Until recently, most Middle Eastern scholars and activists viewed Christian Zionism and the impact of the Christian 'Right' on US Middle East policy as a marginal issue. Despite the fact that Christian Zionists had been instrumental in advancing the cause of Zionism with British politicians prior to the emergence of political Jewish Zionism, few if any of the highly regarded political and historical writings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have dealt with this topic in a serious manner. Perhaps now there will be a long needed corrective given the undeniable influence of this movement both inside and outside the Bush Administration.
This important new study by the Rev. Dr Stephen Sizer, Vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water in Surrey and Chair of the International Bible Society (UK) offers the most comprehensive treatment of the phenomenon of Christian Zionism to date. His careful and thorough survey of the historical development, theological beliefs, and political implications of Christian Zionism fills a void that will hopefully encourage the inclusion of these Christian fundamentalists in the political and historical discourse while at the same time alert not only academics, but Christian leaders to take action.
Sizer's volume, Christian Zionism: Road-Map to Armageddon, is based on his PhD dissertation and represents a profound and critical analysis of the historical background and theological belief system that gave rise to the movement. Moreover, the author presents his case in a highly readable style that is readily accessible for the non-specialist, which is not always the case with converted academic dissertations. Sizer's strongest skills are demonstrated in his comprehensive grasp of the historical and biblical material utilised by Christian Zionists and their contemporary leaders, theologies, and organisations. His critical analysis of the distorted theology and sometimes frightening political consequences rightly claims that the modern theological movement called 'premillennial dispensationalism’[1] is a rather novel theological system that emerged in rural England during the early 19th century and produced the political step-child we now call Christian Zionism. Here he delineates the various beliefs of the theological movement that were quickly translated into various political expressions beginning with Rev. Louis Way (1770-1840) and the London Jews' Society, which was originally designed to evangelise Jews and 'restore' them to Palestine. This movement made political overtures to the British government and European heads of state, thereby embracing an embryonic political form as early as the 1820s. It was followed by the great evangelical social reformer Lord Shaftesbury (1801-1885), who may have formulated the Zionist mantra ‘a land of no people for a people with no land’[2] some sixty years before the Jewish Zionists utilised it. In England, the political aspects of Christian Zionism culminated in the political efforts of Lord Arthur Balfour, whom Sizer rightly calls 'the most important British politician in relation to Zionism'. Not to be forgotten is the British prime minister David Lloyd George, who worked with Balfour during the critical World War I period to facilitate the Zionists' aspiration. Both Balfour and Lloyd-George were committed Christian Zionists, and while their imperial vision for the Middle East may have been their primary motivation in sup-porting Zionism, one cannot discount the fact that they were predisposed to Zionist arguments due to their Christian Zionist orientation.
Readers will also note the significant role played by the Anglican chaplain to the British embassy in Vienna, the Rev. William Hechler (1845-1931), who assisted Theodor Herzl with high-level political contacts. Herzl acknowledged the importance of Christian Zionists in his Diaries, where he claims Hechler told him: 'We have prepared the ground for you!' Indeed, as readers follow Sizer's narrative, they will sense the importance of Christian Zionism in 'preparing the way' for Jewish Zionism's acceptance by the British and American political elite.[3] Sizer is also well versed in the development of the movement in the United States, where it now plays such an important political and religious role. He traces the emergence of John Nelson Darby (1800-82), the renegade Irish Anglican, who became the most influential apostle of Christian Zionism not only in England, but on the European Continent and throughout North America. Darby's theology represents a radical departure from the `Restorationists' and `Covenantal Premillennialism’[4] of his immediate predecessors like Way and the enormously influential Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, whose goals were to evangelise Jews and `restore' the Jewish state in Palestine' to fulfill biblical prophecy and prepare for the return of Jesus. Darby developed novel doctrines such as the `Rapture' and God's separate and eternal covenant with Israel, the latter of which elevates Israel's role in the latter days as fore-ordained by God and is thus deserving of our unconditional political, economic, and theological support. These radical doctrines are novel in church history and depart from not only mainstream Christian evangelicalism, but all Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic theologies. Nevertheless, Darby's influence on the newly emerging American Evangelical movement cannot be overstated, as he single-handedly advanced his novel doctrines during the 1850s-80s, and found ready acceptance. One of his early American disciples, William E. Blackstone (1841-1935) would go on to organise in 1891 the first lobby effort in the United States that called for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, a full six years before Herzl convened the initial World Zionist Congress.
In the political section I thought Sizer understated the impact of Israel's creation in 1948, which Christian Zionists took as confirmation that the `latter days' had begun and the world was in the countdown phase in which would occur various signs, such as Israel's control over the West Bank, all of Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip (even the Golan Heights and South Lebanon), plus the rebuilding of the Third Temple, and the imminent return of Jesus.
I also raise a concern over his treatment of the Carter era (1976-80) when the emerging Moral Majority (Rev. Jerry Falwell) and Pat Robertson's political initiatives began to align themselves seriously with the pro-Israel lobby and Israel's Likud Party, in many ways triggered by their opposition to Jimmy Carter[5], an Evangelical Christian who did not take the Christian Zionist position on Israel. On the other hand, his analysis of the Reagan Administration is superb as he demonstrates why Ronald Reagan was `the Christian Zionist President', believing the state of Israel fulfilled bible prophecy and that we were in the last days, awaiting the Battle of Armageddon and Jesus' imminent return.
Sizer's theological section is utterly remarkable in its grasp of the various nuances within millennial and dispensational theology, both in the UK and US. His `insider's view' is of significance here, since he grew up in conservative evangelicalism and remains an evangelical, he is able to interpret the various forms of millennial theology and assist the reader in recognising both the theological and political consequences. The volume is especially important in this regard as it is addressed specifically to Christian Evangelicals, the fastest growing sector of Christianity worldwide. While the extreme Christian Zionist doctrines and practices are reaching their zenith during the present Bush Administration in the United States, it is important to recognise that perhaps less than a third of all Evangelicals have adopted dispensational doctrines and Christian Zionist ideology.
The fact that his volume has been published by one of the most respected Evangelical Christian publishers (InterVarsity Press-UK), gives Sizer's work a valid sense of legitimacy and hence the book will be more acceptable to evangelicals. My only significant criticism of this otherwise remarkable volume is the final political section, where important developments are described but are often underdeveloped, and not presented with sufficient context and nuance. One readily sees the dire consequences of Christian Zionist alliances with the extreme right-wing in Israel such as the Temple Mount faithful and the settler movement, and much more, but I had the sense that perhaps for space reasons, Sizer was forced to cut significant political material that he has published in other monographs. Nevertheless, he does present a useful outline of the political consequences of Christian Zionist manifestations today in such categories as supporting Israeli colonialism, facilitating aliyah from Russia, sustaining the illegal Israeli settlements, opposing the peace process, and calling for the construction of a Jewish Temple (on the al-Haram al-Sharif).
While the historical and theological chapters provide the deep analysis and various nuances of these aspects of Christian Zionism, the political section seems somewhat rushed and in need of context and deeper analysis. Perhaps this material is already planned for his next volume. As it is, I fear that he may be set up for the usual nit-picking and discrediting one might anticipate from both Christian and Jewish Zionist organisations that may undermine the importance of this otherwise brilliant volume. Despite this criticism, I strongly urge those concerned about Israel and Palestine to read and digest this book. Those unfamiliar with the historical development and theological foundations of Christian Zionism will understand why this movement has emerged as a major political factor in the United States, particularly as it is aligned with the powerful pro-Israel lobby and the neo-conservative ideologues that are currently, driving US policy in the Middle East. Despite its shortcomings, the political chapter does point out the organisations and belief systems that provide the belief system, world-view, and inspiration for such troublesome projects as the rebuilding of the Third Temple over a destroyed Dome of the Rock and ail-Aqsa Mosque and the hastening of the Battle of Armageddon. While we await Sizer's next volume, may those who advocate more just and peaceful solutions redouble their efforts and may Stephen Sizer's volume Christian Zionism receive the broadest possible distribution and readership.
Donald E. Wagner, Professor and Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies North Park University, Chicago, Illinois (author of Anxious for Armageddon & Dying in the Land of Promise). Published in Holy Land Studies, Volume 4, 1, May 2005, Edinburgh University Press
You can purchase copies of Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon? from IVP or Amazon.
