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Review Summary: theologically astute |
Date: 2001-11-23 |
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Details: atik is both gentle and forceful. his arguments and old testament understanding are *very* biblically and historically grounded. as a christian who has spent a lot of time studying the bible, i find that atik has done an amazing job laying out the groundwork for a very revolutionary liberation theology.
theologically, atik *is not* a premillenialist in his interpretation in hermeneutics (and eschatology, as other essays he's written have shown) so, if one is a premillenialist (which is a very faulty, in my opinion, theological standpoint since it depends on a eurocentric understanding of scripture which was created at the turn of the 20th century and originally dismissed as "heresy")one will not take to kindly to atik's book.
ideologically, the zionist "christian" will confuse atik's understanding of christ as a palestinian. as biblical anthropologists have pointed out, the idea of "jew" as a race did not exist during christ's time. there was only the jewish religion and the national boundaries of Palestine where this religious culture dominated at the time. the racial ideas of "palestinian" and "jew" did not emerge until much later and were only galvanized as a binary in 1948. atik is referring to this historical fact.
the words are wise and compelling. atik has done a lot of research and has grounded everything with a profound understanding of the bible. |
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Review Summary: Justice and only justice - A Palestinian Theology of ... |
Date: 2001-11-23 |
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Details: Unlike the first reviewer of this book, I am impressed by the author's ability to forgive the occupiers of his native land. After describing the impact of the establisment of Israel and the follow on occupation of Palestinian lands (1967) from a personal perspective (his family was expelled from their home with no notice by the Israeli Army), he tries to find a way for Palestian Christians to understand the situation from a non-literal Biblical perspective. If more Americans read books like this, we might have a better understanding of what is really happening in the Middle East. Peace will never come until the United States and Israel stand in the shoes of the Palestinians and accept the fact that a huge injustice continues against the Palestinians. Likewise the Palestinians must come to terms with the reality of the modern Israeli State and accept the fact that Israel exists today because of the Holocaust and the resulting sympathy for a Jewish State. This is a position Naim Stifan Ateek proposes. This is an excellent read, although sometimes a bit depressing. |
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Review Summary: A compelling liberation theology view of Palestine |
Date: 1997-02-27 |
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Details: This book is an application of the Liberation Theology that the author learned at seminary in the San Francisco area to the fight for self-determination by the Palestinian people. I highly recommend it, in conjunction with any books by Rev. Elias Chacour such as "We Belong To The Land" or "Blood Brothers." These are nonviolent, inclusionary approaches to peace among all of the inhabitants of Israel / Palestine |
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Review Summary: A brave attempt |
Date: 2007-08-12 |
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Details: This is a brave attempt to construct a praxis of a Liberation Theology for Christian Palestinians. Unfortunately brave and attempt is all it is. The theology falls down because Ateek's exegesis is at best simplistic. While Ateek criticises 'Jews' for their exegesis, he uses only First Testament examples and not particularly well at that. I would have liked to see Ateek use, for example, one of the birth narratives as his base Biblical study.Ateek confuses with his seemingly interchangaeable use of 'Zionist' and 'Jew'. The book lacks the rigour of Gutierrez Sobrino and Boek, and adds little to the litertaure of Liberation Theology. He should be credited though, with raising the profile of Palestinian Christians, a small and often forgotten minority. |
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Review Summary: Worthy successor to St Marcion |
Date: 2008-03-12 |
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Details: With this book, the Right Reverend Naim Ateek has established himself as a worthy successor to the 2nd century saint and martyr Marcion of Sinope who was persecuted and defamed by the religious authorities of his time. See Lost Christianities by Bart Ehrman for more information.
Like St Marcion, he utterly rejects the Old Testament as an ethnocentric compendium of restrictive laws, whilst opposing the Neo-Sanhedrinesque oppression of his people and preaching the gospel to the infidel in places like Saudi Arabia and Iran where he has founded many churches.
As if that weren't enough, Ateek is in the vanguard of combating heresy through his Sabeel Ecumenical Centre. It is important to keep the flock on the straight and narrow. Thrice blessed is he: fearless preacher, freedom fighter and liberator from legalism.
His passion for justice is evident from this thought-provoking work that strives to make the good news contextually relevant. Every page, nay every word, bespeaks a spirituality rooted in peace, love, non-violence, liberation and reconciliation amongst faith communities.
And yet, and yet. As saintly as this gentleman is and recognizing the value of his contribution to freeing us from all those uncomfortable things in the Old Testament like for example the ten commandments, I don't think he has gone far enough in the faith.
Saint Marcion tossed out everything but his own version of Luke plus ten heavily edited letters of St Paul. Let us have heaps of hope for the further refinement of Ateek's theology and the establishment of a revised canon that, it is hoped, will include this remarkable book!
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out of 8 Reviews
