'Christian Zionist' beliefs cause unease among Jews
Pastor Dale Morgan
'Christian Zionist' beliefs cause unease among Jews*
Douglas Todd
Vancouver Sun
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Jews and Christians have rarely enjoyed a comfortable relationship.
After a history of Christian persecution that contributed to the
Holocaust, however, Jews began meeting with shamed Roman Catholics and
mainline Protestants, who eventually agreed not to target Jews for
conversion.
Evangelical Christians did not typically take part in the interfaith
dialogues, or come to the same conclusion. As a result, many Jews have
been offended by evangelicals who still believe Jews can go to heaven
only if they recognize their "mistake" in not recognizing Jesus as their
Messiah.
In politics, as well, there has often been tension between Jews and
evangelicals. In the U.S., Jews strongly support the Democrats while
white evangelicals firmly back the Republican party. That trend holds in
Canada, where polls show evangelicals lean toward the Conservatives and
Jews typically vote Liberal or New Democrat.
But there is one overriding issue that opinion polls show is
increasingly bringing together many evangelical Christians and Jews in
an uneasy alliance: The state of Israel. Many evangelicals now call
themselves "Christian Zionists." They're supporting Israel against its
Middle Eastern foes mainly because of the way they interpret biblical
prophecy about the Apocalypse.
These evangelicals cite Genesis 12:3, which recounts God's promise to
bless Israel's friends and curse its enemies. Based on their reading of
the Book of Revelation, such evangelicals also worry Jesus will not
return to Earth to bring in Judgment Day unless the holy land is
governed by Jews.
A recent poll by the respected Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
found 63 per cent of white American evangelicals believe current
conflicts involving the state of Israel "fulfil Biblical prophecy about
the Second Coming."
American evangelicals, who constitute 26 per cent of the population,
gave President George W. Bush 40 per cent of his votes in the last
election. The Pew Forum poll found evangelicals are more than twice as
likely as secular Americans to sympathize with Israel more than the
Palestinians.
The complex and awkward subject of Christian Zionism -- which causes
division within both Judaism and evangelicalism -- was highlighted last
week by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, which represents 2.5
million conservative Protestants.
The Canadian umbrella organization widely distributed an article in
which Christian Zionist Jim Hutchens accused a group of moderate U.S.
evangelicals of "appalling ignorance" for supporting Bush's two-state
peace proposal of separate nations for Palestinians and Israelis.
The EFC at the same time sent out a related article that offered
evangelicals pointers on how to respectfully befriend Jews in hopes of
converting them to Jesus Christ.
The issue of conversion is the most combustible ingredient in the
political mix that is bringing together evangelicals and Jews. The
controversy relates to the Rapture, or evangelical beliefs about who
will be saved on Judgment Day, which grow out of the apocalyptic Book of
Revelation.
Shaped in part by the phenomenal publishing success of the the Left
Behind series, theological thrillers about the end of the world, polls
show more U.S. evangelicals than ever believe the reconstitution of the
state of Israel in 1948 after nearly 2,000 years signalled the start of
a series of events presaging the Apocalypse.
Others signs include the war in Iraq, the oil crisis and the Iranian
conflict. Many evangelicals (unlike Roman Catholics or mainline
Protestants) believe the more Israel is threatened, the closer is the
fulfilment of biblical prophecies about the end times.
For Jews, therefore, the big worry behind Rapture theology is that
evangelicals believe they have a special duty to convert Jews to usher
in the longed-for Judgment Day.
On Judgment Day, many evangelicals believe, all those who have not
become Christian, including Jews, will be condemned to eternal
damnation. The Left Behind series includes graphic scenes of unconverted
Jews dying in a terrible conflagration.
Given this, many Jews have conflicting feelings about embracing
evangelical as allies.
The national director of the U.S. Anti-Defamation League, Abraham
Foxman, warned against it: "Make no mistake," Foxman said. "We are
facing an emerging Christian right leadership that intends to
'Christianize' all aspects of American life."
In Canada, the most high-profile champion of Christian Zionism is
Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College in Ontario, head
of the Defend Marriage Coalition and leader of Ottawa's new Institute
for Canadian Values.
Even though McVety is a Conservative party supporter, no political
polling exists that I'm aware of about whether Canada's evangelicals,
who make up almost 10 per cent of the population, agree with his views
about the state of Israel or Judgment Day.
Canadian evangelicals, as a group, tend to be more moderate than their
American cousins. But the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's recent
messages to adherents make clear the future of the state of Israel
remains a live and sensitive issue for conservative Protestants north of
the border.