As I am writing this (1-5-06), the Rev. Pat Robertson has linked the grave disease of PM A. Sharon to the fact that Sharon tried to "divide" the Holy Land given, in Robertson's view, to the modern people of Israel exclusively.

Robertson is notorious for his Christian Zionist position that believes that the Old Testament promises of land to Israel still hold today. He is a "restorationist" who believes that the year 1948, when the modern nation of Israel was established in Palestine, is a rather important date in world history. Already when Y. Rabin was assassinated, Robertson saw "God's hand" involved there too.

Sizer, a student of Palestine and minister of the Church of England, does an excellent job in tracing the theological, historical, institutional, and political backgrounds of the likes of Robertson and J. Falwell. He also offers some helpful theological critique of the underlying theological views.

Astonishingly, "Christian Zionists" in Britain and especially America abound, ever since its tenets were popularized by the infamous Scofield Reference Bible. This is true not just for many an Evangelical congregation; various leading 20th-century British and American politicians have been sympathetic to this type of "philo-Judaism". In fact, as Sizer shows, the existence of the state of Israel today would be unthinkable without the inspiration and support of Christian Zionists in Britain and America.

All in all, Sizer's book is an important contribution to understanding the ongoing Near East conflict, as it sheds light on a area that usually does not make headline-news. Five stars are fully warranted.