"New Christian Zionists" Seek Distance from Sensationalism, Apocalypticism
(Panelists at the Washington D.C. conference, "People of the Land: A Twenty-First Century Case for Christian Zionism," held April 17.)
A group of Christian scholars representing a "new Christian Zionism" seek to distance their views from the "wild, crazy, popular apocalypticism" with which Christian Zionists have often been associated.
Eleven speakers, mostly theologians, presented at the April 17 conference, "People of the Land: A Twenty-First Century Case for Christian Zionism," hosted by the Institute on Religion and Democracy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Most of the talks were based upon a chapter for a book expected to be published sometime in the next two years.
While the group does not agree on everything, they are united in the belief that God's covenants with Israel were not displaced by Jesus Christ and the Church. In other words, while Jesus is central to salvation, God will remain faithful to the promises He made to the Jewish people. How, exactly, that works itself out will continue to be a matter of study and debate.
