January 19, 2017

Reflections on the Humanitarian Crisis in Syria (Part 2)

By Rupen Das This week and last week’s posts are based on a plenary presentation made at the ACCORD Annual meeting in North Carolina on Oct. 25, 2016 by Rupen Das to the 70+ Christian US relief and development member NGOs. Presented in two parts, Dr. Das previously described two observations regarding the […]
January 5, 2017

Middle East Consultation 2017 – Apply Today!

Click Here to Apply The Institute of Middle East Studies is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications to attend Middle East Consultation 2017 – The Church in Disorienting Times: Leading Prophetically through Adversity. Please click on the above link to apply. Disorienting Times We live in disorienting […]
December 16, 2016

Kerygmatic Peacebuilding (Part 2): What Does Peace Have to do with the Gospel?

By Jesse Wheeler Note: This is a difficult week to speak of peace. With heartbreaking tragedy in Egypt and unspeakable horror unfolding in Syria just a few hours away, peace now seems more than ever like an elusive dream continually beyond reach – all while I sit here feeling helpless […]
December 8, 2016

Kerygmatic Peacebuilding (Part 1): What Does Religion Have to do with Peace?

By Jesse Wheeler One reason, among many, I love working at IMES is its heartfelt commitment to peacebuilding and peace education. Yet, in the course of our work, we have often encountered opposition with regard to the task of building peace and its relevance for Christian life and service. As […]
November 10, 2016

Do We Lack the Moral Imagination? Part Two: Seeing the Other

By Suzie Lahoud  What man. . . if with a scrupulous attention he searches all the recesses of his soul, will not perceive that his virtues and vices are wholly owing to different modifications of personal interest? . . . For after all interest is always obeyed; hence the injustice […]
September 1, 2016

Reflections on the Burkini: Symbol of Oppression, Liberation, but mostly Power

by Martin Accad You may be thinking: ‘Not another blog about the Burkini!’ Many of us have grown tired of these divisive issues. The building of minarets in Switzerland, of another mosque in America, or the debate over whether Muslim courts with limited jurisdiction over family affairs should be allowed […]
June 10, 2016

Should we wish a ‘Blessed Ramadan’ on our Muslim friends?

By Martin Accad A few days ago, the month of Ramadan began. ‘Ramadan’ is the name of the current month, the ninth in the Muslim lunar calendar, which has come to symbolize the 29 to 30-day Muslim fast, one of Islam’s five pillars. The social media, over the past few […]
May 5, 2016

Jesus, Muslims and the Qur’ān: in search for KERYGMATIC peacebuilding

By Martin Accad My friend Peter believes that the Qur’ānic portrayal of Jesus stands in complete contradiction with the New Testament witness. He was once called Ahmad, but when he converted to Christianity after consistently watching polemical programs about Islam on satellite television, he became convinced that in order to […]