Justice on the Cross: Palestinian Liberation Theology, the Struggle against Israeli Oppression, and the Church
Ebook
At its heart, liberation theology is a modern theology of resistance to the oppression imposed by colonialist and post-colonialist systems and even by churches that cooperate with secular centers of power to oppress the poor and disadvantaged. It is a grassroots social justice theology, a cri de cœur, that seeks to give spiritual succor and hope to those living in seemingly hopeless circumstances. Palestinians--a people whose suffering has largely been forgotten by the world since Israel's establishment and who are most often stereotyped as extremists and enemies of Israel with no legitimate claim to their own homeland--are among the world's most marginalized populations. The small Palestinian Christian community, an indigenous population descended from Jesus's first followers, has created a liberation theology for the Palestinian context that reaches out to its own Christian faithful and their Muslim compatriots. This is a nonviolent political-theological resistance that follows Jesus's teaching that God is present with all God's children and heeds Jesus's gospel injunctions to comfort the suffering and "let the oppressed go free." For Palestinians, their very survival in the land is resistance to Israel's efforts to remove them, and liberation theology sustains their resistance. Jesus was the first liberation theologian.
“Justice on the Cross is a needed and provocative primer on the development and journey of a Palestinian theology of liberation in dialogue with the history of Israel-Palestine, Christian witness around the world, and the evolving Jewish theology of liberation. With Kathleen Christison as our guide, all hands are on deck as the seemingly intractable crisis in the Middle East continues to unfold in despair and hope.”
—Marc H. Ellis, author of Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation
“Just when people thought that liberation theology was dead, Kathleen Christison’s new book proves them wrong. Justice on the Cross is an eye-opener and a must-read for all who seek the truth about the Palestinian people who long for justice and liberation. By using the ‘tools’ of Palestinian liberation theology, Christison has lucidly articulated the need to restore the human and political rights to the Palestinian people who have long been denied.”
—Naim Ateek, president, Sabeel General Assembly
“Wide in scope, incisive in analysis, Kathleen Christison’s Justice on the Cross digs deeply into the origins and impact of Palestinian liberation theology, comparing it with Latin American, African American, and South African liberation struggles. She personally knows all its major Palestinian proponents and, following Sabeel and Kairos Palestine, identifies its Zionist (Christian and other) settler colonial context, all the while bearing witness to its nonviolent, prophetic, Christological ‘mystery of divine identification’ and ‘logic of love.’”
—Michael Spath, executive director, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
“I heartily recommend and endorse Justice on the Cross. The book is a most valuable exposition of Palestinian liberation theology—its origins, content, and the issues it attempts to address. Like all liberation theologies, Palestinian liberation theology arises directly out of the daily lives and situation of Palestinian Christian and attempts to read Scripture and to understand the Christian faith as supportive of their liberation struggle and as an adequate answer to real existential questions.”
—Jonathan Kuttab, executive director, FOSNA
“Justice on the Cross is an indispensable introduction to Palestinian liberation theology. Christison surveys the history of Palestinian oppression and shows how liberation theology is at the core of Christian efforts to end that oppression through a process of liberation grounded in the gospel. Her introduction to liberation theology—its origins and multiple adaptations by oppressed groups—is alone worth the price of this fine book.”
—Juan M. C. Oliver, custodian of the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church
- Title: Justice on the Cross: Palestinian Liberation Theology, the Struggle against Israeli Oppression, and the Church
- Author: Kathleen Christison
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666752908, 9781666752885, 1666752886, 9781666752892, 1666752894, 1666752908
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666752908
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-03-19T11:29:27Z
Kathleen Christison has been studying and writing about the Palestinian situation for many decades. She has traveled extensively in Palestine and is the author or co-author of three books: Perceptions of Palestine (1999), The Wound of Dispossession (2001), and, with her late husband, Palestine in Pieces (2009).