Many people have questions about the deeply distressing events taking place in Israel and the Palestinian territories. So, each day for the next week I will posting answers to questions, attempting to help people understand the times in which we live. I plan for the daily...
Many Christians are wondering what to think about events unfolding in Israel. Here is a link to three lectures I presented for Christian Friends of Israel in the UK, during the 2020 Covid lock downs. They explore how Christians can understand Israel in the world...
On 7 October Hamas jihadis launched Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge, entering Israel to kill over 1,000 people, and taking more than a hundred captives, many of them women and children, as well as an unknown number of male IDF soldiers. In scenes reminiscent of ISIS atrocities, one...
Manchester, N.H.: Sophia Institute Press, 2021. 336 pp. $21.95. Published in the Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2023. Iranian-French humanitarian worker Goodarzy recounts his experiences in Syria and Iraq in Kidnapped in Iraq. He weaves together three strands. The first tells about Goodarzy's kidnapping in Iraq by a...
New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. 264 pp. $99. Published in the Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2023. Hughes, a professor of religious studies at the University of Rochester, views the genesis of Islam through a religious studies lens. He characterizes Islam's "quest for normativity" in its...
The Church of England has been asked to respond to requests from clergy to use gender-neutral pronouns for God. The question has been referred to the Church of England’s Liturgical Commission. This would be a major variation from the Book of Common Prayer, a foundational text...
by Robert Spencer. New York: Bombardier Books, 2021. 548 pp. $45. Published in the Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2023. The Qur'an is not an easy read, even in translation: its chapters are out of order, and its contents often obscure; verses do not follow logically one...
In the lead-up to the recent Victorian election, Premier Daniel Andrews announced grants of more than $8 million to the Victorian Islamic community. A social media video posted by his office celebrated this news in a way that can only be described as joyful. In the...