{"id":8176,"date":"2017-03-08T13:23:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T18:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=8176"},"modified":"2017-03-13T13:25:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-13T18:25:03","slug":"book-launch-of-out-of-the-depths-hope-in-times-of-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/book-launch-of-out-of-the-depths-hope-in-times-of-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"Book launch of “Out of the Depths \u2013 Hope in Times of Suffering”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Out of the Depths Book Launch, l-r: Stuart Buchanan, Rt Revd Dr Graham Kings, Bp Michael Ipgrave, Abp Michael Jackson, Abp Josiah Idowu-Fearon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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[ACNS] A new book,<\/span><\/a> designed as a theological resource to help those who are undergoing persecution \u2013 and to develop a wider understanding of the issue – has been published by the Anglican Inter Faith Network. At the launch, at the Anglican Communion Office in London,  one of its authors, Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin said it was \u201csignificantly needed\u201d  because there are communities of Christians being disappeared worldwide; they feel their voice is not being heard. This book is timely because we live in a period of persecution which is almost becoming acceptable and therefore for people of faith to be part of the structure of a theological understanding of their experience is important. Also the fact that they have held on to significant places of faith is important for the rest of us to honour.\u201d  Co-author, Bishop Michael Ipgrave of Lichfield said; \u201cTheology means turning to God: so what is it in our faith that equips us to face trial and difficulty? I hope the book will give some hope as people remember that deep in the story of our faith is a story of suffering; \u201cOut of the depths I cry to you O Lord.\u201d He is with us through everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon said the issue of persecution was something close to his heart because of the religious violence in his native Nigeria. He said his prayer was that the book would challenge, inspire and encourage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing a commendation at the start of the book, Archbishop Justin Welby said  ;\u201dAt a crucial time in world history, when religious persecution and violence are on the rise, both God\u2019s world and Christ\u2019s body, the Church, face enormous pain and suffering. We are encouraged, through engaging with this welcome resource, to renew our commitment to prayer, Scripture, reason and tradition and to be reminded of the true hope in Jesus Christ from whom all comfort, courage, and peace can be found.<\/span><\/p>\n

The introduction sets out the context in which the book was written. \u201cWe are living in an unprecedented time of religious persecution and martyrdom in the modern world. There were more recognised martyrs in the 20th century than in the whole of previous Christian history\u201d it says. \u201cThere are some books on the demography and phenomenology of persecution, but currently a lack of theological resources to help those who are undergoing persecution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord\u2019 is the beginning of Psalm 130:1. Facing the threat of being overwhelmed by the waters of chaos, the Psalmist cries out for help from the depths of his heart. The authors write \u201c Our title, \u2018Out of the Depths \u2013 Hope in a time of suffering\u2019, draws on that Psalm and also on Psalm 42:7: \u201cDeep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts: all your waves and billows have gone over me.\u201d The Psalmist again uses the image of water for being pounded in the midst of trouble and woe, and cries out for help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The book outlines the global context through case studies from India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Syria, Sweden and the United States. It has separate chapters looking at scripture, tradition and reason, within which the report explores \u201chow diverse theologies have resourced Christians under pressure through the centuries\u201d and also considers \u201chow people of other faiths have drawn on their own theological resources.\u201d There is also a chapter focusing on worship.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the case study from Malaysia, the book says that the country\u2019s traditional inclusive approach to religion changed in 2001 when the government declared that Islam was the state religion. \u201cIt is not just the non-Islamic minorities that feel persecuted, but also some of the more liberal Muslims,\u201d the book says. \u201cThis has led to migration from the country; as the more open and academic Muslims have left, the situation has become more extreme.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Insensitive activity by visiting missionaries is identified as a source of attacks on local Christians. \u201cThere are examples of churches being destroyed after missionaries, from other parts of India, have demonised Hinduism either through the testimonies of recent converts or through distributing pamphlets that demonise Hindu gods,\u201d the report says. \u201cThe missionaries doing this then leave the area and don\u2019t suffer any consequences themselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Syria, the book says that \u201cWhat was suffered under [Daesh] was horrible, but Muslim neighbours, betraying Christians to [them], was worse. The Nazarene sign, meaning a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, was put on houses. This meant the occupier could be killed and property taken; there is the need to start building trust again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The book also looks at persecution in the West; and gives an example from Sweden. While acknowledging that Jews and Muslims face far more serious problems in the country because of \u201cwidespread anti-Semitism and Islamophobia\u201d, it says that \u201cIf you are religious at all in Sweden, many people tend to think that you are a bit daft. This will mean that children can be bullied at school if they are openly Christian; not only by their peers, but sometimes even by teachers. This, however, is slowly changing as more children with an immigrant background are proud to be Muslims or Christians, and the schools realise that they have to take religion more seriously.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The authors stress the ecumenical context of their work and highlight \u201cthree occasions . . . of particular importance\u201d that took place in 2015: the 50th anniversary of Dignitatis Humanae, the decree on Religious Freedom of Vatican II; the Global Christian Forum\u2019s consultation on persecution in November 2015, in Tirana, Albania; and the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Readers are encouraged to reflect on the issues raised; commit to exploring issues more deeply; consider how Christians in other traditions or other parts of the world will have different viewpoints and consider what it means to be part of the suffering Body of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI found \u2018Out of the Depths\u2019 to be a wonderful resource for the Church worldwide as she tries to respond to those who suffer. I highly recommend it.\u201d The Most Revd Mouneer Anis, Archbishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book is available to purchase via the Anglican Communion website<\/span><\/a> at \u00a37.96 in the UK, \u00a311.10 in Europe and \u00a313.60 in the rest of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Posted on: February 28, 2017
\nFrom the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  [ACNS] A new book, designed as a theological resource to help those who are undergoing persecution \u2013 and to develop a wider understanding of the issue – has been published by the Anglican Inter Faith Network. At the launch, at the Anglican Communion Office in London,  one of its authors, Archbishop Michael Jackson of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":8178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8179,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8176\/revisions\/8179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}