Michael Knowles explains why he isn’t a Christian Zionist

Over the weekend, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem released a statement reaffirming their authority in the land of Israel against proponents of Christian Zionism and other “damaging ideologies.”

The statement, published on Saturday, reaffirmed Christian leaders’ devotion to the Christian flock in the Holy Land. It condemned ideologies like Christian Zionism, which “mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock.”

‘You don’t have to support the nation-state of Israel, but if you do, you can do so without adhering to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism.’

Christian Zionism is the belief in the continuity between the Israel of the Bible and the modern state of Israel.

The church leaders condemned the “political actors” who have been “welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally.” They described these dealings as “interference in the internal life of the church.”

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Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images

The letter continued, “These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.”

As a result, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem “reiterate that they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.”

On Monday, the Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles explained his position on Christian Zionism in response to the Patriarchs’ statement.

Knowles, an outspoken Roman Catholic, explained that the joint statement issued by the Christian leaders over the weekend is essentially a reiteration of church teaching, such as a statement from 1985 from the Vatican.

The Vatican invites Christians to understand the Jews’ religious attachment to the land of Israel “without however making their own any particular religious interpretation of this relationship.”

Knowles signaled his wholehearted agreement with the next passage of the Vatican’s notes, which he said “underscores the point”: “The existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law.”

Knowles said that this line of thinking is “why I would not call myself a Zionist, or a Christian Zionist.”

He continued, “It’s not because I don’t like the Jews, and it’s not because I don’t even support the state of Israel. As I think I’ve made clear, I am broadly supportive of the nation-state of Israel. But I am broadly supportive of it not because I believe in the principles of Zionism, which makes certain historical claims and religious claims that I just don’t think are true.”

Knowles also said that he doesn’t think that just because a people lived on a plot of land many years ago, it entitles them to the land today. “If that were the case, we would have to turn Mount Rushmore over to the Lakota Sioux. I don’t believe any of that.”

He finally clarified that most of his support for the nation-state of Israel is negative — that is, he doesn’t like the alternatives, referring to other nations in the region like Iran and other Muslim groups. “The current options in the Holy Land are not great.”

Staking his position clearly near the end of the clip, Knowles said, “You don’t have to support the nation-state of Israel, but if you do, you can do so without adhering to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism.”

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