http://zionism-israel.com/dic/Christian_Zionism.htmA brief history of Christian Zionism
"Christian Zionism" or Christian support for restoration (which we will call "restorationism," though this doctrine has a different meaning for Calvinist theology) of the Jews did not begin with Darby and the dispensationalists. Rather, it began in sixteenth century England, and was especially, though not exclusively, a popular idea among puritans. The puritans brought this tenet of their faith with them to the American colonies.
In the first century AD, the church was a part of Judaism. The break between the Jewish Church of St James began with the teachings of Paul. Before the first Jewish revolt in AD 66, Christianity was basically a sect of Judaism, like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Following the failure of the second Jewish revolt of Bar Kochba in AD 133-135 and the banishment of Jews from Jerusalem, political power moved from Jewish believers to centers of Gentile Christian leadership in Asia minor (Galatians), Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. This important change was reflected in the changing theology of the fathers of the church, which began to disconnect itself from its Jewish roots. The church became an active rival of Judaism. In the second century, Marcion had proclaimed that the Old Testament was not part of the Christian religion, having been replaced by the New Testament, but he was condemned as a heretic. The antagonistic view of Judaism, however, took hold.
In AD 321. Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire, and official Christian persecution of Jews for religious, rather than national reasons, began. By the middle of the fourth century, it was an accepted belief among most Christians that the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews were God’s method of showing the world that He no longer favored them, and was punishing them eternally for the crucifixion of Christ. This was exemplified in the teachings of Eusebius of Caesaria, who claimed that God would not let the Jews rebuild Jerusalem, and in the theology of St. Augustine and others, who taught that the favors of God had been removed from the Jews and transferred to the church, which was the true "Israel." These beliefs became an important part and justification, if not the foundation, for anti-Semitic persecutions, including expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem and later from various European countries, wholesale slaughter of Jews as occurred during the Crusades, and forced conversions. This view of the Jews remained fixed and almost universal in European culture until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Christian support for restoration of the Jews became popular when Protestant theology began to base its beliefs and sermons on printed copies of the Bible, in spoken languages that everyone could understand. From these, it was evident that God had made explicit promises to Israel and Judah and the fleshly heirs of David, and that these were not necessarily transferred to the Christian Church. Restoration of the Jews was a peculiarly British doctrine, perhaps because of the exceptional success and popularity of the English language Tyndale bible and the King James Version. Eventually, support for restoration of the Jews was to become an important theme in British, and especially in American culture, where it achieved the status of a cultural norm alongside anti-Semitism, and not always opposed to it.
In 1585, one Francis Kett, a Cambridge scholar, published a book entitled The Glorious and Beautiful Garland of Man's Glorification Containing the Godly Misterie of Heavenly Jerusalem. The book had a section in which he mentioned "the notion of Jewish national return to Palestine." For these views, he was burned at the stake as a heretic on January 14, 1589.
The puritan faith adopted both restoration of the Jews and to a greater extent, "Hebraicization," identifying themselves and their cause with the Jewish people.
In 1608, Thomas Draxe published The Worldes Resurrection: On the general calling of the Jews, A familiar Commentary upon the eleventh Chapter of Saint Paul to the Romaines, according to the sense of Scripture. Draxe argued for Israel's restoration based upon his Calvinism and Covenant Theology. The Reverend Thomas Brightman (1552-1607) and Joseph Mede (1586-1638) o both wrote of a future restoration of Israel. Brightman's work appeared in 1607 (or 1609) and Mede's was released in 1627. Brightman's work was published in Basel, perhaps to avoid the complications experienced by Kett. It was called "Revelation of the Revelation." In it he asked, "What, shall they return to Jerusalem again? There is nothing more certain; the prophets do everywhere confirm it."
Henry Finch (1558-1625) wrote The World's Resurrection or The Calling of the Jewes. A Present to Judah and the Children of Israel that Ioyned with Him, and to Ioseph (that valiant tribe of Ephraim) and all the House of Israel that Ioyned with Him, King James did not appreciate Finch's view that all nations would become subservient to Israel. Finch and his publisher were arrested soon after the book was released and "examined." Finch was stripped of his status and possessions and then died shortly thereafter.
"Restoration" of the Jews was initially synonymous with their conversion to Christianity. In 1635, Brightman wrote a commentary on Daniel 11-12 which he sub-titled, 'The restoring of the Jewes and their callinge to the faith of Christ after the utter overthrow of their three enemies is set forth in livelie colours.'
In 1641, the British Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell stated, "And it may be, as some think, God will bring the Jews home to their station, 'from all the isles of the sea,' and answer their expectations 'as from the depths of the sea.' (Tuchman, p. 141). It is not clear if Cromwell was referring to the actual Jews, or to the Puritans as Jews. The Puritan government also rescinded the banishment of the Jews from England.
In 1649 the English Puritans, Ebenezer and Joanna Cartwright, living in Amsterdam, petitioned the British Government to lift the ban on Jews settling in England, and to assist them to move to Palestine:
That this Nation of England, with the inhabitants of the Netherlands, shall be the first and the readiest to transport Israel's sons and daughters on their ships to the land promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for an everlasting inheritance. (Tuchman, p. 121)
In later years a more secular version of Christian Zionism evolved in parallel to the evangelical one, sometimes relying on moral arguments, sometimes on evangelical arguments and sometimes on practical imperialist ones. Support for Zionism was no longer premised on visions of the end of days and conversion of the Jews. Among the first of these may be counted Isaac de la Peyrere (1594-1676), the French Ambassador to Denmark, who wrote a book wherein he argued for a restoration of the Jews to Israel without conversion to Christianity.
Thomas Newton, the Bishop of Bristol believed Jews would be restored to their native city and country, and at the same time he condemned anti-Jewish prejudice.
Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury
Lord Shaftsebury
It is likely that the religious movement for return of the Jews was inspired in part by French Revolution and the attendant emancipation of the Jewish people in parts of Europe. Likewise, it was no doubt influenced by the weakening of the Ottoman empire and by Napoleon's proclamation to the Jews, for the early 19th century saw a revival in restorationist beliefs, which also spread to the United States. The greatest part of this interest was purely religious, but restorationism was influenced by imperialist motives as well. In 19th century England, early British proponents of Jewish Restoration included Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. He noted in his diaries that the signs were propitious for the return of the Jews to Palestine, and was later active in promoting proto-Zionist schemes. Charles Henry Churchill, a British resident of Damascus, became a zealous proponent for the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. In 1841 he wrote to the Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore, "…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..," At the time, Montefiore had been approached by proto-Zionists with schemes of settling Jews in Palestine and of purchasing Palestine, or at least the temple mount, from the Turks.
Another popular figure in the Restoration Movement was George Gawler (1796-1869). He wrote a book in 1845 stating that the Jews were to replenish the deserted towns and fields of Palestine.
The idea of restoration of the Jews became as firmly rooted in British and American Protestantism as the idea of the damnation of the Jews had been previously rooted in Medieval Catholic theology.
