On a cold Dublin morning in 1827, a young Anglican preacher lay in agony, his body shattered from a horseback riding accident. As John Nelson Darby recovered in his sickbed, no one could have imagined that this broken man would transform the destiny of the Jewish people and forge what would become America’s unshakeable alliance with Israel.
Born into Anglo-Irish aristocracy in 1800, Darby seemed destined for a conventional life of privilege. A brilliant student at Westminster School and Trinity College Dublin, he graduated as a Classical Medalist and was called to the Irish bar in 1822. His future as a successful lawyer seemed assured until a dramatic spiritual awakening led him to abandon law for the Anglican priesthood.
As a young curate in County Wicklow, Darby threw himself into his pastoral duties with characteristic intensity. He learned Gaelic to minister to his Irish-speaking parishioners and lived in a peasant’s cottage, giving away most of his income to the poor. But it was the accident that would transform him from a devoted parish priest into a theological revolutionary.
Confined to his bed for months, Darby began reading scripture with an intensity born of isolation. “In my solitude,” he later wrote, “the Lord began to open my understanding to see beyond the doctrines men had laid upon God’s word.” What he discovered would shake Christianity’s foundational attitude toward the Jewish people.
For nearly two millennia, Christian theology had taught that the Church had replaced Israel as God’s chosen people ā a doctrine that had justified centuries of Jewish persecution. But as Darby read and reread the biblical prophecies, he came to a radical conclusion: when God made promises to Israel, He meant them literally and eternally.
“The Jewish nation is never to be reckoned among the nations,” Darby wrote in his influential “Studies on the Book of Daniel.” “They are contrasted with Gentiles… they are a people chosen of God for Himself.” This seemingly simple observation would eventually revolutionize Christian attitudes toward Jews and Israel.
Darby’s theological innovation, later termed “dispensationalism,” divided history into distinct periods or “dispensations.” In his view, God’s promises to the Jewish people remained valid and would culminate in their return to Israel. “The restoration of the Jews forms a leading feature of prophetic testimony,” he declared in his “Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.”
Initially, these ideas found limited audience among his fellow Plymouth Brethren, a small group of dissatisfied Protestants meeting in Dublin. But Darby was no mere theorist. Between 1862 and 1877, he made seven grueling trips to North America, where his ideas would find fertile ground.
In smoke-filled revival tents and crowded churches across America, Darby’s message resonated with a particular power. The Civil War had shaken American Christianity, and his systematic approach to biblical prophecy offered both hope and certainty. Among his converts was a young Dwight L. Moody, who would become America’s most influential evangelist.
“Mr. Darby’s interpretation of Scripture opened my eyes to the divine plan for Israel,” Moody wrote. “It transformed my understanding of God’s purposes.” Through Moody’s massive revivals, these ideas spread across American Protestantism like wildfire.
But it was Cyrus Scofield who would amplify Darby’s influence beyond anything the Irishman could have imagined. The Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909, incorporated Darby’s interpretations into its notes, becoming the most influential Bible among American evangelicals for the next century.
The political implications of this theological shift would prove enormous. When Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, American evangelicals were among its strongest supporters. President Harry Truman, raised on the Scofield Bible, later cited his dispensationalist beliefs as a factor in his quick recognition of Israel in 1948.
Today, the numbers tell an extraordinary story. According to recent Pew Research surveys, 80% of white evangelical Protestants believe that the modern state of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy. This translates into powerful political support: in 2020, 72% of white evangelicals supported moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
“Without John Nelson Darby, the landscape of American support for Israel would look radically different,” says historian Paul Boyer. “He created the theological framework that made evangelical Christians Israel’s most reliable allies.”
Not everyone celebrates this legacy. Critics argue that dispensationalism oversimplifies biblical prophecy and reduces Jews to mere players in a Christian eschatological drama. Reform Rabbi Eric Yoffie has noted that while appreciating evangelical support, many Jews feel uncomfortable with the theological assumptions behind it.
Yet the political impact is undeniable. From President Trump’s embassy move to consistent congressional support for military aid, America’s pro-Israel policies often reflect the evangelical constituency Darby’s ideas helped create. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress in 2015, he specifically thanked Christian Zionists for their “unwavering support.”
Modern evangelical leaders like John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), explicitly trace their theological lineage to Darby. With over 10 million members, CUFI has become one of America’s most powerful pro-Israel lobbying groups ā all growing from seeds planted in a Dublin sickbed.
Darby died in 1882, never seeing the modern state of Israel. Yet his influence continues to shape world events. Today, as Israel faces growing international isolation, American support remains steadfast, anchored in the theological revolution begun by a wounded preacher who dared to read the Bible with new eyes.
“Sometimes,” Darby wrote near the end of his life, “God’s greatest works begin in weakness.” His own story ā from broken body to world-changing influence ā proves the truth of those words. In the strange alchemy of history, a horseback riding accident in Dublin helped forge the strongest international alliance the modern state of Israel would ever know.
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By: Rabbi Elie Mischel
The Israel BibleĀ is the worldās first Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) centered around the Land of Israel, the People of Israel, and the dynamic relationship between them.
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