Israeli Christians Think and Do Almost the Opposite of American Evangelicals

[CopyBoy]

In 1949, the state of Israel was formed to be a haven for the world’s decimated and traumatized Jewish population after World War II. Ever since, American Christians have largely supported the modern-day Zion; in 2013, 82 percent of white evangelicals believed that God gave the land of Israel to the Jews.

In contrast, only 19 percent of Christians actually born, raised, and living in Israel believe that God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people. Significantly more than half (66%) believe this is not literally true, while another 9 percent don’t know what to think.

The numbers come from a new comprehensive study of Israel by the Pew Research Center, which included enough self-identified Christians (468) to statistically break out their views. The numbers were weighted and adjusted, because Pew found that only 2 percent of Israel’s population in 2015 was Christian, down from 3 percent in 1949. (Pew’s survey includes Arab residents of East Jerusalem, but not those of Gaza or of the West Bank outside of East Jerusalem.)

christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/march/israel-christians-think-opposite-evangelicals-pew-zionism.html

 

[josephback]

The biggest reason they think this is because they’ve been told it. I doubt there would be such agreement if the same claim was made of lands they themselves actually lived in. Dispensationalism…

 

[GEddie]

The biggest reason they think this is because they’ve been told it. I doubt there would be such agreement if the same claim was made of lands they themselves actually lived in. Dispensationalism…

I think the intensity of Biblical literalism in the faith is also a factor.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Moses613]

The methodology of this poll or study makes zero sense to me. They are comparing white evangelicals in the USA to Arab Christians in Israel. Let me ask a very simple question: How many Israeli Christians are evangelical? 12? I mean, you’re comparing apples to oranges. AFAIK Catholics typically do not believe that the Land of Israel is supposed to be a homeland for the Jewish people, because they believe that the Church is the New Israel and Israel should really belong to them. That’s why the Vatican had a very hard time accepting Israel and why it still wants Jerusalem to be an “international” city. Because the Jews running Jerusalem is a big theological problem for them.

From the article:

[Israeli] Christians are largely split 50/50 between Catholic and Orthodox believers. Protestants and Messianic Jews both made up fewer than 0.5 percent of Israel’s population, and thus were too negligible to be broken out separately in the survey results (though they are included in the totals pertaining to all Christians).

Survey Catholics and Orthodox in the US and then try to draw conclusions.

 

[Ontheway]

The methodology of this poll or study makes zero sense to me. They are comparing white evangelicals in the USA to Arab Christians in Israel. Let me ask a very simple question: How many Israeli Christians are evangelical? 12? I mean, you’re comparing apples to oranges. AFAIK Catholics typically do not believe that the Land of Israel is supposed to be a homeland for the Jewish people, because they believe that the Church is the New Israel and Israel should really belong to them. That’s why the Vatican had a very hard time accepting Israel and why it still wants Jerusalem to be an “international” city. Because the Jews running Jerusalem is a big theological problem for them.

From the article:

Survey Catholics and Orthodox in the US and then try to draw conclusions.

The poll does not compare Israeli Christians to the American protestants. There is nothing wrong with the poll taken among the Israeli Christians. You misunderstand or misinterpret the result. Comparison with the American fundamentalists is an editorial comment.

 

[Moses613]

The poll does not compare Israeli Christians to the American protestants. There is nothing wrong with the poll taken among the Israeli Christians. You misunderstand or misinterpret the result. Comparison with the American fundamentalists is an editorial comment.

I took a quick glance back and it looks like you are right. It’s the article that makes the comparison and that’s what I didn’t think made much sense. A poll is just a poll - raw data.