CHRISTIAN ZIONISM: THE MAKING OF A FRAUD -- LEADING TO THE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL REICH

By Donald Wagner

...An early version of Christian eschatology, called "historic premillennialism," held that Jesus would return and establish his millennial kingdom after the world had been evangelized. However, by the 18th century another model of eschatology emerged in England that emphasized the role of a reconstituted Israel in the end times. This eschatology was rooted in three streams of British Christianity: the piety of English Puritanism; the view that Britain was the "new Israel," a theme that dates back at least to the seventh century and the Venerable Bede; and a hermeneutic that interpreted biblical prophetic texts as having a literal, future fulfillment. Among the forerunners of this movement was Sir Henry Finch, a prominent lawyer and member of Parliament. In 1621, Finch wrote a treatise in which he called upon the British people and its government to support Jewish settlement in Palestine in order to fulfill biblical prophecy.

As the year 1800 approached, several premillennial theologies emerged as a result of the insecurity surrounding the American and French revolutions. Among them were various utopian movements and the Millerites (a group that later became Seventh-day Adventists). During this period John Nelson Darby (1800-82), a renegade Anglican priest from Ireland, popularized and systematized eschatological themes while simultaneously developing a new school of thought which has been called "futurist premillennialism."

During 60 years of unceasing travel and preaching across the European continent and North America, Darby converted a generation of evangelical clergy and laity to his views. Darby held that biblical prophecies and much of scripture must be interpreted according to a literal and predictive hermeneutic. He believed that the true church will be removed from history through an event called the "rapture" (I Thess. 4:16-17; 5:1-11), and the nation Israel will be restored as God's primary instrument in history.

According to Darby, Christians must interpret history in light of seven epochs or "dispensations," each of which reflects a particular manner in which God deals with humanity. For example, we currently live under the dispensation of "Grace," whereby people are judged according to their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This hermeneutical method is called dispensationalism.

Through Darby's influence, premillennial dispensationalism became a dominant method of biblical interpretation and influenced a generation of evangelical leaders, including Dwight L. Moody. Perhaps the most influential instrument of dispensational thinking was the Scofield Bible (1909) which included a commentary that interpreted prophetic texts according to a premillennial hermeneutic. Another early Darby disciple, William E. Blackstone, brought dispensationalism to millions of Americans through his best seller Jesus Is Coming (1882). Blackstone organized the first Zionist lobbying effort in the U.S. in 1891 when he enlisted J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Charles B. Scribner and other financiers to underwrite a massive newspaper campaign requesting President Benjamin Harrison to support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.

Similar efforts were under way in England, led by the social reformer Lord Shaftesbury, who, like Blackstone, was so taken with Darby's eschatology that he translated it into a political agenda. These seeds of the Christian Zionist movement preceded Jewish Zionism by several years. Loni Shaftesbury is also credited with coining an early version of the slogan adopted by Jewish Zionist fathers Max Nordau and Theodor Herzl: "A land of no people for a people with no land." Both Lord Arthur Balfour, author of the famous 1917 Balfour Declaration, and Prime Minister David Lloyd George, the two most powerful men in British foreign policy at the close of World War I, were raised in dispensationalist churches and were publicly committed to the Zionist agenda for "biblical" and colonialist reasons.

The establishment of Israel in 1948 gave dispensationalism new momentum. The restoration of a Jewish nation was taken as a sign that the clock of biblical prophecy was ticking and we were rapidly approaching the final events leading to the return of Jesus. During the cold war, dispensationalists readily interpreted the Soviet Union and its allies as the Antichrist. Passages such as Ezekiel 38-39 were read as predictions of an impending Soviet attack on Israel. A ten-member confederation--often interpreted as the European Union--was expected to join the Soviet Union in this attack.

When Israel captured Jerusalem in the 1967 war; dispensationalists were certain that the end was near. L. Nelson Bell, Billy Graham's father-in-law and editor of Christianity Today, wrote in July 1967: "That for the first time in more than 2,000 years Jerusalem is now completely in the hands of the Jews gives the student of the Bible a thrill and a renewed faith in the accuracy and validity of the Bible."

By the early 1970s numerous books, films and television specials publicized the premillennial dispensationalist perspective. Hal Lindsay made a virtual industry out of his book The Late Great Planet Earth: it sold more than 25 million copies and led to two films, as well as a consulting business with a clientele that has included several members of Congress, the Pentagon, and Ronald Reagan.

In the mid 1970s at least five trends converged that accelerated the rise of Christian Zionism. First, evangelical and charismatic movements became the fastest-growing branch of North American Christianity. Mainline Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church were declining both in budgets and attendance....(more)

see also: Christians and Zion: British stirrings

PHOTOS:
1. John Hagee
2. William Blackstone
3. Dwight L. Moody
4. Billy Sunday
5. Paul Crouch
6. Rod Parsley / Perry Stone
6. Pat Robertson / Jerry Falwell
7. Chuck Swindoll

CHRISTIAN ZIONISM BASED ON THEOLOGICAL FRAUD PRODUCED CONCURENTLY WITH JEWISH ZIONISM

This powerful Christian tradition emerged in England in the early 1800s, when two theological themes began to merge: Jewish restorationism (the concept that the Jews must return to Palestine in order to fulfill the prophetic scriptures), and the literal and futuristic interpretation of the apocalyptic texts. Conservative Christian support for a Jewish state was clearly articulated in 1839 when the great evangelical social reformer Lord Shaftesbury published an article in the London Sunday Times calling for the English Parliament to support the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

Shaftesbury's rationale was based on the premillennialism of Rev. John Nelson Darby—a renegade Irishman who eventually led a movement called the Plymouth Brethren—but it took on a distinctively political agenda.

Shaftesbury drew a relationship between three themes: 1) The idea that Jews must be restored to Palestine in order to fulfill the prophetic scriptures at the end of time; 2) the need for England to support a Jewish state in Palestine to fulfill that goal and to work toward the evangelization of Jews to Christianity; and 3) the belief that God would bless Britain if it supported the creation of a Jewish nation in Palestine, a matter that had colonial implications in England's competition with other European powers.

Darby is credited with bringing premillennial dispensationalism to the United States. His seven missionary journeys to North America influenced major American preachers and evangelists to adopt these "latter day" doctrines. Among them was Christian author William E. Blackstone, who in 1891 enlisted more than 400 leading politicians in a petition to President Benjamin Harrison, seeking his support for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. President Harrison ignored Blackstone's petition, but it reveals nascent support of Zionism within Christian and political circles in the United States some eight years before Jewish Zionism marked its official political beginning.


When Austrian journalist Theodor Herzl gathered Jewish leaders in Basle, Switzerland, in August 1897—the meeting that launched the political platform of Jewish Zionism—Blackstone urged Herzl to adopt Palestine as the location for the state, which he argued would eventually find significant political support from "Christian nations" of the West.

PHOTOS:
1. John Nelson Darby
2. Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
3. Cyrus Ingerson Scofield
4. Hal Lindsey

"BIRTH PANGS OF A NEW MIDDLE EAST" -- THIS IS WHAT RICE CALLS IT -- LAST YEAR IN IRAQ SHE CALLED IT CREATIVE CHAOS

Nasrallah appeared to mock Rice, who just concluded the first American diplomatic foray in the region since the fighting began July 12. She repeatedly said there was no place in "a new Middle East" for Hezbollah or other Islamist groups bent on Israel's destruction.

Nasrallah claimed Israel's military offensive was linked to a U.S.-Israeli plan for "a new Middle East." He claimed Israel had been planning to attack his forces in southern Lebanon by October but lost the element of surprise and was forced to move early after his forces crossed the border into Israel and captured two soldiers on July 12. Eight Israeli soldiers died in the attack.

"In an American and Zionist assessment, there are obstacles to a new Middle East. In the new Middle East, the Palestinian cause should be liquidated," Nasrallah said.

"In the new Middle East, there is no place for any resistance movement. The resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon must be eliminated," Nasrallah added, referring to Hamas, fellow Islamic militants fighting in the
Gaza Strip.

"The new Middle East means a region controlled by the U.S. administration which unilaterally runs (the region's) affairs and resources with Israel being its prime partner."

He said Israel could not win a ground war against Hezbollah.

"The goal of the incursion to prevent the rocketing of the settlements will not be achieved," he said. "The rocketing will continue no matter what the incursion is. We are ready for a ground confrontation. We will have the upper hand in a ground confrontation. We will recover any land occupied by the enemy," Nasrallah vowed.

Hezbollah vows rockets deeper into Israel

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah speaks on Hezbollah's al-Manar television Wednesday, July 26, 2006 in this image taken from TV. Nasrallah said Wednesday that Israel's two-week-long military offensive against Lebanon was linked to a U.S.-Israeli plan for 'a new Middle East,' a term used repeatedly by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her just concluded visit to the region. The Shiite cleric also vowed that his fighters would now begin firing rockets deeper into Israel, beyond the northern port city of Haifa which has suffered under hundreds of Hezbollah barrages. Writing on the blue background reads: 'Sheikh Nasrallah: All those who came with American dictates presented no compromises or solutions for the crises.' (AP Photo/al-Manar Television)

Schumer and Clinton Pressed To Reappoint Bolton

One Jewish leader may have an idea why. The president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, said yesterday that "important friends" of Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Clinton have confided to him that the senators are "seriously reconsidering" their position on Mr. Bolton.

Jewish leaders who support Mr. Bolton said they hope the war in the Middle East will take precedent over a stalemate between Democrats and the White House on the release of classified documents that led to a filibuster last year.

"Given the fact that we face a world today where every decision every day seems to count, we cannot allow any disruption in who plays the lead role in representing the United States," the chairman of the American Jewish Congress, Jack Rosen, said. "This is not a time for a void.It is not a time to take away someone who's represented us well at the United Nations, putting aside for the moment any squabbles or disagreements with the administration."

Mr. Rosen said he has written letters to members of the Foreign Relations Committee urging their support, and that he hopes the lack of a statement from Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Clinton is an indication that they are changing their position. "I think they would understand that the Jewish community is supporting Bolton and that when you represent a large Jewish community in New York, politics matters," he said.

LET'S HEAR IT FROM THE AIPAC DEMOCRATS

THIS FROM THE BLOG: Stop Me Before I Vote Again Dedicated to the deconstruction of the Democratic Party.

So the Democrats are trying to outflank the Bushies by attacking their pet Iraqi, prime minister Maliki, who has apparently been so tactless as to suggest that maybe the Israelis shouldn't be bombing Lebanon into the Stone Age.

Twenty-odd Congressional Democrats, led by the sometime Israeli auxiliary soldier Rep. Rahm Emanuel, have written a frothing letter to Denny Hastert. Some excerpts:

In the wake of comments made by Mr. Maliki and other members of the Iraqi leadership denouncing Israel, it is clear that their foreign policy goals are at odds with those of the United States. The Speaker's podium reflects our nation's values. We the Members of the House, under your leadership, decide who receives that honor, and the list should not include anyone whose interests conflict with the United States.

Note the taken-for-granted identification of Israel's megalomaniac ambitions with American interests.

It's hard to find words to describe the comical craziness of all this. I guess the 2006 election is going to be all about who's a bigger toady to Israel.

Oh, among the other signatories to Rahm's oath of supremacy: Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Il.), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Michael McNulty (D-NY), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), William Delahunt (D-Mass.), C.B. Maloney (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-Mass.), John Olver (D-Mass.), Sander Levin (D-Mich.), George Miller (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Artur Davis (D-Ala.). Barney Frank, that pwog hero, is a particularly juicy item on the platter.

Apes wearing clothes! It's a madhouse! A madhouse!

Mapping of Israeli assault: July 12-24

FOREIGN POLICY WITH A BUTTERED ROLL: "See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbullah to stop doing this shit and it's over"

The real irony in the global political defecation business that Bush should ponder is that American planes, bombs and tanks were directly (in Iraq) or indirectly (through Israel in Lebanon) responsible for bringing Iraq and Lebanon to their current state of turmoil, destruction and pain.

The real irony in Bush's statement is that he wants others to pressure Syria to pressure Hizbullah to change its policies - at a moment when the central pillar of Washington's Middle East policies appears to be a refusal to speak to some of the most important political groups in the region. The US has no relations or known contacts with Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah, and is not on speaking terms with Syria, which it has mildly sanctioned.

Another irony is that Bush fails to grasp that Hizbullah's rise to prominence in the past quarter century in many ways represents a reaction to the three principal causes of mass dissatisfaction, anger, fear and humiliation among Arab populations: ineffective and autocratic Arab governments, an aggressive and predatory Israel, and a US that supports both of these tormentors of ordinary Arabs. If these underlying problems are not addressed and resolved, groups like Hizbullah will continue to emerge organically from the Middle Eastern soil, regardless of what happens to Hizbullah in the coming weeks.

USA BLOWING UP LEBANON

CAIR Calls Rushed U.S. Bomb Deliveries to Israel 'Unconscionable'
Saturday July 22, 12:13 pm ET
Muslim group urges disengaging policy from 'dictates' of pro-Israel lobby

WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called the Bush administration's decision to rush delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel "unconscionable."

The New York Times reported today that Israel requested the expedited shipment of satellite and laser-guided bombs last week after beginning its massive bombing campaign against Lebanon's civilian infrastructure.

SEE: U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis (NY Times)

Pentagon OKs Possible $210 Million Jet Fuel Sale To Israel

Rebecca Christie
Dow Jones Newswires
07/15/2006

The Pentagon on Friday said it has approved a possible $210 million sale to Israel of JP-8 jet fuel.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the deal. Congress has the ability to block foreign military transactions but rarely steps in.

The Pentagon said it had not yet identified a contractor for the fuel. A competitive process is expected.

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East," the defense agency said.

"The jet fuel will be consumed while the aircraft is in use to keep peace and security in the region," the agency said.

ISRAELI LIVES ARE MORE VALUABLE

"I think it would be a mistake to ascribe moral equivalence to civilians who die as the direct result of malicious terrorist acts," he added, while defending as "self-defense" Israel's military action, which has had "the tragic and unfortunate consequence of civilian deaths".

The eight dead Canadians were a Lebanese-Canadian couple, their four children, his mother and an uncle, said relatives in Montreal.

THE SINS OF THE FATHERS

Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006.

BOYCOTT WAR CRIMES -- Boycott Israeli Products code number 729 is made in Israel

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If you believe Israel is committing crimes against Palestinians, an

occupier of Palestinian land, defying international laws, and defying

United Nation resolutions, I seek your support and urge to pass the

following piece of information to your family, friends,colleagues and

relatives, and urge them to boycott Israeli products.

Israeli product carry the unique code starting with # 729

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YOU'RE AN IDIOT, GEORGE AND YOU ARE DRUNK. SIT DOWN OVER HERE!!

"I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same thing," Bush said.

Putin replied: "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I can tell you quite honestly."

WHEN NEWS LIES -- Media Complicity and The Iraq War

THE FILM THAT TAKES YOU INSIDE THE IRAQ MEDIA WAR YOU NEVER SAW

WHEN NEWS LIES includes the feature -length DVD of the prize-winning film WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception). The book will also include the complete script as well as a discussion of the challenges of exposing media with media with a documentary. It chronicles the media war fought alongside the military campaign and the struggle to stand up for truth.

A new book from Danny Schechter offers an up to date indictment of the role media played in promoting and misreporting the war on Iraq. It is an analysis of how and why the media got it wrong that pinpoints the failures of journalism and the collusion of media companies with the Bush Administration.

I HOPE AL GORE IS TAKING LESSONS: MEXICO'S ELECTION FRAUD IS COMING UNDONE

But the more earthshaking declaration out of the White House yesterday was the verbal smackdown of Calderón – “Last time I checked, Calderon did not have any official authority” – and the declaration that “the President will acknowledge” the results of a recount.

The bigger problem for George W. Bush than that of who is president of Mexico is that of who is president of the United States. The exploding story of massive electoral fraud in Mexico next-door is having an unintended consequence: It is awakening historic memory of the electoral frauds carried out to make Bush president up North.

If Mexican authorities continue to stonewall and impose Calderón as president, they will provoke 300 Comalcalcos at each of IFE’s regional headquarters and its national seat, converting those offices, as occurred last night in Tabasco, into white collar prisons, from which the electoral delinquents will not escape.

AMLO WINS MEXICAN ELECTION BY ONE MILLION VOTES. NEO-LIBERAL CABAL STEALS ELECTION. 400,000 PROTESTORS IN THE ZOCALO

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's lawyers plan to present what they say is evidence of fraud to the nation's highest electoral court Sunday, a day after the candidate urged his supporters not to lose hope at a massive gathering in Mexico City's historic center.

The legal appeals won't seek to annul the July 2 election. Instead, Lopez Obrador wants to force authorities to conduct a vote-by-vote manual recount, claiming computer manipulation of the result.

Guanajuato as Florida

The north-central Mexican state of Guanajuato – home turf of President Vicente Fox and an importantísimo electoral base for his and Calderón’s PAN party – is where official results from the state’s 6,122 precincts (less than five percent of the national vote) gave Calderón a margin of more than 700,000 votes. That is to say, even according the highly suspicious official results, López Obrador won the rest of the country by almost half a million votes. This was a state where electoral fraud was carried out – and continues to be covered up – on a systematic basis.

FOR THOSE WHO DIDNT KNOW WHO ZARQAWI WAS WORKING FOR ---

Zarqawi Cell Phone Could Implicate Unscrupulous Iraqi Officials

July 3, 2006 11:45 a.m. EST

Nji Che - All Headline News Staff Writer

Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - A senior Iraqi official on Monday announced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had the phone numbers of senior Iraqi officials stored in his cell phone. The report suggests the slain terror leader had connections with some of Iraq's senior government officials.

CAN YOU SAY EL SALVADOR SOLUTION


UPDATE:

Waiel Abdul-Latif, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, said Monday that authorities found the numbers after al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7.

UPDATE:

Waiel Abdul-Latif, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, said Monday that authorities found the numbers after al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7.