You say only a hint of it was in the early church but Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian among others wrote about the existence of a Jewish nation at the end of time. The belief more or less disappeared because of Origen who gained massive popularity and taught that the Bible should be interpreted allegorically. He taught that the spiritual meaning of the Bible was more important than what the actual words on the page said. He borrowed that from Greek scholars who interpreted the Greek myths in the same way. Origen later developed beliefs that were considered unorthodox and he was named a heretic. But his interpretation technique held sway for a long time.
This of course doesn't mean that a Christian should be a Zionist. Christians should judge all peoples by the standard of holiness in the Bible. They should seek the peace of their own nation and should influence their nation to make peace with all others if at all humanly possible. With that simple rule, no Christian would support the actions of Israel.
Thank you for this. I really only recently came across the idea that there was some movement toward this shortly after the Reformation. I am still learning and unpacking this.
And we are fully aligned: Christian Zionism is the fruit of theological error.
You say only a hint of it was in the early church but Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian among others wrote about the existence of a Jewish nation at the end of time. The belief more or less disappeared because of Origen who gained massive popularity and taught that the Bible should be interpreted allegorically. He taught that the spiritual meaning of the Bible was more important than what the actual words on the page said. He borrowed that from Greek scholars who interpreted the Greek myths in the same way. Origen later developed beliefs that were considered unorthodox and he was named a heretic. But his interpretation technique held sway for a long time.
This of course doesn't mean that a Christian should be a Zionist. Christians should judge all peoples by the standard of holiness in the Bible. They should seek the peace of their own nation and should influence their nation to make peace with all others if at all humanly possible. With that simple rule, no Christian would support the actions of Israel.
https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/
Thank you for this. I really only recently came across the idea that there was some movement toward this shortly after the Reformation. I am still learning and unpacking this.
And we are fully aligned: Christian Zionism is the fruit of theological error.