Let's pay attention and gather our prayers for an upcoming international theological consultation on Israel/Palestine to be held Sept. 10-14 in Bern, Switzerland. The event is organized by the World Council of Churches.
The text of the news release is below. I'm especially taken by the phrase, "the Gospel imperative for costly solidarity." What a concept!
Here's a link to more info: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/upcoming-events/ev/se/article/1722/international-theological-3.html
-- --
Around 65 theologians and church representatives from member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC), theological faculties and regional ecumenical organizations will gather in Bern, Switzerland, from 10 to 14 September 2008, in order to reflect on issues such as the “Promised Land”, “the Church and Israel” and “Justice and Peace”.
The consultation, hosted by the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and the Reformed Churches in Bern-Jura-Solothurn, is organized by the WCC in the framework of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF), which was launched at an International Peace Conference in Amman, Jordan, in June 2007, as the cornerstone of a comprehensive ecumenical advocacy initiative on the Middle East. Delivered at the end of the June 2007 Conference, the Amman Call reminds us that this initiative has been taken in response to three fundamental imperatives that call us to action:
- The ethical and theological imperative for a Just Peace
- The ecumenical imperative for unity in action
- The Gospel imperative for costly solidarity
The Amman Call also states that the “peace building” track will include “furthering theological and biblical perspectives and Christian education resources around those issues central to the conflict.” To this end, the consultation will address theological and biblical issues related to the conflict in Palestine/Israel.
-- --
Full text of the Amman Call - http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/middle-east-peace/20-06-07-the-amman-call.html
WCC Programme “Churches in the Middle East: solidarity and witness for peace” - http://www.oikoumene.org/en/programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/churches-in-the-middle-east.html
Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches - http://www.sek-feps.ch/home/home.html&lang=3
---- -----
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, subscribe at the blog - A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace - http://voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
As Christians, are you aware of the significance of the Islamic belief that the Temple of Solomon as well as the 2nd Hebrew Temple were not in Jerusalem? Were you paying attention when Yassar Arafat declared to US President Bill Clinton that the Jews had no claim to Jerusalem because there was never a Jewish Temple there?
Do you understand where that leaves the Christian world in its belief system that includes the Jerusalem Temple? That includes the many churches in and around Jerusalem?
Where could the Sermon on the Mount have taken place? Where was Jesus born? Where did he preach?
Where was he crucified?
NOTE: The Palestinian/Muslim belief that all that happened somewhere else calls into question not only Jew legitimacy, but Christian legitimacy as well.
That makes all those Christian and Jewish holy places, irrelevant and fraudulent.
If the Temples of the Jews/Hebrews were not in Jerusalem, what possible reason could there have been for Jesus to have ever been in Jerusalem?
Yoram Getzler
Moshav Aminadav, Jerusalem
IsraelSeen.com
Post a Comment