Christianity and Jerusalem

Anthony O'Mahony of Heythrop College in the University of London is a most prolific fellow whose scholarship largely focuses on relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He's recently edited (and written introductions and articles for) three substantial collections, all published in the last 18 months, all dealing with Christianity in the Middle East. The first to be noted here is:

A. O'Mahony, ed., Christianity and Jerusalem: Studies in Modern Theology and Politics in the Holy Land (2010), 326pp. 

This is a very ecumenical collection whose contributors offer a wide-ranging overview of many aspects of Christian life in Jerusalem, historically and currently. As Stephen Need, dean of St. George's College in Jerusalem, notes in an article in the current issue of Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies,  the future for Christians does not look good given recent trends of many Christians leaving or having very small families. Need will review this book for Logos in the fall of 2011. The book addresses itself to a variety of issues:

• Christianity in modern Jerusalem
• Jewish-Israeli views on Christianity and Christians
• Hebrew Catholicism in modern Israel
• the Vatican, Israel, Palestinian Christians and Jerusalem
• the Intifada and Palestinian Christian identity
• Palestinian Christians and liberation theology
• the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem - Church-State politics in the Holy Land
• indigenisation and contextualisation: the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches 
• Jewish fundamentalism
• Jewish-Muslim encounters
• Jerusalem, the Holy City: a possible way to share Jerusalem in peace
• Contributors include: Anthony O'Mahony, David Mark Neuhaus SJ, Leon Menzies Racionzer, Drew Christiansen SJ, Leonard Marsh, Sotiris Roussos, Michael Marten, Nur Masalha, Rob Johnson, et al