Christian Palestinian Theology: Between Scriptural Promise and National Aspiration

Palestinian Christians, who constitute a minority in both Israeli and Palestinian society, have developed, since the first intifada, a unique theological discourse that lies at the intersection between religious belief and national identity. This theology constitutes a response to dominant Christian narratives that links biblical Israel to the modern state of Israel, and at the same time seeks to establish the religious and historical legitimacy of the Christian-Palestinians themselves. While dealing with the reality of political oppression, Palestinian theologians use biblical commentary as a tool to articulate a continuity with the early Christian community rooted in the time of Jesus. From a marginal, yet reflexive and creative position, they use a framework of postcolonial thought to dismantle accepted narratives in which the modern State of Israel is presented as the realization and continuation of biblical Israel, and offer alternative interpretations that position justice as an essential element of the Christian gospel and as an interpretive key to understanding the biblical text. Their work reflects a dual demand that weaves together the religious and the political and addresses two levels of identity: first, a demand for recognition of their national identity as Palestinians living under occupation; and second, a demand for recognition of their spiritual identity as indigenous Christians, descendants of the ancient Christian community that never left the land. By examining their writings in relation to liberation theologies from Latin America and Africa and  post-Holocaust Western theology, the article examines the dual and complex function of theological discourse, which seeks to redefine both the Christian tradition and the Christian-Palestinian identity.