More Desired Than Our Owne Salvation

Millions of American Christians see U.S. support for the State of Israel as a God-ordained responsibility. Millions more see the "special relationship" between the two countries as a bond that should never be challenged, much less broken. Robert O. Smith provides an in-depth look at the English Protestant tradition of Judeo-centric prophecy interpretation at the heart of this popular affinity. In 2006, John Hagee founded Christians United for Israel. Several high-level policymakers, both Christians and Jews, flocked to endorse the effort. Soon, however, questions rose about apparently anti-Catholic and anti-Islamic ideas contained in Hagee's preaching and writing. More Desired Than Our Owne Salvation explores the content of Christian Zionist attitudes, their resonance in popular American culture, and the history of the ideas that have contributed to present realities. After discussing polling data and exploring how Black Protestant views clarify general American attitudes, Smith revisits sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Protestant interpretations of scripture and history. The Pope and the Turk figured significantly, identified by both Luther and Calvin as the two heads of the Antichrist. Protestant exiles from England carried these ideas back to Elizabethan England, provided a nationalist twist, and set Anglo-American history on a new path. The resulting English Protestant tradition of Judeo-centric prophecy interpretation shaped Puritan identity, which was then transferred to New England, where it began informing the foundations of American vocation and self-understanding. Through its developments and adaptations, this Judeo-centric tradition provided English colonists and Anglo Americans with purpose and vision. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, many Americans readily welcomed it as a prophetic counterpart, a country whose preservation "may be more desired then our owne salvation."
"This is a highly informed, well-documented, and intelligent critique of the historical roots and political significance of Christian Zionism. The author is a first-rate expert, who has come up with the most comprehensive exploration of the topic to date, including brilliant analysis of the studies on Christian Zionism that emerged in the last decades. I strongly recommend it." --Yaakov Ariel, author of Evangelizing the Chosen People

"Robert Smith has ably traced one source of conservative Protestant Zionism to the sense of national exceptionalism that goes way back in American history. The links he finds between the biblical literalism and fixation on prophecy of the early Puritans and the same characteristics among those who today support Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy make for a thought-provoking historical lineage as well as a telling commentary on current events." --Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

From the Foreword by Martin E. Marty
"Smith could have been satirical and even cynical when dealing with some of these movements. He had a higher purpose than merely entertaining or appealing to readers who might find it easy to be condescending towards Puritans, dispensationalists, and Christian Zionists. Instead, he mirrors Spinoza who, when that philosopher set out to deal with human complexities, wrote that he came not to laugh or to cry or to denounce, but to understand. Smith's is an elegant essay in understanding, well grounded in historical sources and showing alertness to contemporary matters of great moment."

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ; INTRODUCTION ; CHAPTER 1 BLESSING THE JEW: THE TRAITS OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ZIONISM ; CHAPTER 2 SUPPORTING THE JEW: CULTURE, DOCTRINE, AND AMERICAN POPULAR OPINION ON THE STATE OF ISRAEL ; CHAPTER 3 MYTHOLOGIZING THE JEW: THE REFORMATION FOUNDATIONS OF JUDEO-CENTRIC PROPHECY INTERPRETATION (1530-1603) ; CHAPTER 4 MILITARIZING THE JEW: JUDEO-CENTRIC PROPHECY INTERPRETATION, THOMAS DRAXE TO JOSEPH MEDE (1608-1627) ; CHAPTER 5 ADMITTING THE JEW: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY, CHRISTIAN ZIONISM, AND BRITISH IMPERIAL IDENTITY ; CHAPTER 6 TYPOLOGIZING THE JEW: THE JUDEO-CENTRIC FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICA'S COVENANTAL VOCATION ; CHAPTER 7 SYSTEMATIZING THE JEW: JOHN NELSON DARBY AND THE PUTATIVE PATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN ZIONISM ; CHAPTER 8 POLITICIZING THE JEW: WILLIAM E. BLACKSTONE AND THE MOBILIZATION OF CULTURAL FUNDAMENTALISM ; CONCLUSION: CHRISTIAN ZIONISM FROM THE CARTWRIGHT PETITION TO AMERICAN EMPIRE ; NOTES ; BIBLIOGRAPHY ; INDEX