Although evangelical Christians in America are fervent supporters of Israel (including the war against Gaza), the actual teachings of Christian Zionism and its historical development are fundamentally antisemitic when more fully understood. This may seem counterintuitive, so here is an attempt to explain.
On the simplest level, in the early days of Christian Zionism, many of its powerful political supporters in Europe were, under a veneer of philosemitism, actually quite antisemitic and wanted to get Jews out of Europe and as far away as possible — Zionism was an almost perfect method. (I addressed this in an earlier column.)
On a deeper and more complex level, Christian Zionism is based on what is called “supersessionist theology,” which holds that God’s Old Covenant(s) with the Jews (the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses and David) have been superseded (replaced, abrogated) by the New Covenant, which was prophesied by Jeremiah and fulfilled by Jesus and St. Paul. This is an ancient Christian tenet, going all the way back to Justin Martyr and St. Augustine of Hippo.
However, at the Vatican II Council in the 1960s, the Catholic Church began pulling away from supersessionism. In the year 2000, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) wrote a now-famous book on this subject titled “Many Religions-One Covenant: Israel, the Church and the World.” The future pope stated clearly that God’s covenant with the Jews was never abrogated (repealed) and that the Jewish covenant with God is forever. His theology is there as One Covenant, which has been expanded and fulfilled and is open to everyone in the world via the arrival of Jesus and the Church.
This teaching has its roots in the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Official Catholic teaching today is opposed to supersessionist teaching, as are some Protestant denominations. However, some other Protestant denominations (especially evangelicals) still hold on to it strongly, In fact, many Christian Zionists accept what is known as “punitive supersessionism,” which entails a belief Jews must eventually be punished (in one way or another) for their failure to accept Christ as the Messiah.
Christian Zionism is, in many of its forms, punitive toward Jews. It holds that, to fulfill biblical prophecy (as they understand it), there must be an ‘in-gathering of the Jews’ to the Holy Land and Jerusalem; this is understood as being accomplished by the creation of the state of Israel — and by the expansion of Israel into the whole of Palestine, the ancient “Land of Israel.” (Hence, giving up the occupied West Bank in any peace plan, and returning to the pre-1967 borders, is not an option.) Modern Israel is the first critical step toward the End of Days. However, many Zionists hold a further tenet: teaching that, at the End Time, a small number of the world’s Jews will convert to Christianity ‘at the eleventh hour’ and all the rest will perish and be consigned to hell in the Final Judgment.
It would seem, upon consideration, Christian Zionism’s so-called love for the Jews is totally transactional. Jews have to play their role (as mere pawns to be sacrificed) in the Christian Zionist End of Days scenario. A major part of this role is returning to the Holy Land and settling in Israel and the occupied West Bank. Without the Jews playing their part, the Second Coming of Christ won’t happen. That means the Final Judgment won’t happen; that means the Rapture and battle of Armageddon won’t happen; that means the End of Days won’t happen; that means the 1,000-year beautiful and just reign of Jesus Christ on Earth won’t happen.
But this scenario gets more complicated and fantastical: Many American evangelical Christian Zionists (for example, the extremely famous preachers Hal Lindsey and Tim Lehaye, et al) teach that the anti-Christ will arrive in the Holy Land and broker a peace treaty between Israel and its enemies, there will be a global war, and this anti-Christ will build the ‘Third Temple’ on Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and upon this temple, proclaim himself to be God and ruler of the world (from their reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
This is put forth not as science fiction, but rather as a (disturbing) belief system, one which is commonly held in the United States. Just how common is demonstrated by the “Left Behind” series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (published 1995–2007), which is the highest selling book series in American history. Over 80 million copies of the books have been sold to date — which means that, at a minimum, 25% of America have read at least one of these books or seen the film versions. The “Left Behind” series tells the whole Christian Zionist apocalyptic story from start to finish, in full accordance with its arcane interpretation of the Bible.
Even more troubling is the fact that this way of thinking has, for some time now, made its way into the highest levels of American government. For example, during the build up for President Bush the Younger’s war in Iraq, Bush told the president of France on the telephone that “this is the battle of Gog and Magog.” The French president was speechless, not following at all — later, he asked his staff to call a theologian to find out what on Earth Bush was talking about. (Several years later, the theologian who received the call spoke out.) Bush was referring to the Bible passage in Revelation 20:8 and the End of Days final Battle. We have every reason to believe Bush was perfectly serious in his Christian Zionist rhetoric. Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, is an avowed Zionist. The current speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is an evangelical Christian Zionist. And even President Biden has recently publicly declared “I am a Zionist,” speaking in response to the war in Gaza. One has to wonder, does Biden truly understand the full import of what it means when this declamation is said by a Christian?
Inspired by the war in Gaza, it has been noted in many news outlets that Christian Zionist preachers by the hundreds are telling their congregations (and on TV and radio) that the war in Gaza is the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon. See for example “American Evangelicals Interpret Israel-Hamas War as prelude to End Times” (Religion News Service, Nov. 17).
A key reason why the U.S. is such a unfailing supporter of Israel is on account of the Christian Zionist Republican Party voting block. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby (AIPAC) is fully aware of this. No Republican presidential candidate has a chance of winning the Republican nomination unless he or she professes to be a Christian Zionist who shows 100% support for Israel and its government actions. This is a fact of American politics today — even with the advent of the war in Gaza.
This is dangerous because the dyed-in-the-wool Christian Zionists in America want Israel to ‘survive’ only so that it will perform its sacrificial End-of-Days function in their particular version of the End Time. Their version calls for the greatest battle of all time to happen in Israel. Israel and its Jews will be destroyed in this scenario. There will remain no Jewish state, no homeland for the Jews. The small number of Jews left alive will have become Christians. That is the endgame envisioned and hoped for in Christian Zionism — even if it is not often openly talked about.
There is an important question that Israel and America have to contemplate: Is Christian Zionism Israel’s friend or foe?
John Nassivera is a former professor who retains affiliation with Columbia University’s Society of Fellows in the Humanities. He lives in Vermont and part time in Mexico.
