Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341576
J. Sim
{"title":"The Church as Safe Haven. Christian Governance in China, edited by Lars Peter Laaman and Joseph Tse-Hei Lee","authors":"J. Sim","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341576","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"4 1","pages":"401-402"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84941491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341573
Lucy Schouten
Migration and refugee displacement are some of the most pressing issues facing the contemporary Middle East. Regional church leaders have cautioned against Christian emigration from ancient Middle Eastern churches to countries outside the Middle East; even Christian refugees who have already been displaced internally within the region are often discouraged from leaving. This article surveys some of the public statements that discourage Middle Eastern Christians from leaving the region, as presented from various denominational perspectives. Building on fieldwork conducted in Amman, Jordan, in 2018 and 2019, the article then argues that the attempts by Arab Anglican leaders in Jordan to dissuade church members from emigrating are based on a particular self-understanding of Middle Eastern Christianity that emphasizes an active, continuing Christian presence within the Middle East, as well as practices of unity among different Christian communities and longstanding coexistence with Muslim neighbors.
{"title":"Why Church Leaders Discourage Christians from Leaving Jordan: An Anti-Emigration Perspective","authors":"Lucy Schouten","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341573","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Migration and refugee displacement are some of the most pressing issues facing the contemporary Middle East. Regional church leaders have cautioned against Christian emigration from ancient Middle Eastern churches to countries outside the Middle East; even Christian refugees who have already been displaced internally within the region are often discouraged from leaving. This article surveys some of the public statements that discourage Middle Eastern Christians from leaving the region, as presented from various denominational perspectives. Building on fieldwork conducted in Amman, Jordan, in 2018 and 2019, the article then argues that the attempts by Arab Anglican leaders in Jordan to dissuade church members from emigrating are based on a particular self-understanding of Middle Eastern Christianity that emphasizes an active, continuing Christian presence within the Middle East, as well as practices of unity among different Christian communities and longstanding coexistence with Muslim neighbors.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86586423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341566
D. Womack
Who are the Christians of the Middle East? How have churches and Christian organizations responded to violent conflicts, political unrest, refugee flows, and economic crises in the region? Does such socio-political turmoil define Middle Eastern Christians as a group? By what methods do scholars today study Christian communities in the Middle East? This special issue addresses such pertinent questions and contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the contemporary realities and recent histories of institutional churches and Christian communities in the Middle East. It does so with a specific focus on the Arabic speaking regions of North Africa and West Asia, while including studies on Christians in these regions who are not Arab and who use vernacular and liturgical languages other than Arabic. The diversity and rich heritage of Christianity in the Middle East is apparent in this issue’s articles on Christianity in Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, while these studies also highlight the ties Christians in these nations have to co-religionists in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, and around the world. To convey the particularities of contemporary churches in the Middle East and place in religious and studies, what follows, I first consider the demographics and within Middle Eastern introduce the nine articles in issue, noting the critical gaps this research fills in support of Middle Eastern Christian Studies.
{"title":"Christian Communities in the Contemporary Middle East: An Introduction","authors":"D. Womack","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341566","url":null,"abstract":"Who are the Christians of the Middle East? How have churches and Christian organizations responded to violent conflicts, political unrest, refugee flows, and economic crises in the region? Does such socio-political turmoil define Middle Eastern Christians as a group? By what methods do scholars today study Christian communities in the Middle East? This special issue addresses such pertinent questions and contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the contemporary realities and recent histories of institutional churches and Christian communities in the Middle East. It does so with a specific focus on the Arabic speaking regions of North Africa and West Asia, while including studies on Christians in these regions who are not Arab and who use vernacular and liturgical languages other than Arabic. The diversity and rich heritage of Christianity in the Middle East is apparent in this issue’s articles on Christianity in Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, while these studies also highlight the ties Christians in these nations have to co-religionists in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, and around the world. To convey the particularities of contemporary churches in the Middle East and place in religious and studies, what follows, I first consider the demographics and within Middle Eastern introduce the nine articles in issue, noting the critical gaps this research fills in support of Middle Eastern Christian Studies.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"98 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76237094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341577
M. Frederiks
{"title":"Reclaiming the Women of Britain’s First Mission to West Africa. Three Lives Lost and Found, written by Fiona Leach","authors":"M. Frederiks","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341577","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"49 1","pages":"403-404"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78064667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341580
J. Guerra
{"title":"Christianity, Empire and the Spirit. (Re)configuring Faith and the Cultural, written by Néstor Medina","authors":"J. Guerra","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341580","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"3 1","pages":"410-412"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83568712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341578
E. Meijers
{"title":"Racial Integration in the Church of Apartheid. A Unity Only God Wants, written by Marthe Hesselmans","authors":"E. Meijers","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341578","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341578","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"19 1","pages":"405-406"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77978816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341572
Kenny Schmitt
This study casts light on the dynamics driving Christian migration from the Gaza Strip and its consequences. By analyzing the historical background and institutionalization of Palestinian movement restrictions—specifically the pilgrimage permit regime—the article explores the temporal and spatial entanglements of pilgrimage, migration, and politics. Since 2007, deteriorating conditions have led Gazan Christians to use temporary pilgrimage permits as a pretext to permanently escape the Strip. The article argues that this migration is driven by the overwhelming precarity of Gazan Christians’ life circumstances, a precarity that includes temporal and spatial, political and economic, religious and personal insecurities. Further, those who escape do not find themselves in a better situation; they experience geographic isolation and communal fragmentation within the West Bank. The process of Gazan Christian migration is best understood as the mere exchange of precarity.
{"title":"Gazan Christians: Pilgrimage Permits, Migration, and the Exchange of Precarity","authors":"Kenny Schmitt","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341572","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study casts light on the dynamics driving Christian migration from the Gaza Strip and its consequences. By analyzing the historical background and institutionalization of Palestinian movement restrictions—specifically the pilgrimage permit regime—the article explores the temporal and spatial entanglements of pilgrimage, migration, and politics. Since 2007, deteriorating conditions have led Gazan Christians to use temporary pilgrimage permits as a pretext to permanently escape the Strip. The article argues that this migration is driven by the overwhelming precarity of Gazan Christians’ life circumstances, a precarity that includes temporal and spatial, political and economic, religious and personal insecurities. Further, those who escape do not find themselves in a better situation; they experience geographic isolation and communal fragmentation within the West Bank. The process of Gazan Christian migration is best understood as the mere exchange of precarity.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"73 1","pages":"316-338"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85818848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341571
A. Engberg
Since its inception in 1980, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) has developed into a central player in the formation of Christian Zionism globally. It is known through its high profile in Israeli society, its financial, moral and political support for the State of Israel and its controversial mix of theology and politics. This article focuses on ICEJ’s ideological and theological negotiation in relation to Israeli society. It argues that even though ICEJ’s self-understanding is based on what it claims to be “eternal, biblical mandates” and its political positions have been largely consistent over time, ICEJ’s theology, rhetoric and social positions have changed quite significantly. The article interprets this duality as a case of “flexible absolutism”, a capacity to ideologically frame diverse positions as eternal absolutes. Recognizing this tension is important in order to successfully disentangle the organization’s rhetoric from its broader ideological aims.
{"title":"Navigating the Biblical Mandate: Discursive Change and Adaptation in the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem","authors":"A. Engberg","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341571","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Since its inception in 1980, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) has developed into a central player in the formation of Christian Zionism globally. It is known through its high profile in Israeli society, its financial, moral and political support for the State of Israel and its controversial mix of theology and politics. This article focuses on ICEJ’s ideological and theological negotiation in relation to Israeli society. It argues that even though ICEJ’s self-understanding is based on what it claims to be “eternal, biblical mandates” and its political positions have been largely consistent over time, ICEJ’s theology, rhetoric and social positions have changed quite significantly. The article interprets this duality as a case of “flexible absolutism”, a capacity to ideologically frame diverse positions as eternal absolutes. Recognizing this tension is important in order to successfully disentangle the organization’s rhetoric from its broader ideological aims.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"14 1","pages":"297-315"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84854016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341568
R. Hernandez
A common narrative characterizes Egyptian Christians as a people beset by persecution, struggling to survive in a hostile Muslim context. Other narratives seek to smooth over the differences between Christian and Muslim Egyptians to emphasize national unity and shared citizenship. The revolutionary upheavals starting in 2011 brought questions of subjectivity and agency in shaping Egypt’s future to the forefront of public debate. In spite of continued limitations to free speech and political participation, Egyptian Christians are engaging creatively in prophetic discourse and community-building praxis, contributing to the construction of a revitalized theology of public life. Protestant theologians Andrea Zaki, Safwat Marzouk, and Anne Zaki, for example, draw on the resources of the biblical tradition to think critically about their own subjectivity as Egyptian Christians and about the complex challenges and the hopeful promise facing these communities as they seek effective ways to participate in public life.
{"title":"At the Borders of Identity: Reflections on Egyptian Protestant Public Theology in the Wake of the Arab Spring","authors":"R. Hernandez","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341568","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000A common narrative characterizes Egyptian Christians as a people beset by persecution, struggling to survive in a hostile Muslim context. Other narratives seek to smooth over the differences between Christian and Muslim Egyptians to emphasize national unity and shared citizenship. The revolutionary upheavals starting in 2011 brought questions of subjectivity and agency in shaping Egypt’s future to the forefront of public debate. In spite of continued limitations to free speech and political participation, Egyptian Christians are engaging creatively in prophetic discourse and community-building praxis, contributing to the construction of a revitalized theology of public life. Protestant theologians Andrea Zaki, Safwat Marzouk, and Anne Zaki, for example, draw on the resources of the biblical tradition to think critically about their own subjectivity as Egyptian Christians and about the complex challenges and the hopeful promise facing these communities as they seek effective ways to participate in public life.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"38 1","pages":"237-256"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84590786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-09DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-12341574
Rima Nasrallah, Ronelle Sonnenberg
This qualitative research on young adults of the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox Churches in Lebanon considers why participation in liturgy aids the identity formation of youth in both communities. By participating in liturgical rituals, these young adults express identities which transcend the limited spaces they inhabit. These spaces are influenced by the minority context in Lebanon, as well as by traumatic historic experiences of both Armenians and Syriacs. Such spaces stimulate the youths’ appreciation for their ancient traditions and their strong connection to other members of their church communities, both past and present. Their sense of belonging is rooted in ancient languages and narratives, and in the embodied rituals that open Armenian and Syriac young people up to the divine dimension of liturgy in church and in daily life. We argue that, for the research population, engagement in the liturgy is a matter of identity.
{"title":"Oriental Orthodox Young Adults and Liturgical Participation: A Matter of Identity","authors":"Rima Nasrallah, Ronelle Sonnenberg","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-12341574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-12341574","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This qualitative research on young adults of the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox Churches in Lebanon considers why participation in liturgy aids the identity formation of youth in both communities. By participating in liturgical rituals, these young adults express identities which transcend the limited spaces they inhabit. These spaces are influenced by the minority context in Lebanon, as well as by traumatic historic experiences of both Armenians and Syriacs. Such spaces stimulate the youths’ appreciation for their ancient traditions and their strong connection to other members of their church communities, both past and present. Their sense of belonging is rooted in ancient languages and narratives, and in the embodied rituals that open Armenian and Syriac young people up to the divine dimension of liturgy in church and in daily life. We argue that, for the research population, engagement in the liturgy is a matter of identity.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"38 1","pages":"358-378"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85751741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}