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Reading about Israel in a Theology Textbook

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Erin Grimm

Gaza has entered a state of famine and tens of thousands of people have died. Meanwhile, I’m in seminary and none of this is being discussed.

I’m reading this weird piece that talks about how Israel in the Bible is a statement against empire because of Exodus. This is disorienting because neither the Bible nor this book talk about Israel as the empire (or an extension of it). The book talks about how Israel is called to be a nation and ascribes to it what is called a meta-narrative of the redemption of God’s people. Let alone that this is a direct contradiction to the current state of affairs.

I see now how problematic this is. Totally irresponsible.

This is the problem of reading the Bible as more than a collection of texts, holy and inspired by God, and yet without seeing their incorporation into our lives and politics as difficult and tenuous. Precarious even.

What would it be like to imagine the world as lasting another billion years and acknowledging to ourselves that the nation-state won’t reign as a concept for much longer. Race-based nationhood, which is what Israel strives to be, and which inspires American politics to this day, is unsustainable–and it is certainly unethical.

About Christian Minus Christianity

Christian Minus Christianity is a budding community created to challenge imperialism, nationalism, and racism in many forms of US-American Christianity. It is a work of contextual theology created from the perspective of a white Christian of conscience.

Palestinian theologian Dr. Yousef Kamal AlKhouri, academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College, wrote about this project:

“I do think it’s important to dismantle imperial Christianity in a form, and for the reign of God to liberate the oppressed and God’s entire creation from systems of supremacy, exploitation, and destruction. I also believe that every theologian and Christian are doing theology from their own context, wherever they are. All theologies are contextual.”