Wiley Under the Olive Tree: Palestinian Christian Theology from the 1980s to the Present

"If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble of Gaza." This powerful statement of Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac captures the physical and spiritual landscape of Palestinian Christians. Under the lived realities of occupation and struggle, Palestinian theologians attempt to construct their national-political identity in response to three groups: the Palestinian people, the global Christian community, and Western Christianity's view of Judaism. This complex identity is shaped through scriptural interpretation and the development of a religious, national-political discourse rooted in the local context of Palestinian Christians as indigenous people of the Holy Land living under occupation. In Under the Olive Tree, Maayan Raveh offers a glimpse into the heart of Palestinian Christian Theology (PCT) and its contribution to the struggle against oppression. Palestinian theologians emphasize that Palestinians share with the Jewish people the mythical past of the Old Testament as an integral part of their heritage, and assert that Palestine has the same political right to national sovereignty as Israel. Raveh analyzes the writings of indigenous pastor-theologians from a range of Protestant and Catholic denominations, exploring how Palestinian theologians invoke the concept of "witness" both as a theological reflection of suffering—echoing Christ's own passion—and as a historical presence: a community that has lived continuously in the land where Jesus was born, lived, and died, bearing witness not only through faith but also through place and memory. The book delves into pivotal questions that have long intrigued scholars and believers: the divine election of the Israelites, the promise of the Promised Land, and the complex relationship between biblical history, faith, and contemporary identity. Theology enables communities to interpret the religious past and eschatological future in ways that shape their understanding of the national-political present. Under the Olive Tree presents Palestinian theology as part of a broader conversation about the power of faith to form identity and speak across historical and religious divides. Raveh invites readers to consider how theology, in both local and global contexts, becomes a language through which communities articulate—and at times compete over—the search for meaning, memory, and hope amid conflict.