The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948

You looking to find the "The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948" Good news! You can purchase The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948 with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

   

Product Description

For this book Professor Merkley has researched presidential archives, Jewish historical libraries and official Zionist records in the US and in Israel for evidence of the dealings between official Zionists and active Christian Restorationists. Much of this record appears here for the first time in print and is linked to the much better known history of the relationship between the official Zionists and the politicians and leaders of the US and Britain.

The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948 Review

This compelling work provides valuable insight on the history of Zionism, religion in America and American foreign policy. The book consists of 4 parts:

HERE I AM which examines the Herzl/Hechler paradigm. Merkley starts with the historic meeting between Theodor Herzl and William Hechler that took place on 10 March 1896. This marked the beginning of co-operation between Herzlian & Christian Zionism, when Hechler sought out Herzl just a few days after the publication of The Jewish State. The British evangelical pamphleteer Hechler enabled Herzl to meet with powerful European leaders. This ultimately led to the Balfour Declaration, The British Mandate and the birth of the Jewish state in 1948.

The book is more than just dry history, as Merkley explores the personalities of the two protagonists and draws parallels with the political situation today as regards support for Israel and relations between Christian Zionists, Israelis and American Jews. For a most humorous take on the current situation, I highly recommend A Match Made in Heaven by Zev Chafets. The sophisticated Viennese journalist Herzl was completely secular whilst his helper was a pious Christian. Although non-religious, Herzl was superstitious and noticed a series of strange coincidences as he pursued his quest. And before his death, he related to Reuben Brainin a wonderful numinous dream that he had about Messiah and Moses when he was a boy of 12 years old.

THE CYRUS CONNECTION encompasses the roots of PhiloSemitism in Britain, its failure in Germany, and its success in the UK and the USA via William Blackstone, Louis Brandeis, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. This part deals extensively with the Puritans and the way Puritanism later gave rise to Dispensationalist theology and Restorationism. In 1891 William Blackstone wrote a petition to President Benjamin Harrison and Secretary of State James Blaine requesting them to call an international conference to consider the claims of the "Israelites" for a national homeland in the Levant. This petition was signed by 413 prominent people including the speaker of the House of Representatives, the chief justice of the Supreme Court plus influential journalists, writers, clergymen and industrialists.

RALLYING THE ZIONISTS deals with the efforts of Christian Zionists to influence public opinion. This work proceeded through the Wilson, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover administrations and into that of Roosevelt. The role of people like Emanuel Neuman, Stephen Wise, Charles Edward Russell, A Ben Elias, William Hard and William R Hopkins, and the activities of organizations like the Zionist Association of America, Pro-Palestine Federation of America and America Palestine Committee are examined here. There is also some interesting information on the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in chapter 12: the American Zionist Emergency Council and the Christian Zionists.

Part Four: I AM CYRUS chronicles the close relations between Jewish and Christian Zionists that contributed to the creation of the State of Israel by covering the issue of Palestine during the war, the final years of the Roosevelt administration, President Truman and his friendship with Eddie Jacobson who played such a crucial role in Truman's recognition of Israel on 14 May 1948. Merkley points out that this action was well within the tradition of Christian Restorationism. The book concludes with notes, a bibliography and index.

In this informative and highly readable work, Merkley reveals how the Christian Zionism of today goes back more than a hundred years with even older roots in the Puritans in England in the 1600s. The same holds for differences of opinion within the movement as well as its relations with the Jewish community. For example, Hechler did not believe in proselytizing whilst Blackstone did. And just like then, the Jewish response today is mixed, with Abe Foxman of the ADL as example of those who distrust the motives of Christian Zionists.

More contemporary information on the politics of Christian Zionism is available in Standing With Israel by David Brog and Merkley's Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel whilst In Defense of Israel by John Hagee is a clear manifesto of the movement's support for the Jewish state. Informative books on the theology of Christian Zionism include The Mountains of Israel by Norma Archbold Parrish, Ruth & Esther by Frank Morgan and Why Care about Israel? by Sandra Teplinsky.

Most of the consumer Reviews tell that the "The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948 ...