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“Before God and our communities, we are responsible to Jews for the historical and ongoing realities of anti-Semitism, to Palestinians since the Nakba, to Muslim neighbours in the light of Islamophobia, to persons who are vulnerable, and to victims of colonial conquest, among others," said participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored conference.
"Central to a justice-oriented interpretation of the Bible will be the nature of responsibility,” reads the statement by participants.
The conference was held from 23 to 27 February at the Evangelical Academy of Hofgeismar, Germany. The meeting was organized by the WCC and its Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum, in collaboration with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Evangelical Church in Kurhessen-Waldeck.
The event brought 45 Christian and Jewish scholars, theologians and students from 15 countries in North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Together, they addressed the theme “Violence in the Name of God? Joshua in changing contexts”.
While focusing on the biblical text of Joshua, the final communiqué from the conference implied that this book, “if taken as prescriptive, can lead to dangerous conclusions”.
The communiqué was adopted after three days of prayer, Bible studies and lectures reflecting on the exegetical, historical and contemporary aspects of the book of Joshua, violence in the biblical narratives and various interpretive approaches.
For many years the book of Joshua has been used to justify conquests and exploitation. This book was used in theological debates of the 16th century around the colonization of the Americas and by Afrikaner ideologists who named Zulus as the “black Canaanites”; even today, the book is used by some Christians and Jews to justify the occupation policies of Israel.
In line with the conclusions drawn at the WCC theological conference on “Promised Land” in Bern, Switzerland in 2008, the participants confirmed that the “Bible must not be utilized to justify oppression or supply simplistic commentary on contemporary events, thus sacralizing the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict and ignoring its socio-political, economic and historical dimensions.”
New approach to read text of Joshua
Discussions at the conference pointed out that many valid interpretations of the text of Joshua are possible when they are approached from a variety of contexts. Participants agreed that a hermeneutical approach based on justice is the key to addressing this text.
Palestinian Christians at the conference shared how the book of Joshua has been used by “powerful parties to justify the continuing occupation of Palestinian territories and settlement policies,” thereby alienating Palestinian Christians “not only from their land but from the bulk of their Christian scriptural canon”.
Rev. Jens Nieper, who represented the EKD in the preparatory committee of the conference, encouraged the participants to "bring these new insights to their communities, theological faculties and churches, so they may be inspired in their struggles for peace and freedom in the name of God."
Rabbi Dr Tovias Ben Chorin, a Jewish scholar based in Berlin, who led a Bible study during the conference, pointed out the universality of Bible reading and how the scriptures speak to people in different contexts. "The Word is more powerful than any bullet; bullets are shot and gone, while the Word continues working inside you, changing you," he said.
Rev. Dr Jamal Khader, a Palestinian Roman Catholic priest who is dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the Bethlehem University, voiced his appreciation for the conference.
“We deal with violence every day. Palestinians are suffering a permanent violence intended to expel them from their lands. Here we have discussed it and raised awareness on this situation," said Khader.
The statement from the conference highlighted German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s hard-won insight of reading the Bible “from below”.
“The biblical narratives empower those who are oppressed to become active agents of their own emancipation,” the statement concludes.
Read full text of the conference statement
