Christian Zionism: A Contested Theology of Land, Promise, and Identity

Christian Zionism is a theological and political movement that supports the Jewish return to the land of Israel and views the modern State of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. While its roots stretch back to Puritan millenarianism and 19th-century dispensationalism, it has become especially influential in American Evangelical circles since the mid-20th century. Proponents see it as a biblically mandated stance, while critics argue it distorts Christian theology and exacerbates geopolitical injustice. This essay examines both sides of the debate, including the contested claim that Christians are spiritual Jews and heirs to the Abrahamic land promise—and that Abraham himself was a Jew by faith, not ethnicity.

The Case For Christian Zionism

Biblical Promises and Prophetic Fulfillment

At the heart of Christian Zionism lies the belief that God’s covenant with Abraham—“To your descendants I give this land” (Genesis 15:18)—remains in force. Christian Zionists interpret the re-establishment of Israel in 1948 and the Six-Day War of 1967 as fulfillments of Old Testament prophecy. Passages such as Ezekiel 36–37 and Isaiah 11 are read as foretelling the physical return of Jews to their ancestral homeland. Romans 11:25–26, where Paul speaks of a future salvation for “all Israel,” is often cited to support the idea that ethnic Israel retains a unique role in God’s redemptive plan.

Dispensationalist theologians like Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye popularized this view in the 1970s and 1980s, framing Israel’s restoration as a precursor to the Second Coming. John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), argues that supporting Israel is not only biblically mandated but spiritually beneficial: “Those who bless Israel will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

Christians as Spiritual Jews and Heirs to the Land

Some Christian Zionists go further, arguing that Christians are spiritual Jews and therefore heirs to the same promises—including the land. Galatians 3:29 states, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” This verse is interpreted to mean that Christians, by faith, inherit the covenantal blessings originally given to Abraham, including the promise of land.

David Maas, writing for Gospel Nations, argues that the possession of Canaan was an earlier stage in God’s redemptive plan, which now finds fulfillment in Christ and his co-heirs. The “inheritance” language used in Genesis is echoed in Romans 8:17, where believers are described as “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” The gift of the Holy Spirit is seen as the down payment of this inheritance, which includes not only spiritual blessings but also the redemption of creation.

This view suggests that the Abrahamic covenant was never purely ethnic or geographic, but always pointed toward a broader, spiritual fulfillment. Christians, as “children of Abraham,” are thus legitimate heirs—not by blood, but by faith.

Abraham as a Jew by Faith

This argument gains further traction when considering Abraham’s identity. Abraham was not born into a Jewish ethnicity—he preceded the formation of Israel and the giving of the Law. His status as the father of the Jewish people stems from his faith and obedience to God. As Paul writes in Romans 4:11–12, Abraham is “the father of all who believe… not only those who are of the law but also those who walk in the footsteps of the faith.”

This framing challenges the notion that Jewish identity is inherently ethnic. Judaism, at its birth, was a religion of covenantal faith. The term “Jew” itself derives from Judah, a tribal designation that emerged long after Abraham. Thus, Abraham was a Jew in the sense that he trusted and followed God—making faith, not bloodline, the defining criterion.

Modern Jewish thinkers such as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks have also emphasized that Judaism is a religion of ethical monotheism and covenantal responsibility, not merely ethnicity. While Jewish identity today includes ethnic, cultural, and religious dimensions, the foundational narrative of Abraham centers on faith.

The Case Against Christian Zionism

Theological Critique: Supersessionism and the New Covenant

Critics argue that Christian Zionism misinterprets Scripture by privileging ethnic Israel over the universal Church. The New Testament, they contend, redefines the people of God as those who follow Christ, regardless of ethnicity. Galatians 3:28 declares, “There is neither Jew nor Greek… for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:16—that the promises to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ—undermines the notion of a separate divine plan for modern Israel.

However, this same passage is also used to argue that Christians are spiritual Jews. The debate hinges on whether being “Abraham’s seed” implies inheriting the land promise or only spiritual blessings. Some theologians, like Thomas Blanton and Noah Bickart, note that early Christian thinkers such as Justin Martyr interpreted Paul’s letters to mean that Christians are Abraham’s descendants through faith, while Jews are merely his flesh descendants.

Others reject this interpretation, arguing that the land promise was specific to the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. They cite Genesis 17:8—“I will give to you and your descendants… all the land of Canaan”—as a geographically bounded promise not transferable to Gentile believers. Theologians in this camp argue that the Church inherits spiritual blessings, not territorial claims.

Ethical Concerns and Political Instrumentalization

One of the most serious critiques of Christian Zionism is its ethical implications. Critics argue that it instrumentalizes Jewish identity for Christian eschatological purposes. As theologian Gary Burge notes, “Christian Zionism often loves Israel for what it can do for Christian prophecy, not for who it is.” This conditional support can alienate Jewish communities and reduce their lived experience to a theological chess piece.

Moreover, Christian Zionism is often accused of ignoring or justifying the suffering of Palestinians. Uncritical support for Israeli policies—especially in the occupied territories—can conflict with Christian teachings on justice, mercy, and peacemaking. Palestinian Christians, such as those represented in the Kairos Palestine document, have called on global churches to reject Christian Zionism and advocate for a just peace.

Historical and Cultural Context

Christian Zionism is not a monolith. Its roots lie in 17th-century Puritanism, where figures like Thomas Brightman and Increase Mather speculated about Jewish restoration. In the 19th century, British Evangelicals such as Lord Shaftesbury and William Blackstone advocated for a Jewish homeland, often motivated by millenarian expectations.

The 20th century saw the rise of dispensationalism, particularly through the Scofield Reference Bible, which interpreted biblical prophecy in a literal and futurist manner. After 1948, the establishment of Israel gave Christian Zionism a tangible focus, and the 1967 Six-Day War further galvanized support. Today, Christian Zionism is most prominent among American Evangelicals, though it has global reach through media, conferences, and political lobbying.

Conclusion: Theology, Justice, and Inheritance

Christian Zionism remains a deeply divisive issue within Christianity. Its supporters see it as a fulfillment of prophecy and a moral imperative, while its critics view it as a theological distortion and a political liability. The debate over whether Christians are spiritual Jews—and whether that status includes a claim to the land—is central to the controversy.

The argument that Abraham was a Jew by faith, not ethnicity, reframes the discussion. If Judaism began as a religion of faith, then the heirs of Abraham’s promises—including the land—may be defined by covenantal trust rather than bloodline. Whether one affirms or rejects Christian Zionism, the conversation demands humility, historical awareness, and a commitment to justice.

God and Suicide: "Choose Life!"

 

This week, we received news that no parent wants to hear:  Our daughter, our beloved daughter, is suicidal.

After hearing her speak with the Child, Adolescent and Family Emergency (CAFE) Team, to our horror, we hear that she has attempted it twice already.

A couple of days before, she had taken herself over to our youth leader's home and shared that she wanted to kill herself, and that she had been using a compass to harm herself already.

Alarmed, her youth leader said, she had to confide in someone, and if it was her, they would need to work out a plan together to keep her safe.

While she told her story, she mentioned that she had had thoughts about how her suffering could be ended and the relief of closure could be.

Our dear daughter had been assailed by long COVID eighteen months ago. The symptoms were deeply distressing. It began with photosensitivity, acute and continuous muscle pain, and nervous exhaustion. 

The condition affected her cognitive ability in strange ways. Through tears, she explained how she could read and explain individual words on a page, but she couldn't tell us what the page said as a whole.  For an A-grade student, this was horrifying.  

Social isolation featured in the first year. She did not have the energy to carry on a conversation and sleep seemed the only way to temporarily escape the pain.

As time passed, she made slow but incremental improvements. To the point she was attending school four out of five days a week, and she was likely to complete her university entrance exams this year. But she was still a long way from what she was capable of before she became ill. The muscle pain has so far never completely left her.

Unfortunately, her hope for a complete recovery began to fade as she watched her friends advance through their lives ahead of her, and she became the object of her own pity.

And the thoughts of obtaining closure became more attractive as time passed.

This is uncharted territory for us.  Our first port of call is the Scriptures.

Prophecy can come in many forms. One form can be subvocal thoughts.

God can speak by this means. But so can others (Ephesians 6).

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-23, Paul commands us not to ignore these thoughts ("Do not quench the spirit, Do not despise prophecy") but instead to be discerning ("test all things"), to retain what is good ("hold fast to what is good"), and to discard what is not good ("abstain from every evil").

Even Jesus experienced suicidal thoughts when he was urged to throw himself from a great height. He immediately recognised them for what they were and rejected them (Matthew 4:6-7).

Suicidal thoughts are easy to discern because they are contrary to God's ways, for across the ages, God's clarion and enduring voice can be heard urging us to "Choose life!" (Deuteronomy 30:19).

In addition to praying for her to gain this insight, we are also praying that God will break down her despair by meeting her directly and rebuilding her hope and joy through encouragement and fellowship.  We know our friends are praying faithfully.

In the meantime, we navigate the processes set out under our health system too, so far she is responding well, and her youth leader is saying our daughter is quite a different person.  It's nice to hear that she is engaging with the other teenagers in the group and she is exchanging banter with her siblings.

Nonetheless, the hospital advisors said that our daughter knows she is strikingly attractive and she can hide a lot behind a winning smile.  Stay vigilent they advised.  We shall.

How to undelete documents in Logos Bible Software

The other day I must have pushed the wrong button because my Notes disappeared.

After a day or two of grieving over all the notes I'd put together over many years, I wondered if anyone else had had a similar problem.

Even tho its a mystery to me how it got deleted: This is how to undelete things:

Documents.Logos.com lets you store your study notes, presentations, sentence diagrams, reading plans, and more—all in one place. And if you delete an important document, it’s easy to get your work back.

Here’s how to undelete files:

1. Log in at Documents.Logos.com with your Logos.com credentials.
2. Using the dropdown menu in the top-left corner, filter documents by visibility.
3. Select “Deleted” to see all your deleted documents.

The Ethics of Israel's conduct in the Israel-Gaza war 2023-2025 - A christian perspective

 

The events of October 7 have drawn Israel into a significant conflict with the Gazan people.  

Gaza has suffered considerable loss of life, injury and destruction of their cities and communities.

Daily images of dead or suffering children and now starving children has swayed world opinion against Israel.  

Last week the UN passed a resolution for an immediate ceasefire when a wavering USA decided not to exercise its veto power and instead abstained.

Many Christians feel conflicted when it comes to deciding what position to take.

1. Aren't Christians meant to love our enemies? (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27,35)
2. Aren't we meant to turn the other cheek? Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29)
3. Doesn't one of the ten commandments require us not to kill? (Exodus 20:13)
4. Doesn't God love both Israelis and Gazans equally (John 3.16)?

Taken alone, they seem problematic.  As C S Lewis says, if we saw a vulnerable loved one about to be violently struck by another, would we really stand by and watch even though we had the power to stop it?

What guidance can the bible give to resolve this quandary?

It turns out Romans 12:9ff and Romans 13:1-9  help to resolve this quandary.

Romans 12:9ff echoes many of the passages cited above in Exodus, Matthew, Luke, and John.  And it discusses these things as how an individual might deal with enemies, and persecutors.

Romans 13:1-9 takes us into the realms of civic society and government authorities.  As a collective, we cede authority to governments to act on our behalf.  This passage makes it clear what their duties and responsibilities are:

1. To protect the vulnerable from wrongdoing (Romans 13:3)
2. To punish wrongdoing (Romans 13:2-4)
3. To prevent further wrongdoing (Romans 13:5)

In Israel's case, how is it to act in response to the October 7 massacres in the light of Romans 13?

1. It must act to protect the vulnerable.  Therefore it used deadly force on the day, to neutralize the terrorists and to prevent them killing any more Israeli citizens.  
2. Israel must punish the actors for wrongdoing.  This means Israel must seek out those responsible for the October 7 atrocities and hold them to account.  And if these suspects are unwilling to be taken alive, then Israel is left with few options except to use deadly force if it wishes to prevent further wrongdoing.
3. For Israel preventing further wrongdoing is ultimately the biggest problem.
   * Preventing Hamas from carrying out another October 7 massacres must be a high priority.
   * However, Hamas is determined to annihilate Israel.  Co-existence is unacceptable to them.
   The 700+ km Gazan tunnel system allows Hamas to hide from Israeli military action by turning Gazan hospitals, UN facilities, civilian buildings, and infrastructure into battlefield cover.  This has resulted in widespread destruction of these assets because Hamas has turned them into legitimate military targets.  
   * War is ugly and cruel.  Civilian deaths are inevitable.  That is why war should be avoided as much as possible. Yet war is sometimes inevitable and warranted.(Ecclesiastes 3:8).  And when it is required, as Churchill says, we must be resolute.  If this war and the subsequent peace are not won, then Israel will embolden others to repeat Hamas' crimes.
   * Like WW2 Germany, Hamas is waging a total war.  They have created a society where the division between civilians and combatants is heavily blurred.  The doctrine of Jews are the nemesis of all peoples and martyrdom is taught to children from a young age.  The values and heritage of Gazans involve a fundamentally erroneous worldview, a worldview that believes that their land was taken from them when they have never exercised Manua Whenua over it.  Correcting this may take a generation or more to do.  There is no quick fix answer to a problem that runs so deeply.  It is also a worldview that much of the world has come to accept as fact in direct contradiction to the historical record.
   * Israel must therefore remove Hamas from power, prevent it from ever taking power again and then administer Gaza until a new generation emerges that is willing to accept co-existence with Israel. 
   * For many the fact that Israel is acting in self-defence is fair but the disparity of deaths on either side is sufficient to conclude that Israel is reacting disproportionately, and therefore unjustly, to Hamas' crime.  But a layperson's understanding of disproportionality in war under international law is wrong. Proportionality under the Geneva Conventions is related to the military objective not a naive comparison of war dead figures.  Israel's military objective is to prevent another October 7 being repeated.  Hamas has already publicly declared that October 7 is the first of many to come.  From Israel's point of view, Hamas must be destroyed. Hamas' total war strategy puts everyone in Gazan society in harm's way.  Even prominent leaders in the Arab world have criticized Hamas for doing so. 
   * We should also be aware that the Gaza Ministry of Health produces these figures and Hamas controls this ministry.  It must be seen as an organ within Hamas' propaganda machine.  All its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, implying that they too recognize Hamas' total war doctrine.  Nor do they account for the peacetime mortality rate.
   * In a similar argument, partly fuelled by thoughts about a perceived lack of proportionality, the accusation of Genocide is also directed against Israel.  Again, what constitutes genocide from a layperson's understanding is quite different from the definition used under international law.  Even the learned justices at the International Court of Justice are loath to conclude that genocide has been committed so quickly.  An outcome of their deliberations will likely be a more refined definition of genocide because the current one allows any killing to be construed as genocide, and if so, it robs the word of its intended meaning.  Ireland has realised that the charge of Genocide will be difficult to prove and has applied  to the ICT to change the definition of Genocide. For anyone who believes in the rule of law, this is troubling.
   * For God, he does love both Israelis and Palestinians equally.  Perhaps our experiences as Parents may be analogous and help our understanding here.  When we have two children having a fight.  What do we do when there is a risk that one or both could be physically harmed?  We separate them.  But when the siblings are now whole ethnic groups involving millions of people on either side, what then?  Then separation is needed on a scale that is logistically quite different.  And how do you stop the fighting when one side wants to stop so they can regroup and repeat October 7 another day? And the other side does not want to stop because they don't want another October 7?    Unless the world is willing to risk the lives of its own citizens to keep them apart then it must allow protagonist Israel to subdue antagonist Gaza so that a lasting peace can be built.
   * Ultimately a lasting peace must deal with the root cause and that is, we have two tangata whenua, two indigenous peoples, both were offered statehood.  One accepted and said we will give co-existence a shot.  The other rejected statehood multiple times, and repeatedly opted for a winner takes all, fight to the death.  Until co-existence is acceptable to both sides, then peace is just a utopian dream.  
   
   

Bequeathing Logos Bible Software Licenses

 

The strength of Logos is its ability to give you access to a wide range of resources.  Its power improves greatly the bigger the collection of resources you have.

Over many years the number of resources you have accumulated licenses for can be quite considerable.  As you become more conscious that your time to pass into the afterlife is nearing, you may start thinking it would be a terrible waste to let the licenses lapse.

Perhaps someone else among your circle of friends, family and loved ones might benefit from them.

Faithlife has kindly provided a process to allow you to bequeath your licenses to an heir. 

Here is the process:

Provide Logos Support with the following information:

1. Current license holder details
   Email address
   Street address
   A list of titles from the order history on your account and if not purchased online, a list of titles and serial numbers
   A letter instructing Logos that this your wish and it will be saved to your account record.
   And if deceased already, a death certificate and an instruction from the Executor of the Estate.
   If you wish to effect the transfer before you pass, then there is a USD 20 fee.  The fee is waived if you have already passed away.
   
   
2. Recipient details
   Email address (if already a Logos user, the email address being used for their account)
   Street address
   

My uncle has just done this and his gift is a huge blessing.  There were many commentaries that I was saving up for and they were already in his collection.  

Hope this helps!

Why the West won and will still win

I was in Tienamen Square six months before the massacre.

Everyone remembers the occasion through the iconic picture of the "Tank Man".

But the Tank Man photo doesn't show you that over a million people gathered there, demanding:

• Freedom...
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of association
• Social equality
• Democracy and 
• The end of corruption and nepotism.

Things we take for granted in the West.

But both photos don't show how it brutally ends.

While I was there, I met with a professor of history and sociology.  He told me he had been part of a research team that had been hired to look into something.  But now after three years they had their results but he was afraid to present their findings.

"Who was the client and what were you researching?" I asked.

"The client was the Chinese Communist Party," so I said, "you have a right to be frightened."

"What did they want you to research?"

"They want to know why the Western Civilization had got ahead of all cultures."

"What did you fnd out?"

"We thought it was technology at first because you defeated us so easily at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 20th century.

But after some deliberation, we decided it wasn't that.

Then we thought it might be democracy but after considering that carefully, we decided it wasn't that.

Because we are a communist country we thought it might be free markets but after a lot of investigation and debate, we decided it wasn't that either."

"You're running out of possibilities," I said,  :What did you conclude?"

"You won't believe me," he said.  

"Try me," I replied.

"It's religion.  Because for centuries you believed in a God who gave you benevolent laws, you obeyed them.

As a result, you ended up with the rule of law.

We don't get the rule of law like that.  We get it by frightening the bejesus out of people.  

We hold open trials, with very public and gruesome executions.

But when you see a crowd gathered around a television watching these things, you won't hear them saying, 'Bad person, deserves all he gets', instead, you will hear, 'Stupid person, for getting caught!'

But we know that Western society is becoming more secular and moving away from a belief in God.

And so we know that we will catch up."

I was left wondering, "Was he warning me or was he threatening me?"

Our knowledge of God and His ways have shaped the world.

The knowledge that 

• God created the world for the basis of modern science and the scientific method.
• God loved all human kind, led to the idea that all life is precious.
• That all humans are created equal led to
• The idea of Human Rights and
• Servant leadership
• God gave us his law (or ways) led to the Rule of Law; and
• God's gift of reason meant that there was an obligation to Progress.

God's revelation has shaped and changed New Zealand too:

In the 1870s, an elderly Hawke’s Bay chief, [Chief Hapuku Ngaruhe,] reflecting on the changes that had occurred in his community over his lifetime, concluded that:

‘It was only after the word of God was preached that the evil of the deeds and life of olden times was seen, that is these were condemned, murdering, family quarrels, seduction, and cannibalism, but there were many and great evils committed in Ao-tea-roa (North Island) but the gospel being preached caused the evils of Maori to cease.’

Western civilization has been touched in so many ways by God and his revelation through the bible.

And we are all the better for it

The Western World may not be perfect 

And despite what its critics may say:  

There are not thousands of people lining up trying to emigrate to Iran, China, Saudi Arabia or Russia.

Hurt people, hurt people

 

One of the great things about following God is that he is in the game of restoration.  People who have been harmed, devastated, indeed scarred by those around them, or even due to the consequences of their own failures, can come to God for healing.

Though often quoted out of context, Matthew 11:28 has traditionally been quoted as an invitation to those who are birds with broken wings to see comfort and restoration with God.

Unfortunately often, indeed, most of their healing isn't instantaneous.

Luke 6:45 tells us that the pain, hurt, sorrow, anger, humiliation can be stored in our hearts, such evil will eventually, sooner or later,  wells up and will be exposed to others, which unfortunately may cause further evil to them.

Equally sadly, as they heal the remaining hurt causes a fight or flight reaction as they rightly or wrongly associate people around them with their previous sources of harm.

Deeply embedded conditioning takes time to undo.

Thus if an authority figure such as a parent caused the harm, its easy to project this onto another authority figure and they can become overly sensitized and wrongly accuse the authority figure of being a similar threat.

You can see it in the relationship between Jacob and his sons.  By playing favorites, he hurt his other sons and created bitterness, jealousy, and indeed hatred between them and Joseph.  They in turn sought to harm Joseph (Genesis 37-50).

David offended Absalom when he allowed the rape of his sister to go unpunished.  The resentment and hostility to his father grew to open rebellion, and David had to flee the country.  There can be no doubt that Absalom's hurt caused further hurt for his father.

My father, for example, saw us children as cheap labor.  Every hour of our day was accounted for.  If we were late home from school, we would expect to be punished.  

After a while, we brothers developed a kind of passive resistance to the tasks he assigned us.  Never rushing to do it straight away, and when we did start, not doing it quickly, as there was no hope of finishing and having a rest.  

Later in life, I had to consciously work against my own unconscious passive resistance to tasks being imposed by those around me as I realized that I had fallen into the habit of feeling the same way about them that I had when my father assigned me tasks, so many years before.

Of course, this caused my managers and colleagues the same frustration, animosity, and anger it evoked in my father so many years before.  See how it's contagious?

Over the years, I've worked hard to be more responsive.  And people hardly notice it now.  But inside, I still have to overcome the resistance to put aside a task immediately before circling back.

If I caved in, it'd be career-limiting.  But it's not that easy to break many years of conditioning.  It's a habit, that comes with associations of bad memories of the past and the pain, violence, and tears of so many arguments and beatings in those early years can be readily re-lived in my mind's eye.

The way back is through a complex process of forgiveness, knowing that God had given me grace and forgiven my sins.  Equally, I needed to show grace to my father, now long dead, too.

It's a process of healing, as I've vented my feelings to God in prayer and trusted friends who you could confide in, which resulted in more tears, but now tears of healing.

It involves consciously letting it go as I realized the loss of human potential, and clinging to it meant, "the years that the locust has eaten away" (Joel 2:25) would mean more years being eaten away.

Why hang on to it at all?  I suppose there is a perverse enjoyment out of resentment and unforgiveness, re-living the injustice over and over, which causes me to relish the thought of how "in the right I am".  

I experienced wonderful relief as the days, turned into months and years, it became clear that the needle was moving, that the balance between dysfunction and function was perceptibly shifting.

And with those early results, hope and trust in God grows.