Bacevich notes the connection between premillennialism and support for Israel, and goes on to suggest that this leads in turn to support for American militarism: “as a result of the Religious Right’s fetish for the Jewish state, the distinctive Israeli strategic style - the way that Israelis conceive of military power and its uses - has colored conservative Christian thinking about these same subjects. By extension, this evangelical appropriation of Israeli strategic precepts has altered the terms of religious discourse about war and the use of force in ways that have contributed to the militarization of U.S. policy.”
Two thoughts: First, this provides clear illustration of the real-world consequences of bad theology; second, is disaffection with dispensationalism one of the factors in the shifts in political theology taking place among evangelical intellectuals?
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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