Peace and Faith: Christian Churches and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ed. by Cary Nelson and Michael C. Gizzi

Abstract

Reviewed by: Peace and Faith: Christian Churches and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ed. by Cary Nelson and Michael C. Gizzi Jonathan C. Friedman Peace and Faith: Christian Churches and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Edited by Cary Nelson and Michael C. Gizzi. Philadelphia, and Boston, MA: Academic Studies Press (for Presbyterians for Middle East Peace), 2021. Pp. 638. $45.00, cloth; $30.00, paper. Nelson and Gizzi’s expansive edited volume brings together religious leaders and scholars around three main issues: the different, often divergent, approaches [End Page 127] of the many Christian churches toward Israel; the boycott campaigns of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA); and the path forward for Israel and Palestine. Nelson is Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Gizzi is Professor of Criminal Justice at Illinois State University. The book, the fifth in a series of publications for Nelson contesting the movement advocating a boycott of Israel, is exhaustive in its research and presentation. Nelson begins with an 86-page introduction to the beliefs about, and relations toward, the state of Israel from Christian denominations, including, among others, American Evangelicals, Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Mennonites, and members of the United Church of Christ. Part One features in-depth articles about theology and Zionism and specific denominational approaches to Israel, essentially augmenting Nelson’s introduction. The dividing line is both religious and political; the Evangelical right has been supportive of Israel (some would say because it fulfills “end of days” prophecies), while left-leaning churches have tended to be more critical of Israel. Some, including Presbyterian and Methodist churches, have embraced or considered embracing parts of the boycott/divestment/sanction movement (BDS). The 2009 publication, Kairos Palestine, a theological statement by Palestinian Christians on Israel and Palestine, looms large in this work, appearing multiple times in the discussion of Christian support for BDS. Critics have decried the anti-Zionist theological perspective of Kairos Palestine, along with the absence of language affirming Israel’s right to exist. Part Two centers on the boycott campaigns of the PCUSA. In 2004, its General Assembly voted to support divesting from companies that conducted business in the West Bank. Presbyterian pastors John Wimberly and William Harter write about the genesis and evolution of PCUSA positions, noting that the church altered its position in 2006 to focus on “corporate engagement,” acknowledging the “hurt and misunderstanding” that the 2004 resolution had caused (p. 329). Nelson and Gizzi use the last two chapters of this section to critique the 2014 anti-Zionist Presbyterian publication, Zionism Unsettled. In Part Three, they offer perspectives on reconciliation, with Gizzi emphasizing re-lations through individuals and such groups as Seeds of Peace and Kids4Peace, and Nelson offering specifics for a two-state solution. With full acknowledgment of the book’s import and contribution to scholarship, a greater variety of voices from within the many denominations of global Christianity would have enriched the volume. Assembling clergy from outside [End Page 128] the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, who represent Christianity in all its theological and geographical diversity, and allowing more men and women clergy to have their say, however unpopular some positions might be, would have been a bold choice. Nelson and Gizzi’s admirable frameworks for peace in their final essays also shift the attention from theology to politics in a book that is supposed to be about religion, specifically Christianity. An epilogue from “postmodern” Christians and Jews, such as Brian McLaren, Cornel West, and Rabbi Michael Lerner, whose Network of Spiritual Progressives envisions a healing of Israel and Palestine that is as much spiritual as it is political, would have kept the focus on faith, which is where the book has its most profound and original impact. Jonathan C. Friedman West Chester University, West Chester, PA Copyright © 2023 Journal of Ecumenical Studies