Theologian NT Wright: Belief that Israel is fulfillment of Bible prophecy is a 'totally unbiblical idea'

Warns USA, Britain against claiming 'we're a Christian country or whatever'

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Monday, November 02, 2026

DALLAS — On the eve of Election Day, retired Anglican bishop and theologian N.T. Wright urged Christians to rethink how their faith shapes their vote.

Wright, known for his work on Pauline theology, the historical Jesus and the Resurrection, is the featured speaker at “The Fresh Challenge of Romans,” a four-day conference running through Wednesday at Park Cities Baptist Church. Organizers say the event, which is expected to draw more than 600 attendees, focuses on reading the Apostle Paul’s New Testament letter to the Romans in its original context rather than through later theological lenses.

During a Q&A portion of Monday’s event, the 77-year-old Wright criticized the rise in popularity of what he called a “totally unbiblical idea” that is widely held among American Evangelicals.

“There are several strands, particularly in America, which have contributed towards what I think is a totally unbiblical idea, namely that the present modern-day state of Israel is somehow a fulfillment of prophecy,” Wright said. “This is simply unwarranted and is the result of all sorts of odd strands of teaching, particularly, but not only, Dispensationalism in the 19th century.”

Wright said he once viewed the belief as merely quirky but now that “the chickens are coming home to roost, we’re seeing that it’s a very dangerous thing to believe.”

“Theology matters,” added Jeff Warren, senior pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church.

Wright said support for modern Israel is only one of many issues voters must weigh, alongside the economy, immigration and other concerns. “It’s part of the difficulty of democracy that people campaign on a particular thing or people just get a sense of, ‘We like this person because they probably support what we think about this and that.’”

Such an approach, he added, underscores a much deeper theological problem.

“If you say what should be the Christian priorities for any country that wanted to say, ‘We have a Christian heritage’ — and actually lots of countries have tried to say that, it’s very difficult for any of them, yours or mine or any of them to substantiate it — but if you wanted to at least make a start … well, you could start with the Sermon on the Mount,” he said.

Taking Jesus’ famous sermon in Matthew 5 line by line, Wright compared the words of Christ with the attitudes of today’s Christian-majority nations like the U.S. and Britain. 

‘Blessed are the pure in heart.’ Well, we’re not terribly good at that; we think those are a bit wimpish. “‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ Well, we’re not quite ready for that…” he said.  “‘Blessed are those who are hungry for justice’, well, we want justice for ourselves, but we’re not too worried about it for other people.”

He argued that countries claiming a Christian heritage should measure their priorities against passages such as the Sermon on the Mount and Psalm 72, which emphasize justice for the poor, the widow and the orphan.

"For me, one of the main political texts in the Bible is Psalm 72, where you have the irony to Americans who gave up kings 250 years ago, where we celebrate the King, we celebrate the coming King,” said Wright. “In Psalm 72, why do we celebrate and thank God for the King? Because He does justice for the widow and the orphan and the poor and the helpless, and where people are too rich and too bullying, too powerful, He pushes them out of the way.”

Wright also addressed Christian nationalism, noting that both the U.S. and Britain, which, he said, often use political language to invoke Christian identity, should instead consult passages such as Psalm 72 to determine whether those nations are, in fact, living out their Christian ideals.

“If you want a biblical agenda for how you construe what’s going on in any society, I will take those as among your many key texts, and say, ‘How are we doing on all of that?” he said. “We do it as well in Britain — we use the language of ‘Oh, we’re a Christian country or whatever.'

"We have Christian nationalism of a sort,” Wright added. “It doesn’t have the same history as yours, but it can have some equal things.”

Wright further argued that if the U.S. or Britain were, in fact, Christian nations, “then we should see the priorities being set and followed through in terms of the Psalms, in terms of Isaiah, in terms of the Sermon on the Mount, et cetera. I’m not seeing that anywhere at the moment, not in my country, not in yours.”

Even so, Wright called on all American Evangelicals to make their voices heard, adding that a refusal to vote is “a dereliction of responsibilities.”

 “The Fresh Challenge of Romans” is set to run through Wednesday.