The General Assembly wrestled with how to articulate its stance on Christian Zionism and Israel-Palestine.
Christian Zionism includes a “dispensational pre-millenniumism” view of history, which separates history into different ages or “dispensations” governed by different covenants between God and humans. It also suggests Christ will return as outlined in the book of Revelation.
In its report, the International Affairs committee explained the beliefs of Christian Zionists in relation to the State of Israel in these terms:
“The pre-condition of Christ’s return is that Jews (who have been chosen to do God’s work) must return to Palestine in fulfillment of biblical prophecies. They must establish their state in the whole of Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), including Jerusalem, which has been given by God to Jews exclusively as an eternal inheritance. The Jewish temple must be rebuilt in order to usher in the second coming of Christ.
“Accordingly, since Christian Zionists believe that the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the extension of Israel’s boundaries in 1967 are a divine fulfillment of promises to the patriarchs and a precursor to the immediate second coming of Christ, they endeavour to actively participate in bringing what they believe are God’s plans to completion by supporting the extension of Israel’s boundaries and settlements. They also encourage people to reject any peace process between Israel and Palestinians and the establishment of a Palestinian state because they believe these actions would be contrary to God’s will.”
The International Affairs committee recommended “that Christian Zionism be rejected because leaders in the Palestinian Christian community have stated that Christian Zionism is detrimental to a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians and because Christian Zionism is inconsistent with Reformed doctrine.”
Rev. Daniel MacKinnon, a commissioner from the Presbytery of Ottawa, said the recommendation was not explicit enough when it came to the Presbyterian Church’s theology.
“The statement offers the right idea, but for the wrong reason,” he said. He suggested the church should anchor its rejection of Christian Zionism in theology rather than in the opinions expressed by Christian Palestinian leaders.
He proposed an amendment: “that Christian Zionism be rejected because the Presbyterian Church in Canada reaffirms a one covenant theology recognizing there is one Lord, one church, one Spirit who makes us one, not different covenants for different people groups.”
The original motion and MacKinnon’s amendment were eventually combined into a single statement.
Yet some commissioners expressed concern about the amended motion and how the church’s statement on the issue would be understood by others.
“We need to say this with humility,” said Rev. Peter Bush of the Presbytery of Winnipeg, who grew up in the Middle East. “If we think we can solve [the situation], we can’t.”
“My fear in passing this is that it will be seen by the greater community as an outright rejection of Zionism,” said Rev. Keith McKee from the Presbytery of London. “You can be Christian and you can be a Zionist, but we need to do some educating about what it means to be a Christian Zionist supporting Israel.” He said he worried the recommendation will be read as “a rejection of the state of Israel and Zionism by our Jewish neighbours.”
The discussion was set aside due to lack of time. When it resumed on Wednesday, Rev. Duncan Cameron of the Presbytery of Pickering put forward an expansive amendment. It was met with applause from commissioners.
“That with an acknowledgement of the complexity of issues faced by the people of the Middle East and, in particular, by the people of Israel and Palestinian territories, we the 138th General Assembly affirm the right of the State of Israel and the people of Palestine to exist in peace and security while we reject Christian Zionism as a doctrinal stance inconsistent with Reformed doctrine and its emphasis on one covenant of grace for all peoples, and that we acknowledge the message of Palestinian sisters and brothers in Christ that Christian Zionism poses a significant obstacle to a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
As an amendment, the statement was supported unanimously.
An additional motion put forward on behalf of the young adult representatives instructed the International Affairs committee “to consider ways of giving practical effect to the assembly’s motion concerning the rejection of Christian Zionism, and report back with recommendations to the 139th General Assembly.”
“We heard yesterday that Presbyterians are known to be a thinking church,” said Timothy Mack, young adult representative from the Presbytery of Montreal. “I’d hate to see the fact that we’d just declared Christian Zionism a detriment to just peace to become only intellectual doctrine. … I think that given the situation that we’re presently in, the International Affairs committee should take the time to examine the possibilities of the motion. … We need to act as s church and I’d urge the church not to be paralyzed.”
