Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century

In Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century authors Motti Inbari and Kirill Bumin draw on three original surveys conducted in 2018, 2020, and 2021 to explore the religious beliefs and foreign policy attitudes of evangelical and born-again Christians in the United States. They analyze the views of ordinary churchgoers and evangelical pastors to understand the religious, social, and political factors that lead the members of this religious community to support the State of Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through rigorous quantitative analyses and careful textual study of ordinary evangelicals' written comments, Inbari and Bumin aim to rectify misconceptions about who evangelical and born-again Christians are, about their sympathies toward Israel, Jewish people, and Palestinians, and about the sources of their foreign policy attitudes toward the conflict.

Inbari and Bumin demonstrate that a generational divide is emerging within the evangelical community, one that substantially impacts evangelicals' attitudes toward Israel. They also show that frequent church attendance and certain theological beliefs have a profound impact on the evangelicals' preference of Israel over the Palestinians. Throughout, the authors aim to add nuance to the discussion, showing that contemporary evangelical and born-again Christians' attitudes are much more diverse than many portrayals suggest.

Motti Inbari is Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. His books include Ruth Blau: A Life of Paradox and Purpose, The Making of Modern Jewish Identity: Ideological Change and Religious Conversion and Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount.

Kirill Bumin is an Associate Dean of the Metropolitan College and the Director of the Summer Term at Boston University. He specializes in ethnic conflict, comparative judicial politics, and survey research on American public attitudes related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.