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In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, William E. Blackstone (18411935) made tremendous social and religious contributions as an evangelical layman. Unfortunately, this Chicago businessman's work remains virtually unknown in the twenty-first century. Among his many achievements are writing the most important early book on premillennialism entitled Jesus is Coming; being the first Dean of BIOLA; preaching the sermon which influenced A. B. Simpson to establish the Christian Missionary Alliance; founding the Chicago Hebrew Mission (now Life in Messiah International); being the Honorary Commissioner for the Arbitration Memorial which called for an International Court of Justice for warring nations; founding The Jewish Era journal; and serving as the Trustee for the multi-million dollar Milton Stewart Evangelistic Fund. Perhaps his most significant contribution concerns his work on behalf of suffering Jews worldwide. At a time when Jews were seeking relief from oppression, Blackstone petitioned the U.S. President Benjamin Harrison to campaign for their return to Israel. The "Blackstone Memorial" was the first petition of its kind, which predated the work of Theodor Herzl's Der Judenstaat The Jewish State). The efforts of Blackstone on behalf of the Jews have resulted in some Jewish groups and even a U.S. Supreme Court Justice to name Blackstone the "Father of Zionism." The purpose of this article is not to argue for the veracity of this appellation upon Blackstone, but to explain the history of his contribution to Zionism while appreciating his evangelical proclivities.
I. MOTIVATION FOR ZIONISM
The words of Jürgen Moltmann find no better example than in the life of William E. Blackstone: "From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving, and therefore also revolutionizing and transforming the present. The eschatological is not one element of Christianity, but it is the medium of Christian faith as such, the key in which everything in it is set, the glow that suffuses everything here in the dawn of an expected new day."1 As an ardent supporter of dispensational premillennialism, Blackstone's contention for a future for national Israel in their ancient homeland, coupled with his belief in the imminent return of Christ, undergirded his every venture.2
Although he founded the Chicago Hebrew Mission in 1887 and published several articles, preached numerous...