We commonly think that Christian Zionism originates from the Scofield Bible, but historical records suggest the roots of this movement go further back in history.
US Ambassador to "Israel" Mike Huckabee in occupied Jerusalem, 21 April 2025. (Credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)First Stage: The Transformation of Christian Views Toward the Jews (1523–1611)
For nearly fifteen hundred years, “the Jews” were regarded in the Christian world as “accursed,” since Christians believed that they were the killers of Jesus Christ. Based on this deeply rooted perception—despite contradicting what the Qur’an states about the raising of Christ (“…and for their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God’—but they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so to them…”)—Jews suffered persecution and contempt for centuries, reinforced by numerous biblical texts.
In the sixteenth century, Western Christianity underwent profound transformations with the Protestant Reformation, which produced a political and doctrinal schism within Christianity in general and within Catholicism in particular. As a result, the new form of Christianity known as Protestantism became intellectually and theologically closer to Judaism.
The Old Testament became far more significant for Protestants than the New Testament, and consequently the image of “the Jews” began to change in Protestant Christian minds. The schism within the Church was ideological, intertwined with the political and imperial struggles among European nations—especially France, England, and Germany. Since the Catholic Church aligned itself with France, the English and German peoples gravitated toward Protestantism, which called for liberation from the central authority of the Catholic Church.
This shift in Christian perception of Jews appeared clearly in the writings of the cleric Martin Luther, who in 1523 authored a book titled “That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew.” The book was reprinted seven times in the same year. In it, Luther expressed positions supportive of Judaism and condemned the Catholic persecution of Jews. He argued that Christians and Jews came from a single origin and stated:
“The Holy Spirit willed that all the books of Scripture be given through the Jews alone. The Jews are children of the Lord; we are the strangers and guests. We must be content to be like the dogs that eat the crumbs from their masters’ table.”
Luther believed that the Torah’s prophecy about the salvation of all Israel as a nation would be fulfilled and blamed the papacy for corrupting Christianity and thereby turning Jews away from embracing it.
He defended the Jews and accused Catholics of persecuting them, calling for an end to this persecution committed by what he described as “ignorant sodomites whose only deed is to oppress the Jews.” He denounced Christian abuse of Jews—insults, humiliation, and treating them as filth needing Christian aid to purify them. He condemned the Catholic Church for treating Jews “as if they were dogs, not humans” and for practicing “violence and falsehood” against them, while inciting Christians to expel Jews from social life.
Later in life, Luther became far harsher. His anger intensified upon hearing that Jews were attracting Christian converts—particularly among the Moravian radical Protestant groups—instead of embracing Christianity.
In 1544, he backtracked and wrote The Jews and Their Lies, a book filled with insults and attacks describing Jews as vile, thieves, bandits, and repulsive worms. He repeated medieval accusations such as ritual blood libel and well-poisoning, accused Jews of cursing Christians in their synagogues, and described Judaism as a form of paganism. He called for burning synagogues, destroying Jewish homes, and herding Jews into barns so they might learn they were not masters in Christian lands but exiles.
He also wrote:
“What prevents the Jews from returning to their land in Judea? Nothing. We would even provide them with what they need for the journey, only to be rid of them. They are a burden on us, a plague on our existence.”
In 1538, King Henry VIII ordered the Bible to be compiled and printed in English as the largest book in the English language, requiring a copy placed in every church in England. With the translation of the Bible into English and its adoption as the supreme reference of the independent English Church, Hebrew history, traditions, and values became embedded in English culture. For the next three centuries, Judaism became the single most influential factor in shaping English intellectual and cultural life.
Wherever Protestant reform spread, the Bible replaced the Pope as the supreme spiritual authority. Greater emphasis was placed on the Palestinian origins of Christianity to diminish Rome’s claims. The Hebrew term “the Lord,” as it appeared in the Old Testament, replaced papal authority for Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Elijah, Daniel—as well as Christ and Paul.
The Old Testament became the primary source of historical knowledge for the public, limiting Palestine’s history to Jewish stories alone and turning the Jewish family narrative into Britain’s national epic.
Second Stage: The Sanctification of Jews in Europe (1611–1781)
The printing of the King James Version in 1611 completed the transformation: the Bible became an inseparable part of English identity, often referred to as “the Holy Bible,” “the greatest English classic,” or “the most revered piece of national heritage.”
Publications praising Jews and calling for their return to England appeared—often translated into Spanish for distribution among Sephardic Jews in Holland and England.
The Protestant revolution and the new biblical translations raised questions about the status of Jews, their beliefs, and the God they worshiped. Gradually, Christians in Europe began reassessing Jewish presence among them. Exposure to Old Testament texts aroused curiosity about concepts such as “the covenant,” the “chosen people,” and the “Promised Land,” along with all the Jewish myths and narratives.
Thus, the Old Testament became the main historical reference for ordinary people, reducing Palestine’s past solely to Jewish presence. Protestants were now predisposed to believe that only the ancient biblical stories occurred in Palestine, as if no other people ever lived there. The supposed eternal connection between Jews and Palestine—as their national homeland from which they were exiled and to which they must return—became firmly rooted.
The Reformation also elevated the Hebrew language as the original language of Scripture. Christians sought to understand God’s word in the original tongue, leading scholars, reformers, and ordinary believers to immerse themselves in studying Hebrew literature.
By the late sixteenth century, Hebrew typefaces were in widespread use. Knowledge of Hebrew spread beyond biblical texts into broader Hebrew literature. Christian theologians and laypeople alike studied Hebrew poetry and writings in their original form, gaining access to previously unknown Jewish intellectual traditions.
Thus, the Old Testament shifted from a religious book into a political text, centered on the divine covenant granting the Promised Land to God’s “chosen people.” Jewish literature infiltrated the core of Protestant theology, creating ideological alignment between Protestant fundamentalists and Jewish extremists—forming the basis of modern Christian Zionism.
This new doctrine emphasized:
- The belief that Jews are “God’s chosen people,” superior to all nations.
- The belief in an eternal divine covenant linking Jews to the Holy Land (Palestine).
- The belief that Christ’s Second Coming requires the establishment of a Zionist state and the return of Jews to Palestine.
These ideas became the foundations of Christian Zionism, which merges theology with nationalism and harnesses Christian faith to achieve Jewish geopolitical aims.
Even before the establishment of the modern “Israeli” state, Christian Zionism believed that Jews must return to their promised land in Palestine to prepare for Christ’s return. After Israel’s creation, Christian Zionists viewed it as a fulfillment of prophecy confirming their doctrines.
Additionally, the secular liberal enlightenment era, which followed the Protestant Reformation era, further consolidated the integration of Jews into European society, as Christian values were removed from state policy through the new principle of separation of church and state.
The enlightenment movement had support from many prominent and influential European Jews, who had their own Jewish-led enlightenment sub-movement called the Haskalah which promoted secular and liberal values in Europe due to the benefits it would bring towards the Jewish community. Moses Mendelssohn was one of the prominent Jewish supporters of the European enlightenment movement and argued for Jewish civil rights and participation in European society.
However, the irony is that the enlightenment era led to the development of worldviews such as scientific racism emerging, which led to the view of Jews as a matter of their race and genetics, rather than the previous Christian position which viewed Jews from the viewpoint of a soul. For the former, Jews cannot escape from how they are born since they are eternally bound by their genetics, while the latter believed that it was possible to save a Jewish soul through conversion and a genuine change of their worldview and behavior.
Both the Protestant Reformation and the Liberal Enlightenment allowed greater Jewish integration into European society and centers of political and financial power.
Јews have only really thrived, and are only really safe in the world when liberal values are the dominant values.
— Bret Stephens, Jewish-American neoconservative thinker
Third Stage: Zionist Penetration into Europe (1781–1897)
In 1781, the Austrian Jewish scholar Schlössler used the Book of Genesis (chapter 10) to classify humanity by the descendants of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. From this emerged the concept of “Semitic peoples,” later restricted exclusively to Jews and weaponized to silence criticism through the accusation of “anti-Semitism.”
Napoleon’s failure to conquer Acre in 1799 pushed him to seek Jewish support in Europe. He issued a proclamation:
“Israelites, arise! This is the moment. France offers you her hand, carrying the heritage of Israel. Hasten to reclaim your place among the nations of the world.”
French newspapers published Napoleon’s appeal as major headlines.
Forty years after Napoleon’s defeat, Britain’s Foreign Minister Palmerston sought to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine and instructed the British ambassador in Istanbul to persuade the Ottoman Sultan to allow Jewish immigration—an offer the Sultan rejected.
The 1830s and 1840s marked a turning point. Britain expanded foreign privileges within Ottoman lands, exploiting the conflict between Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Ottoman state. Jews gained British protection as de facto British subjects.
In 1839, Britain occupied Aden as part of a broader Zionist-linked agenda in Yemen, including attempts to settle Jews in the island of Socotra. The same year, Ottoman reforms—forced by European pressure—granted increased privileges that allowed Moses Montefiore (the first Jewish knight in Britain and mayor of London) to purchase land in Palestine.
By 1880, anti-Jewish sentiment grew in France and Russia in response to Jewish behavior. Reactions were labeled “anti-Semitism,” which some believe was orchestrated to justify the need to relocate Europe’s Jews to Palestine.
In 1885, Austrian writer Nathan Birnbaum coined the term “Zionist movement,” aiming to settle Jews in Palestine (Zion referring to a hill in Jerusalem). Later, Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State in German.
Herzl noticed European Jews still preferred emigrating to America. His deputy, Max Nordau, sent two rabbis to Palestine in 1896. They returned with a one-sentence telegram:
“The bride is beautiful, but she is married.”
Meaning: Palestine was not “a land without a people”; it was already populated.
In the summer of 1897, Nordau and Birnbaum joined Herzl at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, adopting a program calling for “a publicly recognized homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine,” funded by the Jewish National Fund.
Fourth Stage: Implementation of Zionist Projects (1902–1917)
In a 1902 meeting, Zionist founder Theodor Herzl told British Prime Minister Joseph Chamberlain that the Zionist base must be in Palestine, which could serve as “a buffer state” protecting British interests.
Many twentieth-century writers linked this idea to the so-called Campbell-Bannerman Document, considered by some a key to understanding Western imperial motives for establishing a Zionist entity in Palestine.
The document allegedly records the secret “London Colonial Conference” (1905–1907) convened by Britain’s Conservative Party, calling for establishing a foreign human barrier—specifically a Jewish state—near the Suez Canal to weaken the region and preserve Western interests.
Although the existence of the document remains disputed, major researchers like Dr. Anis Sayegh note that while imperial conferences were real, the document itself could not be located despite extensive archival research. Some believe it may have been destroyed or never officially recorded.
Regardless of authenticity, historical events align with its alleged content:
Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, committed itself to nurturing the Zionist project, repressed Palestinian resistance for thirty years (1917–1948), and prepared all necessary political, military, and economic structures for the creation of Israel in 1948—planted as a colonial outpost dependent on regional weakness and division.
Other sources align with the same logic: British officials like C. Scott and H. Sidebotham called for establishing a “buffer state” in Palestine, believing Jews were the ideal population for it. British leaders such as Lloyd George and Lord Curzon openly viewed a Jewish state as a strategic asset.
After the Campbell period, Chaim Weizmann traveled to Palestine to establish a development company funded by the Rothschild family. The Zionist movement understood that its success depended on sponsorship by a major power—Britain—which ultimately delivered political and military backing.
Thus, strategic calculations—not religious beliefs—were the primary drivers behind Britain’s decision to issue the Balfour Declaration and support the establishment of a Zionist state in Palestine.
No comments:
Post a Comment