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Beyond Armageddon
You know, I turn back to your ancient prophets in the Old Testament and signs foretelling Armageddon, and I find myself wondering if—if we’re the generation that’s going to see that come about. I don’t know if you’ve noted any of those prophecies lately, but believe me, they certainly describe the times we’re going through.1 One expects such a statement from the Rev. Pat Robertson on his “700 Club” television program or in one of the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s frequent funding appeals. The speaker, however, was the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in an intimate phone conversation with Tom Dine, Executive Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Israel’s powerful U.S. lobby. Ronald Reagan was not the first high-ranking political official to adopt such a political position as a result of his “understanding” of biblical prophecy. Evangelical Christian Zionists, as this study will refer to them, have been active politically in England since the sixteenth century, and include such influential pro-Zionists as Lord Balfour and Prime Minister Lloyd-George. Recently, however, Christian Evangelicals have shown signs that they are rethinking their views on Zionism, and on the theological significance of the state of Israel, as well as on the morality of paying for the dehumanization of millions of Palestinians. Who Are The Evangelicals? The term “Evangelical” is usually used erroneously by the secular press and even by much of the Christian media to identify the “Religious Right” and televangelists such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. In fact, the Evangelical movement has always been diverse, found primarily but not exclusively in Protestant Christianity. Derived from the Greek Euangelion (to proclaim the Good News), the word Evangelical was first applied to the churches of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation (Lutheran, Reformed/Presbyterian, Anglican, etc.). In much of Europe and the Middle East, “Evangelicals” are still understood as the mainline Protestant Churches. However, in North America and parts of western Europe, Evangelicals are a modern (18th-19th century) pietistic movement within Protestantism that has stressed the “born again” conversion experience, along with evangelizing (proselytizing) activities, often as a purifying reaction against more liberal or established branches of Christianity. In an effort to be more precise in our consideration of U.S. Evangelicals, we will divide them into four categories based on their political-theological beliefs and practices. Here I follow Richard Quebedeaux’s Evangelical “left, center, right” terminology, and add a fourth: the African-American and Evangelical within mainline Christianity. Current estimates for left, center and right Evangelicals in the U.S. range between 55-60 million; mainline (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox) along with African-American Evangelicals number approximately 20 million.2 The fundamentalist branch, or “Evangelical Right,” as they are often called, includes the fundamentalist Baptists and independent Bible churches, typified by Jerry Falwell and Southern Baptist leader W.A. Criswell. 15-18 million strong and fiercely pro-Israel, they are also anti-Communist, anti-Muslim, pro-school prayer and against pro-choice. And they dominate television and radio with such personalities as Pat Robertson of the “700 Club,” Paul Crouch of TBN Cable Network and James Robison, an associate of Marilyn and Vice President Dan Quayle. The largest group of U.S. Evangelicals, approximately 40 million, is the “Evangelical Center,” representing the 46 Protestant denominations within the National Association of Evangelicals. NAE was established in the early 1940s as an Evangelical alternative to the National Council of Churches, which Evangelicals saw as too liberal. Billy Graham is their most recognizable personality; and the respected journal Christianity Today reflects their viewpoints. Traditionally, the “Center” has been pro-Israel, but it is precisely within this sector that recent changes have been occurring on the Israeli/Palestinian issue. A third group, the Evangelical “Left,” while less than 10% of U.S. Evangelicals, represents an influential minority. They are best known for their publications Sojourners Magazine, The Other Side, and the Reformed Journal, and their social justice advocacy network, Evangelicals for Social Action. They are considerably influential among intellectuals, college professors and pastors.
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