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Christian Zionism in the US: Its Roots, Founding Principles and Its Influence in American Politics

Year 2019, Volume: 30 Issue: 1, 141 - 169, 03.07.2019

Abstract

This article looks at Christian Zionism in the US from a sociological perspective. For this aim, I will examine the questions
of “who are the Christian Zionists?”, “what constitutes the roots and fundamental doctrines of Christian Zionism?” and
“how do Christian Zionists view world politics?” In this descriptive work, which aims to elaborate on an under-investigated
research topic in Turkish academia, first I will provide a background into its history, dating back to 19th century Britain.
Secondly, I will discuss the fundamental theological principles of Christian Zionism and the role played by Jews and Israel
in this belief system. Lastly, the increasing influence of Christian Zionists over American politics will be discussed.

References

  • Albayrak, H. Şule. ABD’de Din Devlet İlişkileri. İstanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2018. Albayrak, Şule A. Hıristiyan Fundamentalizmi, İstanbul: Etkileşim Yayınları, 2007. Aldrovandi, Carlo. “Theo-politics in the Holy Land: Christian Zionism and Jewish Religious Zionism.” Religion Compass 5, no. 4 (2011): 114–128. Ariel, Yaakov. “An Unexpected Alliance: Christian Zionism and Its Historical Significance.” Modern Judaism 26, no. 1 (Feb 2006): 74–100. Armstrong, Karen. The Battle for God. New York: Ballatine Books, 2001. Berger, Peter. “Secularism in Retreat.” The National Interest, no. 46 (Winter 1996): 3–12. Casanova, Jose. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. Curtis, Rodney. “Evangelical Anglican Missionaries and the London Jews Socety: Palestine Place at Bthnal Green and Related Developments, 1813–1895.” Jewish Historical Studies 50 (1), no. 5 (2018): 69–100. Davidson, Lawrence. “Christian Zionism as a Representation of American Manifest Destiny.” Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies 14, no 2 (Summer, 2005): 157–169. Durbin, Sean. “I am an Israeli: Christian Zionism as American Redemption.” Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal 14, no. 3 (2013): 324–347. Evans, Mike. How to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem: A Guide to Praying for Israel, Jerusalem and God’s Chosen People. Illinois: Timothy Books, 2013. Fahmy, Dalia. “Key Findings about Americans’ Belief in God.” Pew Research Center, April 25, 2018. Erişim: 6 Ekim 2018. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/25/key-findingsabout-americans-belief-in-god. Feldman, David. “Evangelicals, Jews, and anti-Catholicism in Britain, c. 1840-1900.” Jewish Historical Studies 47, (2015): 91–104. Finney, Mark. “Christian Zionism, the US, and the Middle East: a Sketch and Brief Analysis.” In The Bible, Zionism and Palestine: The Bible’s Role in Conflict and Liberation in IsraelPalestine. Bible in Effect, editör Michael J. Sandford, 20–31. New Zealand: Relegere Academic Press, 2016. Habermas, Jürgen. “The Political: The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology.” In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, editör Eduardo Mendieta ve Jonathan Vanantwerpen, 15–33. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011. Hadden, Jeffrey K. “The Rise and Fall of American Televangelism.” Annals, no. 527 (May 1993): 113–130. Halsell, Grace. Tanrıyı Kıyamete Zorlamak. Çeviren Mustafa Acar ve Hüsnü Özmen. Ankara: Kim Yayınları, 2003. Hunter, James Davison. American Evangelicalism. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1984. Kayyali, Abdul-wahab. “Zionism and Imperialism: The Historcial Origins.” Journal of Palestine Studies, 6, no. 3 (Spring 1977): 99–112. Kieval, Hillel J. “Review of ‘The Damascus Affair: Ritual Murder, Politics and the Jews in 1840’, by Jonathan Frankel.” AJS Review 25, no. 1 (April 2001): 137–142. Kiracofe, Jr. Clifford A. Dark Crusade: Christian Zionism and US Foreign Policy. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009. Lewis, Donald M. The Origins of Christian Zionism, Lord Shaftesbury and Evangelical Support for a Jewish Homeland. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Lipka, Michael. “More White Evangelicals than American Jews say God Gave Israel the Jewish People.” Pew Research Center, 3 October 2013. Erişim 30 Nisan 2019. https://www. pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/10/03/more-white-evangelicals-than-american-jews-say-godgave-israel-to-the-jewish-people/. Marsden, George M. Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991. Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Mead, Frank S., ve Samuel S. Hill. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985. Mearsheimer, John J., ve Stephen M. Walt. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. New York: Farra Straus and Giroux, 2007. Öke, Mim Kemal. Siyonizm ve Filistin Sorunu (1880-1923). İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018. Philips, Kevin. American Theocracy, New York: Viking, 2006. Philips, Elizabeth. “We’ve Read The End of The Book: an Engagement with Contemporary Christian Zionism Through The Eschatology of John Howard Yoder.” Studies in Christian Ethics 21, no. 3 (2008): 342–361. Rodkey, Frederick Stanley. “Lord Palmerston and Turkey: 1830-1841.” The Journal of Modern History 2, no. 2 (June 1930): 193–225. Sandal, Nukhet A., ve Patrick James. “Religion and International Relations Theory: Towards a Mutual Understanding.” European Journal of International Relations 17, no. 1 (2010): 3–25. Sizer, Stephen. “The Bible and Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon?” Transformation 27, no. 2 (2010): 122–132. Soy, Bayram. “Lord Palmerston’un Osmanlı Toprak Bütünlüğünü Koruma Siyaseti.” Türkiyat Araştırmaları 7, (2007): 141–167. Spector, Stephen. Evangelicals and Israel. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Tejirian, Eleanor H., ve Reeva Spestor Simon. Two Thousand Years of Christian Missions in the Middle East. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. The Constitution of the United States of America. New York: Fall River Press, 2002.

ABD’de Hıristiyan Siyonizmi: Kökeni, İnanç Esasları ve Günümüz Amerikan Siyasetine Etkisi

Year 2019, Volume: 30 Issue: 1, 141 - 169, 03.07.2019

Abstract

Bu makale, din siyaset ilişkilerini sosyolojik çerçevede inceleme girişimi olarak Amerika Birleşik Devletleri’nde siyasetteki
etkisi artan Hıristiyan siyonizmini konu edinmektedir. Çalışmamızda cevap aradığımız temel sorular, “ABD’de evanjelik
Protestanlar arasında yer alan Hıristiyan Siyonistler kimlerdir?”, “Tarihi köken ve kaynakları nelerdir?”, “Hem dini hem siyasi
bir oluşum olan Hıristiyan siyonizminin inanç esasları, siyasi yönelimleri ve Amerikan siyasetine etkileri nelerdir?” olarak
sıralanabilir. Bu çerçevede makale tasviri bir çalışma olarak Türk akademisinde konuyla ilgili literatür boşluğunu gidermeyi
amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaçla, çalışmamızda öncelikle Hıristiyan siyonizminin 19. yüzyılda İngiltere’deki oluşum sürecine ve
ABD’de yayılışına işaret edilecek; ardından temel teolojik ilkeleri ve bu ilkelerde önemli bir yer bulan Yahudilerin ve İsrail
devletinin konumuna ışık tutulacaktır. Son olarak Hıristiyan Siyonizmi doktrininin Amerikan siyasetindeki etkisine dikkat
çekilecektir.

References

  • Albayrak, H. Şule. ABD’de Din Devlet İlişkileri. İstanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2018. Albayrak, Şule A. Hıristiyan Fundamentalizmi, İstanbul: Etkileşim Yayınları, 2007. Aldrovandi, Carlo. “Theo-politics in the Holy Land: Christian Zionism and Jewish Religious Zionism.” Religion Compass 5, no. 4 (2011): 114–128. Ariel, Yaakov. “An Unexpected Alliance: Christian Zionism and Its Historical Significance.” Modern Judaism 26, no. 1 (Feb 2006): 74–100. Armstrong, Karen. The Battle for God. New York: Ballatine Books, 2001. Berger, Peter. “Secularism in Retreat.” The National Interest, no. 46 (Winter 1996): 3–12. Casanova, Jose. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. Curtis, Rodney. “Evangelical Anglican Missionaries and the London Jews Socety: Palestine Place at Bthnal Green and Related Developments, 1813–1895.” Jewish Historical Studies 50 (1), no. 5 (2018): 69–100. Davidson, Lawrence. “Christian Zionism as a Representation of American Manifest Destiny.” Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies 14, no 2 (Summer, 2005): 157–169. Durbin, Sean. “I am an Israeli: Christian Zionism as American Redemption.” Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal 14, no. 3 (2013): 324–347. Evans, Mike. How to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem: A Guide to Praying for Israel, Jerusalem and God’s Chosen People. Illinois: Timothy Books, 2013. Fahmy, Dalia. “Key Findings about Americans’ Belief in God.” Pew Research Center, April 25, 2018. Erişim: 6 Ekim 2018. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/25/key-findingsabout-americans-belief-in-god. Feldman, David. “Evangelicals, Jews, and anti-Catholicism in Britain, c. 1840-1900.” Jewish Historical Studies 47, (2015): 91–104. Finney, Mark. “Christian Zionism, the US, and the Middle East: a Sketch and Brief Analysis.” In The Bible, Zionism and Palestine: The Bible’s Role in Conflict and Liberation in IsraelPalestine. Bible in Effect, editör Michael J. Sandford, 20–31. New Zealand: Relegere Academic Press, 2016. Habermas, Jürgen. “The Political: The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology.” In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, editör Eduardo Mendieta ve Jonathan Vanantwerpen, 15–33. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011. Hadden, Jeffrey K. “The Rise and Fall of American Televangelism.” Annals, no. 527 (May 1993): 113–130. Halsell, Grace. Tanrıyı Kıyamete Zorlamak. Çeviren Mustafa Acar ve Hüsnü Özmen. Ankara: Kim Yayınları, 2003. Hunter, James Davison. American Evangelicalism. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1984. Kayyali, Abdul-wahab. “Zionism and Imperialism: The Historcial Origins.” Journal of Palestine Studies, 6, no. 3 (Spring 1977): 99–112. Kieval, Hillel J. “Review of ‘The Damascus Affair: Ritual Murder, Politics and the Jews in 1840’, by Jonathan Frankel.” AJS Review 25, no. 1 (April 2001): 137–142. Kiracofe, Jr. Clifford A. Dark Crusade: Christian Zionism and US Foreign Policy. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009. Lewis, Donald M. The Origins of Christian Zionism, Lord Shaftesbury and Evangelical Support for a Jewish Homeland. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Lipka, Michael. “More White Evangelicals than American Jews say God Gave Israel the Jewish People.” Pew Research Center, 3 October 2013. Erişim 30 Nisan 2019. https://www. pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/10/03/more-white-evangelicals-than-american-jews-say-godgave-israel-to-the-jewish-people/. Marsden, George M. Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991. Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Mead, Frank S., ve Samuel S. Hill. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985. Mearsheimer, John J., ve Stephen M. Walt. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. New York: Farra Straus and Giroux, 2007. Öke, Mim Kemal. Siyonizm ve Filistin Sorunu (1880-1923). İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2018. Philips, Kevin. American Theocracy, New York: Viking, 2006. Philips, Elizabeth. “We’ve Read The End of The Book: an Engagement with Contemporary Christian Zionism Through The Eschatology of John Howard Yoder.” Studies in Christian Ethics 21, no. 3 (2008): 342–361. Rodkey, Frederick Stanley. “Lord Palmerston and Turkey: 1830-1841.” The Journal of Modern History 2, no. 2 (June 1930): 193–225. Sandal, Nukhet A., ve Patrick James. “Religion and International Relations Theory: Towards a Mutual Understanding.” European Journal of International Relations 17, no. 1 (2010): 3–25. Sizer, Stephen. “The Bible and Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon?” Transformation 27, no. 2 (2010): 122–132. Soy, Bayram. “Lord Palmerston’un Osmanlı Toprak Bütünlüğünü Koruma Siyaseti.” Türkiyat Araştırmaları 7, (2007): 141–167. Spector, Stephen. Evangelicals and Israel. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Tejirian, Eleanor H., ve Reeva Spestor Simon. Two Thousand Years of Christian Missions in the Middle East. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. The Constitution of the United States of America. New York: Fall River Press, 2002.
There are 1 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Articles
Authors

H. Şule Albayrak 0000-0003-0311-5121

Publication Date July 3, 2019
Submission Date May 29, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 30 Issue: 1

Cite

Chicago Albayrak, H. Şule. “ABD’de Hıristiyan Siyonizmi: Kökeni, İnanç Esasları Ve Günümüz Amerikan Siyasetine Etkisi”. Darulfunun Ilahiyat 30, no. 1 (July 2019): 141-69.