“God’s Reign and People’s Rule”: The Fourth Intercultural Conference at the इच्ब क/ओ फैथ Rowold

“God’s Reign and People’s Rule”: The Fourth Intercultural Conference at the ICB

Delegates met from August 26 – September 1, 2007 in the beautiful Dar Annadwa (ICB) complex, to discuss interactions between Church and State in European, American and Middle Eastern contexts, and continue a process of discussion, debate and growth. We now look forward to the Fifth Biennial Intercultural Conference, August 23-29, 2009.


“God’s Reign and People’s Rule” was the theme of the Fourth Intercultural Conference at Dar Annadwa Addawliyya (ICB), which brought together a variety of high-profile personalities, supporters of peace and justice in Palestine from around the world, and local Palestinians for a time of discussion and debate, from August 26 – September 1, 2007. In attendance during the course of the conference were four current and former ministers of the Palestinian government, prominent professors and theologians from Germany, the USA, Brazil and Palestine, and many friends and supporters of Dar Annadwa from 12 countries, 4 continents, and several religious backgrounds. Unfortunately, the delegates from India were unable to come to Bethlehem because of visa difficulties, and were present with us only in spirit. The Latin American delegates also were unable to join us, due to lack of funding.


In his opening message to the conference, Rev. Dr. Raheb explained that the conference theme of “God’s Reign and People’s Rule” was chosen two years ago, before it was known that it would prove now to be the most critical topic for the future of the Middle East. The ways that religious communities, political entities and civil society (or the absence thereof) interact and cooperate will shape how Palestine (in the context of the new constitution, and the continued struggle for power between Fatah and Hamas) and the Middle East at large will develop over the next stretch of time.

Bishop Younan then spoke on God’s will, and the danger of the fatalistic belief that “everything is from God”, which he said is “killing the Arab world”. This belief, he said, strips power from humans and ignores human free will – the capacity to do good or do evil. Another problem is the reversal of the traditional belief that God uses people to accomplish His will; lately, it seems that people are using God to accomplish their will, or as a justification for behaviour which is, in reality, self-serving or unfaithful. It is our vocation as a church to work against extremism and instead work for justice, and for humanity.

On the final day of the conference, Rev. Dr. Raheb took the podium again to present an overview of the ideas and discussions that had been part of the conference proceedings. One of the main concerns that came out of the various discussions was whether there should be an “and” or an “or” between “God’s Reign” and “People’s Rule”. There has been discussion over whether an exclusive secular movement is giving rise to an exclusive religious movement in a global context, and whether having a religious movement in power (as in many places in the Middle East) is leading to a longing for secularism. Questions arise about our responsibilities to God and human structures, the ambivalent and human nature of both sacred texts and legal/constitutional texts, and whether we need new texts, new interpretations of the ones we have, or just the vision to live up to the spirit of these texts.

On the specific topic of God’s Reign & Human Empires, Rev. Dr. Raheb made it clear that they cannot be identical, and also set out some ideas for how God’s Reign can manifest in the political world around us. Among the concepts presented during the conference to clarify the relationship between God’s Reign and Human Empire were for it to be a challenge and a question to any human empire, the hope for political empowerment and a call to revolutionary action, a domination-free world order, and a new concept in understanding the limitations of human empires.

The overall theme of this series of international, intercultural, interdisciplinary, interfaith conferences taking place at the ICB biannually from 2005-2015 is “Land, People and Identity”. The particular idea of shaping communities in times of crisis (such as the current situation in Palestine, where there is not only the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to consider, but also intra-Palestinian struggles among Fatah, Hamas, and other political and religious entities) was important when this year’s topic was chosen in 2005, but increases in importance in the context of the drafting of a Palestinian Constitution. Rev. Dr. Raheb reminded us that this week would be not just about having a conference, but about starting a process and having real discussion about the issues which face Christians here in Palestine and abroad. He expressed his hope that from the discussions and debates at the conference, a shared body of knowledge would accumulate, from which the ability and resources to influence politics and society would emerge, and which could, in turn, result in real change.

This series of conferences is viewed as a process, from which it is hoped that discussion and debate among delegates will promote understanding and generate new ideas on how people relate to each other in religious, cultural, geographical, and political contexts. Following up from this 2007 conference will be the regional conference in Jordan in 2008 (also on “God’s Reign and People’s Rule”) and the Fifth Intercultural Conference at the ICB, August 23-29, 2009.

Article written by Faith Rowold, Communications Officer for the DIYAR Consortium.