Omul evanghelic. O explorare a comunitatilor protestante romanesti

Dragi prieteni,

Vă anunț, cu un sentiment de mare ușurare, că astăzi, înainte de prânz, „după lupte seculare”, care au durat mai mult de… zece ani, am predat la Polirom textele definitive și am semnat contractul final pentru volumul Omul evanghelic. O explorare a comunităților protestante românești. Este vorba de un volum masiv, de circa 650 de pagini, format mare, ce include texte elaborate de 19 autori, din interiorul și din afara mediului evanghelic.

Volumul va apărea în librării cel mai târziu până la începutul lunii septembrie, iar până la finalul aceleiași luni va fi disponibilă și versiunea ebook.

În viitorul apropiat voi voi începe să comunic, din când în când, mai multe informații despre acest proiect editorial.

Până atunci, pentru cei interesați, iată mai jos cuprinsul volumului.

Omul evanghelic – Cuprins

 

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Procesul comunistilor din Romania – Cateva consideratii preliminare

Marți 8 mai a avut loc la Palatul culturii din Iași lansarea publică a Proiectului „Procesul comuniștilor”, coordonat de Universitatea Petre Andrei (UPA), împreună cu Institutul de Studiere a Ideologiilor și derulat în colaborare cu mai multe instituții:, Academia Română, Institutul de Investigare a Crimelor Comunismului și Memoria Exilului Românesc, Editura Institutului European, Primăria Municipiului Iași etc.

Georgeta Condur

Proiectul este prevăzut a se desfășura pe durata a doi ani și jumătate, având trei componente: cercetare, judiciară și editorială. Evident, este vorba mai degrabă de un „proces moral”, cei mai mulți dintre cei vizați nemaifiind în viață. Cum însă în România (precum și în celelalte țări foste comuniste) nu a avut loc un proces de decomunizare, asemănător celui de denazificare în Germania, după căderea regimului hitlerist, consider că acest demers este unul salutar și absolut necesar, dat fiind că tinerele generații sunt din ce în ce mai ignorante cu privire la trecutul recent. Mai multe detalii despre proiect puteți găsi pe situl web al acesteia.

Conflictul din Orientul Mijlociu – O serata Strajerul – 4

Ne-apropiem acum de prezent. Sigur că între anul în care a fost recucerit Ierusalimul de către musulmani și vremea noastră, s-au întâmplat o mulțime de lucruri. S-au întâmplat, între altele, multele persecuții ale evreilor de către creștini, în toată perioada medievală. Și-apoi, pogromurile de la începutul secolului al XX-lea, în Rusia și în Balcani, care au precedat, într-un fel holocaustul. Apoi, holocaustul însuși, când 6 milioane de evrei (din cele circa nouă milioane care trăiau atunci în Europa) au murit. Asta în afară de țigani, de homosexuali, de iehoviști, de comuniști și de alte diverse minorități.

Să mergem mai departe! Câte ceva despre situația actuală. Hărțile pe care le pun acum înaintea voastră sunt hărți stranii, pe care rareori o să le găsiți în presa noastră. Avem de-a face, mai întâi cu felul în care a fost stabilită harta Israelului, readus în granițele lui, în 1948, dar nu în momentul în care a fost înființat statul evreu, ci imediat după ce a avut loc războiul cu arabii, care s-au ridicat foarte rapid împotriva lor, ca stat nou înființat.

 

În a doua hartă avem de-a face cu un alt fapt care este complet trecut cu vederea în discuțiile despre Israel. Este vorba despre depopularea spațiului care avea să revină Israelului.

Ahed Tamimi – Living Resistance Tour

Ahed Tamimi, presently in prison in Israel, the harsh occupier of her home country, Palestine,  is called ‘the Palestinian Jeanne d’Arc’. She has become, at only 16 years old, the most powerful symbol of Palestinian non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

If you want to understand more about why is she considered dangerous to the heavily armed occupier, you may read this well written article, by Nina Fischer.

A Cry for Help from Jerusalem

T

I have just received a desperatee call for help from a very good Christian Palestinian friend. It is related to the implications of the recent decision of the American president to move their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

My friend is telling me that more and more of the evangelical churches in Palestine (representing something like 1% of the Palestinian Christians, who are, themselves, about 1% of the entire Palestinian population in the West Bank) are adopting a Zionist theology, in an attempt to schmooze American churches to support them financially (you may rightly call it ecclesial prostitution). This is, of course, a luxury that historical churches in Palestine (not only Greek Orthodox, Melkite, and Latin churches, but also Anglicans and Lutherans) do not have.

Voicu Bojan – Ierusalim − un oras, trei credinte. Si niste zapada

Cândva, demult, Karen Armstrong și-a propus să-l găsească pe Dumnezeu. Pentru asta s-a călugărit. Vreme de 7 ani, l-a tot căutat între zidurile unei mănăstiri catolice. Apoi a renunțat. S-a întors printre oameni și s-a apucat de cercetare și de scris.

A urcat la catedră. A făcut emisiuni tv, cum ar fi seria despre Sfântul Apostol Pavel. A devenit expert în istorie religioasă. Azi le dă lecții rabinilor și face parte din înalta societate de studii sociale musulmane. E peste tot și deopotrivă nicăieri, așa cum îi stă bine unui true British scholar.

Când a apărut în românește cartea ei Istoria lui Dumnezeu, am privit titlul cu mirare și mi-am pus două întrebări:

1. L-o fi găsit Armstrong, în sfârșit, pe Dumnezeu?

2. Poate fi Yahve circumscris de istorie, de timp?

Cartea e povestea unei căutări, nu a unei găsiri. Mare, echidistantă, sobră și destul de greu digerabilă.

What I Saw in Charlottesville – Brian McLaren

Source: What I Saw in Charlottesville – Brian McLaren

Here is an eye witness report. Really worth reading.

5 Things I Wish Conservative Christians Understood About Muslims

Source: 5 Things I Wish Conservative Christians Understood About Muslims

This is a great text, worth reading. And, no, Corey does not have to also talk about the differences btween Islam and Christianity. That is common sense for anbody who has a brain. But, in a (conservative/fundamentalist and Islamophobic Western) context in which only the differences are emphasized, there is a great need for irenic spirits who also underline the communalities rooted in our being created in the image of God (yes, both Christians and Muslims) and in our monotheistic faiths, whether we beleve we worship the same God or not.

Egyptian Christians Are Made of Steel… and Love

This moving short interview was recorded following a recent suicide attack of Muslim extremists at a Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt.

Healing – a Neglected Aspect of Orthodox-Evangelical Dialogue? | Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative

Source: Healing – a Neglected Aspect of Orthodox-Evangelical Dialogue? | Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative

Tim Grass invites us to explore the need of healing in Orthodox-Evangelical relations, following people moving from one ecclesial community to the other. Certainly something worth exploring, as there are so many sectarian pathologies associated with these.

Doru Costache – Christianity at the Crossroads

Fr. Doru Costache

Note: This short text, on the perseccution of Christians in general, and the maartyrdom of the Coptic Church in particular comes from one of my favourite Orthodox theologians, the Romanian Fr. Doru Costache, who serves now in Australia. In the context of the present hysteria, especially in the US, on how they, poor good Christians (who brough foolish Trump to power), are persecuted by the secular world, which does not understad how precious they are, I believe the common sense gospel words in this text have to be heard more largely than on the academic website where they were published. Of course, I do this with the kind permission of Fr. Costache, to whom goes my gratitude.

* * *

14 April 2017 © AIOCS Doru Costache

No, you do not have to expect me to say that the current circumstances are new and that these days Christians must take some unprecedented action or to abolish their past. Neither should you expect me to say something like Christianity being in need of a radical reform today more than yesterday. My interest is in pointing out the need to retrieve something that we seem to have lost in history: our capacity to discern the times and assess our circumstances in a genuinely traditional manner. But let me be more specific.

Just recently, on Palm Sunday, our sisters and brothers of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt have been once again the object of hate attacks on the part of their non-Christian neighbours. And the day before more Christians have been put to death in Syria. And the day before that more Christians have been put to death elsewhere. And days before that a Catholic priest was slaughtered during the celebration of the eucharist in France. And I hear of cases of Christians harassed by their non-Christian neighbours in some parts of Sydney. All this because they, indeed we, are Christian.

Fr. Boules George – A Message to Those Who Kill Us

Father Boules George gives a sermon during the Eve of Monday Pascha following the two bombings on Palm Sunday that took place at Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church in Tanta and Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria.

Find below the transcription of this powerful sermon.

* * *

What will we say to them?

THANK YOU

The first thing we will say is “Thank you very, very much,” and you won’t believe us when we say it.

You know why we thank you? I’ll tell you. You won’t get it, but please believe us.

You gave us to die the same death as Christ–and this is the biggest honor we could have. Christ was crucified–and this is our faith. He died and was slaughtered–and this is our faith. You gave us, and you gave them to die.

We thank you because you shortened for us the journey. When someone is headed home to a particular city, he keeps looking at the time. “When will I get home? Are we there yet?” Can you imagine if in an instant he finds himself on a rocket ship straight to his destination? You shortened the journey! Thank you for shortening the journey.

We thank you because you gave to us to fulfill what Christ said to us: “Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3). We were lambs; our only weapons: our faith and the church we pray in. I carry no weapon in my hand. We are so grateful that you helped us fulfill this saying of Christ.

William Yoder – Healthy Debate is Needed. A conversation on the Baptists of Georgia

 

Despite controversies, Elimar Brandt of Berlin, a Baptist pastor and long-time director of Christian health-care facilities, see reasons for hope within the Baptist church of Georgia. After five years of post-graduate studies in Oxford/UK, its long-time head, Dr. Malkhaz Songulashvili, returned to Georgia in April 2014. Yet soon he was no longer archbishop: that position is now held by a more conservative colleague, Merab Gaprindshvili.

Even prior to the return from England, a grouping calling itself the „Evangelical Baptist Association of Georgia“ had broken off from the mother „Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia“ (EBCG) in October 2013. The Association has roughly 30 congregations and 800 members; the EBCG according to some reckonings may have as few as 2.000 adult members.

„I don’t notice any front between Merab and the other three bishops,“ Pastor Brandt maintains. (Brandt has visited Georgia frequently in the course of the past two decades.) “Merab was and remains a pupil of Malkhaz, who always has been a strong influence on him and Bishop Ilja (Osephashvili). It’s a kind of father-son dispute. I find it very laudable that the (stay-home) bishops did not attempt to resolve everything in Malkhaz’ absence. All sides are attempting to find a way back to each other – that’s my reason for being optimistic. The experiences they have gathered during the course of the controversy have been very challenging and formative.”

Israeli Settlements Explained

The latest discourse of Secretary of State John Kerry on the danger for peace in the Middle East represented by the constant extension of the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territorries stirred again the debate on the lack of solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the obvious resistance of the Israeli right wing government to come to a peaceful two-state resolution of this conflict.

I am sure many of you, especially those who have been influenced by Zionist propaganda – whether Christian Jewish or secular, or by the suspect dispensationalist interpretations of the sacred text, wonder what is the big fusss with these seettlements.

Nadine Al-Budair – How Would Muslims Act If Christian Terrorists Blew Themselves Up In Their Midst

Nadine Al-Budair

Liberal Saudi journalist Nadine Al-Budair, who lives in Qatar, penned an article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai in which she wondered how Muslims would have acted if Christians had blown themselves up in their midst or tried to force their faith on them. She called on the Muslim world to be introspective and enact reforms, instead of condemning Western attitudes towards it.

The following are excerpts from the article:

“Imagine a Western youth coming here and carrying out a suicide mission in one of our public squares in the name of the Cross. Imagine that two skyscrapers had collapsed in some Arab capital, and that an extremist Christian group, donning millennium-old garb, had emerged to take responsibility for the event, while stressing its determination to revive Christian teachings or some Christian rulings, according to its understanding, to live like in the time [of Jesus] and his disciples, and to implement certain edicts of Christian scholars…

“Imagine hearing the voices of monks and priests from churches and prayer houses in and out of the Arab world, screaming on loudspeakers and levelling accusations against Muslims, calling them infidels, and chanting: ‘God, eliminate the Muslims and defeat them all.’

After the Revolution, Then What? – A Dialogue with Wesley Thiessen

Introducing the Larnaca Statement – Lausanne Movement

The roots of the Lausanne Initiative for Reconciliation in Israel-Palestine (LIRIP) go back to the Third Lausanne Congress, Cape Town, 2010. The second day was devoted, through a range of plenary speakers and seminars, to one of the six major congress themes “Reconciliation: Building the peace of Christ in our divided and broken world.” The…

Source: Introducing the Larnaca Statement – Lausanne Movement

Chris Wright on the recent Larnaca Statement signed by Messianic and Palestinian Christians in the conflict in Israel-Palestine.

Benjamin L Corey – 5 Reasons We So Blindly Support Israel in Spite of the Truth or Biblical Ethics

Over the course of time I’ve noticed a troubling trend: it’s *almost* impossible to have a reasonable discussion with fellow Christians who believe we are called to give unwavering support the modern secular nation state of Israel.

This of course, has led me to try to figure out why this is the case. Why do so many Christians reject basic facts about Israel? Why do so many of us have an aversion to believing truth on this issue?

As your list-maker-in-chief, I have a few ideas as to why this seems to occur. So, here are my 5 reasons so many of us irrationally support Israel– in spite of truth or biblical ethics:

1. Bad theology regarding Israel has led us to become victims of our own confirmation bias
…

2. We don’t listen to Palestinian voices– not even our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine
…

LOI participants write powerfully on reconciliation | Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative

Source: LOI participants write powerfully on reconciliation | Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative

Refugiatii, o provocare pentru Europa – simbata 9 ianuarie, ora 2pm, Muzeul Unirii, Iasi

Brian McLaren – An Open Letter to Jerry Falwell Jr, Students and Faculty of Liberty University

Dear Mr. Falwell,

In the tradition of your father, you made some reckless and inflammatory statements to your students the other day.

Just as I appreciate it when peace-loving Muslims, Hindus and others repudiate hostile and reckless statements made by prominent members of their religions, I feel impelled by conscience to repudiate your words as not being representative of authentic Christianity as I, and thousands like me, understand it.

For us, authentic Christianity is the loving, peaceful, justt and generous way of life embodied in Jesus. It is characterized more by self-giving than self-defense, by pre-emptive peacemaking rather than pre-emptive violence.

Your message faithfully represents a longstanding (and ugly) stream of American culture and politics. This tradition goes back to those who argued against the equal human rights and dignity of the Native Peoples and African-American slaves, often abusing the Bible to justify white supremacy under its various guises.

Terror, Violence, Fear, and Our Christian Response

Fr. Luke comforts us with the teaching that radical love for the other, not fear or hatred, is our Christian response.

Source: Terror, Violence, Fear, and Our Christian Response

These Men Tried To Kill Each Other. Now They’re United For Peace.

Source: These Men Tried To Kill Each Other. Now They’re United For Peace.

 

This is an amazing story of reconciliation between Muslims and Christians in NIgeria. I have written previously about this on my blog. You may find HERE a link tothe documentary.

Kairos Palestine Message on Current Violence

Dear Brothers and Sisters, colleagues and partners of Kairos for Global Justice,

It is at such hard times as the ones we are living in Palestine/Israel that we need to have the assurance that we are not alone. Many of you have expressed genuine support through prayers, Facebook messages, letters and sharing of footages of actual or alleged stabbings and the inhuman reaction of the “moral army” of Israel and settlers. On behalf of Kairos Palestine and myself, I would like to thank you for all the advocacy efforts that many of you have been engaged in through marches and demonstrations or BDS activities, in order to alleviate our pain and suffering.

Kairos for Global Justice brought together all those engaged into achieving justice for Palestine/Israel and in your own regions, but all our joint efforts have still not yielded the impact needed. Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah has renewed his call for one effective way to confront the increasing violence: organized SILENT large marches all over the world with the participation of prominent leaders, peace activists, and people of all faiths as a joint effort to regain and preserve humanity. This is a real challenge in Palestine/Israel where all non-violent actions are rewarded with live bullets in violation of all international laws.

Rev. Mitri Raheb – Palestinian Lives Matter

Rev Mitri Rageb

NOTE: Here is a timely message on the current violence in Israel/Palestine that Lutheran Rev. Mitri Rageb, from Bethlehem, has published three days ago on Facebook.

* * *

Palestinian Lives Matter

A new wave of political unrest is here. Within the last five weeks over forty young people from Palestine were killed and over 1100 injured. These are not mere numbers, but young people with faces, names, and dreams. Yet, as if their lives do not matter , the Israelis are easing their already loose laws on using arms with a clear message of shoot to kill. For the Israeli government, these young Palestinians are rebels that do not deserve to live. They must be taught a lesson. To add salt to injury, you hear the western politicians talking about Israel’s right to defend itself, and stand shamelessly with Israel. Thus, to those international players the lives of Palestinians are worthless while the life of an Israeli is so precious. This pattern reminds us of how the world viewed the lives of black people under apartheid and how racism against blacks is felt in so many countries around the world. The same applies to Indignous peoples, and the oppressed. The most dangerous thing however, is when young people from those oppressed groups are pushed to the point where they start looking for a life after death but do not believe any more in a life before death that is worth living. In this context, we have three messages to share:

The Illusion of Calmness – HLT

Source: The Illusion of Calmness – HLT

Sami Awad, from the Holy Land Trust, on the current surge of violence in Israel/Palestine:

‘Real calmness in the Holy Land can only manifest itself if a real peace emerges between the communities of the land, not the politicians. It is a peace that is founded on the principles of mutual trust and respect and a desire to truly bring a sense of justice, equality and equity to all those who live in the Holy Land. It is a peace that addresses the existential fears of the past on both sides and does not allow that fear to be manipulated by the political establishments.

The structures of oppression, control and fear must be dismantled and if not dismantled by choice of the leaders, then dismantled by the force of the people through nonviolent engagement, working in unity and/or separately. A leadership must emerge that is motivated by a vision of peace and justice, not of maintaining calmness, making false promises, and creating space for prosperity of the few.’

He Named Me Malala – The Trailer

Take a first look at HE NAMED ME MALALA, a documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s life, story and personal journey as an education activist. Pledge to see the film only in theaters this October at http://bit.ly/1IlDIMg

Directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for “Superman”), the film shows us how Malala, her father Zia and her family are committed to fighting for education worldwide.

Message of A Palestinian Christian to ‘Christians United for Israel’

My name is Elizabeth Daoud. I, like over a million Palestinians, am both Palestinian and Christian. I actually come from the Assyrian Orthodox Church, the first and original church of Christians in the Middle East. My parents were born in Palestine and have a long blood line from Jerusalem and Bayte Sahour. Many members of my family were first hand victims of the “nakbah” and had to flee their homeland after being expelled from their homes by Zionist militias, leaving them without the right to return to their land, even to this day. Today in Palestine, Christianity is experiencing what some believe is a crisis. The plight of Palestinian Christians, similar to what Palestinian Muslims are going through, is daily injustice at the hands of oppressive, doctoral and inhumane police forces of the Israeli government. This is occurring in both the West Bank and Gaza, where my Palestinian people live under a brutal and illegal military occupation, and also inside Israel itself, where Palestinians, Muslim and Christian, live as second-class citizens.

Palestinian Christians, like their Muslim brothers and sisters, have lived under Israeli policies of occupation and injustice while many living in the West deny this fact. Many Palestinian Christians feel betrayed by Christians living in North America and Europe who support the state of Israel and the oppression of the Palestinian people. We see them as hypocritical, standing by a state that has left us Palestinians, indiscriminately Christian and Muslim, without a state for over half a century.

Today, Palestinian Christians live under harsh, extreme oppression and apartheid policies. While Christian and Muslim Palestinians living in the West Bank under the heavy hand of martial law are not permitted to vote, undocumented Jewish settlers are subject to civil law and are allowed to vote in Israeli elections. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who fought to end Apartheid in South Africa, has even embraced the movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until they respect my people’s equal rights, an end to the occupation and the return to the homeland which Israel expelled them from, saying, “I have witnessed the systemic humiliation of Palestinian men, women and children by members of the Israeli security forces … Their humiliation is familiar to all black South Africans who were corralled and harassed and insulted and assaulted by the security forces of the apartheid government.” Palestinian land continues to be confiscated and Palestinians continue to be humiliated by the Israelis for their religious beliefs. They were almost unable to celebrate Christmas in 2014 due to riots and street fights caused by the Israeli Police. They experience unemployment, poverty and illegal occupation. Moreover, they are routinely prohibited from visiting one of the most holy sites of Christianity: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, the church that commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection from the dead.

As a Palestinian Christian, it is truly upsetting and disappointing to see Christians United for Israel justify the oppression of Palestinian Christians under the banner of Christian values. Palestinian Christians don’t have the smallest right to visit even the holiest of sites that started Christianity because of Israeli policies. How can Christians United for Israel be in support of this when indigenous Christians are being prevented from exercising Christianity in the very place that Jesus walked. I end this by calling upon CUFI to please stop justifying oppression, persecution and repression of my people in the name of the message of the Bible and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Elizabeth Daoud is a Rutgers Business School senior double majoring in finance and management information systems.

(Source, HERE)

The Peacemaking Palestinian Evangelicals of Israel

AS Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded cantankerous negotiations to finalise his right-wing cabinet, Palestinian-Israeli evangelicals were hoping for something better.

Alienated by campaign rhetoric stigmatising Arab citizens as an electoral threat, they turned in response to the source they know best: the Gospel.

In doing so, they seek to reverse a disturbing trend of isolation from society as a whole, and in particular their Jewish neighbors.

‘Are we not asked to be the salt and light of the earth?’ asked Revd Azar Ajaj, president of Nazareth Evangelical College, in an open letter shortly after the Israeli elections.‘How important, then, to show love to those who have been styled as our “enemies”. In fact we are asked to be peacemakers.’

And from April 16-18, he gathered 60 local and international leaders to discuss how.

Overcoming A Century of Pain

Turkish Christians take first step toward embittered Armenians

Turkish and Armenian Christians circle the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan,
Armenia, on April 11.
NOTE: faces have been blurred to protect identities (photo, Ricardo Pessoa)

“We came to share your pain,” Turkish Christians declared in early April, standing before TV cameras at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.

“We have come here to apologize for what our ancestors did, to ask for your forgiveness,” two spokesmen for the Turks went on to say.

Shocked viewers across Armenia watching the Azdarar TV news channel on April 11 could hardly believe their eyes and ears.

Turks, claiming to be Christian? And laying wreaths at the nation’s genocide memorial? How could Turks, of all people, come to Armenia to honor the memory of more than a million Armenian Christians who had been slaughtered 100 years ago by their own forefathers, the Ottoman Turks?

Gathered around the monument’s eternal flame, the more than twenty Turkish citizens spoke out simply, and repeatedly: “We plead with you, if you can, to forgive us and the crimes of our forefathers.”