By Shane Schaetzel
A Christian Zionist is a (usually Evangelical Protestant) Christian who believes the modern State of Israel fulfills Old Testament prophecy and that the Jewish people still hold a divine title to the land promised to Abraham. They take Genesis 12:3 literally as a standing command that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it, so supporting the modern Israeli state is treated as a religious duty that brings divine favor while opposing it risks divine judgment.
This view, rooted in 19th-century dispensationalism, treats the 1948 founding of Israel (and the 1967 capture of Jerusalem) as a prophetic milestone that prepares the way for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and it stands in direct contrast to the historic Christian teaching that the Church is the New Israel.
In the U.S., approximately 60-80% of Evangelicals are Christian’s Zionists. That’s about 40 to 50 million people, most of whom vote Republican and exercise a tremendous amount of influence and control over Republican politics. That is until last Tuesday, when they received a crushing defeat at the polls. Surveys show that Millennial Republicans have gradually moved away from Christian Zionism, while GenZ Republicans appear to be rejecting it entirely.
Americans need to understand what Christian Zionism is. They need to understand that it is an extreme and fringe theological view, that has no basis in historical Christianity. They need to understand that Catholics, Orthodox and most Mainline Protestants reject it. And most importantly, Republican Party leadership needs to understand that they CANNOT allow this worldview to influence American foreign policy.
Currently, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is a Christian Zionist.
