The Land And The Gospels

Describes first-century Jewish and Christian beliefs about the land of Israel and examines present-day tensions, helping readers develop a Christian theology of the land.

This unique book offers a Catholic view of the Holy Land in the debate that rages among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Alain Marchadour and David Neuhaus, two biblical scholars and priests living in Jerusalem, clearly analyze the Promised Land-as concept, history, and contested terrain-in Catholic teaching and doctrine. They offer an analytical reading of the entire Christian Bible (Old and New Testaments) with reference to the idea of the Land promised by God. They explore early and medieval attitudes, especially with regard to the Holy Places and the Jewish people. Moving carefully to the present day, they focus on anti-Semitism, the tragedy ofthe Shoah, Western colonialism in the Middle East, the creation of the State of Israel, and the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem as they examine Catholic reactions to the tumultuous events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly the renewal of Catholic thought in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. Studying the most recent Church documents, Marchadour and Neuhaus confront the ongoing struggle for peace, justice, and reconciliation in the Middle East. This illuminating book is an essential tool for all those struggling to understand the links between the Bible, the Church, and contemporary Middle Eastern realities, especially in Israel and Palestine.

Today the "land of promise" is a spark in the tinder dry atmosphere of Middle Eastern affairs. Events there continue to wield influence among peoples and in places well beyond the region itself. This raises for Christians the acute theological problem of how to relate to the "land of promise" today and in light of the land of the Bible. Our hope is that this volume of essays will contribute to a more informed and theologically coherent response to the "Land of Promise." It is offered here in the name of peace for all peoples in that place and among those who continue to look to her as a place of promise.

Originally written as a companion for pilgrims on-site at Nazareth, Cana, Mount Tabor, Bethany, Siloam, and Jerusalem, this book has also been used by readers preparing for visits to the holy places and as a means of reliving experiences in the Holy Land. (Adapted from back cover).

This book deals with many aspects of the land of Israel. In the first part, the emphasis is on descriptions of the land in Joshua and other books of the Hebrew anf Greek Bible. In the second part, the focus shifts to the land in history and theology: reception-history of biblical texts dealing with the land, archaeology of Palestine, and theological-hermeneutical implications of taking the land traditions of the Bible seriously. The result is a rich collection of articles on one of the main themes of the Old Testament; a theme that has a fascinating, although not always unproblematic reception history.