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Important issues Δελτία Τύπου 1st Day of International Conference
Important issues Δελτία Τύπου 1st Day of International Conference | 1st Day of International Conference |
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 The International Conference on “Christian Presence and Witness in the Middle East Today: Theological and Political Challenges,” which has been organized by the Academy for Theological Studies of the Metropolis of Demetrias and the World Council of Churches, began on Monday, June 20, 2011.The conference was broadcast directly on the interactive online television station intv.gr with simultaneous translation in Greek and English.  Bishop Athenagoras of Sinope, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate, opened the conference by reading greetings from the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew , followed by words of welcome from Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias, the Mayor of the city of Volos, Panos Skotiniotis, and the Director of the Academy for Theological Studies, Pantelis Kalaitzidis. Greetings completed by Mr. Michel Nseir, Program Executive by the World Council of Churches, who in his speech referred to the importance of discussing and timeliness of the the subject of this conference.The presenters in the first morning session were Fr. Jamal Khader, Dean of the School of Arts at the University of Bethlehem and co-author of the Kairos Document, and the Rev. Robert Smith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the USA (ELCA).  Fr. Jamal Khader spoke on “The ‘Kairos Palestine’ Document in its Context.”  The Kairos Document was written by all the Christians of Palestine and seeks to address the key questions confronting the Christian population of the region: How can the faith contribute to an approach to and understanding of the occupation and injustice we are experiencing? What can “the Kingdom of God” mean for the Christians of Palestine today, or the command to love one’s enemies?Next, the Rev. Robert Smith spoke on "Anglo-American Christian Zionism: Implications for Palestinian Christians." In response to the Kairos Document, which calls for the Christians of the West to reconsider their basic theological positions that support the unjust policies with regard to the people of Palestine, the speaker attempted to investigate why the Christians of the West often support such views. To this end it was argued that such considerations vis-à-vis the Christians of Palestine were formed over a long historical conflict between the West and Islam, which led to a correspondingly negative perception of the Christians of the East. This division could be overcome if the Palestinians could effectively communicate in the Western context.  The speakers for the second morning session were Dr. Aikaterini Tsalampouni, Lecturer in the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Dr. Radu Preda, Associate Professor at the Theological Faculty of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania and director of the Institute INTER.  Dr. Tsalampouni spoke about “The ‘Election’ and the People of God: an Orthodox Theological Perspective.” In her talk, the speaker considered the theological issues of “election” and the “people of God” in the Old and New Testaments. The second part of this paper was a hermeneutical approach to the unit in Romans 9-11. She suggested a different understanding of the concept of election. Rather than understanding election in terms of exclusivity, it can function inclusively and lead to a harmonious coexistence of different religious groups. Radu Preda, in his presentation entitled “Occupation as a Sin: Dehumanizing the Occupant and the Occupied,” discussed the repression under communism in Romania. The Kairos Document is a text that highlights the dramatic situation of Christians in the Middle East. A Palestinian Christians carries a double cross, religious and ethnic. The Kairos Document’s most important contribution is the introduction of the term “sin” into the political and religious vocabulary. The speakers for the third session were Nicolas Abu-Mrad, Assistant Professor of Old Testament at the "St. John of Damascus" Institute of Orthodox Theology of the University of Balamand, and Fr. Philip LeMasters, priest of the Orthodox Antiochian Archdiocese of North America and Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences at McMurry University in the U.S.Dr. Nicolas Abu-Mrad spoke on "The 'Promised Land' in Orthodox Theology," in which he criticized the use of biblical history to validate its modern application on the broader socio-political field, whether Christian or Jewish. As an alternative to this view that biblical history is a kind of continuity through the history of the Christians or the Jews, the speaker’s view is based on the fact that the canonicity of the Bible is shaped by the stories themselves, closed parables, which serve to give directions to readers regarding the will of God and the need to follow his word. Consequently, the concepts of “Israel” and the “Promised Land” acquire a meaning that emerges from the texts themselves, and have no need for continuation in history. Jews and Christians are called in this case to fulfill in their life the Bible’s call for the realization of a community that follows his words and commandments.  Fr. Philip LeMasters spoke on "Orthodox Approaches to Non-violent Resistance." After first reviewing the roots of this conception in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the speaker turned to the martyrs and confessors who, with their non-violent resistance, confronted and refused to obey the secular powers’ demands that they abandon their faith. In cases in which the very existence of the Church was at risk, the steadfast witness of the faith constitutes a form of non-violent resistance. In Palestine and other regions, Orthodox Christian should refuse to obey unjust laws and to work for the formation of peaceful societies, in which every human being is understood as the image of God.  In the first day’s fourth and final session, the speakers were Fr. Mitri Raheb, Director of the Diyar Consortium in Bethlehem and Dr. Eleni Kasselouri-Hatzivassiliadi, lecturer at the Hellenic Open University and Research Fellow of the Academy for Theological Studies.Fr. Mitri Raheb developed the theme "Ur-text and Context: A Palestinian Christian Reading of the Bible." The original text of the Bible is deeply connected with the pre-political context of Palestine. The speaker’s position is that the Christians of Palestine are the continuation of the people of the Bible. This means that if we want to understand what the Bible really says, we should listen to the experiences of the Christians of Palestine.  Dr. Eleni Kasselouri-Hatzivassiliadi, in her talk on "Neighbour and Love of Enemies," analyzed the meaning of neighbor in Christian theology. Evaluating the New Testament references to the significance of one’s neighbor and love for one’s enemy, she emphasized that, for Christian theology and particularly for Orthodox theology, love is a commandment, a duty, a “witness” and a “martyrdom.” As a practical example of transcending the boundaries of race, gender, and ethnicity, and of love for the other, the bishops in the period of German occupation rescued many Jews at the risk of losing their own lives. The Metropolitan of Demetrias was, at that time, Joachim, through whom many Jews were saved.
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