Abstract
Abstract Palestinian Christians are a minority of approximately 1 or 2% in a context marked by conflict, expulsions, and ongoing emigration. Despite all this, Palestinian Christians have made a significant contribution to society in the spheres of politics, the arts, science, and social welfare. Moreover, from the 1980s onwards, this Palestinian context of struggle has also been the source for the emergence of a socially and politically committed contextual theology. This article analyses the development of Palestinian contextual theology by examining theological publications by Palestinian theologians. It identifies liberation, reconciliation, witness, ecumenism, and interfaith-dialogue as some of the dominant theological themes. What unites these publications is a theological engagement with the Palestinian Christian identity in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Highlights
Palestinian Christians feel deeply rooted in Palestinian society
From the 1980s onwards, this Palestinian context of struggle has been the source for the emergence of a socially and politically committed contextual theology
Not long after Michel Sabbah assumed his post as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, he published his first pastoral letter on 15th August, 1988, in which he encouraged the faithful to “proclaim the message of the faith according to God’s Will: to carry out our mission means to serve Him and our fellow-men.”[2]. With these words, Sabbah voiced a specific Palestinian theological theme that I call ‘the revival of Palestinian Christianity’: a spiritual, societal, and political awakening of the Palestinian church that started in the 1970s and which transformed the local churches into an important force for social and political change
Summary
Palestinian Christians feel deeply rooted in Palestinian society. They understand themselves as part of the Palestinian community and actively contribute to its flourishing. Not long after Michel Sabbah assumed his post as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, he published his first pastoral letter on 15th August, 1988, in which he encouraged the faithful to “proclaim the message of the faith according to God’s Will: to carry out our mission means to serve Him and our fellow-men.”[2] With these words, Sabbah voiced a specific Palestinian theological theme that I call ‘the revival of Palestinian Christianity’: a spiritual, societal, and political awakening of the Palestinian church that started in the 1970s and which transformed the local churches into an important force for social and political change This revival is part of a longer, more gradual ‘Christian awakening’ in the Middle East, starting in the 19th century and continuing over the course of the 20th century, itself the result of the challenges of war, displacement, migration, European intervention, and an overall religious radicalisation in the Middle East. Laird, “Meeting Jesus Again in the First Place: Palestinian Christians and via free access ducted interviews with all of the Palestinian theologians who are mentioned below, this article is a literature study and relies primarily on Palestinian theological publications, mainly, but not exclusively, those produced in English
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