- Joined
- Jul 7, 2022
What's ironic is Sola Scriptura, rather than relying too heavily on what some pastor says, would lead one to realize Christian Zionism is not supported by the Bible. Christian Zionism is so prolific amongst the south because their faith tends to be a lot more generational, with parents and grandparents serving as mentors/teachers in addition to the church, which is more likely to be the same church that the family has been going to for years. I live in a large city in FL, which isn't even really "The South," and for most of my life I was going to the same church as my parents and grandparents, listening to the same pastor that had been teaching there for 30 years. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it's also how misinterpretations or otherwise retarded doctrine gets ingrained into generations of people.Most of the weird Israel sperging can actually be traced to a minister named C. I. Scofield who composed a study Bible in 1909 that was widely used throughout the US and UK. He was one of the earliest proponents of ‘Christian Zionism’, (a heresy in traditional Catholicism and Orthodoxy) and primarily responsible for its proliferation amongst Anglo Protestants which has, sadly, persisted to the present day. The whole thing can be summed up in the Old Testament’s ‘bless thee that bless you, curse thee that curse you’ line, despite the fact that, you know, the whole New Testament established Christianity as the new Israel. To Catholics it is an example of the dangers of Sola Scriptura, to think, if this chucklefuck’s retarded interpretation of scripture hadn’t been so proliferated we wouldn’t be having to deal with the ‘Chosen’s’ meddling in US affairs, and Israel as a state may not have even come to fruition.
Not that Catholicism isn’t getting cucked, as other Kiwis have pointed out, we’re looking down sixty or so years of Protestantization. Most of my connections in the Deep South are also hardcore Zionists. It’s genuinely depressing because Southern culture is otherwise pretty jam up.
There are a lot of different interpretations of the end times and Israel's role in it. The Bible says that the second return of Christ will be preceded by tribulation for Israel, and that with Christ's return Israel will be restored to full glory. Whether this refers to the modern country of Israel or Christians in general is argued. Only the wackiest of Christian denominations think that people can do anything to hasten the events of Revelation. According to Christ himself: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." A lot of Protestants do believe that all Jews will be saved when Christ returns, I guess they'll see him and immediately repent and convert or something. Christian entertainment definitely reinforces Zionism, and a lot of Protestants tend to be big military supporters, so they have both political and religious reasons to simp for Israel.The history of Christian Zionism is interesting, what's frustrating is I was raised in that milieu-getting them to realize their theology had a definite beginning that wasn't St. Paul is very difficult. It's reinforced with media like Left Behind and over three generations of sermons, books, pamphlets, and so on.
Christian Zionism theologically and eschatologically hinges on certain events in Israel as being absolutely essential steps for the end times and hence Jesus' return. So it possesses a deep potency in that way-when your church gives money to support Jewish aliyah, or you hear about plans for the third temple-the parousia becomes ever more immanent, by assisting Israel return to the land, and constructing the third temple-you as the zionist evangelical are in some sense-expediting Christ's return.
Imagine yourself in that mindset-the end times will occur, but but certain events on planet earth must happen and you can expedite their happening, not just with prayer but with direct support, material and rhetorical to the state of israel. In some ways this is way more compelling than replacement theology. By helping Israel, you are bringing Christ's return ever closer.
Evangelical protestants would probably protest if you put it in such terms, but they really believe this. Help Israel-Jesus will come back sooner.
Convincing such Christians to become anti semitic, or even indifferent to the Jews is thus insanely hard if not utterly impossible.