7/12/2017
The disturbing reason why evangelical Christians want Jerusalem to be Israel's capital
Posted about 21 hours ago by Joe Vesey-Byrne in news
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Some evangelical Christians believe that recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will bring on the end of the world.
On Wednesday President Donald Trump announced that the US will recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the US embassy - which is currently based in Tel Aviv - will move there.
When the UN partitioned Palestine in 1947 the city of Jerusalem was given a special status, distinct from either a state of Palestine or a state of Israel, to be administered by an international council of the UN.
The US and many other nations currently have their embassies in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem came under the control of Israel in 1967, yet Israeli sovereignty has never been truly recognised internationally.
In April 2017 Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it considered western Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel - and eastern Jerusalem the capital of a ('future') Palestine, yet Russia's embassy to Israel is also located in Tel Aviv.
Donald Trump and evangelical Christians
In 2016, during the race for the Republican nomination, it was thought Donald Trump could not win over the religious right, who seemed to have been locked up by his rival Senator Ted Cruz.
His eventual win of that group, and later the country, was in part made possible due to Trump's pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
According to the Pew Research Centre; during the general election 80 per cent of self-identified white, born-again and evangelical Christians claimed they had voted for Trump, while just 16 per cent voted for Hillary Clinton.
Evangelicals and Jerusalem
In response to President Trump's announcement theological scholar Dr Diana Butler Bass tweeted her explanation of the link between the recognition of Jerusalem, evangelical Christians, and the apocalypse.
7 Dec
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
I suspect that most secular commentators do not understand the religious dimensions of this story.
@dianabutlerbass
For decades, conservative evangelicals have been longing for this recognition. They believe it is necessary in order to regain control of the Temple mount.
2:07 AM - Dec 7, 2017
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
That is important because rebuilding the Temple is the event that will spark the events of the Book of Revelation and the End Times.
2:09 AM - Dec 7, 2017
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
Yes, of course, there are all sorts of political and secular motives for Trump's action. But you can't discount those evangelical advisors. Almost all of whom take these End Times prophecies literally.
2:10 AM - Dec 7, 2017
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
Of all the possible theological dog-whistles to his evangelical base, this is the biggest. Trump is reminding them that he is carrying out God's will to these Last Days.
2:11 AM - Dec 7, 2017
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
They've been waiting for this, praying for this. They want war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God's enemies.
2:13 AM - Dec 7, 2017
Diana Butler Bass
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
For certain evangelicals, this is the climax of history.
2:14 AM - Dec 7, 2017
For anyone sceptical that evangelicals would really believe this, or welcome the apocalypse, Bass added:
7 Dec
@dianabutlerbass
Replying to @dianabutlerbass
People believe this. Really believe this. Have given their lives to these ideas, sing about them in their churches, evangelize others, teach them in Sunday schools.
@dianabutlerbass
And, this morning, with the news of Jerusalem, these people are ecstatic. This is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And Donald Trump is not only acting on a campaign promise, but enacting a theological one.
2:17 AM - Dec 7, 2017
Bass was joined in her analysis by Professor Matthew Gabriele, an expert in religious violence at Virginia Tech, who tweeted in support of a comment made by Anna Merlan, a reporter with Gizmodo.
@annamerlan
Just a super quick reminder that Trump's evangelical supporters want him to declare Jerusalem the capital because they believe it well help advance THE LITERAL APOCALYPSE AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
5:43 AM - Dec 7, 2017
@prof_gabriele
I am a professor in a religion department. I study apocalyptic thought. This is 100% true. Left out is simply that they also believe that when Jesus returns, the remaining Jews will either convert or be damned forever. #twitterstorians https://twitter.com/annamerlan/status/938478985025064960 …
5:44 AM - Dec 7, 2017
The significance of Jerusalem and Israel to evangelicals concerns the 'Third Temple' prophecy.
Since 70 AD when the Romans tore down the 'Second Temple', there has been no Jewish Temple on the site of the Temple Mount.
Prophecies of a Third Temple are made in the books of Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation, and in the Second epistle to the Thessalonians.
These have been interpreted by some to suggest that the building of a Third Temple, known as the 'Tribulation Temple', will occur during the period of the Antichrist and bring on the apocalypse.
This is said to be followed by 1000 years of rule on earth by Christ himself, which some evangelical Christians are in favour of seeing happen.
Of course, not all evangelicals welcomed Mr Trump's decision, including New Testament scholar Gary M. Burge who wrote in The Atlantic:
Numerous evangelicals like me are less enamoured of the recent romance between the church and Republican politics, and worry about moving the U.S. embassy. For us, peacemaking and the pursuit of justice are very high virtues.
Moreover, an open letter, signed by 13 patriarchs from the Christian community in Jerusalem, and sent to the President on Wednesday, argued;
We are certain that such steps will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division.
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