Do you ever wonder what the churches in Nazareth today are like? Very few of them have any documented history, and one of our goals is to document the history of the churches here in our city.
With that in mind, our lecturer in Church History and Theology, Alex Miller, has recently published a brief history of Christ Church, which is the Anglican/Episcopal church here in town. This article appears in St Francis Magazine. The article has some nice pictures of the church as well as some helpful information.
Click to download the PDF of the article.
Mr Miller has also published articles on the following churches in the region:
Church of the Redeemer (Anglican/Episcopal) in Amman, Jordan
The Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr (Anglican/Episcopal) in Jerusalem
The Alliance Church (CMA) in Jerusalem's Old City
If you would like to see some pictures of a few churches check these out:
St Joseph's (Latin) in Nazareth
Annunciation (Orthodox) in Nazareth
Christ Church (Anglican) in Nazareth
St Michael's (Anglican) in Heliopolis, Egypt
If you have pictures of any church in the Middle East and would like to corroborate in a project to preserve photographic records of these structures please contact Mr Miller by leaving a comment on this blog's most recent post, regardless of topic.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Mary's Well Occasional Papers 1:4 "It is okay to question Allah"...
Nazareth Seminary welcomes you to read our fourth Mary's Well Occasional Paper.
Abstract
The author presents a theological analysis of Farewell to Islam, by Saiid Rabiipour (Xulon 2009, 348 pages). In analyzing Rabiipour’s writing he argues that Rabiipour’s experience of being trapped in Iran should be read as a metaphor for Islam, both as a religion and as a political structure. In American Christianity Rabiipour finds a space of freedom and liberation. Utilizing the extended metaphor of his de facto captivity in Iran, Rabiipour offers both an American, Christian apologetic, and a critique of Islam as a religion and a politic.
Key Words
Liberation theology, Iranian Christianity, ex-Muslim, Muslim-background believer, MBB, freedom
And here is the bibliography:
Miller, Duane Alexander. ‘"It is okay to question Allah": the theology of freedom of Saiid Rabiipour, a Christian ex-Muslim’ in Mary’s Well Occasional Papers, 1:4, September (Nazareth, Israel: Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2012).
Click HERE to download the PDF.
Previous Mary's Well Occasional Papers can be found here:
Mary's Well Occasional Paper 1:3 by Azar Ajaj
Mary's Well Occasional Paper 1:2 by Stephen Louy
Mary's Well Occasional Paper 1:1 by Bryson Arthur
Abstract
The author presents a theological analysis of Farewell to Islam, by Saiid Rabiipour (Xulon 2009, 348 pages). In analyzing Rabiipour’s writing he argues that Rabiipour’s experience of being trapped in Iran should be read as a metaphor for Islam, both as a religion and as a political structure. In American Christianity Rabiipour finds a space of freedom and liberation. Utilizing the extended metaphor of his de facto captivity in Iran, Rabiipour offers both an American, Christian apologetic, and a critique of Islam as a religion and a politic.
Key Words
Liberation theology, Iranian Christianity, ex-Muslim, Muslim-background believer, MBB, freedom
And here is the bibliography:
Miller, Duane Alexander. ‘"It is okay to question Allah": the theology of freedom of Saiid Rabiipour, a Christian ex-Muslim’ in Mary’s Well Occasional Papers, 1:4, September (Nazareth, Israel: Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2012).
Click HERE to download the PDF.
Previous Mary's Well Occasional Papers can be found here:
Mary's Well Occasional Paper 1:3 by Azar Ajaj
Mary's Well Occasional Paper 1:2 by Stephen Louy
Mary's Well Occasional Paper 1:1 by Bryson Arthur
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Dwight Baker on the Baptist Golden Jubilee in Palestine-Israel
I am enjoying our new scanner in the office! In addition to the previous document on Arab Anglicans in the Holy Land, here is a document written by a former Southern Baptist missionary from the USA named Dwight L. Baker.
Baker, Dwight L. 1961. Baptists Golden Jubilee, 50 Years in Palstine-Israel: A Short Commemorative History. Nazareth, Israel: Association of Baptist Churches.
Click HERE to download the PDF.
Baker, Dwight L. 1961. Baptists Golden Jubilee, 50 Years in Palstine-Israel: A Short Commemorative History. Nazareth, Israel: Association of Baptist Churches.
Click HERE to download the PDF.
A snapshot of Arab Anglican ministry in the Holy Land in 1925
The interior of Christ Church, Nazareth, est. 1871
D. Alex Miller 2012 copyright
We are happy to make this rare document about the history of the Anglican church in the Trans-Jordan available to scholars. The scan is not of high quality, but then again it is a scan of a copy of a copy. Nonetheless, this 1925 pamphlet contains a snapshot of what the ministry among the CMS and Arab Anglicans in the region looked like.
Click HERE for the file. If that does not work, try HERE.
Palestine Church Council. 1925. Palestine Church Council: an illustrated report of the origin, work, and needs of the Council of the Episcopal Evangelical Church in the Holy Land. London [?]: CMS [?].
Friday, August 24, 2012
In memory of Dwight Baker (1923-2011)
Our library at NETS is named after Dwight Baker, a Southern Baptist missionary from the USA who was an influential figure in the growth of evangelical Christianity in Nazareth. He was also instrumental in seeing that the Baptist House in the American Quarter of Nazareth was transferred to the locally-led Association of Baptist Churches in Israel (ABC). The seminary today is located in that same building where Baker and other missionary families lived over the decades.
Here is a memory from the Rev. Ibrahim Simaan who ministered along-side Dwight Baker, originally posted here:
He even had a vision to start work among the Bedouins of the Negev...so he worked as an English language teacher at Kusefeh Secondary School near Arad..and moved to live in Arad...He served for two terms in India, and taught church history and Islam at Baylor University.
But I think that his first love-field-of-service was the Holy Land to which he returned as a volunteer-missionary for one year, after his retirement...
He helped founding the Christian Council in Israel, and was its chair person several times...
He did not forget his labor in the Holy Land, and the Baptist House in Nazareth, home to the Nazareth Evangelical Seminary, and the New Life Baptist Church, was purchased in 2005 by the Association of Baptist Churches due to a generous donation from his personal resources.
Many generations shall remember you Father Dwight.
I am indebted with most of what I know to Dwight Baker, having associated with him so many years, and worked under his leadership more than 15 years.
His remembrance shall be forever! (Psalm112:6)
Here is a memory from the Rev. Ibrahim Simaan who ministered along-side Dwight Baker, originally posted here:
Dwight Baker was sent to Nazareth, Israel in the early 1950ies with a clear mission, to rebuild the Baptist Mission to the Holy Land, and re-organize the Baptist Church, whose majority of the members, and leadership were disbursed throughout the whole Middle East due to the Arab-Jewish War of 1948.
The young missionary worked very hard to get the church in Nazareth re-started, as well as the Nazareth Baptist School...and worked very hard to sustain an orphanage which included some 19 kids.
He was joined later by Paul Rowden, and the Baptist Convention in Israel was founded..with Dwight in the North and Bob Lindsey in Jerusalem.
In Nazareth, Dwight recruited a good team of new young believers, an initiated quick training for them, with the vision of indigenizing the local church..The church-and school sponsored Sunday School, Brotherhood, Royal Ambassadors, Girls Auxiliary...etc...
He believed in the theory of churches survive if they develop a missionary outreach. Therefore, The Nazareth Church under his leadership started village work covering Cana of Galilee, Tur'an, Eilaboun, Rama, Acre...in 1964, Having turned over the pastorate to a national pastor (Rev. Fuad Sakhnini) he had another phase of his vision for the Baptist witness..Leadership Training, therefore in 1963, he came back from furlough, with a mind set up on this vision, therefore he moved to Haifa, as a more central location in the country, where he started the Christian Service Training Center, as an Extension to Southern Baptist seminaries...During his stay in Haifa, several generations of Baptist potential leaders were located and got their training at the CSTC...including Rev. Edward Souti, Rev. Suheil Ramadan, Rev. Ibrahim Simaan...and later on the CSTC extended its services to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza
Dwight was a great preacher, great pastor, and a great writer and historian...he wrote many articles to well known papers, like "Christianity Today" and the local Baptist publication "Hayahad Digest", and started the Arabic magazine "Al-Jama'h" with me as secretary editor...
The young missionary worked very hard to get the church in Nazareth re-started, as well as the Nazareth Baptist School...and worked very hard to sustain an orphanage which included some 19 kids.
He was joined later by Paul Rowden, and the Baptist Convention in Israel was founded..with Dwight in the North and Bob Lindsey in Jerusalem.
In Nazareth, Dwight recruited a good team of new young believers, an initiated quick training for them, with the vision of indigenizing the local church..The church-and school sponsored Sunday School, Brotherhood, Royal Ambassadors, Girls Auxiliary...etc...
He believed in the theory of churches survive if they develop a missionary outreach. Therefore, The Nazareth Church under his leadership started village work covering Cana of Galilee, Tur'an, Eilaboun, Rama, Acre...in 1964, Having turned over the pastorate to a national pastor (Rev. Fuad Sakhnini) he had another phase of his vision for the Baptist witness..Leadership Training, therefore in 1963, he came back from furlough, with a mind set up on this vision, therefore he moved to Haifa, as a more central location in the country, where he started the Christian Service Training Center, as an Extension to Southern Baptist seminaries...During his stay in Haifa, several generations of Baptist potential leaders were located and got their training at the CSTC...including Rev. Edward Souti, Rev. Suheil Ramadan, Rev. Ibrahim Simaan...and later on the CSTC extended its services to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza
Dwight was a great preacher, great pastor, and a great writer and historian...he wrote many articles to well known papers, like "Christianity Today" and the local Baptist publication "Hayahad Digest", and started the Arabic magazine "Al-Jama'h" with me as secretary editor...
He even had a vision to start work among the Bedouins of the Negev...so he worked as an English language teacher at Kusefeh Secondary School near Arad..and moved to live in Arad...He served for two terms in India, and taught church history and Islam at Baylor University.
But I think that his first love-field-of-service was the Holy Land to which he returned as a volunteer-missionary for one year, after his retirement...
He helped founding the Christian Council in Israel, and was its chair person several times...
He did not forget his labor in the Holy Land, and the Baptist House in Nazareth, home to the Nazareth Evangelical Seminary, and the New Life Baptist Church, was purchased in 2005 by the Association of Baptist Churches due to a generous donation from his personal resources.
Many generations shall remember you Father Dwight.
I am indebted with most of what I know to Dwight Baker, having associated with him so many years, and worked under his leadership more than 15 years.
His remembrance shall be forever! (Psalm112:6)
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The Arab Spring and Augustine's City of God
Duane Alexander Miller has recently published (online) a brief article at Orient and Occident on how Augustine's thought in his book, City of God (Madiinat Allah), relates to the Arab Spring, and specifically to the situation in Egypt.
You can read it in English HERE, or in Arabic HERE.
You can read it in English HERE, or in Arabic HERE.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Issue 8:4 of St Francis Magazine
We are glad to let you all know that Volume 8:4 of St Francis Magazine is now available. SFM is an online journal dedicated to exploring Christian witness in Islamic contexts.
D. Alexander Miller, our seminary's lecturer in Church History and Theology, was the guest editor for the issue. Click to read his letter from the issue editor.
Mr. Miller also interviewed a veteran missionary involved in church planting among Muslims in India. Visit the website to read the interview.
Also included in this issue of SFM is a book review by Azar Ajaj, our lecturer in Biblical and Pastoral Studies. Click to read his review of Emir Rishawi's A Struggle that led to Conversion.
To download the complete PDF of isssue 8:4 click HERE.
D. Alexander Miller, our seminary's lecturer in Church History and Theology, was the guest editor for the issue. Click to read his letter from the issue editor.
Mr. Miller also interviewed a veteran missionary involved in church planting among Muslims in India. Visit the website to read the interview.
Also included in this issue of SFM is a book review by Azar Ajaj, our lecturer in Biblical and Pastoral Studies. Click to read his review of Emir Rishawi's A Struggle that led to Conversion.
To download the complete PDF of isssue 8:4 click HERE.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)