In 1917 only Britain would have taken the decision to favor a Jewish “national home” when the opportunity occurred to dismantle the Ottoman Empire, for it had been interlocked with the Hebrew Bible since political and theological crises in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England released the so-called Old Testament from its defined role as a christological premonition of the New Testament. Britain, the Bible, and Balfour unpacks the tumultuous history of the idea of a unique Jewish home state—and the development of Zionism—as it took shape over the course of several centuries in England. The author argues that, in fact, the theopolitical vision of Zionism is a peculiarly British phenomenon with roots that go back to the English Reformation. The religious and political battles over the Bible, the role of Hebrew scripture, the monarchy, and national identity provided the fortuitous, if providential, groundwork for the recovery of a vision of the Jewish people as a unique community with a mandated home. Zionism emerged from this context as a powerful movement that advocated for the return of the land and the people as a divinely ordained religious and political project. Yet, as this volume demonstrates, that idea is explicable only on the basis of the contextual events in early modern England, and would take nearly five hundred years to become a geopolitical reality. This volume provides a critically important genealogical account and illuminates the fascinating history of how England became the surprising progenitor of a revolutionary idea.

For over a thousand years Britain was defined by Christianity, with monarchs dedicating the country to God and national days of prayer that saved the nation in its darkest hours. Discover the continuing legacy of the Bible in Britain, how faith defined its nationhood and the challenges from the 1960s to the present day. 2020 edition.

Throughout the history of European imperialism the grand narratives of the Bible have been used to justify settler-colonialism. "The Zionist Bible" explores the ways in which modern political Zionism and Israeli militarism have used the Bible - notably the Book of Joshua and its description of the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land - as an agent of oppression and to support settler-colonialism in Palestine. The rise of messianic Zionism in the late 1960s saw the beginnings of a Jewish theology of zealotocracy, based on the militant land traditions of the Bible and justifying the destruction of the previous inhabitants. "The Zionist Bible" examines how the birth and growth of the State of Israel has been shaped by this Zionist reading of the Bible, how it has refashioned Israeli-Jewish collective memory, erased and renamed Palestinian topography, and how critical responses to this reading have challenged both Jewish and Palestinian nationalism.

Abraham Lincoln did not take his family Bible to the White House. And the reason he did not use the Bible in his first inaugural address was not because it failed to arrive in his baggage. Freed concentrates on what Abraham Lincoln himself says instead of what others say about him, which yields insights into understanding Lincoln's speech before the Young Men's Lyceum, his reply to the "Loyal Colored People of Baltimore," and his Second Inaugural Address. The author shows that much of what has been written about Lincoln's knowledge of the Bible and its influence on his thought is myth. Although his language was replete with vocabulary from the Bible, Lincoln's knowledge of it was superficial, and he did not use the Bible to promote religion. He was always a politician, but with a moral sensitivity. With the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, he used the Bible to help him achieve his political ambitions and to support the emancipation of slaves. A unique book on a subject never treated so thoroughly, this is a must-read for all Lincoln admirers.

In 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration for military and strategic reasons. This book analyses why and how the British took on the Palestine Mandate. It explores how their interests and policies changed during its course and why they evacuated the country in 1948. During the first decade of the Mandate the British enjoyed an influx of Jewish capital mobilized by the Zionists which enabled them not only to fund the administration of Palestine, but also her own regional imperial projects. But in the mid-1930s, as the clouds of World War Two gathered, Britain’s commitment to Zionism was superseded by the need to secure her strategic assets in the Middle East. In consequence she switched to a policy of appeasing the Arabs. In 1947, Britain abandoned her attempts to impose a settlement in Palestine that would be acceptable to the Arab States and referred Palestine to the United Nations, without recommendations, leaving the antagonists to settle their conflict on the battlefield. Based on archival sources, and the most up-to-date scholarly research, this comprehensive history offers new insights into Arab, British and Zionist policies. It is a must-read for anyone with an interest in Palestine, Israel, British Colonialism and the Middle East in general.

Napoleon’s invasion of the Middle East marks the beginning of the modern era in the region. This book traces the developments that led to the making of a new and separate geographical-political entity in the Middle East known as Eretz Israel and the establishment of the State of Israel within its bounds. Thus, its time frame runs from Napoleon’s invasion of Eretz Israel / Palestine in 1799 to the establishment of Israel in 1948–1949. Eretz Israel as the formal name of a separate entity in the modern era first appeared in the early translations into Hebrew of the Balfour Declaration, while in the original document the country was referred to as “Palestine.” During the period of Ottoman rule the territory that would in time be called Eretz Israel / Palestine was not a separate political unit. Among Jews, use of “Eretz Israel” increased only after the beginning of Zionist aliyot. Had the Zionist movement not arisen, it is doubtful whether the development to which this study is devoted would have occurred. The motivating force behind that process is without doubt the Zionist element. That is why Jews are the major protagonists in this book.

DIVFocusing on a subject that has been covered by various national media, including the Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes, and Nightline, Standing With Israel goes beyond politics to: •Profile leading Christian Zionists and detail the views and motives that drive their politics. •Spotlight Jews who have been at the forefront of forming a budding alliance with Israel’s Christian allies. •Explain why so many American Jews are deeply uncomfortable with this outpouring of Christian support. /div

The Balfour Declaration was one of the most important events in the history of the Jewish people prior to the Holocaust, signaling the beginning of a new era of self-determination in the reconstituted Jewish homeland. This book provides an all-inclusive understanding of the complex geopolitical elements that shaped the facts on the ground in the Middle East. Analyzing the chain of events that led to the Balfour Declaration through a uniquely holistic approach, it demonstrates how the national interests of the nations involved in the World War I theater intersected with those of the Jewish nation in the final phase of its long march towards political sovereignty. Like the multiple parts of precision clockwork, each element, regardless of shape or size, played an essential part in the functioning of the whole, while the absence of one of them would have altered the outcome of the entire process. The text is bound to be of interest to specialists and researchers wanting insights into the historic, international and psycho-sociological processes that have been changing the Middle East throughout recent decades. It will also serve as an important academic source, or even a textbook, for university courses about the history of Israel and the Middle East.