1917 Balfour Declaration

When World War I broke out Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, but after British forces invaded, Lord Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, wrote to Lord James Rothschild that the British government viewed the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine with favor. In 1918, dispensationalists organized two prophetic conferences in New York and Philadelphia, where they discussed the Jewish state.

^top

1920s and 1930s

World War I gave dispensationalists ample assurance that they were reading the Bible correctly. They found other evidence in what they saw as signs of national deterioration: The public schools were overrun by evolutionists and secularists. Personal and public morals took a nosedive, with increasing divorce rates, the obscenities of the "new woman," and the open flouting of Prohibition laws. Dispensationalists watched the rise of fascism in Europe, the spread of communism, and growing anti-Semitism. Civilization was obviously spinning out of control, and for the prophecy pundits, everything was right on schedule. During the twenties and thirties, a number of leading dispensational teachers promoted right-wing conspiracy theories and even fell prey to Nazi propaganda.

 

^top