Posted on 10/31/2025 10:05:52 AM PDT by lasereye
Is “Christian Zionism” an oxymoron? Worse still, is it a heresy? And whether it is an oxymoron or a heresy, is it a recent creation, dating back no earlier than the 19th century?
Before we answer these questions, let’s first define our terms. If Zionism is the belief that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, then Christian Zionism is the belief that the Bible affirms that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people.
It’s that simple.
We can now answer the first question: Is “Christian Zionism” an oxymoron?
Not at all, since it can easily be demonstrated that:
1) God’s covenant with the patriarchs remains intact, which promised the people of Israel the land of Canaan as a lasting inheritance (see especially Psalm 105:7-11).
2) Jesus the Messiah did not cancel the promises to the patriarchs but rather confirmed them (Romans 15:8-9).
3) Many of the glorious prophecies of the Old Testament, which include the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland along with their national spiritual rejuvenation (see, e.g., Ezekiel 36-37), are yet to reach fulfillment.
4) The Sinai Covenant cannot annul the earlier promises given by God to the patriarchs (see Galatians 3:17).
That’s why Jesus is returning to Jerusalem rather than to any other location on the planet. And that’s why verses speaking of His return presuppose that He is returning to a Jewish Jerusalem (see, e.g., Zechariah 12; Matthew 23:37-39).
In light of these observations, we can now address the second question, namely, Is “Christian Zionism” a heresy?
The answer is obviously not, since the Bible supports the most fundamental tenets of Christian Zionism. How can it be heretical to believe what the Scriptures explicitly teach?
“But,” the retort might come, “the Church Fathers taught no such thing, and the concept of Christian Zionism is a direct outgrowth of dispensationalism, which can be traced back to the teachings of J. N. Darby in the 1830s.”
Certainly, there is truth to this statement as far as it pertains to the teaching of the Church Fathers. At the same time, many of them did speak of a future spiritual conversion of the Jewish people.
In the words of Augustine (354-430), “The time will come, the end of the world will come, and all Israel shall believe; not they who now are, but their children who shall then be.”
Or as stated by Jerome (347-420),
“[W]hen the Jews receive the faith at the end of the world, they will find themselves in dazzling light, as if our Lord were returning to them from Egypt.”
At the same time, it should also be noted that the Church Fathers were far from perfect in their doctrines and beliefs, with many espousing a dangerous antisemitism that left its ugly mark throughout Church history. (I have documented this in, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the Church and the Jewish People.) While many of their teachings are worthy of great respect, they differ among themselves on various points and do not carry the final authority of Scripture.
What is remarkable, though, is how many Christian teachers over the centuries have believed in the return of the Jewish people to their homeland, with some stating explicitly that they would return to the Land in unbelief, only to turn to the Messiah afterwards.
Here are some representative quotes, beginning with highly respected Puritan leaders in 17th century England.
Thomas Brightman (1562-1607) wrote, “What, shall they return to Jerusalem again? There is nothing more certain: the prophets do everywhere confirm it and beat upon it.”
John Owen (1616-1683), the greatest of the Puritan theologians wrote,
“They shall return to their own land; they shall enjoy it for a quiet and everlasting possession, their adversaries being destroyed; they shall also be filled with the light and knowledge of the will and worship of God, so as to be a guide and blessing to the residue of the Gentiles who seek after the Lord, and perhaps, shall be entrusted with great empire and rule in the world. The most of these are foretold concerning them, not only in their own prophetic writings, but also by the divine writers of sundry books of the New Testament.”
According to the New England Puritan leader Increase Mather (1639-1723),
“the Israelites shall again possess . . . the Land promised unto their Father Abraham.”
Skipping ahead to the 19th century, Anglican Bishop J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) wrote,
“I am well aware that many excellent Christians cannot see the subject as I do. I can only say, that to my eyes, the future salvation of Israel as a people, their return to Palestine and their national conversion to God, appear as clearly and plainly revealed as any prophecy in God's Word.”
And it was none other than Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), hailed as the Prince of Preachers, who said in 1864,
“I think we do not attach sufficient importance to the restoration of the Jews. We do not think enough about it. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this. I imagine that you cannot read the Bible without seeing clearly that there is to be an actual restoration of the Children of Israel.”
And he made abundantly clear that there was to be a physical return to the Land as well as a spiritual return to God. (Of course, neither Spurgeon nor Ryle were dispensationalists.)
I’m quite aware that there are many Christians who differ with these statements and interpret the Scriptures differently. But to claim that Christian Zionism is either a heresy or of recent vintage is to speak in serious error.
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These are the verses referenced above (partially from Ezekiel):
7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”
Psalm 105:7-11
8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed
9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.”
Romans 15:8-9
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.
28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
Ezekiel 36
What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.
Galatians 3:17
Here we go again.( Not your fault). Round and round we go.
Does “Christian Zionism” exist anywhere outside the United States?
The Anti-Semitism we are seeing the rise of now preceded the creation of Israel as a modern state in 1948.
Founder of the Protestant Reformation - Martin Luther - himself was among the most vocal anti-Semites and arguably was among the forces that laid the seeds for what transpired in his native Germany centuries later.
You can support Israel while still being critical of its leadership (as many upstanding Israelis are) and critical of America’s foreign policy worldwide in general.
You can support the Jews’ special role in salvation history without agreeing to all the dispensational, Left Behind mumbo jumbo that completely overshadows the completion of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and the healthy anticipation we should have for his coming, in a way that longs for ALL people(s) to be saved.
The Anti-Semitism we are seeing the rise of now preceded the creation of Israel as a modern state in 1948.
Founder of the Protestant Reformation - Martin Luther - himself was among the most vocal anti-Semites and arguably was among the forces that laid the seeds for what transpired in his native Germany centuries later.
You can support Israel while still being critical of its leadership (as many upstanding Israelis are) and critical of America’s foreign policy worldwide in general.
You can support the Jews’ special role in salvation history without agreeing to all the dispensational, Left Behind mumbo jumbo that completely overshadows the completion of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and the healthy anticipation we should have for his coming, in a way that longs for ALL people(s) to be saved.
“Christian Zionism” like “Christian Nationalism” are words made up by the communists to tie conservatives in knots.
Every time you buy into the frame you serve the communists.
If this is true, then we should also see Judaism respecting Jesus and venerating his position. It seems as though so-called Christian Zionism is a one way street. Christians must support old school Judaism, but old school Judaism can treat Christians and Jesus with contempt.
That is the critical weakness of the argument in the article. If it is an accurate description of God’s will, then we should see similar demands from God regarding the Jewish relationship with Jesus and Christians.
Good article by Michael Brown. He had a mild case of TDS in 2020 but appears to have recovered.
So: the labels are compounding! Would it be “Christian Nationalist Zionist” or “Christian Zionist Nationalist”? And where does the Far Right Ultra MAGA go?
However you assemble it, I R that. 🤠
Qatar-funded propagandists like Tucker Carlson knowingly conflate the two to try and demonize any Christian who supports the right of Jews to their homeland (such as Mike Huckabee). It does not and should not mean unconditional support of the Israeli government, particularly when its interests do NOT align with our own.
Is it merely a coincidence that dispensationalism and Zionism both emerged in the 19th century?
For many religious Jews, return to the Holy Land was to be done by divine action, not by human political and military action. For how many of these Christian thinkers was the same true?
The more than thousand year gap between Augustine and Jerome and the Puritan divines suggest that maybe the Puritans’ way of thinking wasn’t as deeply engrained in Christianity as the author believes.
Prior to 1948 the general belief was that God had abandoned the Jews and that the church or America (depending) had inherited the God’s favor. The rebirth of Israel as a modern nation-state and especially the 1967 war (which was viewed as miraculous) had a deep impression on the church. It seemed to mean that God was not done with the Jews or with Israel.
This doesn’t mean everyone accepts the “left behind” theology. It means God is involved and working something out.
Beyond that, it’s pretty simple to see that Israel is surrounded by psychopaths who dearly want to see them destroyed. Mass migration is bringing those same psychopaths to our own doorsteps and we are all getting a good look at them. Choosing between them and Israel regardless of your theology is an easy choice.
Several of the quotes above are dated before there was a United States.
I agree. I don’t scribe to dispensationalism. I subscribe to Roman’s 9 to 11.
A number of Brown's quotes are centuries prior to the 19th century.
Herzl began the Zionist movement at the very end of the 19th century. He founded the Zionist Organization, now The World Zionist Organization, in 1897. He was born in 1860. John Darby, who formulated dispensational theology, died in 1882.
What about Buddhist Zionism?
Yes, God’s covenant with the patriarchs remains intact, but they are now realized through Jesus Christ, for both the Jews and non-Jews. In Jesus Christ there is no longer any distinction between the two.
True Judaism is Messianic Judaism. YESHUA is the LORD GOD OF ISRAEL AND the King of America. Israel and the USA are his 2 special Nations. He will rule from Jerusalem, and Israel will be there head of the Nations.
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