Life Stories and Christian Zionist Ideology – A Theoretical Outline of How to Capture the Interplay between Individual and Ideology

In English Christian Zionism is usually characterized as a theological and political movement grounded in literalist bible hermeneutics and End-time speculations that dedicate unwavering support to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The prophetic element in Christian Zionism has in later years been downplayed for a more down-to-earth focus on social and political commitment to the well-being of the state of Israel. This shift in emphasis leaves the floor open to new investigations into the identification with Israel that is central to many western evangelicals’ understanding of their Christian faith. In my research I use narrative methods to investigate contemporary Christian volunteer workers in Israel. I want to investigate how individual life-stories relate to the grand narrative of Christian Zionism in order to answer the question of the symbolical value that Israel bears to these believers. In the present paper I discuss theoretical and methodological questions in relation to my research project. As the interplay between individual biographies and ideology is the particular focus of my research I use James A. Holstein and Jaber F. Gubrium’s theoretical approach combined with ethnographic methods.