Zeal for Zion: Christians, Jews, and the Idea of the Promised Land

The standard histories of Zionism have depicted it almost exclusively as a Jewish political movement, one in which Christians do not appear except as antagonists. In the highly original Zeal for Zion, Shalom Goldman makes the case for a wider and more inclusive history, one that brings the substantial Christian involvement with Zionism -- most recently by American evangelical Protestants -- into the light.

Goldman offers a fresh perspective on the history of Zionism, deftly weaving together the stories of poets and diplomats, Christian scholars and Jewish leaders, the Vatican and the State of Israel, and modern literary masters such as Jorge Luis Borges, Robert Graves, and Vladimir Nabokov. Goldman argues that Jewish Zionism was influenced by -- and cannot be understood in isolation from -- Christian culture generally and Christian Zionist culture specifically. Shedding light on the deep and interrelated roots of Christian-Jewish relations, fraught with tension and ambivalence, he finds that Christian support for the Jewish Zionist cause has been essential to the success of the movement.

Christian Zionism has a long history and has been embraced at various times by Catholics and Protestants, liberals and conservatives, reformers and traditionalists. Zeal for Zion places this vital movement within the larger history of Zionism, making the story of Zionism all the more rich and complex.

Author: Shalom Goldman
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 12/01/2014
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.85d
ISBN: 9781469622293

About the Author
Goldman, Shalom: - Shalom Goldman is professor of religion and Middle Eastern studies at Duke University. He is author or editor of four books, including God's Sacred Tongue: Hebrew and the American Imagination (UNC Press).