The Cross in Contexts: Suffering and Redemption in Palestine

Why did Jesus die? And in what ways did his crucifixion offer redemption to the world? Those questions, which lie at the heart of Christian faith, remain a pressing concern for theological reflection. What sets this work apart is that the authors a Palestinian theologian from Bethlehem and a New Testament scholar from the United States explore the meaning of the cross in light of both first and twenty-first century Palestinian contexts. Together, their insights coalesce around themes that expose the divine power of the cross both for Jesus first followers and for contemporary readers alike.

Mitri Raheb is the President of Dar al-Kalima University College in Bethlehem as well as the president of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. He serves as the Senior Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Palestine. He is the author of Faith in the Face of Empire (Orbis, 2014) and other books. Suzanne Watts Henderson, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), is a professor of New Testament at Queens University of Charlotte, NC.