March 13, 2015
by Rose Khouri As a Lebanese-American with an interest in religious studies who has lived a substantial amount of time in both countries, I am often struck by the similarities and differences between two groups who supposedly practice the same religion. If asked, both American Christians (historically white and Protestant) […]
March 6, 2015
By Mike Kuhn Recently our community had the privilege of hearing a lecture by New Testament scholar David deSilva based on his book on John’s Apocalypse titled Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation’s Warning. The thrust of the lecture was a challenge to read John’s apocalyptic message in light of events transpiring […]
February 20, 2015
By Martin Accad Every few days, we seem to wake up to another massacre committed by ISIS. And these are, of course, only the ones that the media reports. ISIS, in reality, is committing massacres on a daily basis. We have become familiar with their crimes in Syria and Iraq […]
February 12, 2015
On January 16, 2015, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine looking into alleged crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014. Israel condemned this move. Hamas welcomed this move, even though its actions will also […]
February 5, 2015
By Arthur Brown Food and youth work have always gone hand in hand. While it is true that ‘pizza night’ generally attracts more young people than a discussion on the doctrine of the trinity, good youth workers recognise the significance of young [and old] persons eating together. I was recently […]
January 29, 2015
By Rose Khouri* Earlier this month, Martin Accad asked the very interesting question: can Islam be reformed? In his post, he argues that through ijmaa, or “consensus”, renewed and reformed interpretations of the Islamic scriptures are not only possible, but their development has been ongoing in this period of violence […]
January 22, 2015
By Mike Kuhn Never ask a fish “how’s the water?” I know…fish don’t talk so they can’t respond. But the point is that water is the environment the fish lives in and therefore the fish takes it for granted—true of fish and water but also true of people and culture. […]