Christians Differing Views on Embassy Move
On May 14, 2018, the US embassy was opened in Jerusalem, moving from its previous spot in Tel Aviv. The move was actually set for May 31, 1999, but was delayed by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations, until the Trump administration finally made the move official. This move was met with strong support and dislike by many groups, but one interesting one is the Christian reaction. Depending on the specific sect of Christians, the reactions varied from overwhelming support to complete disdain.
Evangelical Christians, along with Jews, thought the move was positive both in a political and a religious sense(O’Donnell 4). Jews and Evangelical Christians saw the move as a step toward the inevitable divine prophecy, the second coming of God on Earth, the end of times. For Evangelical Christians, “The return of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland and the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem is seen as a stage ultimately leading to the full messianic era”(O’Donnell 6). Evangelical Christians feel this so strongly, that they founded an organization Hayovel, an organization that trains Christians to be positive ambassadors to Jews, and they also “ [help] fund the immigration of diaspora Jews to Israel”(O’Donnell 15), For Jews, the move from Tel Aviv reinforced the idea that Jerusalem was firmly under Jewish control, as “when the world’s most powerful nation establishes its embassy in our eternal capital”(O’Donnell 7), it helps establish that fact internally and to other nations as well. Though the reasons and details are slightly different, these two groups are unified in their support of the move.
Not all Christians are happy about the move though. In fact, a large majority “of Holy Land Christians identify as Palestinians”(O’Donnell 20), meaning they want East Jerusalem, the site of the embassy, to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. They assert that the Embassy move will stray “farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division”(O’Donnell 22). Though this reason does seem more politically motivated than religious, their beliefs remain the same nonetheless.
Overall, the US and Israel both seem to believe that this move is a sign that “We are in the golden age of Jewish-Christian relations”(O’Donnell 26). While this does seem to be true for some sects of Christianity, especially Evangelical Christians, the overall Christian belief seems to be slightly positive at best, with most sects not seeming to take a large stance, and only a few investing heavily in the move due to political or other reasons.
Image Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/trump-jerusalem-israel-capital.html
Citations:
O’Donnell, P. (2020, August 26). For some, the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem fulfills divine prophecy. Religion News Service. https://religionnews.com/2018/05/14/some-christians-and-jews-hail-embassy-move-to-jerusalem-as-key-to-a-biblical-plan/
Evangelical Christians, along with Jews, thought the move was positive both in a political and a religious sense(O’Donnell 4). Jews and Evangelical Christians saw the move as a step toward the inevitable divine prophecy, the second coming of God on Earth, the end of times. For Evangelical Christians, “The return of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland and the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem is seen as a stage ultimately leading to the full messianic era”(O’Donnell 6). Evangelical Christians feel this so strongly, that they founded an organization Hayovel, an organization that trains Christians to be positive ambassadors to Jews, and they also “ [help] fund the immigration of diaspora Jews to Israel”(O’Donnell 15), For Jews, the move from Tel Aviv reinforced the idea that Jerusalem was firmly under Jewish control, as “when the world’s most powerful nation establishes its embassy in our eternal capital”(O’Donnell 7), it helps establish that fact internally and to other nations as well. Though the reasons and details are slightly different, these two groups are unified in their support of the move.
Not all Christians are happy about the move though. In fact, a large majority “of Holy Land Christians identify as Palestinians”(O’Donnell 20), meaning they want East Jerusalem, the site of the embassy, to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. They assert that the Embassy move will stray “farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division”(O’Donnell 22). Though this reason does seem more politically motivated than religious, their beliefs remain the same nonetheless.
Overall, the US and Israel both seem to believe that this move is a sign that “We are in the golden age of Jewish-Christian relations”(O’Donnell 26). While this does seem to be true for some sects of Christianity, especially Evangelical Christians, the overall Christian belief seems to be slightly positive at best, with most sects not seeming to take a large stance, and only a few investing heavily in the move due to political or other reasons.
Image Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/trump-jerusalem-israel-capital.html
Citations:
O’Donnell, P. (2020, August 26). For some, the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem fulfills divine prophecy. Religion News Service. https://religionnews.com/2018/05/14/some-christians-and-jews-hail-embassy-move-to-jerusalem-as-key-to-a-biblical-plan/
Nice post about different Christian views of the embassy move. I would argue that similar arguments could be made about Jewish views. For example, according to surveys after Trump's announcement, but prior to the move, a large majority of American Jews opposed moving the embassy to Jerusalem (https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/most-american-jews-do-not-want-trump-to-move-us-embassy-to-jerusalem-survey-says-504997).
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