Christian Zionism

Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with Bible prophecy. The term began to be used in the mid-20th century in place of Christian restorationism.

Christian advocacy in support of the restoration of the Jews grew after the Protestant Reformation and has its roots in seventeenth century England. Contemporary Israeli historian Anita Shapira suggests that evangelical Christian Zionists in England of the 1840s "passed this notion on to Jewish circles", while Jewish nationalism in the early 19th century was widely regarded with hostility by British Jews.

Some Christian Zionists believe that the gathering of the Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus. The idea has been common in Protestant circles since the Reformation that Christians should actively support a Jewish return to the Land of Israel, along with the parallel idea that the Jews ought to be encouraged to become Christians as a means of fulfilling biblical prophecy. Polling has suggested that Jews distrust Christian Zionist support for Israel and Jews themselves.

History before the 20th century

Origins in Calvinistic millennialism

Advocacy of the restoration of Palestine as a national homeland for the Jews was first heard among self-identified Christian groups in the 1580s following the Protestant Reformation. Retrieved on 20 March 2018. The first wave of Protestant leaders, including Martin Luther and John Calvin, did not mention any special eschatological views which included a return of the Jews to Palestine (converted to Christianity or otherwise). More generally, Luther had hoped that the Jews would convert to his brand of Christianity once he had broken with the Catholic Church, but later he harshly denounced Jews. Like the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, Luther and Calvin saw the Christian Church as being the "spiritual Israel" and since Jesus Christ, the covenant with God as being with faithful Christians exclusively as the "people of God", with no special privileges or role based on ancestral descent (in later times this has been called supersessionism). The Protestant focus on ''sola scriptura'' and the wider distribution of the Bible across Europe in the vernacular languages, however, allowed various radical protestants to interpret the scriptures in their own ways, in a manner which was not entirely reflective of either medieval Catholic tradition, or, the views of the early Protestant leaders themselves. Retrieved on 20 March 2018. Coupled with this was a general cultural Hebraising among more radical Protestants, as they saw the veneration of saints as idolatry and placed more focus on the Biblical prophets of the Old Testament, often naming their children Jeremiah, Zachary, Daniel, Sampson and the like.

While Edward VI of England was the Tudor child-monarch of England, a Calvinist-leaning Regency ''de facto'' ruled. This allowed Continental Protestants such as Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr Vermigli to teach at the prestigious universities of Cambridge and Oxford. These two men forwarded a biblical exegesis which included an important role for the Jews, converted to Christianity, in the end times.Christian Hebraist