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  • The Restoration of Israel: Christian Zionism in Religion, Literature and Politics
  • Stephen Sizer
The Restoration of Israel: Christian Zionism in Religion, Literature and Politics. By Gerhard Falk. [American University Studies, Series VII:Theology and Religion, Vol. 257.] (New York: Peter Lang. 2006. Pp. xii, 224. $70.95. ISBN 978-0-820-48862-2.)

Gerhard Falk is a professor of sociology at Buffalo State University, New York, and the author of fifteen other books on a diverse range of subjects including deviant nurses, football, grandparents, stigma, fraud, ageism, and murder. In this particular book, he traces the influence of the Hebrew Bible in history and civilization and explores how Christians helped nurture and facilitate the return of Jewish people to Palestine, also called Restorationism. Further chapters evaluate Jewish support and Muslim resistance to the return.

At times Falk's use of rather awkward terminology suggests he is either unfamiliar with Christianity, English, or both. For example, two final chapters deal with what Falk describes as "Displacement" and "Two-Covenant" theology. The former is more usually referred to as "Replacement" theology. He also claims," It is surely no exaggeration to say that the growth of Christianity as a world religion depended as much on the satanization of the Jews as any other contributing factor" (p. 8).

He reinforces this assertion by claiming the Roman Catholic Church also "taught its billion followers to regard all Jews as 'Christ killers' with the consequence [End Page 748] that Jews living at any time anywhere became the targets of revenge murders, finally resulting in the Holocaust. All this has been described in an avalanche of literature in every European language, far too voluminous to be reviewed here" (p. 158).

Besides sweeping generalizations, simple factual errors abound. In the preface Falk refers to Tyndale, but it appears on the back cover as Tindale. Similarly, John Wycliffe is given two different sets of dates: "(1320–1384)" on page vii and "(1325–1384)" on page 3.

As someone who has also written extensively on the subject of Christian Zionism, I examined his index and was initially gratified to find my name listed numerous times. However, on checking the references I discovered that without offering a single attributable quote, Falk falsely labels me as the "leading Jew baiter in England" (p. 195), as well as states that I defamed Judaism (p. 196), that I "hop[e] for the elimination of Israel" (p. 195), that I blame the Jews for the destruction of the World Trade Center (p. 195), and that I repeat all the anti-Jewish polemics possible (p. 196). I must also deny his equally unfounded allegation that I am "the most influential Anglican preacher in England today" (p. 93). Suddenly, remaining objective in writing this book review became a rather difficult task.

I therefore wrote to Falk and invited him to substantiate any of his allegations. I subsequently received a reply from Heidi Burns, senior editor at Peter Lang, the publisher of Falk's book. It contained an errata sheet that Lang intended to add to the remaining stock of the book. It listed the seven references to me and after each added, "I erroneously refer to the Rev. Stephen Sizer. . . .This is not the case. It is an error." The concluding sentence stated," In short, the author apologizes for mentioning these matters and believes that all references to the Rev. Sizer are not supported by the evidence." In a subsequent letter, probably designed to dissuade me from initiating a libel action, Falk confessed," I must say that I am astonished that anyone would be interested in reviewing my book since it has been my experience that my writings have a tiny audience and have little impact on the events of this world."

Given that the author has received an award for "Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity," I can only deduce that Falk has, on this occasion, to put it charitably, relied too heavily on secondary sources or his imagination. These errata comments, although welcome, do not instill much confidence regarding the reliability of other sources quoted, as I am unable to substantiate these. Other Jewish academics—notably, Dan Cohen-Sherbok and Gershom Gorenberg, together...

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