Changes

The movement was theoretical and theological until recent decades, when it became the basis for widespread support for [[Israel]] among American [[Fundamentalists]].  

The movement was theoretical and theological until recent decades, when it became the basis for widespread support for [[Israel]] among American [[Fundamentalists]].  

==History==

==History==

Since the [[Reformation]] an interest in "the Restoration of the Jews to their Land" has been a constant theme in many Protestant denominations. This concern did not always translate into support for a specific Return to Zion. Between 1600 and the 1880s, scores of Christians advanced plans for settlement in Palestine. In a striking parallel, Jewish thinkers, beginning in the seventeenth century, advocated similar ideas and some embarked on small-scale settlement in Palestine. Among both Jews and Christians these settlement attempts increased at times of intense messianic speculation, especially around the year 1840. British, Dutch and American Protestants were involved.  One specific Christian restoration plan was Laurence Oliphant's 1882 "Gilead Plan" for a large Jewish colony under British auspices in eastern Palestine. The Christian proposals seem to have had little coordination with or influence on the Jewish plans.

Since the [[Reformation]], an interest in the restoration of the Jews to the holy land has been a theme in various Protestant denominations, notably the Puritans. As a movement, Christian Zionism can be traced back to Scottish clergyman Edward Irving and the Albury conferences of 1826 to 1830. These were conferences on prophesy that were held in Albury Park in Surrey, England. These were followed up by the Powerscourt Conferences of 1831 to 1833 in Ireland led by John Nelson Darby.

 

In a striking parallel, Jewish thinkers, beginning in the seventeenth century, advocated similar ideas and some embarked on small-scale settlement in Palestine. Among both Jews and Christians these settlement attempts increased at times of intense messianic speculation, especially around the year 1840. British, Dutch and American Protestants were involved.  One specific Christian restoration plan was Laurence Oliphant's 1882 "Gilead Plan" for a large Jewish colony under British auspices in eastern Palestine. The Christian proposals seem to have had little coordination with or influence on the Jewish plans.

From the early 1940s to the late 1960s American theologian [[Reinhold Niebuhr]] was the most eloquent of American Christian Zionists.

From the early 1940s to the late 1960s American theologian [[Reinhold Niebuhr]] was the most eloquent of American Christian Zionists.

==Dispensationalism==

==Dispensationalism==