There's a church in the city of Bethlehem, It was built on the spot where Christians believed Jesus was born. It's called the Church of the Nativity. If you consult UNESCO's list of world heritage sites or travel expert Rick Steves, both will tell you that the church is in Palestine. However, when a question about the church's location came up during the round of jeopardy in January 2020, conflict over the location arose. One of the contestants answered Palestine, and the other answered Israel. The host picked Israel as the correct answer. That answer set off something of an internet firestorm. That is because what you call this land and who controls it is at the center of a decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Recently, there is also a third group that is becoming more influential here and throughout the middle east: American evangelical Christians.
Today, Evangelical Christians are one of the most politically powerful blocks in the United States. And in the Trump administration, they've been given unprecedented power. They've turned support for Israel and hostility towards its enemies into core tenets of conservative ideology. A big part of those policies is rooted in how they interpret the Bible. In 2016, more than a quarter of all US voters identified as white Evangelical Christians. One of the Primary differences between Evangelicals and other Christians is their relationship with their Bible.
Conservative evangelicals believe that the bible is literally true, Sarah Posner writes about religion for a bunch of different publications. Many of them believe that the bible is a sort of prophetic road map to modern life, that events described and prophesied in the bible will become true. The Bible is mostly historically accurate.
The bible is the one book that dares to predict the future with 100% accuracy. For Evangelicals, the most important of the Bible's prophecies is the second coming when Jesus will return to earth. The bible doesn't say when this will happen but it does say where. Greg Laurie is an evangelical preacher, one of several who meet regularly to advise President Trump. They Are the leaders of mega churches with tens of thousands of members and many of them, including Greg Laurie, preach a belief called Christian Zionism. It is the Idea that the return of the Jewish people to Israel is one of a series of events that will trigger Jesus's Second coming. From Pastor Greg Laurie's word “ Jesus is telling us that the rebirth of Israel is a sign of the end. not just the sign, it's the super sign.”
According to this theology, God will reward those who help Israel and punish those who don't. Lets rewind back in the 1947 After the Holocaust, The UN Divided up. Then then-British territory of Palestine, Home to more than million Arabs, into two states. Giving Jews who had been persecuted in Europe a Homeland. Over the next few decades, Israel fought multiple wars with its Arab neighbors and seized much of the land that had been originally set aside for Palestinians, Evangelical Christians see that as fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Ever since, groups like Hamas have been fighting against the Israelis trying to win that territory back and the government of Iran has been one of their biggest supporters.
Evangelical
By: Ricksel Penullar