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April 2, 2010
Christian-Jewish bond
Evangelicals see Israel as an important ally.
PAT JOHNSON
Yes. This was the consensus among panelists at a discussion titled Christian Zionists: Are They Good for Israel?
Invited panelists – a Simon Fraser University professor, who is a conservative Christian Zionist, and two Jewish communal leaders – were in accord on the question. A few members of the audience seemed unconvinced, but easily persuaded.
There is an assumption among many Jews that Christian Zionists are motivated by self-serving theological reasons, said Robert Horenstein, community relations committee director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. But, he said, a study of American Christian Zionists indicated that only about 10 percent were driven by an end-times ideology that sees the fate of the Jews as a precursor to the presumed return of Jesus.
“Most evangelicals see Israel as an ally for reasons other than theological,” Horenstein said, citing shared values of democracy and freedom of religion, as well as strategic geopolitical reasons.
While some evangelical Christians may use Zionism as a subterfuge for conversion activities, Horenstein acknowledged, most have come to an accommodation with Jewish Zionists that they will agree on foreign policy but disagree on theology.
“When the Mashiach comes,” Horenstein quipped, “either we’ll say, ‘It’s good to see you’ or they’ll say, ‘It’s good to see you again.’”
There is a difference in political outlook, though, between American Jews and American Christian Zionists, he noted. Evangelicals generally oppose a division of the land, while American Jews generally support a two-state solution, he said.
Prof. Alexander Moens, an SFU political scientist, explained how traditional mainstream Christian attitudes toward Jews differ from conservative evangelical views like his.
“Christians taught that God had forsaken his people, the Jews,” said Moens. “This, to evangelical conservative Christians, is a fundamental misreading of the Old Testament and the New Testament.”
While Christians maintain that Jesus is the son of God, this does not detract, in the evangelical view, from the special relationship between God and the Jewish people.
“The Jews remain God’s Chosen People,” Moens said. “We need, by God’s command, to stand with you.”
Responding to the concern that Christians are using Zionism as a back door to gain the trust of Jews before converting them as part of a master plan to hasten the end of days and the return of the Christian messiah, Moens said this, too, would be flawed theology.
“If you believe that God is sovereign,” said Moens, “He alone knows the plan.” Any Christian who attempted to speed up God’s plan by converting Jews or through similar pursuits has an “excessively important view of themselves,” he said.
Asked by an audience member whether Jews can be assured that evangelicals are not antisemitic, Moens warned against viewing evangelicals as monolithic.
“You’re going to find all kinds of stripes,” he said, noting that evangelicals can be found in Baptist, Pentecostal and Christian Reformed churches, among others.
While the term evangelism essentially means spreading the Gospel and seeking converts, the nominative “evangelical” has come to mean something far broader. Evangelicalism is defined as holding a belief in the necessity of personal conversion (being “born again”), regard for the Bible as authoritative and, in some interpretations, as the literal word of God that is not to be “interpreted.” Evangelicalism also proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus as the route to personal forgiveness of sin.
Also on the panel was Daniel Schloss, regional director for the Canada-Israel Committee, who repeated the view that most evangelicals support Israel because of shared democratic values. Those who base their Zionism on an end-times theology represent a “fringe view,” he said.
Because Canadian evangelicals, like Canadian Jews, are smaller in number than their American coreligionists, neither group has the influence in Canadian politics that they do in the United States.
The core of evangelical support for Israel, Schloss said, is based on two premises: the covenantal theology that God will bless those who bless Israel and a sort of gratitude from Christians toward Jews for “spawning their existence.”
Jews in North America have tended to be liberal on topics like abortion, civil and gay rights, said Schloss. While finding common cause on Zionism, some Jews and evangelicals have agreed to disagree on a range of other topics. But, said Schloss, the Canada-Israel Committee recognizes that Jews are not the only people with a stake in the future of Israel, and have a policy that ensures a proportion of CIC’s executive members are non-Jews.
The event, held March 17, was part of a book series organized by Schara Tzedeck, called Great Minds, Great Discussions. This panel was inspired by Zev Chafets’ book A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man’s Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Evangelical Alliance.
Those who might have wanted heated argument would have done best to spend St. Patrick’s Day night drinking green beer in a pub. The atmosphere at Schara Tzedeck was conciliatory.
“We’re completely supportive and appreciative of Christian Zionists in Canada,” Schloss said.
“We need to take our allies when and where we can find them,” Horenstein added.
Pat Johnson is, among other things, director of programs for Hillel in British Columbia.
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