What motivates Christian Zionists? 

By Shelley Neese 

I am a Christian. And I am a Zionist. But it took me years of being both to realize that I’m a Christian Zionist. Though I consider myself a strong Christian and a committed lover of Israel, out of college I was leery of calling myself a Christian Zionist. My definition of a Christian Zionist was unclear and muddled by stereotypes I had absorbed over time. 

Where I got those stereotypes is no mystery. Any time you hear interviews with prominent Christian Zionist leaders, certain questions are guaranteed to come up: 

“Gary Bauer from American Values, tell us why evangelicals are so eager for the apocalypse?” 

“Susan Michael from International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, is church support for Israel merely a tool to convert the Jews?” 

“Earl Cox from Israel Always, do Christian Zionists only support Israel to realize the scenario of Armageddon?” 

The...