Israel – The Two Cities

Paul and the Resurrection of Israel with Dr. Jason Staples (Podcast)

May 1, 2024

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Jason Staples, who is Asst Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University, and the author of The Idea of Israel (CUP) as well as the more recent book that we’re discussing in this episode, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel (also with CUP). Over the course of our conversation, we talk about the imprecision in how we often use the...

Lament & Hope in the Face of the Occupation with Lamma Mansour (Podcast)

Nov 2, 2022

In this episode we close out our series on Palestinian Liberation Theology by discussing Lament and Hope in the face of the occupation with Lamma Mansour, who is a Palestinian Christian from Nazareth currently pursuing her doctorate in social policy at Oxford University. Over the course of the conversation, we talk with Lamma about how the occupation affects higher education, and how that drives her current research on social policy. Lamma also offers us her...

Living in the Shadow of Christian Zionism with Tony Deik (Podcast)

Oct 26, 2022

In the penultimate episode of our series on Palestinian Liberation Theology, we talk about living in the shadow of Christian Zionism with Tony Deik, who is currently a residential researcher at Tyndale House in Cambridge, where he is working on his PhD research in New Testament, as well as a lecturer in Biblical Studies at Bethlehem Bible College, and a networking team member of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation. Over the course of...

Palestinian Theology & Identity from a Feminist Perspective with Marah Sarji (Podcast)

Oct 12, 2022

In this episode in our series on Palestinian Liberation Theology we discuss the intersectionality of the Palestinian experience by discussing matters of identity from a feminist perspective with Marah Sarji, who is a Christian Palestinian working on a master’s degree in Anthropology from Tel Aviv University. Over the course of the episode, Marah talks with us about the complexities of her identity, being a Christian Palestinian woman living in Jerusalem. In particular, Marah shares so...

Palestinian Liberation Theology with John Munayer (Podcast)

Oct 5, 2022

In this episode we talk about Palestinian Liberation Theology with John Munayer, who is an instructor at Bethlehem Bible College, and who serves at Musalaha ministry, which promotes reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. In our conversation, John explains what Palestinian Liberation Theology is and how it relates to other forms of Liberation Theology by way of its similarities and distinct contextual emphases. Along the way we ask John a number of questions about specific points...

The History of Zionism and the Nakba with Yousef AlKhouri (Podcast)

Sep 28, 2022

In this episode we’re beginning a short series on Palestinian Liberation Theology, starting with a discussion on Zionism and the Nakba with Yousef AlKhouri, who is a Christian Arab Palestinian residing in Bethlehem, Palestine, where he is a lecturer in Biblical Studies and Mission at Bethlehem Bible College, and he is currently working on his doctorate in contextual interpretation at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Over the course of our conversation, Yousef provides helpful historical context for...

The Meaning & Telos of Israel’s Election with Dr. Joel Kaminsky and Dr. Mark Reasoner (Podcast)

Mar 16, 2022

In this episode of our Anti-Judaism series we turn to discuss the nature and purpose of Israel’s election. Specifically, we discuss how this may have been understood by the Apostle Paul relative to the kinds of understandings that we find in the Hebrew Bible. Joining us for this conversation we have Dr. Joel Kaminsky, who is Morningstar Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Smith College, and Dr. Mark Reasoner, who is Professor...

Advent and Jerusalem

Dec 15, 2017

O come! O come! Emmanuel! And ransom captive Israel; That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Advent is a time of mournful waiting. Participants in this season undergo a theatrical embodiment of the struggles of the people of God. In this drama, the Church relives, in a sense, a time in history in which the Messiah had not yet visited his people. We participate in such a drama in order...

Haggai and the Expectation of the Experience of God’s Presence: Part 3

Nov 15, 2017

In my previous blog posts on Haggai, I discussed a few of the different expectations that the people of Israel held concerning the presence of Yahweh as they followed his command to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Their expectation for Yahweh to show up in a powerful way upon the Temple’s completion and dedication, an expectation based on his original glorious indwelling of Solomon’s Temple as told in scripture in 1 Kings 8, was unfulfilled....

Baptism and a Circumcision without Hands

Aug 21, 2017

A few weeks ago, I was asked to write a supplemental reading for our Life Group curriculum here at Fellowship Dallas. It was an awesome week at our church where we baptized over 25 people who had made a profession of faith and had decided to follow Jesus. Being the nerd that I am, I chose a difficult passage where Paul alludes to the rite of Old Testament circumcision without much in the way of...