There
are many evangelical Zionists, which is why Porter Speakman Jr. made With God on Our Side. A Christian pastor, Speakman asks such Zionists to reevaluate their absolute support of Israel. He presents historical context, theological perspective, and on-the-ground impressions.
A scene from 'With God on Our Side'
The film's history primer clearly traces the roots of Christian Zionist thinking to the 19th-century "father of dispensationalism," John Nelson Darby, and recaps key political turning points in the Holy Land. Such history suggests that Palestinians' claims to the land cannot be easily dismissed.
For people like John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, these muddy political waters are cleared up by Scripture. [The documentary is] framed with clips of Hagee shouting Zionist exhortations to energized crowds. It's sensational material. But to its credit, With God on Our Side also interviews Hagee, letting him articulate his position: The Abrahamic covenant's promise of land, he argues, still applies today and trumps all else.
Hagee's dissenters then step in and distinguish between his two-covenant theology (ethnic Israel plus the church) and a one-covenant theology (believing Gentiles grafted into believing Israel). It's not difficult to figure out which camp Speakman belongs to, but he gives both sides their due. This basic theological contextualization is sorely needed for Christians who are divided by this issue.
Speakman works hardest to show how ordinary Palestinians, including fellow Christians, are being hurt by Israel's policies, particularly in the West Bank. Some might consider this segment slanted, since Israelis get little screen time, but Speakman is telling a story he thinks his intended audience has not heard. Whether one agrees with Speakman or not, his challenging glimpses remind us that
people are at stake here.
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