The disturbing reason why evangelical Christians want Jerusalem to be Israel's capital

Some evangelical Christians believe that recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will bring on the end of the world.

On Wednesday President Donald Trump announced that the US will recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the US embassy - which is currently based in Tel Aviv - will move there.

When the UN partitioned Palestine in 1947 the city of Jerusalem was given a special status, distinct from either a state of Palestine or a state of Israel, to be administered by an international council of the UN.

The US and many other nations currently have their embassies in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem came under the control of Israel in 1967, yet Israeli sovereignty has never been truly recognised internationally.

In April 2017 Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it considered western Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel - and eastern Jerusalem the capital of a ('future') Palestine, yet Russia's embassy to Israel is also located in Tel Aviv.

Donald Trump and evangelical Christians

In 2016, during the race for the Republican nomination, it was thought Donald Trump could not win over the religious right, who seemed to have been locked up by his rival Senator Ted Cruz.

His eventual win of that group, and later the country, was in part made possible due to Trump's pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

According to the Pew Research Centre; during the general election 80 per cent of self-identified white, born-again and evangelical Christians claimed they had voted for Trump, while just 16 per cent voted for Hillary Clinton.

Evangelicals and Jerusalem

In response to President Trump's announcement theological scholar Dr Diana Butler Bass tweeted her explanation of the link between the recognition of Jerusalem, evangelical Christians, and the apocalypse.

For anyone sceptical that evangelicals would really believe this, or welcome the apocalypse, Bass added:

Bass was joined in her analysis by Professor Matthew Gabriele, an expert in religious violence at Virginia Tech, who tweeted in support of a comment made by Anna Merlan, a reporter with Gizmodo.

The significance of Jerusalem and Israel to evangelicals concerns the 'Third Temple' prophecy.

Since 70 AD when the Romans tore down the 'Second Temple', there has been no Jewish Temple on the site of the Temple Mount.

Prophecies of a Third Temple are made in the books of Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation, and in the Second epistle to the Thessalonians.

These have been interpreted by some to suggest that the building of a Third Temple, known as the 'Tribulation Temple', will occur during the period of the Antichrist and bring on the apocalypse.

This is said to be followed by 1000 years of rule on earth by Christ himself, which some evangelical Christians are in favour of seeing happen.

Of course, not all evangelicals welcomed Mr Trump's decision, including New Testament scholar Gary M. Burge who wrote in The Atlantic:

Numerous evangelicals like me are less enamoured of the recent romance between the church and Republican politics, and worry about moving the U.S. embassy. For us, peacemaking and the pursuit of justice are very high virtues.

Moreover, an open letter, signed by 13 patriarchs from the Christian community in Jerusalem, and sent to the President on Wednesday, argued;

We are certain that such steps will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division.

More: Which countries recognise Palestine?