The Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism (ISCZ) is pleased to announce the release of The Bible Is Anti-Zionist: 40 Reflections on the Greatest Moral Crisis of Our Time, by ISCZ team member Jesse Wheeler. As a collection of short meditations, this study series was designed to catalyze new ways of thinking about and responding to the greatest moral crisis of our time. It is an unfortunate reality that people of faith have become the greatest cheerleaders, as well as political and financial supporters, for the evils of apartheid and forced displacement experienced by the Indigenous Palestinian people—the great tragedy being that many believe this is what the Bible commands. Thankfully, it does not.
For discussion in churches, study groups, team meetings, or individual contemplation, this resource was developed in the hope of reclaiming the Bible and it’s message from those actively weaponizing the text to exploit and harm others. Ultimately, you are invited you to to read, contemplate, pray, and come to your own conclusions. Most importantly, however, we hope it may be useful in the pursuit of justice, liberation, and peace.
Jonathan Kuttab, FOSNA Executive Director and celebrated human rights attorney, composed the book’s Foreword. Please find it below:
Foreword: The Bible Itself
For a long time, Christian Zionists have claimed that the Bible not only supports but, in-fact, mandates their political agenda. By selectively quoting certain verses, frequently out of context, and ignoring most other relevant texts, they have laid claim to biblical authority while inserting their own political views and commentary as if it was gospel truth. In the process, Christian Zionists have supported racist and oppressive policies, including fascism, colonialism, apartheid, and lately, even genocide, as if they were scripturally mandated. Opponents of Zionism and Israeli violence have been vilified as going against the will of God and the authority of the Bible. This book reclaims the authority of Scripture by a thoughtful presentation that concentrates on the biblical text itself and invites the reader to prayerfully seek out its true meaning. The results are amazing!
In my reading, it became abundantly clear to me that the Bible contradicts Zionism and is itself the best response to Christian Zionism. However, I invite you to engage with the content and develop your own conclusions. Wheeler presents his readers with digestible passages of the Bible, each illuminating a specific topic along with a brief commentary relating that passage to the current situation in Palestine. Then, he offers a relevant prayer from Sabeel’s long-running Wave of Prayer series, together with a number of probing questions that help the reader (or discussion group) discover the true meaning of the Bible as it relates to Palestine/Israel and invites them to act accordingly.
Many liberals or progressives, when confronting fundamentalists and Evangelicals who support Zionism, often fail to impress theological conservatives because they either misunderstand or intentionally dismiss conservative appeals to “literalism” and Biblical authority. They then lose the argument by appearing to belittle, spiritualize, or “interpret away” those verses relied upon by Christian Zionists. They fail to use the most powerful tool at their disposal: the Bible itself.
Wheeler, himself coming from an Evangelical background with deep knowledge, respect, and appreciation for the authority of Scripture, offers the only true response to Christian Zionism: the biblical text, the message of which is truly anti-Zionist. One example concerns the Zionist reference to Genesis 22, where God tells Abraham that “he will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him and that through his seed shall all the nations be blessed.” Christian Zionists use this verse to garner support for the policies of the modern state of Israel, promising blessings to those who support Israel and curses to those who oppose it. The implication is that the modern state of Israel represents the “seed of Abraham.”
A literal reading of Galatians 3:28, however, shows us that the Bible does not actually support such a view. Rather, it states explicitly that the “seed of Abraham” (used in the singular, not the plural) is used to refer to Christ himself through whom all the nations of the world are blessed. This is also consistent with the entire message of the New Testament that teaches that God’s salvation and blessing is open to all nations, for “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
This book of devotions not only reclaims the Bible itself and its message, but it provides a respectful invitation for readers to read, contemplate, pray, and make up their own minds about the issues. It is a useful tool for discussion in churches as well as individual contemplation. I hope it will be used in many churches, particularly Evangelical churches who have for too long unquestioningly followed Christian Zionist teachings that are not at all biblical.
Jonathan Kuttab, Esq.
Executive Director, Friends of Sabeel North America
Author of The Truth Shall Set You Free: The Story of a Palestinian Human Rights Lawyer Working for Peace and Justice in Palestine/Israel
