{"id":252224,"date":"2026-04-16T07:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252224\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T07:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:46:20","slug":"what-the-war-in-iran-means-for-texas-christian-zionists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252224\/","title":{"rendered":"What the war in Iran means for Texas Christian Zionists"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a fragile, two-week\u00a0ceasefire hangs over the U.S.-Israel war with Iran<\/a>, Richard Booker, who runs a Christian ministry in Conroe, says he aches for the Iranian people. But that doesn\u2019t mean he stands against the military operation. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“If you have somebody that is calling you ‘the Little Satan’ and America ‘the Great Satan,’ this puts the conflict in a spiritual realm,\u201d Booker said, referring to terms Iran has used for Israel and the U.S.<\/a> respectively. \u201cSo from my standpoint, as a Bible person, the conflict is not just against people, but it’s against an ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE: How the Iran ceasefire may affect Houston gas prices and what past oil shocks tell us<\/a><\/p>\n

Booker’s rhetoric exemplifies the belief of many Christian Zionists \u2014 or as he would call himself, a \u201cBiblical Zionist\u201d \u2014 who see military escalations in Iran as necessary. While precise definitions of the movement are often disputed, a common belief among Christian Zionists is that God made a covenant with Abraham’s descendants to give them a land that would be theirs, and that modern-day Israel is the fulfillment of that promise. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Some of the most visible figures of the Christian Zionist movement include Texas televangelist John Hagee, who says that returning Jewish people to Israel is an essential step for the end-times and the return of Jesus.<\/p>\n

These beliefs are most commonly associated with evangelicals \u2014 but not all Christians are aligned with\u00a0modern-day Israel.<\/p>\n

The war with Iran and the ground invasion in Lebanon are amplifying a divide among Christians over their biblical views on Israel and how those stances\u00a0shape U.S. policy. Some see supporting the nation as a mandate from God, while others say modern Israel isn\u2019t the same as the land God promised to his chosen people centuries ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

American opinions on Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s administration are shifting. As of March, 60% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, which is up from 53% last year, according to data from a Pew Research Center survey of 3,507 U.S. adults.<\/a><\/p>\n

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READ MORE: \u2018Cautiously optimistic\u2019: Houston rabbis express hope as hostages freed but security remains tight<\/a><\/p>\n

The split comes as the Trump administration relies on religious messaging in its remarks on the war, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently emphasizing how a U.S. airman was rescued from Iran on Easter Sunday. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShot down on a Friday \u2014 Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday. And rescued on Sunday,\u201d Hegseth said earlier this month. \u201cFlown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence greets Pastor John Hagee on Sunday evening at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio in 2023.<\/p>\n

Robin Jerstad, San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

What is Christian Zionism?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Christian Zionism uses Christian theology and biblical interpretation to justify support for the modern state of Israel as the homeland for Jewish people in historic Palestine, said Ross Wagner, associate professor of New Testament at Duke University\u2019s Divinity School. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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“That very general description can hold a lot of different \u2014 sometimes incompatible \u2014 theologies under its umbrella,\u201d Wagner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The popularized evangelical support for Israel truly took off following the 1967 Six-Day War. Many saw Israel\u2019s victories against its Arab neighbors as a miracle. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But the end-times beliefs Christian Zionists subscribe to can often be offensive to Jewish people, Wagner said, because many Christians believe that people of other faiths can\u2019t enter heaven if they don\u2019t embrace Jesus as their savior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re either going to convert to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, or they’re going to be destroyed, along with everybody else who’s rebellious,\u201d Wagner said about popular Christian Zionist beliefs. \u201cBut it comes across, at least now, as very pro-Jewish or pro-Israel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Megachurch pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano recently spoke about the importance of supporting Israel as it battles Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cI believe, because I read my Bible, that we are nearing the rapture of the church when Jesus comes,\u201d Graham told his\u00a0congregants last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE: How Houston Jewish and Hindu communities stood by each other after Oct. 7 attacks in Israel<\/a><\/p>\n

Scholarly and media narratives about Christian Zionism often focus on \u201cextreme\u201d versions of it, like the focus on the apocalyptic prophecies. But many Christian Zionists don\u2019t cite the end-times as their primary reason for supporting Israel, said Samuel Goldman, associate professor of humanities at the University of Florida\u2019s Hamilton School. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, many Christians cite Chapter 12 of Genesis in the Old Testament, when God promises Abraham the land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse,\u201d God says in the chapter. \u201cAnd all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Understanding the divide \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rev. Adam McIntosh, pastor at St. David’s Reformed Church in Tomball, wants to see Jewish people \u2014 and really those from all faiths \u2014 accept Jesus as their savior. It was instrumental to his childhood as he grew up with Israelis and Palestinians when his father served as a missionary.<\/p>\n

Despite his experience in that region of the world, he doesn\u2019t support Christian Zionism narratives that include Hagee\u2019s predictions on the return of Jesus, calling them an inaccurate portrayal of biblical truth.<\/p>\n

McIntosh says the common Christian Zionist beliefs are relatively new in church history and aren’t based on scripture. In the Old Testament, there was a division between the Jewish people and the rest of the world, or Gentiles, but God no longer saw that separation once Jesus arrived, he said.<\/p>\n

He says the U.S. shouldn’t attack Iran for Israel’s sake \u2014 even if it means freeing the Iranian people from an oppressive regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If that does happen, praise God. I’m happy for that,” McIntosh said. “But it doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want to achieve that end. We still have to do what God says, which is a limitation on state power.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Why the Southern Baptist Convention hasn’t intervened in Second Baptist’s war with its members<\/a><\/p>\n

Brandt Burleson no longer considers himself a Christian. But when he was, he took a job working for the Consulate General of Israel Houston and the Southwest. From 2016 to 2025, he says he spent much of his 40-hour work week speaking with pastors and Christian leaders about the importance of supporting Israel. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He often heard Genesis 12 used to uphold \u201cunquestioning support\u201d for Israel. For Burleson, the experience made him question his own beliefs until he didn\u2019t feel like he was a Christian anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This isn’t the kind of Christianity (of), \u2018Oh, do good work and help the poor people\u2019 that I grew up with,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is really people who are kind of rooting for Armageddon to happen.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The case for the Iran war\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Booker, seeing the shifting opinions among Americans towards Israel is \u201cfrightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re raised in the Bible \u2014 \u00a0whether somebody believes it or not is not the point \u2014 \u00a0it’s there,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd all through the Bible, it’s very clear that God made this covenant that’s an everlasting, unconditional covenant.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rev. Becky Keenan, senior pastor of Living Hope Houston, said supporting Israel is about backing what she calls the only democracy in the Middle East. The way she sees it, the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran placed them on the right side of history. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI support Israel as a Christian, but I don’t divorce my history and my understanding of politics and just common sense,\u201d Keenan said. \u201cThey’re our best ally in the Middle East, and we have an opportunity to bring greater peace to the region.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a fragile, two-week\u00a0ceasefire hangs over the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, Richard Booker, who runs a Christian ministry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-252224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-texas","9":"tag-texas-headlines","10":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}