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Bethany Presbyterian Church will spend three Sundays hosting “Conversations on the Middle East with Dr. Raja Tanas.” The series is designed to inform and enlighten people’s awareness about the situation in the “common Holy Lands of the Middle East,” according to an announcement.
Tanas is professor and chair of the sociology department at Whitworth University. He received his bachelor and masters degrees in sociology from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, after which he earned his Ph.D. degree in sociology from Michigan State University. He has carried out extensive research in the area of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.
The series will begin Nov. 2 and continue through Nov. 16. Sessions are divided into the following topics:
- 9 a.m., Nov. 2: WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The presentation is an overview of Middle Eastern society with attention to its geography, history, religion, and demographic characteristics.
- 9 a.m., Nov. 9: THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT THROUGH PALESTINIAN EYES
This presentation is on the 66-year old Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The focus is on the events that took place immediately after WWIl that led to the creation of the State of Israel in Palestine in 1948, the emergence of the Palestinian nationalist liberation movements in the 1950s, the Oslo agreement of 1993, and the current state of the so-called peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
- 10:30am ( as part of the regular church service) Nov. 9
THE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM THROUGH ARAB-CHRISTIAN EYES
The sermon will address the emergence of Christian Zionism in Western Europe and in the U.S.A. and the role it has played and continues to play in making the Palestinian-Israeli conflict more difficult to understand or to resolve. Of primary focus is an examination of the biblical validity underlying Christian Zionist theology as seen through Arab-Christian eyes.
- 9 a.m., Nov. 16: JESUS IN THE KORAN: A MINISTRY OF BUILDING BRIDGES OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS
This presentation addresses the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam highlighting verses in the Quran that talk about Jesus and the Gospel.
There is no charge for any of the programs.
