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On The Road To Armageddon: How Evangelicals
Became Israel's Best Friend
By Jeremy
Reynalds
(bio)
Other Articles by Jeremy Reynalds
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I am an ardent fan of the wildly
successful "Left Behind" books. I have read every single one,
listened to all of the dramatized audio tapes of the series and
read a number of the kids "Left Behind" books as well.
I believe the "Left Behind" books are Biblical and I have found
that over the years they have encouraged me to a deeper walk
with the Lord as well as helping keep me excited about His
second coming.
But unless you are reading them purely for entertainment value,
I think it's important to realize that the books rest squarely
on a complex (and considered by some to be controversial)
theological framework. And even if you are reading the books for
entertainment only, when the "Left Behind" authors appear on a
recent front cover of "Newsweek", it's evident that they and
their work become a cultural phenomenon about which we need to
know something more.
In his recent book "On the Road to Armageddon," author Timothy
Weber has taken a penetrating, insightful but easy to read look
at dispensational theology, the method of understanding the
Bible used by the "Left Behind" authors.
In case you're wondering what dispensational theology is, it has
been defined like this (http://answers.org/theology/dispensationalism.html).
"(It) is a system of prophetic theology. In short
dispensationalists are those who believe in the pre-tribulational
rapture of the church. Dispensationalists emphasis the teaching
of prophecy and the imminent, at any moment, return of Christ.
Many ministries who hold dispensational beliefs also emphasize
the ‘soon' return of Christ. The generation that has seen the
restoration of the nation Israel to the land is the last
generation before the return of Christ. These added beliefs,
however, are not a part of dispensational teaching. It can be
argued that (they) contradict dispensational theology, and many
dispensational scholars reject these teachings as unsound."
(Dr. Ken Blue has provided an excellent in depth definition of
dispensational theology at www.biblebelievers.com/BlueDISP.html).
In an e-mail interview, Weber, an evangelical, told me that
according to his research, only about one-third of America's 40
or 50 million evangelicals are dispensationalists, so being an
evangelical doesn't automatically equate with being a
dispensationalist. "In my case, " Weber said, "being an
evangelical helped me take dispensationalism and the people who
believe it very seriously; but I tried to base my story on hard
evidence, which is what all historians--even evangelical
ones--try to do."
Weber said that the inherent power in dispensationalism is in
its ability to connect current events with ancient prophecies.
The most effective teachers, Weber said, have always been able
to convince their listeners that they are hearing history in
advance of it occurring.
However, there is a downside to that, Weber said. "As my book
shows, the prophecy teachers have had many misstep missteps
along the way and have had to change their minds--or the
subject--many times after history has taken an unexpected turn.
But they have also built up a loyal clientele that is willing to
let them make adjustments when necessary."
Weber called the phenomenally successful "Left Behind" series
"the latest and most successful attempt to share the
dispensationalist end-times scenario with a broad audience."
The "Left Behind" stories are well written, Weber said. They
"reflect much of our current political and military situation,
and just plain seem to make sense, given the post-9/11 world
that we live in. According to historian Paul Boyer, when times
turn tragic and people fear for the future, even secular types
are willing to listen to experts who claim that the Bible
explains the current situation and how things are going to turn
out. ‘Left Behind' does that very well."
I asked Weber how he thought that "Left Behind" authors Jerry
Jenkins and Tim La Haye would react to his book.
He said, "I hope they would say that I described their beliefs
and the phenomena surrounding their books fairly and clearly. I
think they would say that they have done their best to follow
the teachings of the Bible about the end of the world and that
the support that Bible believers like them give to Israel is
simply a reflection of those beliefs."
Weber added, "I think they would say that because they are just
following the Bible, they bear no responsibility for how the
story ends because it's all in God's hands. In other words, I
think they would prove the point of the book, which is to show
how people who follow certain views of Bible prophecy have acted
in certain ways since the 70's and 80's."
Weber said that while there is some proof to the charge made by
some that the sort of theology presented in "Left Behind" is a
so-called "escape hatch" theology that discourages believers
from effectively impacting issues in today's world, there is
really more to the issue than that.
"Some dispensationalists have embraced a limited kind of
activism and have even engaged in fierce social and political
campaigns to ‘give the Devil as much trouble as we can until
Jesus comes,'" Weber said. "It is significant that the current
surge in dispensationalism began at about the same time as the
rise of the New Christian Right. Many of the same people are
engaged in both and are deeply committed to addressing
contemporary problems."
I asked Weber to comment on the plight of Palestinian
Christians, many of who feel abandoned by American Christians.
According to Weber there are about 6,000 Messianic Jews in
Israel today . However, there are also, he said, "145,000
Palestinian Christians, who never seem to show up on
dispensationalism's radar screen."
The assumption of most American evangelicals, Miller said, that
all Palestinians are Muslims who are against both Jews and
Christians is just not true.
"Dispensationalists believe that God gave the Land of Promise to
the descendants of Abraham through Isaac, not Ishmael, Weber
said. "Since dispensationalists believe that all Arabs are the
descendants of Ishmael, they have no rights to the land, even
though their families may have lived there for centuries. Though
some dispensationalists might sympathize with their plight, they
view it as part of God's plan for the ages, so the Palestinians
are simply out of luck."
That attitude, Weber said, frustrates most Palestinian
Christians.
"They are puzzled," Weber said, "by the fact that evangelical
tour groups ignore the native Christian community, even when
their buses visit territory on the West Bank that has been
historically Palestinian Christian, like Bethlehem, Nablus, and
Ramallah. Why, they wonder, do American Christians care more
about what Israeli generals or politicians say than they do
their fellow Christian brothers and sisters? As a result of the
decades of tension and bloodshed, the indigenous Christian
community in the Middle East is shrinking. There are now more
Palestinian Christians from Ramallah living in the Detroit,
Toledo, and Jacksonville, Fla., area than are living in Ramallah."
Weber emphasized that while he is "deeply committed" to Israel's
survival, some ways of supporting it may be better than others.
He explained. "Dispensationalists believe that Israel must
possess all of Palestine in order for Jesus to return, (so) the
worse thing that Israel can ever do is trade land for peace.
Thus the tendency is for dispensationalists to oppose any plan
that seeks the establishment of a Palestinian state in the
Middle East. Such a move, they say, is a rejection of God's plan
and will prevent the Second Coming. Israel should hang on to the
land no matter what and the United States should do nothing to
pressure them toward any land-for-peace scheme."
Weber said while that is admittedly one way of showing support
for Israel, there are others. He said that an increasing number
of Israelis believe the best way for Israel to ensure its
survival is to give up at least a portion of the land it gained
in the Six Day War. And there is a good reason for their
thinking, Weber said.
"What is driving their willingness to part with occupied land is
the realization that in a short time, Palestinians will
outnumber Jews within the borders of Israel. If Israel is going
to live by its democratic principles, it won't be long until
Jews can be out-voted in their own country. That's not a happy
prospect among Israeli Jews," Weber said. "Still
dispensationalists work against any suggestion that Israel needs
to give up some of its land. Will that make things worse?
Probably. But that is exactly what dispensationalists expect
before the end: so why change anything? By opposing any other
approach, dispensationalists are helping prophecy happen."
But don't buy Weber's book thinking it is a hard boiled treatise
or a polemic on proving that dispensationalism is wrong, he
said. That will only be known when it is seen how everything
works out in the end, he said.
"I do hope that people who read my book will think carefully
about what they do with their beliefs," Weber told me. "As we
all know from reading the morning papers, religious beliefs do
matter. They are a strong motivator for all kinds of action.
Dispensationalists are committed believers who are trying hard
to read the Bible correctly. As my book shows, they always
haven't succeeded very well. Their best Bible teachers haven't
always been right; in fact, they have often missed by a mile. So
they're human. Nobody's perfect."
In light of that, Weber had a word of caution for
dispensationalists. He said they "should be more humble about
their abilities to predict the future and explain the present.
One never knows how or when history may take an unexpected turn.
In the meantime, maybe all Christians, including
dispensationalist ones, should seek justice, be peacemakers, and
practice loving our enemies. That's our default position as
Christians, no matter how we understand prophecy."
Weber said he was especially concerned by one portion of his
research.
"To me probably the most troubling part of the book is the last
chapter--where I describe how some dispensationalists are giving
financial and spiritual support to what most Israelis consider
the most dangerous and frightening part of their society--the
Temple Movement that is committed to building the third temple
on Temple Mount, where the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aksa
mosque are located," Weber said.
I asked Weber what he hopes would result from his book.
"My goal in the book," he said, " is to show how a
dispensational understanding of the Bible has led people to
certain kinds of political and religious action. These views of
Bible prophecy have had a profound impact on the way millions of
Americans understand the times in which we live and what they
expect to happen in the future. It's an important story that
needed to be told. I'm hopeful that even the people who read the
Bible in this way will want to know about the history and
consequences of their own beliefs."
Weber's book is available nationwide or on Amazon at
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/080102577X/qid=1093454129/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-1155943-6565631?v=glance&s=books
Jeremy Reynalds is a
freelance writer and the founder and director of
Joy Junction, New Mexico's
largest emergency homeless shelter. He has a master's degree in
communication from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing his
PhD in intercultural education at Biola University in Los Angeles. He
is married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
His work can be viewed here and weekly at www.americasvoices.org. He
may be contacted by e-mail at
reynalds@joyjunction.org |
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