The liberating message of the Gospels and his own lived experience has shaped the theology of Palestinian Anglican priest Naim Ateek. He writes:
In 1948, I was a boy living in Beisan, a Palestinian town of six thousand people…. Beisan was a mixed town of Muslims and Christians and had a vibrant Christian community that belonged to three churches—Eastern Orthodox, Latin (Roman Catholic), and Anglican. I cherish fond memories of living in my hometown…. It was a beautiful town blessed for its delicious fruits and vegetables. It had freshwater springs flowing from the adjacent mountains irrigating people’s land and gardens. I still remember our garden and the variety of fruit trees my father planted and our family enjoyed.
Our life was turned upside down when the Zionist militias came into Beisan in May 1948 and occupied us…. We were forced out of our homes at gunpoint and were ordered to meet at the center of town. The soldiers divided us into two groups, Muslims and Christians. The Muslims were sent to the country of Jordan, a few miles east of Beisan. The Christians were put on buses and driven to the outskirts of Nazareth, where they were dumped outside the city limits, never to be allowed to return home.
When we arrived in Nazareth, we discovered that hundreds and thousands of Palestinians from the neighboring villages had suffered a similar fate.
Ateek exhorts the church to stand with those who are suffering.
Today the church continues to exist in the midst of a suffering and broken world. Every day there are men, women, and children who face war, famine, discrimination, violence, and poverty. The church has an ambiguous history in responding to these needs. At times the church has shown solidarity with the oppressed, while at other times it has been silent or complicit in their oppression.
For us Christians, the model of Jesus Christ as seen in the Gospels exhorts us to love and care for our brothers and sisters in humanity. What does this care look like? How can we best love those who are marginalized or oppressed? What does it mean to confront and challenge injustice and oppression in both word and deed?
In order to reflect on how we can respond to suffering, it is helpful to consider first the kind of life Jesus offers us:
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Paul said, “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
The life Christ offers us is life in all its fullness. This fullness is not offered in some distant, far-off future, but in our present circumstances. We are able to enter into the fullness of life because Christ has already achieved our liberation through his death and resurrection. Indeed, Christ is our liberator, and God in Christ wills that we should be free. Therefore, we need to stand firm and must not submit to anything that dehumanizes or enslaves us.
Reference:
Naim Stifan Ateek, A Palestinian Theology of Liberation: The Bible, Justice, and the Palestine-Israel Conflict (Orbis Books, 2017), 1–2, 5–6.
Image credit and inspiration: Sushil Nash, untitled (detail), 2020, photo, United Kingdom, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. The fist is a simple but mighty symbol of resistance, solidarity, and unity in the face of oppression and injustice. An innate desire for the liberation of the oppressed also results in the unexpected liberation of the oppressor.
Story from Our Community:
Where do I belong? Not with the rich and privileged, not with the very poor, not with the liberals and not with the conservatives, not with the intellectuals and successful, not with organized religion and social organizations—not even with some family members. I belong in Christ’s arms, in the space of paradoxes, the space of unknowing, and in the cracks of suffering. That is where I am free to feel God’s loving touch with an open, humble heart.
—Kathy Jo W.
