Jerusalem Testament: Palestinian Christians Speak, 1988-2008 - Tapa blanda

Rosemary Radford Ruether -- Claremont Graduate University and School of Theology -In 1988 the leaders of the historically divided Christian churches of Jerusalem -- Oriental, Latin, Anglican, and Lutheran -- came together to speak in one voice on behalf of justice for 'our people, ' the Palestinian people. To the present more than 65 such declarations have come from these leaders. Melanie May has gifted the world church by giving us the record of this significant historical testimony.-Betty Jane and J. Martin Bailey -- coauthors of Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? -Writing from her rich ecumenical experience, Melanie May describes the continuing struggle of the historic churches in the Holy Land who live under an oppressive military occupation. May reports a unique situation in which leaders of very different religious communities have emerged from their trauma with a strong common faith. Her introductions and footnotes to the messages from these church leaders provide a helpful and carefully researched context. Jerusalem Testament reveals that in the city where the church was born, the indigenous Christians are urgently calling for help from churches around the world as they struggle to survive.- Rosemary Radford Ruether Claremont Graduate University and School of Theology "In 1988 the leaders of the historically divided Christian churches of Jerusalem Oriental, Latin, Anglican, and Lutheran came together to speak in one voice on behalf of justice for 'our people, ' the Palestinian people. To the present more than 65 such declarations have come from these leaders. Melanie May has gifted the world church by giving us the record of this significant historical testimony." Betty Jane and J. Martin Bailey coauthors of"Who Are the Christians in the Middle East?" "Writing from her rich ecumenical experience, Melanie May describes the continuing struggle of the historic churches in the Holy Land who live under an oppressive military occupation. May reports a unique situation in which leaders of very different religious communities have emerged from their trauma with a strong common faith. Her introductions and footnotes to the messages from these church leaders provide a helpful and carefully researched context."Jerusalem Testament"reveals that in the city where the church was born, the indigenous Christians are urgently calling for help from churches around the world as they struggle to survive.""

On January 22, 1988, Jerusalem Heads of Churches issued a public statement on the situation of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land in reaction to the first Intifada. Over the next twenty years, they issued 67 more remarkable statements of common witness from this conflicted land. / In Jerusalem Testament these statements are -- for the first time -- collected and presented as a body of texts. Melanie May assembles them into a testament that bears witness to: the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the faith and hope of Palestinian Christians, and the faith of the Church anew, incarnate in the lives of Christians living in the land of Jesus' birth, death, resurrection and ascension. / Each chapter begins by setting the context of the particular era -- the first and second Intifadas, the Oslo Accords -- followed by the statements themselves. / This unprecedented gathering calls Christians worldwide to a new covenant with brothers and sisters in the Holy City of Jerusalem.