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Life Stories and Christian Zionist Ideology : A Theoretical Outline of How to Capture the Interplay between Individual and Ideology

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Author

Editor

  • Per Krogh Hansen

Summary, in English

Christian Zionism is usually characterized as a theological and political movement grounded in literalist bible hermeneutics and End-time speculations that dedicate unwavering support to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The prophetic element in Christian Zionism has in later years been downplayed for a more down-to-earth focus on social and political commitment to the well-being of the state of Israel. This shift in emphasis leaves the floor open to new investigations into the identification with Israel that is central to many western evangelicals’ understanding of their Christian faith. In my research I use narrative methods to investigate contemporary Christian volunteer workers in Israel. I want to investigate how individual life-stories relate to the grand narrative of Christian Zionism in order to answer the question of the symbolical value that Israel bears to these believers. In the present paper I discuss theoretical and methodological questions in relation to my research project. As the interplay between individual biographies and ideology is the particular focus of my research I use James A. Holstein and Jaber F. Gubrium’s theoretical approach combined with ethnographic methods.

Publishing year

2011

Language

English

Pages

68-77

Publication/Series

Working with Stories : Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice. Proceedings from the 2nd ENN Conference, Kolding 2011

Document type

Conference paper

Publisher

European Narratology Network

Topic

  • Religious Studies

Keywords

  • Christian Zionism
  • Evangelicalism
  • Identity
  • Israel
  • Life Stories
  • Narrative
  • Religious Fundamentalism
  • Volunteer work

Conference name

Working with Stories: Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice

Conference date

2011-03-09 - 2011-03-11

Conference place

Kolding, Denmark

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-87-994644-0-1