Book Recommendations for Further Study
The subject of Christian Zionism and Modern Israel produces more books than you might imagine and the number of choices can seem overwhelming. Here are two lists of recommended books, one for beginners and another for more advanced readers. All of these books have been influential and inspiring to us at ChristianZionism.org.
New to the Topic?
Personal Stories
Yet in the Dark Streets Shining: A Palestinian Story of Hope and Resilience in Bethlehem. Bishara Awad and Mercy Aiken. This is the inspiring story of a young boy who witnesses the death of his father, but grows up to become a leader in Bethlehem and launch Bethlehem Bible College. 2017. 221pp.
The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope. Munther Isaac. A Palestinian Christian pastor in Bethlehem describes life under occupation and explains its impact on his own faith. 2020. 256pp.
I am a Palestinian Christian: God and Politics in the Holy Land – A Personal Testimony. Mitri Raheb. This is the story of one of the leading pastors/educators in Bethlehem. He explains his identity as both Christian and Palestinian and what those identities have meant to him, growing up under occupation. 1995. 144pp.
Theology and Ethics
Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza. Peter Beinart. An American Jewish scholar writes about the Israeli injustices that are woven through Israeli history and how this has hurt both Palestinians and Jews alike. 2025. 192pp.
Rooted in Faith and Justice: Christian Calls to Conscience & Cries for Peace in Palestine. Rebekah Choate, Krista Johnson Weiksel, and Peter Makari, eds. A compact but comprehensive collection of essays explaining history, theology, antisemitism, apartheid, colonialism, and international law. 2024. 144pp.
American Evangelicals and Modern Israel: A Plea for Tough Love. Frederic Martin. An American scholar/pastor outlines the competing views of Israelis and Palestinians and demonstrates how the Bible should and should not be used in this conflict. 2016. 208pp.
Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to Holy Land Theology. Gary M. Burge. A survey of how the New Testament handles the idea of “holy land” with a direct application to the Israel/Palestine conflict today. 2010. 168pp.
Going Deeper?
Personal Stories
The Hundred Years War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917 – 2017. Rashid Khalidi. More than a history, this book interweaves the story of Khalidi’s own family with the major historical events between 1917 and 2017. 2020. 255pp.
The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine. Miko Peled. Peled is the grandson of a signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, son of an Israeli general, and former soldier in an elite Israeli Defense Forces unit whose own teen-age niece was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. This memoir tells how he became an advocate for Palestinian rights. 2016. 272pp.
Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path To Palestinian Solidarity. Brant Rosen. Rosen is an American rabbi who began to question his own lifelong Zionist beliefs in 2008. This book is a collection of blog posts in which Rosen very publicly reveals his own inner struggle with Zionism, alternating with responses from his readers. The exchanges are thoughtful and insightful. 2017. 306pp.
History
Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs & Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917 - 2017. Ian Black. This is a straightforward and even-handed overview by a British expert on Middle Eastern and international affairs. Black examines historical events decade by decade, making this book a useful reference tool. 2018. 640pp.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Ilan Pappe. Knowing about the Nakba, when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in 1948, is essential to understanding the eight decades of conflict that have followed. Pappe is one of the premier Israeli historians today. 2007. 336pp.
Theology and Ethics
Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians are Not Being Told About Israel and Palestine. Gary M. Burge. An evangelical New Testament professor tells the story of Palestine in concise form, raises all of the moral questions we face, and provides a survey of major Biblical passages that speak to this problem. Second Edition. 2013. 315pp.
Zion’s Christian Soldiers? The Bible, Israel, and the Church. Stephen Sizer. This readable book, written by one of the foremost British scholars on the topic, analyzes and critiques the theology behind Christian Zionism. Sizer offers a clear history of the movement, its Biblical problems, and a withering critique of Christian Zionism’s activity on behalf of Israel. 2008. 190pp.
Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Crisis Over Israel and Palestine. Colin Chapman. The recently released 5th edition of this book covers everything—history, Zionism, theology, Bible interpretation, antisemitism, and the current war in Gaza. Perhaps the premier, encyclopedic study written by a Christian scholar from Britain with extensive Middle East experience. Fifth Edition. 2024. 496pp.
The Land Cries Out: Theology of the Land in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict. Salim Munayer and Lisa Loden. A Palestinian Christian and an Israeli Messianic Jew write poignantly about their view of this conflict as local, embedded Christians. 2011. 368pp.