining what evangelicals believe and the relationship between evangelicals and American politics in general. Following this, the historical development of Christian Zionism is outlined and the reasons for contemporary evangelical support for Israel are analyzed. Subsequently, the approaches of the evangelical public and elites towards the Arab-Israeli conflict are presented and their influence over U.S. policy assessed, along with their relationship to the wider pro-Israel lobby and the American Jewish community.

Definitions

The term evangelical refers to a religious movement within Protestantism formed in the eighteenth century. The deliberate use of the term in twentieth-century America dates from the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942, led by Billy Graham. Today, this movement has three irreducible characteristics: being “born again,” which involves submitting to the authority of Jesus and accepting that one is saved solely by faith in him; belief in the authority of the Bible as the actual word of God; and sharing faith – either through missionary work or charitable activities known as “lifestyle evangelism.” Evangelicals have been willing to engage with modern culture and society, far more than Fundamentalists.