Frank Ritchie talks about the recent Israeli attack on the flotilla attempting to break the blockade and bring aid supplies into Gaza.

The following is a guest post from Philip Church. Philip serves as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology at Laidlaw College. Philip completed an MCS from Regent College in 1983 and an ACT MTh in 1996, both in New Testament Studies. He was the Registrar of the former Tyndale College from 1985 until 2000 as well as being a regular tutor for the College. He was appointed Academic Registrar of the Tyndale Graduate [...]

On July 9th, Ian McInnes from TEAR Fund attended a one day conference at Laidlaw College exploring biblical perspectives on the land of Israel.  This is his brief summary of the day Israel The national of Israel and its modern day boarders raise strong opinions within the church and the world beyond. Israel’s capital Jerusalem and in particularly the Temple Mount – on which the Dome of the Rock sits – is perhaps the most [...]

There is a book coming out in New Zealand that looks at 5 Christian perspectives on the Palestinian/Israeli issue and puts them in conversation with each other. One of the 5 contributors is Steve Tollestrup, the Executive Director of TEAR Fund. In this edition of the Podcast we chat with Steve about the book, the Christian perspective of the issue and TEAR Fund’s involvement in the West Bank and Gaza. Click here for instructions on [...]

God speaking to Abraham – “And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:8 (NRSV) Before we go any further, it is important to point out that many English translations of this passage use phrases such as “everlasting posession” indicating a gift that is in place eternally, [...]

The leaders of New Zealand churches are deeply concerned about the dire situation in Gaza and support the call for an immediate ceasefire in the region The escalation of violence and associated increase in civilian casualties is intolerable. It is time for concerted action to end the suffering of the 1.5 million people trapped within the 360 square kilometers of Gaza with little food, water and medicine, and under almost continuous attack from the land, [...]

In private conversations and in various places online where the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been discussed, I have voiced my personal support for the Arab peace initiative that was adopted by the Arab League at the annual Arab summit in Beirut in 2002. Many people have expressed little awareness about what it actually is, so I thought I would put the English translation of the initiative here.

I have decided to write this after my latest post about the Israel/Palestinian conflict led to a conversation that probably needs me to fill out some of my theological/biblical studies thoughts a little more. This is a very long article (over 4500 words) so feel free to not bother reading it if this stuff doesn’t interest you. If it is something you are interested in, happy reading.

Warning – this post may offend many. The situation I am about to address is a firebrand that causes high emotion for many people. I am not seeking to make any friends with this, I have just decided that for the first time, I wish to air publicly, some of my privately held opinions on this matter and I believe it entirely relates to the point of this site. I cannot, in good conscience, remain [...]