Theologies of Liberation in the Middle East

Submitted to Program Units
1: Liberation Theologies Unit and Middle Eastern Christianity Unit

This session explores how a growing number of Christian theologians in the Middle East have deployed liberation theology as a means of understanding their fraught political, social, and economic contexts across the region. Focusing on Egyptian, Palestinian, and Lebanese contexts, panelists address the strengths and difficulties in such theological engagement. Papers address Coptic theologies of citizenship, Palestinian theologies of martyria, emodied theologies in Lebanon, and connections between the theologies of Katie Cannon and Naim Ateek.

Papers

Hossam Garas,

Matta al-Miskin's Spiritually-Based Patriotism: A Coptic Theology of Citizenship

Abstract

Episodes of systematic marginalization and outrageous acts of violence are carved in the Coptic collective memory. This has often led the political tendencies of Christian Egyptians to emerge from a profound sense of despair and alienation. For long, the Coptic mode of political existence has been characterized by the “martyr-complex” (uqdat al-shuhada) and the lingering question of destiny. Against the backdrop of these pessimistic, self-preserving, and escapist Coptic political tendencies, Abbot Matta al-Miskin (1919 – 2006), the Maqqarian monk, develops a theology of citizenship that promotes spiritually-based patriotic activism. Although his theology has been widely perceived as quietist, a more comprehensive reading of al-Miskin’s thought shows that while he vehemently renounces the political activism of the clerical hierarchy, he equally renounces the political indifference and self-isolation of the Christian citizen. According to al-Miskin, the church should stay away from politics, but she cannot tolerate being “a mother to the coward.”
Anne Heikkinen, University of Helsinki

Munib Younan's Theology of Martyria: Palestinian Christian Witness

Abstract

Munib A. Younan (1950–) is a Palestinian Lutheran emeritus bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Holy Land and a former president of Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Concept of martyria (witness) is a recurring theme on the work of Younan throughout his career. Martyria is a central concept in Palestinian society, especially in the framework of prolonged political conflict. Concept is also related to Christianity and Islam. Both in the approach of Younan and of contextual liberation theologies, Christian witness is based on defending suffering people. Most of Younan’s work is rooted to his aim to provide a Christian witness, whether it was congregational work, local or global ecumenism, religious dialogue, or even contextualizing Christianity to Palestinians living under occupation and tumultuous contemporary context. Younan’s theology of Martyria is a construction of martyrdom that supports Palestinian Christians in their tumultuous context and denounces violence and extremist interpretations.
Nicole Simpson, Union Theological Seminary

Katie Cannon and Naim Ateek in Dialogue: A Power Analysis of U.S. Christian Engagement in Israel-Palestine

Abstract

This paper examines Israel-Palestine through the lens of Christian Zionism, and its critic, Palestinian Christian liberation theology. Christian Zionism exerts influence through political and economic support for Israel, affecting the lives of everyday Israelis and Palestinians. As a theology and a political movement, it holds renewed significance given increased attention on the U.S. government’s role in Israel's campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023. This paper compares two seminal liberation theology works, Naim Ateek’s Justice, and Only Justice and Katie Geneva Cannon’s Black Womanist Ethics to understand how white, Western Christianity has influenced their communities’ lived experiences and their theologies. Both authors reclaim from hegemonic interpretation the power to understand sacred texts and the power to define moral living despite limited agency. Using Larry Rasmussen’s power analysis framework, I argue that white Christianity must interrogate its power over others as a starting point for ethical engagement in Israel-Palestine.
Roxana Aras, Virginia Tech

Heaven Starts from Earth: Orthodox Welfare Practices and Embodied Theology in Lebanon

Abstract

This presentation investigates indigenous theological models centered on socio-political activism within the Antiochian Orthodox Church and their activation amid the multipronged crises in present-day Lebanon. Drawing on ethnographic and archival research conducted from 2019 to 2021, I trace the discursive genealogies of these models back to the twentieth-century Antiochian revival (*nahda*). I also frame their activation on the ground within the context of an Orthodox socio-medical center in Beirut. Here I investigate welfare practices shaped at the intersection of embodied theology, sectarian practices, and community services. Along sect-based and humanitarian incentives, I argue that the center’s work and identity were defined by Orthodox calls of engagement with the divine through immersion into history. Yet, the human-divine relationality shaped by these calls intersected with sect and class sensibilities, calling for a reconsideration of the relation between Orthodox theology, sectarianism, and precarious livelihoods beyond traditional divisions of sacred-secular and national-sectarian.

Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen

Podium microphone

Full Papers Available

Program Unit Options

Session Length

2 Hours

Schedule Preference

Saturday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Schedule Info

Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Session Identifier

A24-220

You are here

Theologies of Liberation in the Middle East

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Papers

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

Resources

Full Papers Available

Session Length

Schedule Preference

Tags

Session Identifier