CZ talks with David Crump

David Crump is a former pastor and recently-retired professor of New Testament at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His book on prayer, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, is famous for its depth, clarity, and readability. His most recent book, Like Birds in a Cage, is the newest, most comprehensive academic study of Christian Zionism to date. In this interview, Crump speaks of his background in evangelical circles, his personal experience in meeting Palestinian people, and how his Christian faith guides his views and actions toward the people of Palestine.

ChristianZionism.org: What sparked your interest in Christian Zionism? Family upbringing? Trips to Israel?

David Crump: I had no idea that there was any such thing as a non-Zionist Christian before I arrived at college. I grew up in a very insular and fundamentalist church environment where Zionism was an essential piece of “real” Christianity. I eventually burst out of bubble and came to reject Christian Zionist theology and politics. However, I didn’t form an alternative view on these questions for many years. But I slowly became convinced that the Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza were suffering unjust persecution – something that no follower of Jesus can endorse. 

CZ: So what was the trigger that led you to rethink Christian Zionism? Your work as a New Testament scholar?

DC: I am a late bloomer on this issue. It wasn’t until the middle of my career as a New Testament professor at Calvin University that I began doing research into the modern history of Israel, its establishment in 1948, the fate of the Palestinians, and the role of Christian Zionism in supporting Israel today. Honestly, the more I learned, the more ashamed I became over the role my church has played in normalizing Israel’s policies and actions. 

CZ: What about personal experiences with Palestinians?

DC: When my wife and I became empty-nesters, we decided that we wanted to do something, however small, to help Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. We began doing volunteer work with a Palestinian charitable organization that works in Bethlehem’s refugee camps. This has become our home away from home, and we return as often as we can afford the airfare.

CZ: A refugee camp? What are refugees doing in Bethlehem?

DC: During the 1947-48 war that established modern Israel, approximately 750,000 Palestinians became refugees, as they fled or were expelled from the territory that would become the new Israeli state. Many sought refuge in the area that is now called the West Bank, where Bethlehem is located. Israel has always refused to allow these refugees and their descendants to return to their original homes. As a result, many still live in densely populated refugee camps established and supported by the United Nations throughout the West Bank, including Bethlehem.

CZ: What struck you about their life as refugees?

DC: Two things: the limits of refugee life and the people’s resiliency. Throughout the West Bank, Palestinian life is controlled by the Israeli military. Palestinians are not Israeli citizens.  They are governed by an oppressive system of military law under which they have no civil rights. The refugee camps themselves suffer frequent violent incursions by Israeli soldiers. Palestinians’ freedom to travel, both within the West Bank and beyond, is severely limited by the arbitrary decisions of Israeli authorities. In light of all this oppression, however, I am always amazed at the peoples’ resiliency. Palestinians have the highest rate of education of any group in the Middle East. My friends in Bethlehem are all doing the best they can with what little they have to raise loving families under harsh conditions. Without exception, in my experience, they are a remarkably generous and hospitable group of people.

CZ: Are many of Bethlehem’s residents Christians?

DC: Palestinian Christians have been emigrating from the city of Jesus’ birth - and the entire Israel/Palestine region - in a steady stream. In 1950, well over 80% of Bethlehem residents were Christian. Today that figure has fallen to 12%. Many in the western and Israeli press blame this Christian exodus on the threat of Muslim extremism. I have visited and worshiped with a number of churches in the area. The Christians I talk to agree that constant military surveillance, walls, checkpoints, a poor economy, low wages, and high unemployment are the main causes. All of these hardships are products of Israel’s military occupation.

CZ: Does your commitment to Palestinians spring from your Christian faith?

DC: Yes, definitely. My activism is a direct result of my Christian conscience. The Bible teaches us that all people are created as the Image of God, which means that everyone without exception deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. No thoughtful Christian can accept, much less approve of, the way Israel treats the Palestinians people over which it rules. God loves Palestinians as much as anyone else. Christ died for them as well as for the Jewish people and for me. And I am compelled by Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. The Palestinians have been mugged, robbed, and left to suffer in a very deep ditch. My Christian faith obligates me to help them.

CZ: The average western church frequently stands with Israel as a spiritual or theological commitment. Has the church missed something?

DC: Yes. The western church’s reflexive support for Israel and its policies shows that the church has missed a great deal.  First, it is axiomatic that no Christian or biblical theology can support prejudice, racism, and discrimination, much less the deadly firepower that Israel regularly unleashes on the people of Gaza. Second, the New Testament writers clearly did not read the Old Testament texts in a way that encourages us to view the modern state of Israel as God’s chosen nation. If we believe in the authority of the Bible, then the apostles’ understanding of the Old Testament ought to be authoritative for the church. Sadly, it’s not.

CZ: Can I support the Palestinians and the Israelis at the same time?

DC: Definitely! Criticizing Israel’s behavior is not an abandonment of Israel. Defending Palestinian rights is not antisemitic or anti-Israel. We want Israel to prosper, but Israel’s genuine prosperity will only happen when it becomes a truly inclusive, liberal democracy that ends its oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel will be healthier and more secure once this transformation happens. 

CZ: Scripture tells us to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps 122:6). What should that look like?

DC: Psalm 122 is a “psalm of ascent” that was sung by ancient pilgrims as they travelled to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship because the city’s temple was God’s earthly residence. The psalmist’s calls for peace and harmony within the city and among God’s congregation of worshipers (verses 6 - 9). visualize the blessings of God’s presence reflected in harmony among God's people. Christians today understand that our incarnate Savior, Jesus Christ, was the new temple of God’s presence here on earth (John 2:19 – 22; 4:21 – 24), who is now seated on David’s throne (verse 5) inside the heavenly temple at the right hand of God (Hebrews 1:1 – 4). An earthly temple is no longer needed. We now pray for the expansion of God’s peaceable kingdom on earth: for all of God’s people throughout the world to reflect the peace of Jesus Christ as they worship together and work together to extend God’s peace to the world around them. The New Testament vision of “the peace of Jerusalem” extends far beyond the provincialism, territorialism, and ethnic nationalism embraced by Christian Zionists.