incoherent post, you are saying that many atheists follow Pat Robertson? You obviously have not taken your meds yet today.

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Well it is understandable since atheist tend to be pea brains. . . . since Pat Robertson is for Jews in Israel.. . . .then any atheist who supports Jews in Israel supports Pat Robertson. . .it should be too hard to figure out. . .but then again atheists are pea brains. . . .


http://www.hcef.org/hcef/index.cfm/ID/159

Christian Zionism, Evangelicals and Israel, by Gary M. Burge, Ph.D.

If there ever were doubts about the ongoing presence and influence of Christian Zionism in Israel, you only had to visit Jerusalem earlier this month to witness the Christian Embassy's one week Tabernacles Festival. On Tuesday the 14th 15,000 people paraded outside Jerusalem's Old Walled City. The predominant colors for clothes were red, white and blue, and many Americans wore necklaces sporting a Star of David, a Menorah and a Christian fish symbol. American flags were distributed liberally to cheering parade-watchers. A delegation from the South wore gallon-sized cowboy hats and steer-horned belt buckles while they carried a large banner, "Oklahoma loves Israel." The city predicts that the assembly pumped about $10 million into the struggling Israeli tourist economy. Who are these people and what do they stand for? And how do they link their religious faith, politics and commitment to Israel?

The Bible and the Romance of Palestine
It would be wrong to think of Christian Zionism as a recent phenomenon invented by Gary Bauer and Tim LeHaye. Some scholars think that its roots go as far back as the pilgrims who saw their journey as a re-creation of the Israelite pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They did not apply this to Judaism, however, but took the Biblical story as an allegory for their own pilgrimage. Nevertheless this created a sympathetic understanding of the religious refugee that is seated deeply in the American psyche and likely shapes many of us even today.

The more important story begins in the 19th century. Religious interest in Ottoman Palestine grew dramatically during the Victorian era as travelers - romantic travelers - sought adventure by ship, train and horseback. And they came to Palestine in great numbers. The 1880s found a number of influential preachers there too. Rev. DeWitt Talmage pastured the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York and returned home from such a pilgrimage to publish his Twenty Five Sermons from the Holy Land. In it he offered a romantic picture of a Jewish renaissance in the country. He praised philanthropists such as Montifiore and Rothchild for financing the return of Jewish life there. Here is a sample from one of his sermons:

"[Many who are] large-hearted have paid the passage to Palestine for many of the Israelites, and set apart lands for their culture; and it is only a beginning of the fulfillment of Divine prophecy, when these people shall take possession of the Holy Land. The road from Joppa to Jerusalem, and all the roads leading to Nazareth and Galilee, we saw lined with processions of Jews, going to the sacred places, either on holy pilgrimage, or as settlers. All the fingers of Providence nowadays are pointing toward that resumption of Palestine by the Israelites."

In 1891 George Adam Smith wrote his popular The Historical Geography of the Holy Land and there portrayed an empty, biblical land awaiting the return of Judaism. Such publications resonated with a growing public interest in Palestine and the Bible, especially in Britain,. And during WWI when the prospect of the fall of the Ottomans, Jewish Zionist leaders influenced by men such as Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) could capitalize on these British interests. The little letter of Nov. 2, 1917 from the British foreign office - now called the Balfour Declaration - is likely the final synthesis of this religious vision and politics in Britain.

Dispensationalism
Among conservative Christians in Britain, this unity of political destiny and religious fulfillment was given its theological form in the hands of an Irish pastor J.N. Darby. As Herzl was the father of Jewish Zionism, one could argue that Darby was the father of Christian Zionism. Darby's system - soon called Dispensationalism - taught a literal fulfillment of prophesies in the near-present age. He used the biblical books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Revelation to weave a consistent picture of the Last Days. The church is raptured, the anti-Christ arises, Armageddon erupts, and Christ returns to establish his kingdom on earth. But above all, the revival of Israel is the catalyst of the End Times.

Despite eight missionary trips to America, Darby was greeted here with indifference. But when leading evangelists such as Dwight Moody, Billy Sunday and Harry Ironsides saw how the drama and fear and hope in this scenario influenced audiences, Darby's views caught on like wildfire. In 1881, for instance, Horatio and Anna Spafford and 16 friends opened the American Colony in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City to watch - as they put it - "prophesy being fulfilled."

William Blackstone (1841-1935) was a Chicago evangelist and student of Moody. In 1878 he published Jesus is Coming which was America's first Dispensational best-seller. The book went through three editions and was translated into 42 languages. In 1890 Blackstone was visiting Jewish settlements in the Holy Land and organizing conferences in Chicago to restore Jews to Palestine. Blackstone worked closely with Jewish Zionists and in 1918 was hailed by the Zionist Conference of Philadelphia as a "Father of Zionism." In 1956 Israel memorialized him by naming a forest in his name.

In 1909 Cyrus Scofield published a popular study bible, the Scofield Reference Bible, and in its footnotes readers throughout America inherited Darby's theological program. (To date over 2 million of them have been sold.) In 1917 five weeks after the Balfour Declaration, the Turks handed Jerusalem over to Britain to the amazement of prophesy watchers. In 1918 dispensationalists organized their first prophesy conferences and they continued for decades. Before long - throughout the 1920s and for the next 40 years - Dispensationalism tied to Israel and prophesy became the litmus test of evangelical orthodoxy.

Dispensationalism had a variety of detractors over time and today we cannot think of all evangelicals as dispensationalists. Nevertheless, while formal Dispensationalism with its complex view of the covenants has lost a large following, what remains is the skeleton of its eschatology. Technically called pre-tribulation, pre-millennialism it defends Darby's basic outline: Israel returns to the Holy Land, the church is raptured, a tribulation brings Armageddon, and Christ returns.

This framework remained prominent for evangelicals but throughout the 1940s dispensationalists began to believe that the birth of Israel was imminent. When it occurred in 1948, Dispensationalists were euphoric. The key piece was now in place. Israel's swift victory in 1967 - hailed by many as a divine miracle - sparked even more zeal for prophesy. Writers such as Walvoord and Ryrie viewed modern history through this Biblical lens for a new generation. In 1970 Hal Lindsey then published The Late Great Planet Earth which popularized and dramatized the unfolding of political events in Israel and how the Bible predicted them. To date, Lindsey's original book has sold 25 million copies. More recently Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' popular Left Behind series fictionalizes this eschatology and has sold over 50 million copies in 11 volumes.

These remarkable numbers of publishing sales are important because they show that among countless Christians in America, there is a residual eschatology at work - and most of them have no idea where it came from. Just ask someone who goes to church how they think the world will end. Many will recite Lindsey to you claiming that this is what the Bible teaches.

Christian Zionism
Today a movement called Christian Zionism has harnessed these disparate parts. Its advocates have shed much of Dispensationalism's theological program but have kept its eschatology. Christian Zionism weds religion with politics and interprets biblical faithfulness in terms of fidelity to Israel's future. Its spokespersons are today well-known among those on the Christian Right: Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Ed McAteer, Gary Bauer, and Kay Arthur. Those committed to Christian Zionism share the same five core beliefs:

(1) The Covenant. God's covenant with Israel is eternal and unconditional. Therefore the promises of land given to Abraham will never be overturned. This means that the church has not replaced Israel and that Israel's privileges have never been revoked despite unfaithfulness.
(2) The Church. God's plan has always been for the redemption of Israel. Yet when Israel failed to follow Jesus, the church was born as an afterthought or "parenthesis." Thus at the rapture the church will be removed and Israel will once again become God's primary agent in the world. We now live in 'the times of the Gentiles' which will conclude soon. This means that there are two covenants now at work, that given through Moses and the covenant of Christ. But the new covenant in no way makes the older covenant obsolete.
(3) Blessing Modern Israel. We must take Gen. 12:3 literally and apply it to modern Israel: "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." Therefore Christians have a spiritual obligation to bless Israel and "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." To fail to bless Israel, to fail to support Israel's political survival today, will incur divine judgment.
(4) Prophesy. The prophetic books of the Bible are describing events of today and do not principally refer to events in Biblical times. Therefore when we look at, say, Daniel 7, if we possess the right interpretative skills, we can see how modern history is unfolding. This quest for prophesy has spawned countless books interpreting Middle East history through the Bible.
(5) Modern Israel and Eschatology. The modern state of Israel is a catalyst for the prophetic countdown. If these are the last days, then we should expect an unraveling of civilization, the rise of evil, the loss of international peace and equilibrium, a coming antichrist, and tests of faithfulness to Israel. Above all, political alignments today will determine our position on the fateful day of Armageddon. Since the crisis of 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it has been easy to persuade the public that history is unraveling precisely as dispensationalism predicted.

It would not be difficult to offer fatal criticisms of this theological framework. Many biblical scholars have already done so. For instance, the covenant's promises are conditional and their blessings are revoked when there is faithlessness. The Babylonian exile is the best example of this. But in addition the New Testament is making a stunning claim about genuine continuity between the covenants, that Christians are the children of Abraham and heirs of his promises.

But the most important critique - and here I think we discover the Achilles' heel - is that Christian Zionism is committed to what I term a "territorial religion." It assumes that God's interests are focused on a land, a locale, a place. From a NT perspective, the land is holy by reference to what transpired there in history. But it no longer has an intrinsic part to play in God's program for the world. This is what Stephen pointed to in his speech in Acts 7. The land and the temple are now secondary. God's wishes to reveal himself to the entire world. And this insight cost Stephen his life. Such an understanding is a far cry from the views of Christian Zionists like Ed McAteer who recently commented, "Every grain of sand, every grain of sand between the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean Sea belongs to the Jews." Stephen would be alarmed.

Blessing Israel
The theological commitments of Christian Zionism are therefore not new. But today they are boldly proclaimed and closely linked to a political agenda in America. And today evangelicals are told that we hold a spiritual obligation to "bless Israel." When pastors such as John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, can deliver $1 million to Israel, a new definition of evangelical missions is at work. But blessing Israel is not simply a matter of giving money. It is also found in political advocacy. For instance, when Israel invaded the West Bank in April, 2002 following the Passover bombings, President Bush urged Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Jenin. Christian Zionists mobilized an email campaign that produced 100,000 letters for Washington. And it worked. Bush never said another word.

Leaders like Jerry Falwell thus see their mission as protecting Israel politically. On CBS's 60 Minutes (June 8, 2003) he remarked, "It is my belief that the Bible Belt in America is Israel's only safety belt right now." Falwell continued, "There is nothing that would bring the wrath of the Christian public in this country down on this government like abandoning or opposing Israel in a critical matter. And when the chips are down Ariel Sharon can trust George Bush to do the right thing every time." These words were as much warning to Bush as anything since Bush's political analysts believe that Falwell's "Christian public" is a core constituency.

Today the same strategy is at work. On May 19, 2003, 23 Christian Zionists sent President Bush a letter outlining what was wrong with his Roadmap to Peace and urging him to end it. Its signatories included Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer, John Hagee, James Kennedy and others. In a similar manner Gary Bauer spoke at this year's AIPAC convention. Even Pat Robertson can rebuke Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, on his nationally syndicated "700 Club."

In recent days no one has matched House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R, Texas) for his zeal to bless Israel. Delay is often sought in Washington as a spokesperson for Christian Zionism. And he is forthright in his commitment even when it contradicts the president. On July 30 of this year he addressed the Israeli Knesset and his views were so extreme that the Labor Party leader Danny Yatom commented afterwards, "Geez, Likud is nothing compared to him!" Another legislator commented, "Until I heard him speak, I thought I was the farthest to the right in the Knesset!"

Delay announced that he was an "Israeli at heart" and then upon his return home challenged the Bush's Roadmap openly. He has appeared at meetings of the influential Christian Coalition with Benny Elon, the leader of the pro-ethnic cleansing Moledet Party arguing that a "transfer" of Palestinians out of Israel could be justified on Biblical authority. Recently the Los Angeles Times condemned DeLay for using "the considerable power of his office" to "promote his personal apocalyptic views."

But in addition to blessing Israel, Christian Zionists are clear that those who fail to bless will be punished. Kay Arthur appeared with Falwell on CBS's 60 Minutes and there surprised her audience when she suggested that the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin was linked to his involvement in the Oslo Peace Accord.

In June CBN (The Christian Broadcasting Network which produces Pat Robertson's 700 Club) published a news item warning America about natural disasters that will be God's punishment on America. The day after Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in and the Roadmap was set in motion, CBN told us that the next day began the worst month of tornadoes in America's history. Their best example happened on Oct. 30, 1991, when former President Bush (Sr.) met with Israelis and Palestinians to discuss compromises. CBN commented, "That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31, what would be called 'the perfect storm' smashed into New England pummeling the president's Kennebunkport, Main, home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen once every 100 years." The deduction was clear: Bush had angered God in his negotiations and God had sent America punishing weather in response.

As odd as all of this may sound, it is consistent with the theological worldview embraced by Christian Zionists who believe that Christian faith and politics must be wed in Israel. To deny this synthesis is not only to contradict the Bible, but it is to stand in the way of what God is doing in history, a history foretold millennia ago by the Biblical prophets.

********************

Rev. Dr. Gary Burge attended the University of California at Riverside, where he was an exchange student at The American University of Beirut studying political science and religion. This experience studying in the Middle East made an indelible mark on him. Lebanon’s civil war broke out that year and he watched a dangerous, national tragedy unfold before his college dorm. After graduation in 1974, Dr. Burge attended Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. While at Fuller Seminary he married Carol Wright and in 1982 their daughter, Ashleigh, was born. In 1991 four year old Grace Elizabeth joined their family through adoption. Thanks to the encouragement of Fuller and their home church, LaCañada Presbyterian, in 1978 Dr. Burge entered a three year Ph.D. program in New Testament at King’s College, the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. From 1981 until 1987 Dr. Burge taught as a professor of New Testament at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. In 1987 he moved to North Park College & Seminary to chair the department of Biblical and Theological Studies and teach New Testament. In 1992 he joined the faculty of Wheaton College & Graduate School where he teaches today as Professor of New Testament. Dr. Burge is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., and from 1987-1999, he served as a Presbyterian Chaplain in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Dr. Burge’s publications include The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Eerdmans, 1987); Interpreting the Johannine Literature (Baker, 1992), the translation of John’s Gospel in the New Living Bible; a commentary on John’s letters (Zondervan 1996) and a major commentary on John’s Gospel (Zondervan 2000). He has traveled extensively in Lebanon, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Israel. In particular he has returned to Israel over 18 times to study New Testament archeology and has led many groups of college students on study tours. In 1993 he wrote a study of Biblical theology, modern Israel, the Palestinian Christian church, called Who Are God’s People in the Middle East? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians (Zondervan, 1993). A second volume was published recently entitled Whose Land? Whose Promise? (Pilgrim Press, 2003). He is also the president of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding, a coalition of pastors and theologians which works to bridge the Arab and American church.

http://christianactionforisrael.org/4thcongress2.html

The History of Christian Zionism
In a sense, Christian Zionism goes right back to the 1st century period, as there have always been men and women who have believed and taught its tenets. Many examples of this from history could be quoted, but an article of this nature does not allow us to do it. As a definite theology, however, Christian Zionism had its beginnings among the pietistic Protestants of the 16th century and the 17th century Puritans of England. In 1587 a man named Francis Kett was burned alive for expressing his belief that the Bible prophesied a return of the Jews to their land. Moreover, in 1607, Thomas Brightman published a book in Basel called "Revelation of the Revelation". In this book he wrote: "What, shall they return to Jerusalem again? There is nothing more certain; the prophets do everywhere confirm it." Others of the same period frequently expressed a similar belief. For instance, Isaac de la Peyrere (1594-1676), who served as the French Ambassador to Denmark, wrote a book wherein he argued for a restoration of the Jews to Israel without conversion to Christianity.

By the time of the 18th century, the Christian Zionist Movement, known then as the Restoration Movement, included many theologians, writers and politicians. Noteworthy was Thomas Newton, the Bishop of Bristol. He believed Jews would be restored to their native city and country and at the same time he condemned anti-Jewish prejudice. The movement grew with the onset of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars.

In the 19th century the movement continu-ed to gather momentum and one of the outstanding personalities in this regard was Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. He noted in his diaries that the signs were right for the return of the Jews to Palestine. A certain Charles Henry Churchill, a British resident of Damascus, also became a zealous propagator of the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. In 1841 he wrote a letter to the Jewish philan-thropist Moses Montefiore in which he stated: "...I consider the object to be perfectly obtainable. But, two things are indispensably necessary. Firstly, that the Jews will themselves take up the matter unanimously. Secondly, that the European powers will aid them in their views..."

Another popular figure in the Restoration Movement was George Gawler (1796-1869). He wrote a book in 1845 and in it, concerning the Jewish people, he states that they were to replenish the deserted towns and fields of Palestine.

As the 19th century drew to a close, many prominent men were involved in Christian Zionism. Men like the British industrialist, Edward Cazalet (1827-1883), Lawrence Oliphant (1829-188, a most active restorationist, and the American, William E. Blackstone. Blackstone was once dubbed the American Christian "Father of Zion-ism". The most interesting Christian Zionist of the period was, however, William H. Hechler (1845-1931). Hechler, Chaplain of the British Em-bassy in Vienna, worked very closely with Theodore Herzl, considered to be the founder and father of the Jewish State. In fact, Hechler dedicated 30 years of his life to the great task of realizing the Zionist goal; the estab-lishment of the Jewish State in Pale-stine. Unfortunately he died only seventeen years before this became a living reality. However, he was privi-leged to attend the First Zionist Con-gress in Basel, Switzerland, in August 1897, at which the foundation stone of the restored Jewish State was laid.

The 20th century saw the Zionist dream come true as a direct fulfilment of God's prophetic word. Sadly, some tragic events preceded this realization, the most terrible and evil of which was the Nazi Holocaust. Out of the ashes of six million Jews rose the restored Jewish State.

From the very beginning of the century, Christian Zionists were in the forefront of the struggle on behalf of the Jewish People. Their influence upon statesmen and men of power was great. It is no secret that this influence played a major role in producing the Balfour Declar-ation of 1917, in which His Majesty's Government viewed "with favour the establishment of a Jewish national home" in Palestine.

Time will not permit us to talk of famous Christian Zionists such as Charles Orde Wingate, John Hayes Holmes, Profes-sor Reinhold Niebuhr and Corrie Ten Boom who, at great personal risk during the Second World War, rescued Jews from the hands of Nazism. All these believed that scripture promised the restoration of the Jewish State in Palestine. Most of them died in hope but some, like Corrie Ten Boom, lived to see the impossible come true.

Christian Zionism has a long history. Today the movement has swelled to embrace thousands. All of them see their task as being far from over, since the same forces that sought the destruc-tion of Israel in decades past are still at work today. The survival and preserv-ation of Israel is dependent upon the same kind of help and support that made her existence a reality. Christian Zionists believe that in seeking her peace they are in the long run working for the world's peace (Isaiah 2:1-4).
The Future of Christian Zionism
In these "last days", as Peter called them 2000 years ago, the struggle between light and darkness will intensify. Israel will be at the heart of this struggle since it is from her that God will establish His reign of righteousness over the world (Zechariah 14:9). The forces of darkness will always oppose such a reign and they will do it chiefly by seeking to destroy Israel. God's tri-umph in and through Israel will be a final proof to the world, and indictment against it, that His word is true. Christian Zionists will have to be in the forefront of this struggle. The fact that in recent years countless thousands have been and are being added to this movement is evidence that God is preparing a spiritual army for this coming "showdown."

It needs to be noted in closing that biblical Zionism is becoming more unpopular in some circles, especially in view of the events that have taken place in Israel in recent months. The timing of this Congress, therefore, is crucial since it serves as a vehicle of encouragement and blessing to all who love Israel and are deter-mined to see her future, as reflected in the pages of Scripture, become a reality.

Hmmmm....
So since I like Twinkies and so does Condi Rice, I support her?
By the way, do you have any studies to show the average IQs of atheists and non-atheists? Otherwise I'm curious as to how you can say they tend to be pea-brains.

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That information is classified and to be given only on a need-to-know basis...

And I do not need to know.

pretty much puts to rest who the pea brain is. And it's right there in black and white.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Shamgar, you and the Robertson/Falwell camp are quite similar in your beliefs except on the issue of Middle Eastern foreign policy. I don't follow the teachings of Robertson or Falwell, since I consider their ideas to be profoundly un-Christian. They are judgmental and often downright cruel in the name of their beliefs, both attitudes being condemned by the Bible. They are also paranoid (IMO).

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

Is there anyone at all on this forum that takes Shamgar seriously? Even one person?

I am just curious.

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But it's hard to take someone seriously when they come on with the Zionist conspiracy stuff and then post in a disjointed, incoherent style like a raving lunatic.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

OMG! LMAO, ROTFL...LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO!!!!!!11!!111!!!!1

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yeah a pea brain would think that. . . the problem is pea brain is you are not consistent in your beliefs. . .supporting Robertson's view of "Christian" prophesy. . .so sad. . .

See you are a pea brain since I am for shoving all the jews out of Israel. . . and Robertson is for shoving all the arabs out of Israel. . .but I guess in your pea brain that is "similar". . .in the normal mind it would be the "opposite". . .pea brain. . .

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...opleRed010.jpg