This
book is about Christian experience. It tells of the personal encounters of Western
Christians with the people of the Hoiy Land. For these Western Christians, who
have come to know the Holy Land intimately, such encounters were life-changing
experiences. The contributors to this volume belong to a variety of Christian denominations- Catholics, Anglicans/Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Presbyterians, a United Methodist, and a Mennonite, from England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Canada and the USA. Some are ministers, some scholars, and some are active in advocacy for justice and peace.
While various factors drew them to Israel-Palestine, seeing the situation for themselves has changed their earlier perceptions. The contributors tell how they considered the situation before seeing it, describe the experiences which influenced them, and indicate what they have done about it.
This book is written for the general reader. The autobiographical style makes for attractive reading and analysis is kept to a minimum. The reader is allowed to draw her! his own conclusions and to register her/his own emotions.
Michael Prior is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies in St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill (University of Surrey), England.
Canon Naim Ateek: 'I welcome this major witness to the transformation in the attitudes of Western Christians to the peoples and problems of the Holy Land. The book is a profound moral challenge to everyone interested in Palestinian Christianity and a just peace in the land in which it began.'
Fr Elias Chacour: 'I am delighted with the concerned and enlightening accounts of the encounter of Western Christian with the "living stones" of the Holy Land. It should be required reading for all in the West.'
Stephen Sizer's chapter is entitled, 'The Premised Land: Israel and Palestine"
Contributors: Rosemary Radford Ruether, Kenneth Cragg, William Dalrymple, Elizabeth Barlow, Ray Barraclough, Kathy Bergen, David Burrell, Janet Davies, Garth Hewitt, Ruth Hummel ,Thomas Hummel, Elaine Kelley, Duncan Macpherson, Peter Miano, Cohn Morton, Carol Morton, Michael Prior, Stephen Sizer, Don Wagner.
"They Came and They Saw" is published by Melisende and is available from all good bookshops for £12.99 or direct from Stephen Sizer for £12.00 including postage.