Christian Zionism

Christian Zionism

by Shawn Henry Potter and Lois Carol Potter
renatuspress.com

  1. Introduction:

Christianity and Judaism share a common ancestry as well as many shared beliefs and values. For example, we believe in one God, objective morality, and divine revelation. One expression of this unity is the concept of Christian Zionism. Christian Zionism is the belief that the modern return of the Jewish people to their biblical homeland and the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 are fulfillments of God’s covenant promises and therefore deserve the prayerful support of Bible-believing Christians. Christian Zionism is held by Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike. Yet, some people condemn Christian Zionism while advancing ahistorical and antisemitic assertions.[1] In fact, recent public critiques – such as those by Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Candace Owens – portray Christian support for Israel as either unbiblical or politically toxic. This essay demonstrates that the opposite is true: Christian Zionism is the natural outgrowth of the unbroken biblical covenants and the historical continuity between Judaism and Christianity.

  1. Biblical Foundations:

Some people stumble over the statement: “The Jews are God’s chosen people.” They wrongly assume the phrase means the Jews are God’s favorite people. But this is not so. For Moses said: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.”[2] And Paul explained: “For God shows no partiality.”[3] And Luke recorded: “So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’”[4] Then what does the statement mean? God gave us the answer when he called Abram (later called Abraham) to leave his homeland. He said:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[5]

So God chose the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a blessing to the world. God has spoken to the Jewish people, and the entire world, through the prophets and scriptures; and God sent the promised Messiah through the Jewish nation.

When God chose Abraham to be a blessing, he also gave him and his descendants a land where they would reside

When God chose Abraham to be a blessing, he also gave him and his descendants a land where they would reside, flourish, and shine God’s light on the world. After Abram arrived in Canaan, God promised to give “this land” to him and his offspring.[6] God repeated this promise to Abram (exalted father) when he changed his name to Abraham (father of a multitude), describing Canaan as “an everlasting possession.”[7] God further explained that he would fulfill his promise through descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac, and through descendants of Isaac’s son Jacob (called Israel).[8]

Zionism refers to Jewish self-determination in the ancestral homeland of Israel. It reflects the closing line of the Passover Haggadah, read during the Jewish Passover Seder – לשנה הבאה בירושלים (L’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim) – “Next year in Jerusalem.”

The word Zion is a biblical reference to the city of David – Jerusalem. It appears 159 times in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. For example, the prophet Samuel said: “Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.”[9] The psalmist recorded the following words of God: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”[10] The prophet Isaiah foretold: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”[11] And, we read in Revelation: “Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.”[12]

God defined the maximum extent of the borders of the land of Zion

God defined the maximum extent of the borders of the land of Zion: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.’”[13] The borders of Israel extended from the Euphrates River to the River of Egypt during the reign of King Solomon (c. 970-931 BC).

Peter referenced God’s eternal covenant with descendants of Israel, and Paul explained that Gentile Christians are co-heirs of the promise “along with Abraham, the man of faith.”[14] Paul further described his Jewish kinsmen: “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.[15]

Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem

Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem.

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”[16]

  1. Continuity and Distinction:

When Jesus began his ministry in AD 30, the vast majority (~95%) of Jews living in Judea and Galilee (~500,000 people) practiced common Judaism – i.e., adherence to Torah instruction regarding temple sacrifice, Sabbath observance, dietary restrictions, circumcision, and Jewish holidays.[17] Although Jesus acknowledged the existence of minority philosophical schools, such as Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, he did not belong to any of them. He was one of the common people.[18]

He was one of the common people

Throughout his life and ministry, Jesus and his followers practiced common Judaism. They studied the Torah in local synagogues, visited the temple, observed the Sabbath, followed dietary restrictions, practiced circumcision, and celebrated Jewish holidays.[19] Even after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, his followers continued to identify as Jews – heirs of God’s promise to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.[20] The New Covenant never revoked God’s earlier covenants with the Jewish people.

Yet, Jewish and Gentile Christians introduced new ideas regarding the Mosaic law. For example, in about AD 40, God revealed to Peter that God’s message of salvation was for Jew and Gentile alike.[21] Then, in about AD 50, Peter, Paul, James, and others agreed that God had revealed that Gentile converts need not follow Mosaic law, instructing them to “abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.”[22] As the number of Gentile followers of Jesus increased, these distinctions between Christians as a whole and non-Christian Jews became more pronounced.

Reflecting on these teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, the early Church Fathers observed a distinction between God’s moral law – the Ten Commandments, which were revealed through Moses at Mount Sinai and God’s “secondary legislation” revealed through Moses “as a yoke of bondage” after Israel created and worshipped the golden calf.[23] They cited Jesus’ own words.

And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”[24]

God intended marriage to be a permanent union, whereas Moses allowed divorce and remarriage as a concession because of Israel’s sinfulness. In a similar way, the early Church Fathers noted that Jesus did away with the Mosaic dietary restrictions.

And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”[25]

Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others argued that the New Covenant involved a return to God’s original law for mankind

Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others argued that the New Covenant involved a return to God’s original law for mankind “before the people made the calf and turned to idolatry.” They further explained that the “Law” of Jesus consists of the Ten Commandments.[26]

  1. Historical Schism between Christian Jews and Rabbinic Jews:

The significance of this schism among Jewish and Gentile Christians and those that practiced common Judaism grew as the number of Christians increased. For the number of Jewish converts to Christianity was far greater than traditionally recognized. For example, during the Apostolic age, virtually all followers of Jesus were Jewish, and as late as AD 250, some 20% of all Christians (about one million in number) were Jewish converts.[27] Over time, some Jewish leaders began to consider Jewish conversion to Christianity to be a threat. Consider, for example, Saul’s mission to arrest and punish Jewish converts to Christianity before his own conversion on the road to Damascus.[28]

Leaders of Rabbinic Judaism, which emerged from the philosophical school of the Pharasees after the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in AD 70, opposed the conversion of Jews to Christianity. For example, they developed a benediction called the Birkat haMinim, that pronounced a curse on Jews who professed faith in Jesus as the Messiah, leading to the exclusion of Jewish Christians from Rabbinic worship.[29] Still, widespread recognition of Christianity’s Jewish heritage delayed the complete separation between Judaism and Christianity until the fourth century.[30]

The history of the populations of these two branches of common Judaism is interesting

The history of the populations of these two branches of common Judaism is interesting. Between about AD 100 and AD 350, Jewish and Gentile conversions resulted in an increase of the number of Christians in Eurasia from about 8,000 to over 33 million (more than 50% of the total population), whereas, during the same period, natural population growth reduced by conversions to Christianity resulted in stasis in the number of Rabbinic Jews in Eurasia at about 5 million.[31] That is to say, the number of Christians grew by some 412,500%, while the number of Rabbinic Jews remained the same. Did this rapid growth in the number of Christians at the expense – to some degree – of the number of Rabbinic Jews contribute to the growing interfaith divide? Far from diminishing the Jewish people, the rapid spread of the Gospel fulfilled God’s promise that Abraham’s descendants would bless all the families of the earth.

Speaking about God’s future miraculous protection and expansion of the Church, Jesus declared: “You are Peter [in Greek “rock”], and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”[32]

  1. Continuous Jewish Presence and Modern Restoration:

Between AD 73 and AD 636, after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, between one and three million Jews continued to live in the land of Zion.[33] Muslim conquest of Zion in AD 636, followed by Arab, Crusader, Mameluke, and Ottoman rule and persecution reduced the Jewish population to minority status.[34] The Zionist movement in Central and Eastern Europe during the 1800s led to the return of Jews from the diaspora to Zion. Between 1882 and 1914, about 60,000 Jews immigrated to Israel.[35]

Between 1882 and 1914, about 60,000 Jews immigrated to Israel

After the World War I defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the League of Nations gave the United Kingdom temporary trusteeship over the Middle East, and Britain defined the borders of Israel and Palestine (a new term derived from the Roman geographic name “Palestina”). The League of Nations confirmed this British Mandate in 1922, and the new borders took effect on 29 Sep 1923. The British Mandate-defined territories of Israel and Palestine correspond to the modern borders of Israel and Jordan.[36]

Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948. Six Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq – immediately attacked Israel. Israel defeated the attacking Arab armies. Additional Arab attacks – the Six Day War (1967) and Yom Kippur War (1973) – as well as conflicts, including the First Intifada (1987-1993), Second Intifada (2000-2005), Lebanon War (2006), and Gaza Operations (2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2026) – interspersed with numerous peace efforts have resulted in Israeli borders that resemble the borders defined by the 1923 British Mandate.

numerous peace efforts have resulted in Israeli borders that resemble the borders defined by the 1923 British Mandate

Every country in the world has a history of contested borders and displaced people. Consider, for example, the United Kingdom, where contested borders between Scots and English as well as between Welsh and English led to numerous wars and untold deaths, and, beginning in AD 43, Romans displaced Britains, then Saxons displaced Romans, and finally Normans displaced Saxons. Yet the United Kingdom, with its current borders, is a stable and secure nation. The international community routinely recognizes established borders and governments based on effective control over territory, treaties, and historical title.[37] Christian Zionists apply these same rules of recognition to the State of Israel.

  1. Holy Land vs Kingdom of Heaven:

It is important to note that Jesus recognized God’s eternal covenantal relationship with the Jewish people. Jesus explained that he came to fulfill the Hebrew Scriptures, assuring his followers that “not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”[38] God never intended for the followers of Jesus to replace the Jewish people in his divine plan of salvation. At the same time, Jesus pointed all people to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, “Lord, open to us,” then he will answer you, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” But he will say, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!” In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”[39]

And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last

  1. Conclusion:

Assertions that Christian Zionism is either unbiblical or politically toxic are ahistorical and antisemetic. They directly conflict with the teachings of Jesus. Christians should remember and embrace the common heritage and shared beliefs among Christians and Jews. We worship the same God, suffer persecution at the hands of the same enemies, and aspire to reach the same eternal home. We should work together to promote peace and security on earth, always heeding the admonition: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”[40]

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May they be secure who love you![41]

______________________

[1] Tucker Carlson, “Tucker Confronts Mike Huckabee on America’s Toxic Relationship with Israel,” 20 Feb 2026, https://youtu.be/XS7itdfgNnU?si=Re7XUWcLh7qMO1ac. See also Nick Fuentes, “Nick Fuentes Reacts to Ted Cruz Debating Dispensationalism with Tucker Carlson,” 2 Nov 2025, https://youtu.be/qiPa9tdtftk?si=EWnsseSQyLU38NSV. See also Candace Owens, “Origins of ‘Christian Zionism,’” 1 Aug 2024, https://youtu.be/e5H8623j4v4?si=fHSTydlDSJsccCVO.

[2] Deuteronomy 10:17. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2010&version=ESV.

[3] Romans 2:11. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%202&version=ESV.

[4] Acts 10:34-35. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2010&version=ESV.

[5] Genesis 12:1-3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%2012&version=ESV.

[6] Genesis 12:6-7. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%2012&version=ESV.

[7] Genesis 17:8. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%2017&version=ESV.

[8] Genesis 26:3-5. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%2026&version=ESV. See also Genesis 28:14. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%2028&version=ESV.

[9] 2 Samuel 2:5. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%205&version=ESV.

[10] Psalm 2:6. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%202&version=ESV.

[11] Isaiah 2:3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%202&version=ESV.

[12] Revelation 14:1. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev%2014&version=ESV.

[13] Genesis 15:18-21. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen%2015&version=ESV.

[14] Acts 3:25. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%203&version=ESV. See also Galatians 3:7-9. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gal%203&version=ESV.

[15] Romans 9:4-5. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rom%209&version=ESV.

[16] Luke 19:41-44. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2019&version=ESV.

[17] Catholic Biblical Association (of America) Fact Sheet on Jewish Sectarianism, https://assets.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/cba/PDFs/Resources/CBA_Fact_Sheet_on_Jewish_Sectarianism-6ba5dfeb.pdf. See also E. P. Sanders, Judaism Practice and Belief 63 BCE-66CE (Philadelphia, PA: Trinity Press International, 1992). https://laboratorio1historiadaarte.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/p-47-118-e-_p-_sanders_judaism_practice_and_belief_63_bbook4you.pdf.

[18] Catholic Biblical Association (of America) Fact Sheet on Jewish Sectarianism, https://assets.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/cba/PDFs/Resources/CBA_Fact_Sheet_on_Jewish_Sectarianism-6ba5dfeb.pdf.

[19] Synagogue: Acts 9:1-2. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%209&version=ESV.

Temple: Acts 3:1. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%203&version=ESV.

Sabbath: Luke 23:56. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2023&version=ESV.

Diet: Acts 10:14. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2010&version=ESV.

Circumcision: Acts 11:2-3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2011&version=ESV.

Jewish Holidays: Acts 2:1. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202&version=ESV.

[20] Acts 3:25. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%203&version=ESV.

[21] Acts 11:18. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2011&version=ESV.

[22] Acts 15:20. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2015&version=ESV.

[23] Michael Patrick Barber, “The Yoke of Servitude Christian Non-Observance of the Law’s Cultic Precepts in Patristic Sources,” in Letter & Spirit Vol 7: The Bible and the Church Fathers: The Liturgical Context of the Patristic Exegesis, 67-90. https://8406c24de5442685c57b-57fa5852527c9e8686bcd34c9fdc4763.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/files/letter-and-spirit/LS7_The_Yoke_of_Servitude.pdf.

[24] Mark 10:2-9. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2010&version=ESV.

[25] Mark 7:17-23. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%207&version=ESV.

[26] Michael Patrick Barber, “The Yoke of Servitude Christian Non-Observance of the Law’s Cultic Precepts in Patristic Sources,” in Letter & Spirit Vol 7: The Bible and the Church Fathers: The Liturgical Context of the Patristic Exegesis, 67-90. https://8406c24de5442685c57b-57fa5852527c9e8686bcd34c9fdc4763.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/files/letter-and-spirit/LS7_The_Yoke_of_Servitude.pdf.

[27] Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), 69. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08783D3C1.

[28] Acts 9:1-9. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%209&version=ESV.

[29] Ruth Langer, “Cursing the Christians? History of the Birkat HaMinim,” in The Bible and Interpretation, https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/lan368024.

[30] Catholic Biblical Association (of America) Fact Sheet on Jewish Sectarianism, https://assets.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/cba/PDFs/Resources/CBA_Fact_Sheet_on_Jewish_Sectarianism-6ba5dfeb.pdf.

[31] Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), 69. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08783D3C1.

[32] Matthew 16:18. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2016&version=ESV.

[33] Government of Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, https://www.gov.il/en/pages/jews-in-the-land-of-israel.

[34] Government of Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, https://www.gov.il/en/pages/jews-in-the-land-of-israel-636-1880.

[35] Government of Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, https://www.gov.il/en/pages/jews-in-the-land-of-israel-1880-1914.

[36] Government of Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, https://www.gov.il/en/pages/the-british-mandate.

[37] Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, 26 Dec 1933, https://loveman.sdsu.edu/docs/1933MontevideoConvention.pdf.

[38] Jesus explained that he came to fulfill the Hebrew Scriptures. See Matthew 5:17-19. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%205&version=ESV.

[39] Luke 13:24-30. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2013&version=ESV.

[40] Isaiah 40:3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2040&version=ESV.

[41] Psalm 122:6. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%20122&version=ESV.