ARAB EVANGELICALS IN ISRAEL
By Azar Ajaj, Duane Alexander Miller & Philip
Sumpter
Pickwick Publications (2016). 164 pages. £16
ISBN 978 1 498 279 512
Like Mont Blanc in the Alps, Israel is a big subject with many viewpoints! To get a full picture one needs to look at them all. So this book focusing on Arab evangelicals is a fascinating contribution well worth reading.
The authors are members of the Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary, and they focus specifically on Arab-speaking believers belonging to evangelical churches.
Read, then pray!
Brief history
A very succinct history introduces the scene. Muslim conquest (massacres and take-over of buildings), were followed by the Crusades. The Muslim/Christian conflict was complicated by foreign pilgrims, advocates and inter-church rivalry. Muslims were predominant, and Christians marginalised.
The British conquest in 1917 put all religions on an equal footing until the creation of a Jewish state in 1948. War in 1948 caused many Arabs to flee; those who didn’t were subject to martial law till 1966.
Arab Christians now struggle between the discrimination in Muslim-dominated Palestine and marginalisation in Jewish Israel. Evangelicals in Israel are a minority in a minority in a minority – 26% of the population of Israel is Arab, 10% of the Arabs are ‘Christian’, of which evangelicals are 3%. Being somewhat trapped politically between two religious systems, they are viewed with suspicion by both sides and can be further isolated by being criticised by non-evangelical Christians.
Convention of Evangelical Churches
Some time is given to the formation of the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel (CECI) in 2005. This positive move was kickstarted by the fact that Israel only recognises Orthodox and Anglican churches. Given that there is no registrar system in Israel, marriage, divorce and burial can only be done by a recognised religious group. The CECI seeks to represent evangelical churches to the state, to strengthen relationships between member churches, and to develop relations with other churches, nationally and internationally.
A survey of Baptist church leaders explores their identity as Arab Israeli Believers. They identify as evangelical first and Arab-speaking next and are generally apolitical. While they are keen to share their faith with Muslims and Jews there are many associated difficulties. The positive contribution of the Nazareth Evangelical Theological College has been local and indigenous training by Arabs, and the collecting of resources addressing a unique situation.
Elusive dream
The dream of close working with Messianic Jews, showing the unity of the body of Christ in action, remains elusive. Virtually all pastors surveyed regard this unity as important, but with major challenges. These include the theological view that the creation of Israel is fulfilment of prophesy (or rather the centrality that this doctrine has, and its practical outworking in marginalising Arabs), the (right wing) politicisation of many Messianic Jews, and a certain elitism or pride in being Jewish. These issues, and a language barrier, make fellowship difficult.
While evangelism is part of being evangelical, Muslim converts find it difficult to find a welcome. The complications arise from persecution/death threats from their community, the need to register a change of religion with the State, and the likely loss of job and accommodation, and churches have no power to challenge what happens.
All this is encouraging, and troubling! As part of obtaining a balanced understanding, this book is great. May God help Arab evangelicals as they press on in God’s name!
