America's Road to Jerusalem by Olson Jason M.;

Author:Olson, Jason M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic

Chapter 4

American Protestantism and Israel in the Aftermath of the Six-Day War

(1968–1973)

Introduction

For Evangelicals, the Six-Day War vindicated their approach to the Bible. In the dispensationalist scheme, the latter-day Jewish State was to have Jerusalem as its capital and the Temple Mount secure for the future construction of Ezekiel’s millennial temple. This John Nelson Darby prediction, first popularized in the 1830s in the British Isles and the United States, appeared to have been fulfilled in history by the State of Israel in 1967. Dispensationalism, which was so popular among Evangelicals and fundamentalists, was also disparaged by Modernists, especially after 1925. But the Six-Day War appeared to prove dispensationalism and its biblical literalism correct, putting Evangelicals back at the forefront of American Protestantism. The rise of Billy Graham as “America’s Pastor” demonstrated this shift. His relationship with the State of Israel and the Jewish people was a core part of the burgeoning legitimacy and authority of Evangelical dispensationalism.

The fundamentalists were mostly positive about Zionism before the Six-Day War (except for the anti-Semitic elements of that branch), seeing it as fulfillment of prophecy; but after the war they became more preoccupied with the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. The fundamentalists began to sync with the pro-Temple Israeli ultra-Orthodox position. In other words, now that Israel had the Temple Mount, the Temple should be rebuilt.1

The Christianity and Crisis liberation theology branch of American Protestantism usually began to view Zionism as a product of Western colonialism after the Six-Day War. Israel’s impressive victory in that war reminded the liberation theology camp of the triumphs of Western imperial powers against Third World colonies, and, therefore, they began to view the Palestinians as “third world victims” of Israeli imperial aggression. The pro-Palestinian activism of this branch began after 1967, which will be explored more fully in chapter 5.

The Christian Century camp became more pacifist with regard to Zionism after 1967. Whereas before the Six-Day War, they viewed Israeli self-defense as regrettably necessary for Jewish survival; after the 1967 war, they saw Israeli violence as unnecessary and morally ambiguous. In that vein, the Century camp began to use supersessionism more forcefully to argue against a nationalistic version of Judaism with elements that could be seen in Zionism.

Six-Day War

The Mainline Protestant world, which included those churches involved in the ecumenical movement—the Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, and others—were affected most dramatically by the results of the Six-Day War. Prior to June 1967, the Christian Century would affirm support for Israel’s right to exist, its maritime rights, and its access to holy places. But after 1967, the Century would blame Israel for the war and its impact.2 This marked a clear reversal from the journal’s prewar position, which held that Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser was to blame.

A. Roy Eckardt, the stalwart Christian Realist and supporter of Israel, pointed out that the NCC response to the Six-Day War left no indication that the Arab world had “anything whatsoever to do with bringing about the Six-Day War.” The NCC statements were “completely

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