What is Palestinian Liberation Theology?
When the State of Israel received its independence in 1948, many Arab-Christian clergymen abandoned the Old Testament because they believed it was too Zionist.
In an effort to reclaim it for their people, they replaced the Israelites with Palestinians.
For example, instead of adhering to the biblical context of the Exodus, they impose the interpretation of the Palestinians going to the Israeli Knesset, saying, “Let my people go!”
Palestinian Liberation Theology takes interpretive liberties with the biblical accounts and prophecies of the Hebrew Bible in order to mold it to specific political and theological agendas.
It maintains that certain Old Testament passages are outdated and irrelevant, claiming they reveal a primitive way of understanding God’s revelation to man. A majority of these “irrelevant” sections often involve God’s promise to give or return the Jewish people to their land.
Palestinian Liberation Theology is still considered fringe within mainstream Christianity. Its proponents wish to advance the cause of the Arab Christians, who desire to create a Palestinian state.
The impetus for the movement stems from Replacement Theology, a faulty method of biblical interpretation held by some mainline denominations that claim the church has replaced the role of Israel in the Bible.
