Don Lewis, the Canadian church historian whose sudden death this past October shocked us all, bravely waded through a minefield of controversy to leave us with a masterful history of the idea that Scripture mandates a Jewish return to that region commonly known as “Palestine.”  Lewis previously contributed a monograph on Lord Shaftesbury and the Victorian evangelical English support for Zionism that resulted in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Despite a preoccupation with the Holy Land during the Middle Ages, Christian support for Zionism largely began with the Protestant Reformation when there was an increased focus on Scripture and, with it, Apocalyptic texts. Jewish evangelism was a Continental Pietist theme that was transferred to the evangelical movement. Contrary to common perception, Zionism was not a distinctive of Dispensational thought in the beginning, as Christian Zionism was founded on the establishment of a Jewish state prior to any Tribulation. The pogroms in Russia of the 1880s increased sympathy for the Jewish people and were vigorously condemned by Evangelicals. Paradoxically, Victorian evangelicals were much more committed to Zionism than the handful of European Jews of the period who espoused the idea. Of course, this all changed with the events of the twentieth century when figures such as Theodor Herzl championed the cause as did an increasing number of American evangelical leaders. Don Lewis is a sure guide to this story, and we will miss his wise historical thinking.