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Issue Theme:
Revitalizing Theological Reflection in the Congregation
Theological Reflection and Vital Piety in North American Methodism
Ann Taves
Theology and Reflection: The Dynamics of Theology in Christian Life
Randy L. Maddox
The Word of God and the People of God:
Revitalizing Theological Discourse from the Bottom Up A JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL RESOURCES FOR MINISTRY
Joerg Rieger
The Imperative to Teach: Towards Vital Renewal of the Teaching Office
Patricia Farris
Hispanic Lay Theology: Reflections on an Emerging Model
Sal Trinidad
Book Review
Trinity, Community, and Power: Mapping Trajectories in Wesleyan Theology
ed. by M. Douglas Meeks
(Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2000)
Reviewer: Hendrik R. Pieterse
NEXT ISSUE:
COME, HOLY SPIRIT: POSTMODERNITY, SPIRITUALITY, AND THE SPIRIT
An Important Announcement about
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January 2005
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Quarterly Review
Spring 2005
"Blessed A r e t h e Peacemakers"
ISSUE THEME:
The Israeli-Palestinian Situation: Theological Explorations
T h e Palestine-Israel Conflict: A S h o r t H i s t o r y
Elaine C. Hagopian
U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t s a n d t h e Israeli-Palestinian Situation
Rhonda McCarty
T h e C h u r c h in Review
T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h as a G l o b a l C h u r c h
Lectionary Study
John G Holbert
Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church by Lovett
H. Weems, Jr. (Nashville: A b i n g d o n , 2003)
Reviewers: Elise Eslinger, Elizabeth W o u r m s , Richard Eslinger .
BARRY E. BRYANT
Guest Editor
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V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
"BLESSED A R E T H E PEACEMAKERS"
6 QUARTERLY REVIEW
The Israeli-Palestinian Situation: Theological Explorations
ELAINE C. H A G O P 1 A N
QUARTERLY REVIEW 7
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A S H O R T HISTORY
moving o u t t h e i n d i g e n o u s Palestinians:
8 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
SPRING 2005 9
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT; A SHORT HISTORY
British kept secret t h e Declaration's text from Palestinians for several years
so as n o t t o alert t h e m to t h e betrayal.
10 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
SPRING 2005 11
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
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E L A I N E C. HAGOPIAN
SPRING 2005 13
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
Ben-Gurion, and the rest of the left-wing leadership, always looked moderate
and reasonable, denying either a conflict with the Arabs or the wish for a
Jewish state. This was a brilliant ruse, a great tactical posture, but behind it he
knew that the only way to defeat the Palestinians was through military force [a
position that has defined Israel's Arab policy of force and more force to bring
the Arabs to heel], which he created. While right-wing leaders made fiery
speeches about a great Jewish army, Ben-Gurion quietly created i t He [Ben-
Gurion] knew very little about socialist theories and did not need to study
socialism [the idealized Zionist construction of return to the land, Jewish self-
sufficiency, etc., which appealed to European Jews immigrating to Palestine] to
achieve his goal, which was the goal of the movement: Jewish sovereignty in
20
Palestine.
14 QUARTERLY REVIEW
ELAINE C. HAGOPIAN
SPRING 2005 15
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A S H O R T HISTORY
(1) Britain would continue to rule Palestine for a ten-year period. If the Arabs
and Jews were able to work together satisfactorily during this period, they
would be given an increasing role in the Palestine government, and Palestine
would be established as an independent state within ten years. Otherwise,
independence would be postponed. (2) Seventy-five thousand Jewish immi
grants would be allowed to enter Palestine over a five-year period. Any immi
gration after that would be subject to the acquiescence of the Arabs. (3)
Stringent restrictions would be placed on land sales to Jews in certain areas
26
and complete prohibition in other areas.
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E L A I N E C, H A G O P I A N
The Jewish campaign against the British did not mean that Ben-Gurion consid
ered his relationship with the British to be a "military" one or that he sought
an all-out confrontation with them. Quite the contrary, as we are assured by
Teveth [Ben-Gurion's biographer], he saw the relationship as an exclusively
"political" one. In other words, all Ben-Gurion wanted from Britain at this stage
was to clear out the way so that he could pursue his "military" relationship
with the Palestinians and the Arab countries. And pursue it he did . . . in a
28
massive program of arms acquisition and military buildup.
T h e U N G A P a r t i t i o n R e s o l u t i o n of N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 7
Before t h e U N G A Resolution 181 calling for t h e Partition of Palestine into
a Jewish state and an Arab state w i t h Jerusalem as a corpus separatum
administered by t h e U N was acted u p o n , t h e U N Special C o m m i t t e e o n
Palestine (UNSCOP) was s e n t to Palestine. T h e c o m m i t t e e r e c o m m e n d e d
to t h e G e n e r a l Assembly t h a t t h e Jewish refugee p r o b l e m b e c o n s i d e r e d an
international responsibility. However, n e i t h e r t h e U N as a w h o l e n o r t h e
United States r e s p o n d e d to this. In fact, t h e Zionists m a d e every effort t o
restrict refugee m i g r a t i o n t o c o u n t r i e s o t h e r t h a n Palestine, w i t h t h e i n t e n t
29
of increasing d e m o g r a p h i c density in Palestine. While war was still raging,
President Roosevelt favored an immigration plan t h a t w o u l d o p e n t h e
d o o r s of various c o u n t r i e s to E u r o p e a n refugees, especially Jews, e a c h
c o u n t r y designating a specific n u m b e r it w o u l d b e able to absorb. H e lined
u p several. Roosevelt's representative, Morris Ernst, was s e n t to G r e a t
Britain d u r i n g t h e war to d e t e r m i n e h o w m a n y t h e British could take. T h e
British said t h e y w o u l d take 150,000 if t h e U n i t e d States w o u l d t a k e t h e
s a m e . Roosevelt k n e w t h e U.S. w o u l d b e a hard sell given t h e labor u n i o n s '
fear of foreign workers; b u t t h e plan fell t h r o u g h , in a n y case. Ernst
explained t h e defeat of t h e plan as follows:
[T]o me it seemed that the failure of the leading Jewish groups to support with
zeal this immigration program may have caused the President not to push
forward with it at that time. . . . I was amazed and even felt insulted when
active Jewish leaders decried, sneered and then attacked me as if I were a
traitor.... I was openly accused of furthering this plan for freer immigration in
order to undermine political Zionism. . . . I think I know the reason for much
of the opposition. There is a deep, genuine, often fanatical emotional vested
SPRING 2005 17
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A S H O R T HISTORY
interest in putting over the Palestinian movement [i.e., the Zionist project in
30
Palestine].
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E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
1 32
gradual implementation of t h e ideology. " The Arabs rejected t h e partition
plan. A few figures will demonstrate just h o w unfair t h e partition plan was.
U n d e r t h e plan:
Jews received 55 p e r c e n t of t h e best land in Palestine, while o w n i n g less
t h a n 7 p e r c e n t in all of Palestine a n d less t h a n 11 p e r c e n t in t h e
allotted area, while Palestinians w e r e allotted 45 p e r c e n t of their land,
T h e p r o p o s e d Palestinian state w o u l d have 818,000 Palestinians,
including t h e 71,000 Palestinians in t h e seacoast city of Jaffa,
s u r r o u n d e d by w h a t w o u l d b e t h e Jewish state, a n d fewer t h a n 10,000
Jews. T h e Jerusalem corpus separatum would have 105,000 Palestinians
a n d 100,000 Jews. T h e Jewish state would have a b o u t 499,000 Jews a n d
a b o u t 438,000 Palestinians,
Eighty p e r c e n t of t h e land in t h e Jewish state was o w n e d by Palestinians,
w h e r e a s only 1 p e r c e n t of t h e Palestinian land was o w n e d by Jews.
T h e best lands were incorporated into t h e Jewish state w h e r e Palestinians
h a d citrus and cereal p r o d u c t i o n areas, their main exports. Moreover,
40 percent of Palestinian industry a n d t h e major sources of t h e
country's electrical supply fell within t h e envisaged Jewish state.
T h e plan also left Palestinians w i t h o u t air access or h a r b o r s a n d p o r t
33
facilities, except for isolated Jaffa.
M a i n s t r e a m Zionists d e m a n d e d w h a t t h e y felt w a s realistic in t h e
1940s: a Jewish state in t h e greater p a r t of Palestine, w h i c h t h e partition
plan offered. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi n o t e s t h a t t h e Z i o n i s t
a c c e p t a n c e of t h e partition plan was in e s s e n c e a c c e p t a n c e of t h e Zionists'
o w n d e m a n d . H e states further, Tt is difficult t o see w h y a moral k u d o s
a p p e r t a i n s t o t h e p a r t y t h a t accepts its o w n p r o g r a m , a n d eternal o p p r o
b r i u m attaches to t h e p a r t y t h a t rejects a transaction it perceives to
34
t h r e a t e n its national existence." Since t h a t time, Israelis have said continu
ally t h a t h a d the Palestinians accepted t h e p a r t i t i o n plan, t h e y w o u l d have a
Palestinian state today. However, given t h e fact t h a t t h e 1947 p r o p o s e d
Jewish state h a d almost a n equal n u m b e r of Palestinians in t h e area allotted
to t h e Zionists, it w o u l d n o t have b e e n t h e Jewish state called for in Zionist
congresses a n d literature b u t a binational state, a c o n c e p t earlier rejected
by Ben-Gurion. Moreover, given o u r c o n t e m p o r a r y k n o w l e d g e of t h e
p l a n n e d expulsions, massacres, e x p a n s i o n strategy, a n d efforts t o d a y to
d e n y Palestinian s t a t e h o o d o n t h e 1967 Israeli-occupied territories, s u c h
p r o n o u n c e m e n t s ring hollow,
SPRING 2005 19
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
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E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
Given the fact that Israel ultimately intended to keep the Occupied Territories,
the existence of a large Palestinian population there recreated Israel's original
demographic problem. A Whole Land of Israel Movement issued a Manifesto
in 1967 affirming that "no government in Israel is entitled to give up [the
SPRING 2005 21
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
conquered territories which Zionists define as part of the whole of Israel, i.e.,
Eretz Israel] this entirety, which represents the inherent and inalienable right to
our people from the beginning of its history." [Quoted in Nur Masalha,
Imperial Israel and the Palestinians (London: Pluto Press, 2000), 28-29.] Today,
there are 3.2 million Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and over 1
million [the descendants of those 150,000 who managed to stay in Israel in
1948-49] within Israel proper. The Jewish population numbers some 5 million.
Hence the ratio is approximately 4 Palestinians to every 5 Israeli Jews in Israel
42
and the Occupied Territories.
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THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
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E L A I N E C, H A G O P I A N
Conclusion
Clearly, t h e political Zionists d r e w o n t h e rich mythical s y m b o l i s m of t h e
alleged ancient Israel, w h i c h t h e y c o m b i n e d w i t h a n e w forceful Jewish
identity, in order to p r o m o t e their goals in Palestine a n d have t h e m a p p e a r
as legitimate and inevitable. T h e majority of t h e Israelis, however, are
SPRING 2005 25
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
26 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
Endnotes
1. N u r Masalha, Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist
Political Thought, 1882-1948 (Washington, D.C., Institute of Palestine Studies,
1992).
2. Ibid., 14.
3. Benjamin Beit Hallahmi, Original Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and
Israel (London: Pluto Press, 1992), 46.
4. Ibid., 47.
5. Ibid., 47-48. See also Keith Whitelam, The Invention of Ancient Israel: The
Silencing of Palestinian History (London: Routledge, 1996).
6. Ibid., 72. See also Ze'ev Herzog, "The Holy Land, Archaeology, and the Bible:
Deconstructing the Walls of Jericho," Haaretz (Friday, 29 October 1999).
7. Q u o t e d in E m o r y C. Bogle, The Modern Middle East: From Imperialism to
Freedom, 1800-1958 (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), 134.
8. For a map of the Sykes-Picot agreement and a discussion of it specifics, see
George Antonius, The Arab Awakening (New York: Capricorn Books edition,
1965; originally published in 1938), 243-75.
9. Article 22, section 4 is quoted in and analyzed by W.T. Mallison, Jr., "The
Balfour Declaration: A n Appraisal in I n t e r n a t i o n a l Law," in I b r a h i m Abu-
L u g h o d , ed., The Transformation of Palestine (Evanston, 111.: N o r t h w e s t e r n
University Press, 1971), 97.
10. This section draws heavily on t h e m e t i c u l o u s r e s e a r c h of H i s h a m H.
Ahmed, "Roots of Denial: American Stand on Palestinian Self-Determination
from the Balfour Declaration to World War Two," in Michael W. Suleiman, ed.,
U.S. Policy on Palestine from Wilson to Clinton (Normal, 111.: AAUG, 1995), 27-57.
11. Ibid., 35.
12. Ibid., 36.
13. Ibid., 41.
14. Ibid., 37. See also H a r r y N . H o w a r d , The King-Crane Commission: An
American Inquiry in the Middle East (Beirut: Khayats, 1963).
15. All of the proposed maps were assembled from Zionist sources and put out
in collected form by The Arab Women's Information Committee in their publi
cation, "From the Nile to the Euphrates," in The Facts about the Palestine Problem
SPRING 2005 27
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
(Beirut: 1968).
16. Bogle, The Modern Middle East, 142-43.
17. See Avi Shlaim, Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist
Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (New York: Columbia University Press,
1988); a n d M a r y Wilson, King Abdullah, Britain and the Making of Jordan
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990 reprint edition).
18. A major resource on this period is written by Sahar Huneidi, A Broken Trust:
Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians (London: LB. Tauris, 2001).
19. Ibid, passim. See also my review of Huneida's b o o k in The Middle East
Journal 5 6 / 1 (Winter 2002): 175-76; and Trial and Error: The Autobiography of
Chaim Weizmann, First President of Israel (New York: Schocken Books, 1949).
20. Beit-Hallahmi, Original Sins, 105,104.
21. Mallison, "The Balfour Declaration," in Abu-Lughod, ed., Transformation, 97.
22. Barbara Kalkas, "The Revolt of 1936: A Chronicle of Events," in ibid., 237.
23. Ibid., 238.
24. Walid Khalidi, "Revisiting t h e U N G A Partition Resolution," in Journal of
Palestine Studies 2 7 / 1 (Autumn 1997): 6-7. Khalidi quotes Ben-Gurion from his
biographer, Shabatai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs: From Peace to
War (Oxford and N e w York: Oxford University Press, 1985).
25. Quoted from my review of Susan Silsby Boyle, Betrayal of Palestine: The Story
of George Antonius (Boulder: Westview Press, 2001) in Middle East Journal 5 5 / 3
(Summer 2001): 513.
26. Fred J. Khouri, The Arab-Israeli Dilemma (Syracuse: Syracuse University
Press, 1968), 26-27.
27. For a good discussion of this period, see ibid., 16-42.
28. Khalidi, "Revisiting the U N G A Partition Resolution," 8.
2 9 . For a d i s c u s s i o n of t h i s , s e e , M o r r i s E r n s t , "F.D.R.'s I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Immigration Plan for Jewish Refugees," in Walid Khalidi, ed., From Conquest to
Haven: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem until 1948 (Beirut: The
Institute for Palestine Studies, 1971), 489-94; reprinted from Morris L. Ernst, So
Far So Good (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948), 170-77.
30. Ibid., 492-93.
31. Khalidi, "Revisiting the U N G A Partition Resolution," 9.
32. Ibid.. 17.
33. See t h e full text of U N G A 181 (II) of 29 N o v e m b e r 1947 in G e o r g e J.
Tomeh, ed., United Nations Resolutions on Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
1947-1974 (Beirut: Institute of Palestine Studies, 1975), 4-14; and ibid., 11-14.
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E L A I N E C, HAGOPIAN
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T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT; A SHORT HISTORY
48. Sara Roy, "Why Peace Failed-An Oslo A u t o p s y / in Current History 100/651
(8 January 2002); reprinted in Tobin, ed., How Long, O Lord?, 11-28. Countering
Barak's claims of a "generous offer" and that "there is n o Palestinian partner for
peace" are t h e following important articles: Robert Malley and Hussein Agha,
"Camp David: The Tragedy of Errors," in The New York Review of Books AS/13 (9
A u g u s t 2001) a n d Uri Avnery, "Irreversible M e n t a l Damage," in Palestine
Chronicle (22 J u n e 2 0 0 4 ) , a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e a t w w w . z m a g . o r g / c o n t e n t /
print article.cfm?itemID=5760§ionID=22. In it Avnery notes, "This is the
c u l m i n a t i o n of a p r o c e s s t h a t b e g a n w i t h t h e r e t u r n of t h e t h e n P r i m e
Minister, Ehud Barak, from the 2000 C a m p David summit. After the failure of
that meeting, he coined the mantra that has since become the cornerstone of
t h e policy of successive Israeli governments: 'I have turned every stone o n t h e
way to p e a c e / I have offered the Palestinians more generous proposals t h a n
any of my predecessors/ The Palestinians have rejected all my offers/ Arafat
wants to throw us into the s e a / We have n o partner for peace.' This mantra is
based o n a series of lies that have b e e n exploded long ago. American eye
witnesses like Robert Malley, President Clinton's advisor at C a m p David, as
well as s o m e of t h e Israeli participants a n d international researchers have
published detailed reports that prove that Barak himself was responsible for
the failure at least as much as Arafatin fact, far more."
49. See Ari Shavit's interview with Benny Morris, entitled "Survival of t h e
Fittest," in Haaretz (9 January 2004).
30 QUARTERLY REVIEW
Reflections of a Recovered
Christian Zionist
BARRY E. BRYANT
Left Behind
For anyone growing u p in t h e Holiness tradition in t h e South in t h e 1970s, it
was hard to avoid Dispensationalism. The theological orientation began inno
cently enough. It started with listening to preachers telling Revelation horror
stories a b o u t the "False Prophet," t h e "Antichrist," and t h e "mark of t h e Beast."
We were held spellbound and told about the seven-year Tribulation, t h e four
riders of t h e Apocalypse and their horses, along with t h e Seven Seals. Worse
yet, w e were told about h o w all this would contribute to the torture and d e a t h
of those w h o would be left behind after G o d "raptured" t h e church. We never
batted an eye w h e n we were told Christians would b e snatched shirtless right
o n into heaven. This was "Dispensationalism 101." It was t h e Bible. H e was a
preacher. It had to be true.
Of course, proclaiming t h e "last days" h a s b e e n a p a r t of p r e a c h i n g t h e
gospel since t h e Apostle Peter's s e r m o n at Pentecost. Evangelists have
b e e n using t h e parousia as a scythe for harvesting souls since t h e days of
Paul. But since D.L. Moody, p r e a c h e r s have u s e d Christ's r e t u r n t o m a k e
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REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
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B A R R Y H. B R Y A N T
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REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
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B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
Christian Zionism
It was n o t long before s o m e o n e p u t a c o p y of Hal Lindsey's The Late Great
Planet Earth in m y h a n d . I read it w i t h great a m a z e m e n t , e n t h u s i a s m , and
vigor. At each Bible study, I j o i n e d in t h e endless a n d obsessive speculation
a b o u t G o g a n d Magog of Ezek. 38:2, w h e n Russia w o u l d invade Israel, or
w h o t h e Antichrist m i g h t be. T h e only h i n t as t o w h o t h a t m i g h t b e could
b e found in t h e m a t h e m a t i c a l c o n u n d r u m k n o w n as t h e "mark of t h e
Beast." With t h e right alphabet (English was preferred, of course; b u t
H e b r e w a n d Greek could also b e used) a n d t h e right a m o u n t of algebra,
666 could b e tweaked e n o u g h so t h a t t h e Beast could b e almost anyone.
T h e t h e o r i e s covered e v e r y o n e from J o h n F. K e n n e d y to t h e P o p e a n d
often reflected a p r o n o u n c e d anti-Catholic s e n t i m e n t . (Perhaps this
a c c o u n t s for the disregard of Christian c o m m u n i t i e s o n t h e West Bank
now. They are nearly all R o m a n Catholic or Orthodox.)
T h e speculation increased over time. There was speculation as to w h a t
t h e Beast's "mark" might look like. Suggestions ranged from t a t t o o s to bar
codes, even Social Security n u m b e r cards. We speculated w h e n t h e Rapture
m i g h t o c c u r a n d tried t o imagine t h e c h a o s created b y sidewalks full of
e m p t y clothes, careening cars, a n d crashing planes. Living in t h e middle of
t h e Cold War, with its c o n s t a n t threat of nuclear holocaust, w e speculated
a b o u t A r m a g e d d o n a lot a n d a b o u t h o w G o d w o u l d u s e "weapons of mass
SPRING 2005 35
REFLECTIONS O F A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
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B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 37
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
38 QUARTERLY REVIEW
BARRY E . B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 39
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
40 QUARTERLY REVIEW
B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 41
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
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B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
Endnotes
1. For more about the Sabeel Center, see http://www.sabeel.org, For a state
m e n t from the conference, see http://www.sabeel,org/documents
/5thConfStatementfinal.htm.
2. Stephen Sizer, "Christian Zionism: Historical Roots, Theological Basis and
Political Consequences." F o u n d online at http://www.christchurch-virgini-
awater.co.uk/articles/czarticles.htm. Sizer has d o n e a c o m m e n d a b l e job of
tracing t h e history a n d d e v e l o p m e n t of D i s p e n s a t i o n a l i s m a n d Christian
Zionism.
3. C. I. Scofield, The Scofield Reference Bible (New York: Oxford University Press,
1917), 5.
4. J. N . Darby, "Progress of Evil on t h e Earth," The Collected Writings of J.N,
Darby (Winschoten, Netherlands: H.L. Heijkoop, 1971), 2:103.
5. Hal Lindsey, The Final Battle (Palos Verdes, CA: Western Front, 1995), 250-52.
This book and Dailey's work were brought to my attention by Stephen Sizer at
the Sabeel Conference on Christian Zionism, Jerusalem, April 2004.
6. Timothy J. Dailey, The Gathering Storm (New York: Chosen Books, 1992), 245.
7. For what is still a classic treatment of the history of Zionism, see Walter
Laqueur, A History of Zionism (New York: MJF Books, 1972).
8. For a good online list of Jews in support of Palestine, see http://www.muha-
=i
iabah.com/palestine.php?page 8#jews.
9. For a good summary of this issue see, Rosemary Radford Ruether, H e r m a n
J. Ruether, The Wrath of Jonah: The Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-
Palestinian Conflict (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002), xxi.
10. T i m o t h y P, Weber, On the Road to Armageddon (Grand R a p i d s : Baker
Academic, 2004), 15. Weber makes this point in w h a t is a good b u t largely
uncritical historical summary of how the movement empowered itself.
11. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church-2004 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 2004), 1(104.
12. John Wesley, "A Dialogue Between a Predestinarian and His Friend," in The
Works of John Wesley, ed. by Thomas Jackson, 3rd. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
1978), 10:260-66.
SPRING 2005 43
United Methodists and the Israeli-
Palestinian Situation
RHONDA MCCARTY
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U N I T E D METHODISTS A N D T H E ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SITUATION
The Resolutions
In regard to t h e issue of Middle East peace, t h e Social Principles offer a
s o u n d framework for t h e m o r e specific resolutions. T h o s e w h o petition t h e
G e n e r a l C o n f e r e n c e for resolutions o n p e a c e a n d justice issues are d o i n g
so w i t h t h e p r e s u m p t i o n t h a t t h e church's a t t i t u d e s a n d actions are t o b e
b a s e d o n t h e Social Principles.
Resolutions o n p e a c e a n d t h e Middle East first a p p e a r e d in t h e 1P68
Book of Resolutions. In t h e s a m e year t h a t t h e c h u r c h a d d r e s s e d U.S. policy
in Vietnam, racial equality, t h e cause of Christian unity, t h e u r b a n crisis,
anti-Semitism, a n d M a r t i n L u t h e r King, Jr.'s p h i l o s o p h y of nonviolence, it
also took o n p e a c e a n d t h e Middle East. T h e petition o n T h e United
M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h a n d Peace focused o n t h e u n i q u e role of t h e church "as
a n i n s t r u m e n t of peace." T h e petition recognized t h a t "no n a t i o n is ulti
mately sovereign," t h a t indiscriminate use of w e a p o n s could n o t b e morally
justified, t h a t self-determination was a reasonable expectation of all
peoples, a n d t h a t t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s was a n institution w o r t h y of t h e
church's s u p p o r t . It also c o n d e m n e d war as a m e a n s of solving interna
6
tional d i s p u t e s . Given t h e historical context, e a c h o n e of t h e s e s t a t e m e n t s
could b e applied directly to o u r r e s p o n s e t o t h e Israeli o c c u p a t i o n of t h e
West Bank a n d G a z a Strip following t h e 1967 war, b u t Israel a n d Palestine
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U N I T E D METHODISTS A N D T H E ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SITUATION
time after its being demolished by t h e Israeli government. This time it was
o p e n e d as a peace center. N o t only did t h e M i n n e s o t a n United Methodists
give financially b u t t h e y also launched a massive lobbying campaign w h e n
t h e h o m e was being threatened again. Calls to Congress and eventually to
Secretary of State Colin Powell s t o p p e d t h e destruction of t h e Shawamreh
h o m e for t h e time being. Known as "the Palestine Israel Justice Project," it is
an ongoing excellent m o d e l of h o w t h e church's position translates into prac
20
tical ways of dealing w i t h issues of peace a n d justice.
This is by n o m e a n s t h e only e x a m p l e of a p p r o p r i a t e response. In
k e e p i n g w i t h t h e resolutions, t h e G e n e r a l Board of C h u r c h a n d Society a n d
t h e G e n e r a l Board of Global Ministries c o n t i n u e to w o r k w i t h ecumenical
coalitions in a variety of ways. S o o n after t h e 2004 G e n e r a l Conference,
G e n e r a l Board of C h u r c h a n d Society G e n e r a l Secretary Jim Winkler
participated in a National Council of C h u r c h e s ' delegation t h a t m e t w i t h
U N Secretary G e n e r a l Kofi A n a n a n d also had a n interfaith leadership
m e e t i n g w i t h Secretary of State Colin Powell. T h e latter g r o u p , m e m b e r s of
t h e National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Middle East Peace,
m a d e u p of Muslims, Christians, a n d Jews, is lobbying for t h e U n i t e d States
t o r e s u m e heavy involvement in b r o k e r i n g Israeli-Palestinian peace. While
t h e State D e p a r t m e n t ' s position at this m e e t i n g implicated Palestinian
violence as t h e r e a s o n for b r e a k d o w n of t h e p e a c e process, Winkler, consis
t e n t w i t h t h e position of t h e G e n e r a l Conference, stressed t h e i m p o r t a n c e
21
of s i m u l t a n e o u s actions of b o t h Palestinians a n d Israelis.
T h e G e n e r a l Board of C h u r c h a n d Society also coordinates a n e t w o r k
of grassroots peace-and-justice activists t h r o u g h o u t T h e United M e t h o d i s t
Church. A n n u a l conferences are n o t consistent in their a p p o i n t m e n t and
utilization of Peace w i t h Justice coordinators, educators, a n d advocates.
However, in a n n u a l conferences w h e r e t h e position h a s t h e s u p p o r t of t h e
b i s h o p a n d o t h e r leadership, local c h u r c h e s benefit from t h e efforts of
Peace w i t h Justice coordinators in w o r k i n g n o t only o n global peace-and-
justice issues b u t also o n local projects s u c h as Shalom Z o n e s and in educa
tion related t o t h e Social Principles a n d t h e resolutions as well.
A handful of a n n u a l conferences w i t h active Peace w i t h Justice coordi
n a t o r s did take a d v a n t a g e of t h e 2004 G e n e r a l C o n f e r e n c e resolutions as
an o p p o r t u n i t y for education. Steve H o d g e s , Peace w i t h Justice c o o r d i n a t o r
for t h e H o l s t o n Conference, c o n d u c t e d a w o r k s h o p at their a n n u a l confer
e n c e linked to t h e Social Principles a n d resolutions. Rev. Bruce Case in
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Theological Education
O n e way to bridge t h e gap b e t w e e n t h e church's official positions a n d prac
tical u n d e r s t a n d i n g in t h e c h u r c h e s is t h r o u g h theological e d u c a t i o n a n d
c o n t i n u i n g education. It is n o t at all clear w h e t h e r t h e Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is b e i n g a d d r e s s e d in any c o n s i s t e n t way in s e m i n a r y and divinity
school curricula. C o u r s e s c a n b e found o n world religions, various aspects
of Islam, holy war, a n d interfaith dialogue; b u t t h e r e is little to suggest t h a t
t h e c u r r e n t geopolitical conflict b e t w e e n Israel a n d t h e Palestinians in its
historical context, m u c h less t h e a p p r o p r i a t e r e s p o n s e of t h e church, is a
regular p a r t of theological curricula. It would s e e m t h a t t h e issue a n d t h e
United M e t h o d i s t u n d e r s t a n d i n g of it are b e i n g discussed incidentally
m o r e often t h a n intentionally. O u r seminaries could greatly impact consis
t e n t h a n d l i n g of t h e issue by giving clergy t h e confidence t h e y n e e d t o
address t h e issue from a s o u n d theological b a s e a n d g o o d working knowl
e d g e of t h e church's r e s p o n s e to t h e c u r r e n t situation.
O u r goal as U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t s should b e to m a k e t h e entire d e n o m i
n a t i o n fully conversant w i t h t h e Israeli-Palestinian issue. O u r seminaries
a n d divinity schools r e p r e s e n t a long-term strategy. In t h e interim, w e c a n
employ t w o ways to bridge t h e g a p b e t w e e n official p r o n o u n c e m e n t s a n d
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Endnotes
1. Alex Awad, "Wanted: A Global Movement to End the Arab-Israeli Conflict,"
distributed via email (May 2004).
2. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church-2004 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 2004), K509.
3. Scott J. Jones, United Methodist Doctrine (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002), 38-39.
4. Paragraph 164 covers "basic freedoms and h u m a n rights." Other pertinent
sections are Section V, "The Political Community," and Section VI, "The World
Community."
5. "'Stop Demolitions,' Bishops Demand"; found on the website of the General
Board of Global Ministries at h t t p : / / g b g m - u m c . o r g / n e w s / 2 0 0 1 / j u l y / p a l e s -
tine2.htm.
6. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1968 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1968), 17-24.
7. Ibid., 81-82.
8. Ibid., 82-83.
9. The Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church-1972 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1972), 25-30.
10. Ibid., 105-06.
11. Quoted in John L. Allen Jr., "Interfaith Dialogue: Beyond Tea and Cookies,"
National Catholic Reporter (19 September 2003).
12. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1976 (Nashville:
The United Methodist Publishing House, 1976), 129-31.
13. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1984 (Nashville:
The United Methodist Publishing House, 1984), 280.
14. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1988 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1988), 511-12.
15. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1992 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1992), 580-81.
16. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1996 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1996), 635-41.
17. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-2000 (Nashville: The
58 QUARTERLY REVIEW
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The Conflict over Palestine:
A Palestinian Christian Response
NAIM ATEEK
Christian Zionists
T h e Protestant Reformation gave a n e w spiritual zeal t o E u r o p e in t h e
sixteenth century. This was e n h a n c e d by t h e translation of t h e Bible into
t h e vernacular. T h e m o n o p o l y of t h e church's hierarchy to interpret t h e
Bible was broken. T h e Bible b e c a m e available t o t h e c o m m o n p e o p l e a n d
Christian charismatic leaders b e g a n to offer various i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of t h e
text. With exciting a n d wonderful teachings also c a m e s o m e diverse and,
at times, deviant ideas. T h e d e e p e r biblical insights e n r i c h e d t h e c h u r c h
a n d c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e spiritual m a t u r i t y of m a n y Christians. At t h e s a m e
time, literalist a n d exclusive readings of t h e text led to theological a n d
behavioral aberrations.
By t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e n i n e t e e n t h century, it b e c a m e clear t h a t o n e of
t h e topics o c c u p y i n g t h e m i n d s of P r o t e s t a n t a n d evangelical Christians in
b o t h Britain a n d t h e U n i t e d States was t h e S e c o n d C o m i n g of Christ. S o m e
Christians b e g a n t o calculate t h e e n d of t h e world a n d predict specific
dates for t h e S e c o n d C o m i n g . By relating a n d associating verses together
from t h e O l d a n d N e w Testaments, t h e s e Christians d e d u c e d elaborate
systems regarding t h e e n d of t h e world. In t h e s e s c h e m e s , t h e Jewish
p e o p l e w e r e perceived as playing a n essential role in t h e divine scenarios
of t h e e n d . Before Christ can c o m e back, Jews m u s t r e t u r n to Palestine,
60 QUARTERLY REVIEW
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Jewish Zionists
Totally u n a w a r e of w h a t s o m e Protestant a n d free-church Christians w e r e
scheming, t h e Jewish c o m m u n i t y in E u r o p e was facing s o m e serious chal
lenges toward t h e latter p a r t of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y P o g r o m s in Russia
a n d Eastern E u r o p e caused m a n y Jews to emigrate from t h o s e c o u n t r i e s to
t h e w e s t e r n part of E u r o p e a n d even t o t h e U n i t e d States. T h e malaise of
anti-Semitism was d e e p a n d pervasive a m o n g m a n y E u r o p e a n s .
At t h e same time, E u r o p e was e x p a n d i n g t h r o u g h its colonial ventures.
Colonialism still enjoyed a positive aspect. It was perceived as exporting
E u r o p e a n culture and civilization to t h e "backward" p e o p l e of t h e world.
D u e to growing anti-Semitism, s o m e E u r o p e a n Jewish leaders
c o n c l u d e d t h a t it is difficult for Jews t o live a fully E u r o p e a n life a m o n g
Christians w h o h a r b o r e d anti-Jewish feelings. As a result of this analysis
t h e Zionist M o v e m e n t c a m e into b e i n g in 1897, calling for t h e establish
m e n t of a Jewish state w h e r e Jews c a n live free of Christian bias. T h e early
Jewish Zionists w e r e secular and atheist a n d their project did n o t involve
religion. In fact, t h e major religious Jewish d e n o m i n a t i o n s at t h e time
c o n d e m n e d the Zionist M o v e m e n t a n d c o n s i d e r e d it heretical. For t h e m , it
was only t h e Messiah t h a t could gather in Jews from t h e D i a s p o r a to
Palestine. A n d as long as t h e Messiah has n o t c o m e , a n y h u m a n a t t e m p t to
accomplish that m u s t b e rejected.
SPRING 2005 61
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
The Palestinians
T h e story of t h e Palestinians also has its o w n u n i q u e d i m e n s i o n s . As
E u r o p e was going t h r o u g h t h e p e r i o d of t h e Renaissance a n d t h e
Enlightenment, t h e Middle East was passing t h r o u g h its d o r m a n t period.
Palestine, as well as all t h e A r a b countries, c a m e u n d e r O t t o m a n Turkish
rule in 1517, w h i c h e n d e d 400 years later at t h e close of World War I. At t h e
e n d of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d approximately at t h e s a m e time as t h e
Zionist M o v e m e n t c a m e i n t o being in E u r o p e a n d started agitating for a
Jewish state in Palestine, t h e Arabs in t h e Middle East, including Palestine,
w e r e agitating for i n d e p e n d e n c e from Turkish rule.
D u r i n g World War I, t h e British g o v e r n m e n t n e e d e d t h e Arabs to revolt
against t h e Turkish Empire a n d in exchange pledged t h e m their i n d e p e n
d e n c e . Similarly, t h e Jewish Zionists w e r e successful in 1917 in extracting a
pledge from t h e British t h r o u g h t h e Balfour Declaration t h a t p r o m i s e d
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T H E C O N F L I C T O V E R PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
64 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
SPRING 2005 65
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
66 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
SPRING 2005 67
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
68 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
SPRING 2005 69
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER. P A L E S T I N E : A P A L E S T I N I A N C H R I S T I A N RESPONSE
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The Rev. Dr. Nairn Ateek is founder and director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation
Theology Center in Jerusalem.
Endnotes
1. For a m o r e detailed discussion o n D i s p e n s a t i o n a l i s m , see t h e w o r k of
S t e p h e n Sizer in his f o r t h c o m i n g b o o k Christian Zionism: Road Map to
Armageddon? (InterVarsity, 2004); or online: http://www.christianzionism.org.
See also Donald Wagner, Anxious for Armageddon (Herald Press, 1995), 85-95,
and the article by Barry Bryant in this issue.
2. For more background on Lord Shaftesbury, see Barbara W. Tuchman, Bible
and Sword (New York: Ballantine Books, 1984), 175-207.
3. Michael Prior, Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry (London:
Routledge, 1999), 140.
4. O n the various types of Millenarianism, see RJ. McKelvey, The Millennium
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T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
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A Jewish Renewal Understanding of
the State of Israel
MICHAEL LERNER
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A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
74 QUARTERLY REVIEW
MICHAEL LERNER
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A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
76 QUARTERLY REVIEW
MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 77
A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
78 QUARTERLY REVIEW
MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 79
A JEWISH RENEWAL U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F THE STATE O F ISRAEL
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MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 81
A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun and author of nine books, including
Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing a n d Transformation (HarperCollins,
1995). The rabbi of Beyt T i k k u n synagogue in San Francisco, he encourages
people who agree with his perspective to join The Tikkun Community at
h t t p : / / w w w . T i k k u n . o r g ; email: RabbiLerner@tikkun.org.
Endnotes
1. Michael Lerner, Healing Israel/Palestine: A Path to Peace and Reconciliation
(North Atlantic Books, 2003).
2. See my response to critics of the Accord in my book The Geneva Accord and
Other Strategies for Middle East Peace (North Atlantic Books, 2004).
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Is The United Methodist Church a Global Church Yet?
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THE U N I T E D METHODIST C H U R C H AS A GLOBAL CHURCH
84 QUARTERLY REVIEW
D A V I D J. L A W S O N
SPRING 2005 85
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AS A GLOBAL CHURCH
86 QUARTERLY REVIEW
PATRICK STREIFF
SPRING 2005 87
THE U N I T E D METHODIST C H U R C H AS A GLOBAL C H U R C H
Endnotes
1. Patrick Ph. Streiff, "The Global N a t u r e of The United Methodist Church:
What Future for the Branch outside the United States?" Quarterly Review 2 4 / 2
(Summer 2004): 181-93.
2. Bruce W. R o b b i n s , A World Parish? Hopes and Challenges of The United
Methodist Church in a Global Setting (Nashville: Abingdon, 2004).
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A Word on The Word
Lectionary Study
JOHN C. HOLBERT
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LECTIONARY STUDY
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JOHN C. HOLBERT
SPRING 2005 91
LECTIONARY STUDY
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JOHNC. HOLBERT
SPRING 2005 93
LECTIONARY STUDY
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J O H N C, HOLBERT
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LECTIONARY STUDY
Take yourself from your country, from your kindred, from the very house of
your father, to the country that I will show you. I will make you a great nation,
and I will bless you, making your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you. And through you all
the families of the soil will be blessed (or "will bless themselves") (Gen. 12:1-3).
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J O H N C. HOLBERT
uttered: "Now Sarai was barren; she h a d n o child." But this is n o t a speck!
T h e s e n t e n c e s o u n d s like a t h u n d e r c l a p into o u r story. H o w will t h e great
G o d found a great n a t i o n designed to bless all t h e n a t i o n s o u t of a c o u p l e
w h o has n o children! That glorious p r o m i s e of d e s c e n d a n t s in 12:7 rings
hollow in t h e face of Sarai's b a r r e n n e s s . Even this wonder-working G o d ,
this G o d of shalom, will b e tested to m a k e this work. We read o n in t h e
s t o r y w i t h h o p e in G o d , b u t we fear for t h e h u m a n beings, w h o s e history
t h u s far has b e e n less t h a n stellar. C a n blessing for all c o m e from this?
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LECTIONARY STUDY
Endnotes
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture translations in this article are my
own.
2. Lynn White. Jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis," Science 155
(10 March 1967): 1203-07.
JOON-SIK PARK
Transforming Mission
In Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Orbis, 1991), t h e
late South African missiologist David Bosch carefully investigates t h e trans
formations of the Christian mission d u r i n g t h e past tw e nty centuries a n d
explores a n e w paradigm of mission for t h e present crisis t h e church faces.
Bosch's thesis is t h a t t h e r e have b e e n major p a r a d i g m shifts in mission
in r e s p o n s e to p r o f o u n d crises a n d t h a t o u r t i m e a n d c o n t e x t legitimate
a n o t h e r critical shift. The E n l i g h t e n m e n t p a r a d i g m h a s heavily s h a p e d t h e
u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d practice of t h e Christian mission since t h e e i g h t e e n t h
century. N o w t h e n e w " p o s t m o d e r n " paradigm is e m e r g i n g as t h e entire
f o u n d a t i o n of t h e E n l i g h t e n m e n t is b e i n g challenged a n d is collapsing
Endnotes
1. Wilbert R. Shenk, Changing Frontiers of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999), 3.
2. See J. N. J. Kritzinger, "Liberating Mission in South Africa," in Mission in
Creative Tension: A Dialogue with David Bosch, ed, by J. N . J. Kritzinger and
Willem Saayman (Pretoria: S o u t h e r n African Missiological S o c i e t y 1990),
34-50; and Frans J. Verstraelen, "Africa in David Bosch's Missiology: Survey
and Appraisal," and Christopher Sugden, "Placing Critical Issues in Relief: A
Response to David Bosch," in Mission in Bold Humility: David Bosch's Work
Considered, ed. by Willem Saayman and Klippies Kritzinger (Maryknoll, NY:
1996), 8-39, 139-50.
3. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, "Annual Statistical Table on Global
Mission: 2004," International Bulletin of Missionary Research 28 (2004): 25.
4. As Pentecostals trace their earliest roots to the Wesleyan and Holiness move
ments, Methodism in particular needs to engage Pentecostalism both sympa
thetically and critically. See, for example, David Martin, Pentecostalism: The
World Their Parish (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002).
5. Murray A. Dempster, Byron D. Klaus, and Douglas Petersen, eds., Called and
Empowered: Global Mission in Pentecostal Perspective (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson,
1991).
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1. S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
ESLINGER, WOURMS, ESLINGEIVWARNER
Reviewed by Elise Eslinger, Elizabeth Wourms, and Richard Eslinger. They are
associated with the Institute for Applied Theology at United Theological Seminary
in Dayton, Ohio.
It was . . . downright disconcerting to have Dr. Robb and some of his friends
show up in my study one day with an openhearted challenge to help them do
something more constructive than cry havoc Here, obviously, was a heaven
sent opportunity not only for a reconciliation but also for a productive alliance
in place of what had been an unproductive joust. Moreover, as we explored our
problems, some unexpected items of agreement began to emerge (176).
MARY A N N M O M A N
General Board of Higher Education and Ministry,
The United Methodist Church, Nashville, T N
T H O M A S W. OGLETREE
The Divinity School, Yale University,
N e w Haven, CT
HARRIETT JANE O L S O N
The United Methodist Publishing House,
Nashville, T N
25/ SPRING 2005
1
:IN THIS ISSUE: $7.00
Issue Theme:
Revitalizing Theological Reflection in the Congregation
Theological Reflection and Vital Piety in North American Methodism
Ann Taves
Theology and Reflection: The Dynamics of Theology in Christian Life
Randy L. Maddox
The Word of God and the People of God:
Revitalizing Theological Discourse from the Bottom Up A JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL RESOURCES FOR MINISTRY
Joerg Rieger
The Imperative to Teach: Towards Vital Renewal of the Teaching Office
Patricia Farris
Hispanic Lay Theology: Reflections on an Emerging Model
Sal Trinidad
Book Review
Trinity, Community, and Power: Mapping Trajectories in Wesleyan Theology
ed. by M. Douglas Meeks
(Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2000)
Reviewer: Hendrik R. Pieterse
NEXT ISSUE:
COME, HOLY SPIRIT: POSTMODERNITY, SPIRITUALITY, AND THE SPIRIT
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January 2005
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Quarterly Review
Spring 2005
"Blessed A r e t h e Peacemakers"
ISSUE THEME:
The Israeli-Palestinian Situation: Theological Explorations
T h e Palestine-Israel Conflict: A S h o r t H i s t o r y
Elaine C. Hagopian
U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t s a n d t h e Israeli-Palestinian Situation
Rhonda McCarty
T h e C h u r c h in Review
T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h as a G l o b a l C h u r c h
Lectionary Study
John G Holbert
Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church by Lovett
H. Weems, Jr. (Nashville: A b i n g d o n , 2003)
Reviewers: Elise Eslinger, Elizabeth W o u r m s , Richard Eslinger .
BARRY E. BRYANT
Guest Editor
QUARTERLY REVIEW 5
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
"BLESSED A R E T H E PEACEMAKERS"
6 QUARTERLY REVIEW
The Israeli-Palestinian Situation: Theological Explorations
ELAINE C. H A G O P 1 A N
QUARTERLY REVIEW 7
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A S H O R T HISTORY
moving o u t t h e i n d i g e n o u s Palestinians:
8 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
SPRING 2005 9
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT; A SHORT HISTORY
British kept secret t h e Declaration's text from Palestinians for several years
so as n o t t o alert t h e m to t h e betrayal.
10 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
SPRING 2005 11
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
12 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. HAGOPIAN
SPRING 2005 13
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
Ben-Gurion, and the rest of the left-wing leadership, always looked moderate
and reasonable, denying either a conflict with the Arabs or the wish for a
Jewish state. This was a brilliant ruse, a great tactical posture, but behind it he
knew that the only way to defeat the Palestinians was through military force [a
position that has defined Israel's Arab policy of force and more force to bring
the Arabs to heel], which he created. While right-wing leaders made fiery
speeches about a great Jewish army, Ben-Gurion quietly created i t He [Ben-
Gurion] knew very little about socialist theories and did not need to study
socialism [the idealized Zionist construction of return to the land, Jewish self-
sufficiency, etc., which appealed to European Jews immigrating to Palestine] to
achieve his goal, which was the goal of the movement: Jewish sovereignty in
20
Palestine.
14 QUARTERLY REVIEW
ELAINE C. HAGOPIAN
SPRING 2005 15
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A S H O R T HISTORY
(1) Britain would continue to rule Palestine for a ten-year period. If the Arabs
and Jews were able to work together satisfactorily during this period, they
would be given an increasing role in the Palestine government, and Palestine
would be established as an independent state within ten years. Otherwise,
independence would be postponed. (2) Seventy-five thousand Jewish immi
grants would be allowed to enter Palestine over a five-year period. Any immi
gration after that would be subject to the acquiescence of the Arabs. (3)
Stringent restrictions would be placed on land sales to Jews in certain areas
26
and complete prohibition in other areas.
16 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C, H A G O P I A N
The Jewish campaign against the British did not mean that Ben-Gurion consid
ered his relationship with the British to be a "military" one or that he sought
an all-out confrontation with them. Quite the contrary, as we are assured by
Teveth [Ben-Gurion's biographer], he saw the relationship as an exclusively
"political" one. In other words, all Ben-Gurion wanted from Britain at this stage
was to clear out the way so that he could pursue his "military" relationship
with the Palestinians and the Arab countries. And pursue it he did . . . in a
28
massive program of arms acquisition and military buildup.
T h e U N G A P a r t i t i o n R e s o l u t i o n of N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 7
Before t h e U N G A Resolution 181 calling for t h e Partition of Palestine into
a Jewish state and an Arab state w i t h Jerusalem as a corpus separatum
administered by t h e U N was acted u p o n , t h e U N Special C o m m i t t e e o n
Palestine (UNSCOP) was s e n t to Palestine. T h e c o m m i t t e e r e c o m m e n d e d
to t h e G e n e r a l Assembly t h a t t h e Jewish refugee p r o b l e m b e c o n s i d e r e d an
international responsibility. However, n e i t h e r t h e U N as a w h o l e n o r t h e
United States r e s p o n d e d to this. In fact, t h e Zionists m a d e every effort t o
restrict refugee m i g r a t i o n t o c o u n t r i e s o t h e r t h a n Palestine, w i t h t h e i n t e n t
29
of increasing d e m o g r a p h i c density in Palestine. While war was still raging,
President Roosevelt favored an immigration plan t h a t w o u l d o p e n t h e
d o o r s of various c o u n t r i e s to E u r o p e a n refugees, especially Jews, e a c h
c o u n t r y designating a specific n u m b e r it w o u l d b e able to absorb. H e lined
u p several. Roosevelt's representative, Morris Ernst, was s e n t to G r e a t
Britain d u r i n g t h e war to d e t e r m i n e h o w m a n y t h e British could take. T h e
British said t h e y w o u l d take 150,000 if t h e U n i t e d States w o u l d t a k e t h e
s a m e . Roosevelt k n e w t h e U.S. w o u l d b e a hard sell given t h e labor u n i o n s '
fear of foreign workers; b u t t h e plan fell t h r o u g h , in a n y case. Ernst
explained t h e defeat of t h e plan as follows:
[T]o me it seemed that the failure of the leading Jewish groups to support with
zeal this immigration program may have caused the President not to push
forward with it at that time. . . . I was amazed and even felt insulted when
active Jewish leaders decried, sneered and then attacked me as if I were a
traitor.... I was openly accused of furthering this plan for freer immigration in
order to undermine political Zionism. . . . I think I know the reason for much
of the opposition. There is a deep, genuine, often fanatical emotional vested
SPRING 2005 17
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A S H O R T HISTORY
interest in putting over the Palestinian movement [i.e., the Zionist project in
30
Palestine].
18 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
1 32
gradual implementation of t h e ideology. " The Arabs rejected t h e partition
plan. A few figures will demonstrate just h o w unfair t h e partition plan was.
U n d e r t h e plan:
Jews received 55 p e r c e n t of t h e best land in Palestine, while o w n i n g less
t h a n 7 p e r c e n t in all of Palestine a n d less t h a n 11 p e r c e n t in t h e
allotted area, while Palestinians w e r e allotted 45 p e r c e n t of their land,
T h e p r o p o s e d Palestinian state w o u l d have 818,000 Palestinians,
including t h e 71,000 Palestinians in t h e seacoast city of Jaffa,
s u r r o u n d e d by w h a t w o u l d b e t h e Jewish state, a n d fewer t h a n 10,000
Jews. T h e Jerusalem corpus separatum would have 105,000 Palestinians
a n d 100,000 Jews. T h e Jewish state would have a b o u t 499,000 Jews a n d
a b o u t 438,000 Palestinians,
Eighty p e r c e n t of t h e land in t h e Jewish state was o w n e d by Palestinians,
w h e r e a s only 1 p e r c e n t of t h e Palestinian land was o w n e d by Jews.
T h e best lands were incorporated into t h e Jewish state w h e r e Palestinians
h a d citrus and cereal p r o d u c t i o n areas, their main exports. Moreover,
40 percent of Palestinian industry a n d t h e major sources of t h e
country's electrical supply fell within t h e envisaged Jewish state.
T h e plan also left Palestinians w i t h o u t air access or h a r b o r s a n d p o r t
33
facilities, except for isolated Jaffa.
M a i n s t r e a m Zionists d e m a n d e d w h a t t h e y felt w a s realistic in t h e
1940s: a Jewish state in t h e greater p a r t of Palestine, w h i c h t h e partition
plan offered. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi n o t e s t h a t t h e Z i o n i s t
a c c e p t a n c e of t h e partition plan was in e s s e n c e a c c e p t a n c e of t h e Zionists'
o w n d e m a n d . H e states further, Tt is difficult t o see w h y a moral k u d o s
a p p e r t a i n s t o t h e p a r t y t h a t accepts its o w n p r o g r a m , a n d eternal o p p r o
b r i u m attaches to t h e p a r t y t h a t rejects a transaction it perceives to
34
t h r e a t e n its national existence." Since t h a t time, Israelis have said continu
ally t h a t h a d the Palestinians accepted t h e p a r t i t i o n plan, t h e y w o u l d have a
Palestinian state today. However, given t h e fact t h a t t h e 1947 p r o p o s e d
Jewish state h a d almost a n equal n u m b e r of Palestinians in t h e area allotted
to t h e Zionists, it w o u l d n o t have b e e n t h e Jewish state called for in Zionist
congresses a n d literature b u t a binational state, a c o n c e p t earlier rejected
by Ben-Gurion. Moreover, given o u r c o n t e m p o r a r y k n o w l e d g e of t h e
p l a n n e d expulsions, massacres, e x p a n s i o n strategy, a n d efforts t o d a y to
d e n y Palestinian s t a t e h o o d o n t h e 1967 Israeli-occupied territories, s u c h
p r o n o u n c e m e n t s ring hollow,
SPRING 2005 19
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
20 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
Given the fact that Israel ultimately intended to keep the Occupied Territories,
the existence of a large Palestinian population there recreated Israel's original
demographic problem. A Whole Land of Israel Movement issued a Manifesto
in 1967 affirming that "no government in Israel is entitled to give up [the
SPRING 2005 21
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
conquered territories which Zionists define as part of the whole of Israel, i.e.,
Eretz Israel] this entirety, which represents the inherent and inalienable right to
our people from the beginning of its history." [Quoted in Nur Masalha,
Imperial Israel and the Palestinians (London: Pluto Press, 2000), 28-29.] Today,
there are 3.2 million Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and over 1
million [the descendants of those 150,000 who managed to stay in Israel in
1948-49] within Israel proper. The Jewish population numbers some 5 million.
Hence the ratio is approximately 4 Palestinians to every 5 Israeli Jews in Israel
42
and the Occupied Territories.
22 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
SPRING 2005 23
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
24 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C, H A G O P I A N
Conclusion
Clearly, t h e political Zionists d r e w o n t h e rich mythical s y m b o l i s m of t h e
alleged ancient Israel, w h i c h t h e y c o m b i n e d w i t h a n e w forceful Jewish
identity, in order to p r o m o t e their goals in Palestine a n d have t h e m a p p e a r
as legitimate and inevitable. T h e majority of t h e Israelis, however, are
SPRING 2005 25
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
26 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C. H A G O P I A N
Endnotes
1. N u r Masalha, Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist
Political Thought, 1882-1948 (Washington, D.C., Institute of Palestine Studies,
1992).
2. Ibid., 14.
3. Benjamin Beit Hallahmi, Original Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and
Israel (London: Pluto Press, 1992), 46.
4. Ibid., 47.
5. Ibid., 47-48. See also Keith Whitelam, The Invention of Ancient Israel: The
Silencing of Palestinian History (London: Routledge, 1996).
6. Ibid., 72. See also Ze'ev Herzog, "The Holy Land, Archaeology, and the Bible:
Deconstructing the Walls of Jericho," Haaretz (Friday, 29 October 1999).
7. Q u o t e d in E m o r y C. Bogle, The Modern Middle East: From Imperialism to
Freedom, 1800-1958 (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), 134.
8. For a map of the Sykes-Picot agreement and a discussion of it specifics, see
George Antonius, The Arab Awakening (New York: Capricorn Books edition,
1965; originally published in 1938), 243-75.
9. Article 22, section 4 is quoted in and analyzed by W.T. Mallison, Jr., "The
Balfour Declaration: A n Appraisal in I n t e r n a t i o n a l Law," in I b r a h i m Abu-
L u g h o d , ed., The Transformation of Palestine (Evanston, 111.: N o r t h w e s t e r n
University Press, 1971), 97.
10. This section draws heavily on t h e m e t i c u l o u s r e s e a r c h of H i s h a m H.
Ahmed, "Roots of Denial: American Stand on Palestinian Self-Determination
from the Balfour Declaration to World War Two," in Michael W. Suleiman, ed.,
U.S. Policy on Palestine from Wilson to Clinton (Normal, 111.: AAUG, 1995), 27-57.
11. Ibid., 35.
12. Ibid., 36.
13. Ibid., 41.
14. Ibid., 37. See also H a r r y N . H o w a r d , The King-Crane Commission: An
American Inquiry in the Middle East (Beirut: Khayats, 1963).
15. All of the proposed maps were assembled from Zionist sources and put out
in collected form by The Arab Women's Information Committee in their publi
cation, "From the Nile to the Euphrates," in The Facts about the Palestine Problem
SPRING 2005 27
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT: A SHORT HISTORY
(Beirut: 1968).
16. Bogle, The Modern Middle East, 142-43.
17. See Avi Shlaim, Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist
Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (New York: Columbia University Press,
1988); a n d M a r y Wilson, King Abdullah, Britain and the Making of Jordan
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990 reprint edition).
18. A major resource on this period is written by Sahar Huneidi, A Broken Trust:
Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians (London: LB. Tauris, 2001).
19. Ibid, passim. See also my review of Huneida's b o o k in The Middle East
Journal 5 6 / 1 (Winter 2002): 175-76; and Trial and Error: The Autobiography of
Chaim Weizmann, First President of Israel (New York: Schocken Books, 1949).
20. Beit-Hallahmi, Original Sins, 105,104.
21. Mallison, "The Balfour Declaration," in Abu-Lughod, ed., Transformation, 97.
22. Barbara Kalkas, "The Revolt of 1936: A Chronicle of Events," in ibid., 237.
23. Ibid., 238.
24. Walid Khalidi, "Revisiting t h e U N G A Partition Resolution," in Journal of
Palestine Studies 2 7 / 1 (Autumn 1997): 6-7. Khalidi quotes Ben-Gurion from his
biographer, Shabatai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs: From Peace to
War (Oxford and N e w York: Oxford University Press, 1985).
25. Quoted from my review of Susan Silsby Boyle, Betrayal of Palestine: The Story
of George Antonius (Boulder: Westview Press, 2001) in Middle East Journal 5 5 / 3
(Summer 2001): 513.
26. Fred J. Khouri, The Arab-Israeli Dilemma (Syracuse: Syracuse University
Press, 1968), 26-27.
27. For a good discussion of this period, see ibid., 16-42.
28. Khalidi, "Revisiting the U N G A Partition Resolution," 8.
2 9 . For a d i s c u s s i o n of t h i s , s e e , M o r r i s E r n s t , "F.D.R.'s I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Immigration Plan for Jewish Refugees," in Walid Khalidi, ed., From Conquest to
Haven: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem until 1948 (Beirut: The
Institute for Palestine Studies, 1971), 489-94; reprinted from Morris L. Ernst, So
Far So Good (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948), 170-77.
30. Ibid., 492-93.
31. Khalidi, "Revisiting the U N G A Partition Resolution," 9.
32. Ibid.. 17.
33. See t h e full text of U N G A 181 (II) of 29 N o v e m b e r 1947 in G e o r g e J.
Tomeh, ed., United Nations Resolutions on Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
1947-1974 (Beirut: Institute of Palestine Studies, 1975), 4-14; and ibid., 11-14.
28 QUARTERLY REVIEW
E L A I N E C, HAGOPIAN
SPRING 2005 29
T H E PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT; A SHORT HISTORY
48. Sara Roy, "Why Peace Failed-An Oslo A u t o p s y / in Current History 100/651
(8 January 2002); reprinted in Tobin, ed., How Long, O Lord?, 11-28. Countering
Barak's claims of a "generous offer" and that "there is n o Palestinian partner for
peace" are t h e following important articles: Robert Malley and Hussein Agha,
"Camp David: The Tragedy of Errors," in The New York Review of Books AS/13 (9
A u g u s t 2001) a n d Uri Avnery, "Irreversible M e n t a l Damage," in Palestine
Chronicle (22 J u n e 2 0 0 4 ) , a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e a t w w w . z m a g . o r g / c o n t e n t /
print article.cfm?itemID=5760§ionID=22. In it Avnery notes, "This is the
c u l m i n a t i o n of a p r o c e s s t h a t b e g a n w i t h t h e r e t u r n of t h e t h e n P r i m e
Minister, Ehud Barak, from the 2000 C a m p David summit. After the failure of
that meeting, he coined the mantra that has since become the cornerstone of
t h e policy of successive Israeli governments: 'I have turned every stone o n t h e
way to p e a c e / I have offered the Palestinians more generous proposals t h a n
any of my predecessors/ The Palestinians have rejected all my offers/ Arafat
wants to throw us into the s e a / We have n o partner for peace.' This mantra is
based o n a series of lies that have b e e n exploded long ago. American eye
witnesses like Robert Malley, President Clinton's advisor at C a m p David, as
well as s o m e of t h e Israeli participants a n d international researchers have
published detailed reports that prove that Barak himself was responsible for
the failure at least as much as Arafatin fact, far more."
49. See Ari Shavit's interview with Benny Morris, entitled "Survival of t h e
Fittest," in Haaretz (9 January 2004).
30 QUARTERLY REVIEW
Reflections of a Recovered
Christian Zionist
BARRY E. BRYANT
Left Behind
For anyone growing u p in t h e Holiness tradition in t h e South in t h e 1970s, it
was hard to avoid Dispensationalism. The theological orientation began inno
cently enough. It started with listening to preachers telling Revelation horror
stories a b o u t the "False Prophet," t h e "Antichrist," and t h e "mark of t h e Beast."
We were held spellbound and told about the seven-year Tribulation, t h e four
riders of t h e Apocalypse and their horses, along with t h e Seven Seals. Worse
yet, w e were told about h o w all this would contribute to the torture and d e a t h
of those w h o would be left behind after G o d "raptured" t h e church. We never
batted an eye w h e n we were told Christians would b e snatched shirtless right
o n into heaven. This was "Dispensationalism 101." It was t h e Bible. H e was a
preacher. It had to be true.
Of course, proclaiming t h e "last days" h a s b e e n a p a r t of p r e a c h i n g t h e
gospel since t h e Apostle Peter's s e r m o n at Pentecost. Evangelists have
b e e n using t h e parousia as a scythe for harvesting souls since t h e days of
Paul. But since D.L. Moody, p r e a c h e r s have u s e d Christ's r e t u r n t o m a k e
QUARTERLY REVIEW 31
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R I, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
32 QUARTERLY REVIEW
B A R R Y H. B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 33
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
34 QUARTERLY REVIEW
B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
Christian Zionism
It was n o t long before s o m e o n e p u t a c o p y of Hal Lindsey's The Late Great
Planet Earth in m y h a n d . I read it w i t h great a m a z e m e n t , e n t h u s i a s m , and
vigor. At each Bible study, I j o i n e d in t h e endless a n d obsessive speculation
a b o u t G o g a n d Magog of Ezek. 38:2, w h e n Russia w o u l d invade Israel, or
w h o t h e Antichrist m i g h t be. T h e only h i n t as t o w h o t h a t m i g h t b e could
b e found in t h e m a t h e m a t i c a l c o n u n d r u m k n o w n as t h e "mark of t h e
Beast." With t h e right alphabet (English was preferred, of course; b u t
H e b r e w a n d Greek could also b e used) a n d t h e right a m o u n t of algebra,
666 could b e tweaked e n o u g h so t h a t t h e Beast could b e almost anyone.
T h e t h e o r i e s covered e v e r y o n e from J o h n F. K e n n e d y to t h e P o p e a n d
often reflected a p r o n o u n c e d anti-Catholic s e n t i m e n t . (Perhaps this
a c c o u n t s for the disregard of Christian c o m m u n i t i e s o n t h e West Bank
now. They are nearly all R o m a n Catholic or Orthodox.)
T h e speculation increased over time. There was speculation as to w h a t
t h e Beast's "mark" might look like. Suggestions ranged from t a t t o o s to bar
codes, even Social Security n u m b e r cards. We speculated w h e n t h e Rapture
m i g h t o c c u r a n d tried t o imagine t h e c h a o s created b y sidewalks full of
e m p t y clothes, careening cars, a n d crashing planes. Living in t h e middle of
t h e Cold War, with its c o n s t a n t threat of nuclear holocaust, w e speculated
a b o u t A r m a g e d d o n a lot a n d a b o u t h o w G o d w o u l d u s e "weapons of mass
SPRING 2005 35
REFLECTIONS O F A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
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B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 37
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
38 QUARTERLY REVIEW
BARRY E . B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 39
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
40 QUARTERLY REVIEW
B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
SPRING 2005 41
REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERED CHRISTIAN ZIONIST
42 QUARTERLY REVIEW
B A R R Y E. B R Y A N T
Endnotes
1. For more about the Sabeel Center, see http://www.sabeel.org, For a state
m e n t from the conference, see http://www.sabeel,org/documents
/5thConfStatementfinal.htm.
2. Stephen Sizer, "Christian Zionism: Historical Roots, Theological Basis and
Political Consequences." F o u n d online at http://www.christchurch-virgini-
awater.co.uk/articles/czarticles.htm. Sizer has d o n e a c o m m e n d a b l e job of
tracing t h e history a n d d e v e l o p m e n t of D i s p e n s a t i o n a l i s m a n d Christian
Zionism.
3. C. I. Scofield, The Scofield Reference Bible (New York: Oxford University Press,
1917), 5.
4. J. N . Darby, "Progress of Evil on t h e Earth," The Collected Writings of J.N,
Darby (Winschoten, Netherlands: H.L. Heijkoop, 1971), 2:103.
5. Hal Lindsey, The Final Battle (Palos Verdes, CA: Western Front, 1995), 250-52.
This book and Dailey's work were brought to my attention by Stephen Sizer at
the Sabeel Conference on Christian Zionism, Jerusalem, April 2004.
6. Timothy J. Dailey, The Gathering Storm (New York: Chosen Books, 1992), 245.
7. For what is still a classic treatment of the history of Zionism, see Walter
Laqueur, A History of Zionism (New York: MJF Books, 1972).
8. For a good online list of Jews in support of Palestine, see http://www.muha-
=i
iabah.com/palestine.php?page 8#jews.
9. For a good summary of this issue see, Rosemary Radford Ruether, H e r m a n
J. Ruether, The Wrath of Jonah: The Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-
Palestinian Conflict (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002), xxi.
10. T i m o t h y P, Weber, On the Road to Armageddon (Grand R a p i d s : Baker
Academic, 2004), 15. Weber makes this point in w h a t is a good b u t largely
uncritical historical summary of how the movement empowered itself.
11. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church-2004 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 2004), 1(104.
12. John Wesley, "A Dialogue Between a Predestinarian and His Friend," in The
Works of John Wesley, ed. by Thomas Jackson, 3rd. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
1978), 10:260-66.
SPRING 2005 43
United Methodists and the Israeli-
Palestinian Situation
RHONDA MCCARTY
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R H O N D A McCARTV
SPRING 2005 45
U N I T E D METHODISTS A N D T H E ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SITUATION
The Resolutions
In regard to t h e issue of Middle East peace, t h e Social Principles offer a
s o u n d framework for t h e m o r e specific resolutions. T h o s e w h o petition t h e
G e n e r a l C o n f e r e n c e for resolutions o n p e a c e a n d justice issues are d o i n g
so w i t h t h e p r e s u m p t i o n t h a t t h e church's a t t i t u d e s a n d actions are t o b e
b a s e d o n t h e Social Principles.
Resolutions o n p e a c e a n d t h e Middle East first a p p e a r e d in t h e 1P68
Book of Resolutions. In t h e s a m e year t h a t t h e c h u r c h a d d r e s s e d U.S. policy
in Vietnam, racial equality, t h e cause of Christian unity, t h e u r b a n crisis,
anti-Semitism, a n d M a r t i n L u t h e r King, Jr.'s p h i l o s o p h y of nonviolence, it
also took o n p e a c e a n d t h e Middle East. T h e petition o n T h e United
M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h a n d Peace focused o n t h e u n i q u e role of t h e church "as
a n i n s t r u m e n t of peace." T h e petition recognized t h a t "no n a t i o n is ulti
mately sovereign," t h a t indiscriminate use of w e a p o n s could n o t b e morally
justified, t h a t self-determination was a reasonable expectation of all
peoples, a n d t h a t t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s was a n institution w o r t h y of t h e
church's s u p p o r t . It also c o n d e m n e d war as a m e a n s of solving interna
6
tional d i s p u t e s . Given t h e historical context, e a c h o n e of t h e s e s t a t e m e n t s
could b e applied directly to o u r r e s p o n s e t o t h e Israeli o c c u p a t i o n of t h e
West Bank a n d G a z a Strip following t h e 1967 war, b u t Israel a n d Palestine
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U N I T E D METHODISTS A N D T H E ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SITUATION
time after its being demolished by t h e Israeli government. This time it was
o p e n e d as a peace center. N o t only did t h e M i n n e s o t a n United Methodists
give financially b u t t h e y also launched a massive lobbying campaign w h e n
t h e h o m e was being threatened again. Calls to Congress and eventually to
Secretary of State Colin Powell s t o p p e d t h e destruction of t h e Shawamreh
h o m e for t h e time being. Known as "the Palestine Israel Justice Project," it is
an ongoing excellent m o d e l of h o w t h e church's position translates into prac
20
tical ways of dealing w i t h issues of peace a n d justice.
This is by n o m e a n s t h e only e x a m p l e of a p p r o p r i a t e response. In
k e e p i n g w i t h t h e resolutions, t h e G e n e r a l Board of C h u r c h a n d Society a n d
t h e G e n e r a l Board of Global Ministries c o n t i n u e to w o r k w i t h ecumenical
coalitions in a variety of ways. S o o n after t h e 2004 G e n e r a l Conference,
G e n e r a l Board of C h u r c h a n d Society G e n e r a l Secretary Jim Winkler
participated in a National Council of C h u r c h e s ' delegation t h a t m e t w i t h
U N Secretary G e n e r a l Kofi A n a n a n d also had a n interfaith leadership
m e e t i n g w i t h Secretary of State Colin Powell. T h e latter g r o u p , m e m b e r s of
t h e National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Middle East Peace,
m a d e u p of Muslims, Christians, a n d Jews, is lobbying for t h e U n i t e d States
t o r e s u m e heavy involvement in b r o k e r i n g Israeli-Palestinian peace. While
t h e State D e p a r t m e n t ' s position at this m e e t i n g implicated Palestinian
violence as t h e r e a s o n for b r e a k d o w n of t h e p e a c e process, Winkler, consis
t e n t w i t h t h e position of t h e G e n e r a l Conference, stressed t h e i m p o r t a n c e
21
of s i m u l t a n e o u s actions of b o t h Palestinians a n d Israelis.
T h e G e n e r a l Board of C h u r c h a n d Society also coordinates a n e t w o r k
of grassroots peace-and-justice activists t h r o u g h o u t T h e United M e t h o d i s t
Church. A n n u a l conferences are n o t consistent in their a p p o i n t m e n t and
utilization of Peace w i t h Justice coordinators, educators, a n d advocates.
However, in a n n u a l conferences w h e r e t h e position h a s t h e s u p p o r t of t h e
b i s h o p a n d o t h e r leadership, local c h u r c h e s benefit from t h e efforts of
Peace w i t h Justice coordinators in w o r k i n g n o t only o n global peace-and-
justice issues b u t also o n local projects s u c h as Shalom Z o n e s and in educa
tion related t o t h e Social Principles a n d t h e resolutions as well.
A handful of a n n u a l conferences w i t h active Peace w i t h Justice coordi
n a t o r s did take a d v a n t a g e of t h e 2004 G e n e r a l C o n f e r e n c e resolutions as
an o p p o r t u n i t y for education. Steve H o d g e s , Peace w i t h Justice c o o r d i n a t o r
for t h e H o l s t o n Conference, c o n d u c t e d a w o r k s h o p at their a n n u a l confer
e n c e linked to t h e Social Principles a n d resolutions. Rev. Bruce Case in
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U N I T E D METHODISTS A N D T H E ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SITUATION
Theological Education
O n e way to bridge t h e gap b e t w e e n t h e church's official positions a n d prac
tical u n d e r s t a n d i n g in t h e c h u r c h e s is t h r o u g h theological e d u c a t i o n a n d
c o n t i n u i n g education. It is n o t at all clear w h e t h e r t h e Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is b e i n g a d d r e s s e d in any c o n s i s t e n t way in s e m i n a r y and divinity
school curricula. C o u r s e s c a n b e found o n world religions, various aspects
of Islam, holy war, a n d interfaith dialogue; b u t t h e r e is little to suggest t h a t
t h e c u r r e n t geopolitical conflict b e t w e e n Israel a n d t h e Palestinians in its
historical context, m u c h less t h e a p p r o p r i a t e r e s p o n s e of t h e church, is a
regular p a r t of theological curricula. It would s e e m t h a t t h e issue a n d t h e
United M e t h o d i s t u n d e r s t a n d i n g of it are b e i n g discussed incidentally
m o r e often t h a n intentionally. O u r seminaries could greatly impact consis
t e n t h a n d l i n g of t h e issue by giving clergy t h e confidence t h e y n e e d t o
address t h e issue from a s o u n d theological b a s e a n d g o o d working knowl
e d g e of t h e church's r e s p o n s e to t h e c u r r e n t situation.
O u r goal as U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t s should b e to m a k e t h e entire d e n o m i
n a t i o n fully conversant w i t h t h e Israeli-Palestinian issue. O u r seminaries
a n d divinity schools r e p r e s e n t a long-term strategy. In t h e interim, w e c a n
employ t w o ways to bridge t h e g a p b e t w e e n official p r o n o u n c e m e n t s a n d
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Endnotes
1. Alex Awad, "Wanted: A Global Movement to End the Arab-Israeli Conflict,"
distributed via email (May 2004).
2. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church-2004 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 2004), K509.
3. Scott J. Jones, United Methodist Doctrine (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002), 38-39.
4. Paragraph 164 covers "basic freedoms and h u m a n rights." Other pertinent
sections are Section V, "The Political Community," and Section VI, "The World
Community."
5. "'Stop Demolitions,' Bishops Demand"; found on the website of the General
Board of Global Ministries at h t t p : / / g b g m - u m c . o r g / n e w s / 2 0 0 1 / j u l y / p a l e s -
tine2.htm.
6. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1968 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1968), 17-24.
7. Ibid., 81-82.
8. Ibid., 82-83.
9. The Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church-1972 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1972), 25-30.
10. Ibid., 105-06.
11. Quoted in John L. Allen Jr., "Interfaith Dialogue: Beyond Tea and Cookies,"
National Catholic Reporter (19 September 2003).
12. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1976 (Nashville:
The United Methodist Publishing House, 1976), 129-31.
13. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1984 (Nashville:
The United Methodist Publishing House, 1984), 280.
14. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1988 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1988), 511-12.
15. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1992 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1992), 580-81.
16. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-1996 (Nashville: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1996), 635-41.
17. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church-2000 (Nashville: The
58 QUARTERLY REVIEW
RHONDA MCCARTY
SPRING 2005 59
The Conflict over Palestine:
A Palestinian Christian Response
NAIM ATEEK
Christian Zionists
T h e Protestant Reformation gave a n e w spiritual zeal t o E u r o p e in t h e
sixteenth century. This was e n h a n c e d by t h e translation of t h e Bible into
t h e vernacular. T h e m o n o p o l y of t h e church's hierarchy to interpret t h e
Bible was broken. T h e Bible b e c a m e available t o t h e c o m m o n p e o p l e a n d
Christian charismatic leaders b e g a n to offer various i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of t h e
text. With exciting a n d wonderful teachings also c a m e s o m e diverse and,
at times, deviant ideas. T h e d e e p e r biblical insights e n r i c h e d t h e c h u r c h
a n d c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e spiritual m a t u r i t y of m a n y Christians. At t h e s a m e
time, literalist a n d exclusive readings of t h e text led to theological a n d
behavioral aberrations.
By t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e n i n e t e e n t h century, it b e c a m e clear t h a t o n e of
t h e topics o c c u p y i n g t h e m i n d s of P r o t e s t a n t a n d evangelical Christians in
b o t h Britain a n d t h e U n i t e d States was t h e S e c o n d C o m i n g of Christ. S o m e
Christians b e g a n t o calculate t h e e n d of t h e world a n d predict specific
dates for t h e S e c o n d C o m i n g . By relating a n d associating verses together
from t h e O l d a n d N e w Testaments, t h e s e Christians d e d u c e d elaborate
systems regarding t h e e n d of t h e world. In t h e s e s c h e m e s , t h e Jewish
p e o p l e w e r e perceived as playing a n essential role in t h e divine scenarios
of t h e e n d . Before Christ can c o m e back, Jews m u s t r e t u r n to Palestine,
60 QUARTERLY REVIEW
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NAIM ATEEK
Jewish Zionists
Totally u n a w a r e of w h a t s o m e Protestant a n d free-church Christians w e r e
scheming, t h e Jewish c o m m u n i t y in E u r o p e was facing s o m e serious chal
lenges toward t h e latter p a r t of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y P o g r o m s in Russia
a n d Eastern E u r o p e caused m a n y Jews to emigrate from t h o s e c o u n t r i e s to
t h e w e s t e r n part of E u r o p e a n d even t o t h e U n i t e d States. T h e malaise of
anti-Semitism was d e e p a n d pervasive a m o n g m a n y E u r o p e a n s .
At t h e same time, E u r o p e was e x p a n d i n g t h r o u g h its colonial ventures.
Colonialism still enjoyed a positive aspect. It was perceived as exporting
E u r o p e a n culture and civilization to t h e "backward" p e o p l e of t h e world.
D u e to growing anti-Semitism, s o m e E u r o p e a n Jewish leaders
c o n c l u d e d t h a t it is difficult for Jews t o live a fully E u r o p e a n life a m o n g
Christians w h o h a r b o r e d anti-Jewish feelings. As a result of this analysis
t h e Zionist M o v e m e n t c a m e into b e i n g in 1897, calling for t h e establish
m e n t of a Jewish state w h e r e Jews c a n live free of Christian bias. T h e early
Jewish Zionists w e r e secular and atheist a n d their project did n o t involve
religion. In fact, t h e major religious Jewish d e n o m i n a t i o n s at t h e time
c o n d e m n e d the Zionist M o v e m e n t a n d c o n s i d e r e d it heretical. For t h e m , it
was only t h e Messiah t h a t could gather in Jews from t h e D i a s p o r a to
Palestine. A n d as long as t h e Messiah has n o t c o m e , a n y h u m a n a t t e m p t to
accomplish that m u s t b e rejected.
SPRING 2005 61
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
The Palestinians
T h e story of t h e Palestinians also has its o w n u n i q u e d i m e n s i o n s . As
E u r o p e was going t h r o u g h t h e p e r i o d of t h e Renaissance a n d t h e
Enlightenment, t h e Middle East was passing t h r o u g h its d o r m a n t period.
Palestine, as well as all t h e A r a b countries, c a m e u n d e r O t t o m a n Turkish
rule in 1517, w h i c h e n d e d 400 years later at t h e close of World War I. At t h e
e n d of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d approximately at t h e s a m e time as t h e
Zionist M o v e m e n t c a m e i n t o being in E u r o p e a n d started agitating for a
Jewish state in Palestine, t h e Arabs in t h e Middle East, including Palestine,
w e r e agitating for i n d e p e n d e n c e from Turkish rule.
D u r i n g World War I, t h e British g o v e r n m e n t n e e d e d t h e Arabs to revolt
against t h e Turkish Empire a n d in exchange pledged t h e m their i n d e p e n
d e n c e . Similarly, t h e Jewish Zionists w e r e successful in 1917 in extracting a
pledge from t h e British t h r o u g h t h e Balfour Declaration t h a t p r o m i s e d
62 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
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T H E C O N F L I C T O V E R PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
64 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
SPRING 2005 65
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
66 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
SPRING 2005 67
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
68 QUARTERLY REVIEW
N A I M ATEEK
SPRING 2005 69
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER. P A L E S T I N E : A P A L E S T I N I A N C H R I S T I A N RESPONSE
70 QUARTERLY REVIEW
NAIM ATEEK
The Rev. Dr. Nairn Ateek is founder and director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation
Theology Center in Jerusalem.
Endnotes
1. For a m o r e detailed discussion o n D i s p e n s a t i o n a l i s m , see t h e w o r k of
S t e p h e n Sizer in his f o r t h c o m i n g b o o k Christian Zionism: Road Map to
Armageddon? (InterVarsity, 2004); or online: http://www.christianzionism.org.
See also Donald Wagner, Anxious for Armageddon (Herald Press, 1995), 85-95,
and the article by Barry Bryant in this issue.
2. For more background on Lord Shaftesbury, see Barbara W. Tuchman, Bible
and Sword (New York: Ballantine Books, 1984), 175-207.
3. Michael Prior, Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry (London:
Routledge, 1999), 140.
4. O n the various types of Millenarianism, see RJ. McKelvey, The Millennium
SPRING 2005 71
T H E C O N F L I C T OVER PALESTINE: A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
72 QUARTERLY REVIEW
A Jewish Renewal Understanding of
the State of Israel
MICHAEL LERNER
QUARTERLY REVIEW 73
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
74 QUARTERLY REVIEW
MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 75
A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
76 QUARTERLY REVIEW
MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 77
A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
78 QUARTERLY REVIEW
MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 79
A JEWISH RENEWAL U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F THE STATE O F ISRAEL
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MICHAEL LERNER
SPRING 2005 81
A JEWISH R E N E W A L U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E STATE O F ISRAEL
Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun and author of nine books, including
Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing a n d Transformation (HarperCollins,
1995). The rabbi of Beyt T i k k u n synagogue in San Francisco, he encourages
people who agree with his perspective to join The Tikkun Community at
h t t p : / / w w w . T i k k u n . o r g ; email: RabbiLerner@tikkun.org.
Endnotes
1. Michael Lerner, Healing Israel/Palestine: A Path to Peace and Reconciliation
(North Atlantic Books, 2003).
2. See my response to critics of the Accord in my book The Geneva Accord and
Other Strategies for Middle East Peace (North Atlantic Books, 2004).
82 QUARTERLY REVIEW
Is The United Methodist Church a Global Church Yet?
QUARTERLY REVIEW 83
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1, S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
THE U N I T E D METHODIST C H U R C H AS A GLOBAL CHURCH
84 QUARTERLY REVIEW
D A V I D J. L A W S O N
SPRING 2005 85
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AS A GLOBAL CHURCH
86 QUARTERLY REVIEW
PATRICK STREIFF
SPRING 2005 87
THE U N I T E D METHODIST C H U R C H AS A GLOBAL C H U R C H
Endnotes
1. Patrick Ph. Streiff, "The Global N a t u r e of The United Methodist Church:
What Future for the Branch outside the United States?" Quarterly Review 2 4 / 2
(Summer 2004): 181-93.
2. Bruce W. R o b b i n s , A World Parish? Hopes and Challenges of The United
Methodist Church in a Global Setting (Nashville: Abingdon, 2004).
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A Word on The Word
Lectionary Study
JOHN C. HOLBERT
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LECTIONARY STUDY
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JOHNC. HOLBERT
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Take yourself from your country, from your kindred, from the very house of
your father, to the country that I will show you. I will make you a great nation,
and I will bless you, making your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you. And through you all
the families of the soil will be blessed (or "will bless themselves") (Gen. 12:1-3).
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uttered: "Now Sarai was barren; she h a d n o child." But this is n o t a speck!
T h e s e n t e n c e s o u n d s like a t h u n d e r c l a p into o u r story. H o w will t h e great
G o d found a great n a t i o n designed to bless all t h e n a t i o n s o u t of a c o u p l e
w h o has n o children! That glorious p r o m i s e of d e s c e n d a n t s in 12:7 rings
hollow in t h e face of Sarai's b a r r e n n e s s . Even this wonder-working G o d ,
this G o d of shalom, will b e tested to m a k e this work. We read o n in t h e
s t o r y w i t h h o p e in G o d , b u t we fear for t h e h u m a n beings, w h o s e history
t h u s far has b e e n less t h a n stellar. C a n blessing for all c o m e from this?
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Endnotes
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture translations in this article are my
own.
2. Lynn White. Jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis," Science 155
(10 March 1967): 1203-07.
JOON-SIK PARK
Transforming Mission
In Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Orbis, 1991), t h e
late South African missiologist David Bosch carefully investigates t h e trans
formations of the Christian mission d u r i n g t h e past tw e nty centuries a n d
explores a n e w paradigm of mission for t h e present crisis t h e church faces.
Bosch's thesis is t h a t t h e r e have b e e n major p a r a d i g m shifts in mission
in r e s p o n s e to p r o f o u n d crises a n d t h a t o u r t i m e a n d c o n t e x t legitimate
a n o t h e r critical shift. The E n l i g h t e n m e n t p a r a d i g m h a s heavily s h a p e d t h e
u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d practice of t h e Christian mission since t h e e i g h t e e n t h
century. N o w t h e n e w " p o s t m o d e r n " paradigm is e m e r g i n g as t h e entire
f o u n d a t i o n of t h e E n l i g h t e n m e n t is b e i n g challenged a n d is collapsing
Endnotes
1. Wilbert R. Shenk, Changing Frontiers of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999), 3.
2. See J. N. J. Kritzinger, "Liberating Mission in South Africa," in Mission in
Creative Tension: A Dialogue with David Bosch, ed, by J. N . J. Kritzinger and
Willem Saayman (Pretoria: S o u t h e r n African Missiological S o c i e t y 1990),
34-50; and Frans J. Verstraelen, "Africa in David Bosch's Missiology: Survey
and Appraisal," and Christopher Sugden, "Placing Critical Issues in Relief: A
Response to David Bosch," in Mission in Bold Humility: David Bosch's Work
Considered, ed. by Willem Saayman and Klippies Kritzinger (Maryknoll, NY:
1996), 8-39, 139-50.
3. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, "Annual Statistical Table on Global
Mission: 2004," International Bulletin of Missionary Research 28 (2004): 25.
4. As Pentecostals trace their earliest roots to the Wesleyan and Holiness move
ments, Methodism in particular needs to engage Pentecostalism both sympa
thetically and critically. See, for example, David Martin, Pentecostalism: The
World Their Parish (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002).
5. Murray A. Dempster, Byron D. Klaus, and Douglas Petersen, eds., Called and
Empowered: Global Mission in Pentecostal Perspective (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson,
1991).
V O L U M E 2 5 , N U M B E R 1. S P R I N G 2 0 0 5
ESLINGER, WOURMS, ESLINGEIVWARNER
Reviewed by Elise Eslinger, Elizabeth Wourms, and Richard Eslinger. They are
associated with the Institute for Applied Theology at United Theological Seminary
in Dayton, Ohio.
It was . . . downright disconcerting to have Dr. Robb and some of his friends
show up in my study one day with an openhearted challenge to help them do
something more constructive than cry havoc Here, obviously, was a heaven
sent opportunity not only for a reconciliation but also for a productive alliance
in place of what had been an unproductive joust. Moreover, as we explored our
problems, some unexpected items of agreement began to emerge (176).
MARY A N N M O M A N
General Board of Higher Education and Ministry,
The United Methodist Church, Nashville, T N
T H O M A S W. OGLETREE
The Divinity School, Yale University,
N e w Haven, CT
HARRIETT JANE O L S O N
The United Methodist Publishing House,
Nashville, T N
IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue Theme:
The Israeli-Palestinian Situation: Theological Explorations
The Palestine-Israel Conflict: A Short History
Elaine C. Hagopian
Reflections of a Recovered Christian Zionist
Barry E. Bryant
United M e t h o d i s t s a n d t h e Israeli-Palestinian Situation
Rhonda McCarty
The Conflict over Palestine: A Palestinian Christian R e s p o n s e
Nairn Ateek
A Jewish Renewal U n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e State of Israel
Michael Lemer
Book Reviews
Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church, bv Lovett H. Weems.
Jr. (Nashville: A b i n g d o n . 2003)
Reviewers: Elise Eslingcr, Elizabeth Wourms, and Richard Eslinger
Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History, by Riley B. C a s e (Nashville:
A b i n g d o n . 2004)
Reviewer: Laceye E. Warner
* N E X T ISSUE: ^
. Do UNITED METHODISTS STILL BELIEVE IN HOLINESS?