Christian Zionism in Africa

(Hardback)

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Christian Zionisma movement based on the belief that support of Israel, and Israeli ownership of and residence in Jerusalem, is a prerequisite for Christs returnhas been a significant substratum within theologies and ecclesiologies of many churches in the US and Europe for centuries. Since the 1970s, US-based Christian Zionism organizations, encouraged by and collaborating with the Israeli government, have used a significant amount of resources to spread the movement into other regions of the world, including Africa. In many African countries, Christian Zionism combines perniciously with Prosperity Gospel preaching, interpreting Genesis 12:3 as a divine map to gain blessingsmaterial and otherwisethrough complete and uncritical support for the modern-day State of Israel. Many African governments have come to understand that this support is lucrative--and coercive. African officials working with Israel learn that openly supporting Palestine will result in their partnerships with Israel being discontinued.

Contributors to this interdisciplinary volume analyze the meaning and ramifications of the emergence of Christian Zionist ideologies in Africa and its churches, in interfaith work, in politics, in law, and in the use and abuse of power between peoples of different races, histories, economic strength, and influence on the international stage.

Reviews

It has, for some decades, been something of a truism that the centre of gravity in global Christianity was shifting towards Africa. This collection is therefore as timely as it is important. The legacy of missionary piety, compounded by romanticized identification of themselves with ancient Israel by African Christian movements, both settler and indigenous, and tensions with Muslim neighbors in many parts of the continent, have left African Christianity and the political movements which represent them prey to manipulation and exploitation by Israeli political, economic, and military interests. Similar developments are attested in Asia and Latin America, and it is past time that Christians recognize that Christian Zionism has become a front for the militaristic capitalism which nourishes fascism in Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, and many countries in the global South. Cynthia Holder Rich is to be commended for bringing this material to the attention of North American and other readers, and it is to be hoped that the response will be appropriate, vigorous, and sustained. Comparisons between Israel-Palestine and apartheid South Africa are more than apt, and a global Christian commitment to overcoming evil with justice is urgently needed.

-- Rev. Dr. Nicholas Taylor, Rector, St Aidan's Scottish Episcopal Church; Chairperson, Scottish Palestinian Forum

Author Bio

Cynthia Holder Rich serves on the Faculty of Theology at Tumaini University Makumira near Arusha, Tanzania.