Publisher's Synopsis
How do the biblical notions of land and election pertain to the current situation in the Middle East and especially to the realities of Israel and Palestine? This omnibus volume explores how these grand yet delicate themes-land, election or chosenness, covenant, people of God, Israel-have been appropriated in Christian and Jewish theologies and sometimes been flashpoints of conflict. An important series of conferences and symposia sponsored by the WCC in Europe and the Middle East over the last several years brought together these 40 contemporary international scholars and theologians to probe the biblical text and its legacy in order to discern responsible and fruitful interpretation of these concepts today. The volume also includes a fulsome section on reading the Bible in light of today's Palestinian context, and it concludes with seven other contextual contextual essays on the commitment of the church to the quest for a just peace in Israel/Palestine, the Middle East, and beyond. Among contributors are Mouchir Aoun, Mark Braverman, Ulrike Bechmann, Othmar Keel, Harvey G. Cox, Georges Khodr, Petros Vassiliadis, Jamal Khader, Georges Sabra, Nancy Cardoso, and Robert O. Smith.
