Summary of Mitri Raheb's book Faith in the Face of Empire, Chapter Nine "the Spirit"

The book's "spirit" is summarized in Chapter Nine. Mitri Raheb's Faith in the Face of Empire
The Middle East is a region of countries that has recently been plagued by conflicts, with religion at the forefront of those conflicts. Many people have viewed religion as having a negative impact on the political state of Middle Eastern countries. In terms of religion and culture, the Middle East is diverse, but spirituality is lacking. In this video, Raheb explains the nature of spirituality, culture, and the power of culture in the Middle East. The purpose of this paper is to summarize Raheb's theory on the Spirit in Chapter 9. In chapter nine of Mitri Raheb’s book; Faith on the Face of the empire, Raheb analyses biblical contexts related to the situation in the Middle East. Most people have believed that the power of the empire could help bring people together. “A big temptation for people living for decades under domination is that they become contaminated by the power of the empire” (Raheb 109). The deception belief that military power can solve all problems is a critic to Raheb and he quotes the bible that “Not by might, nor by power, but by the spirit, says lord of host” (Zec 4:6) (109).

The intervention of the military in the conflicts in the Middle East has proved less problem solving; however, belief in the power of the empire still blocks the minds of many, Raheb lives in an age where war is seen logical and questioning war is demented (110). The dis-economical regime that uses taxpayer’s money to purchase military equipment and use them on its own people is illogical. Countries should consider their priorities and other ways of bringing people together and not focusing on force. Palestine’s are advocating for a demilitarized nation, it has placed very few resources on purchasing destruction equipment’s but uses donors’ resources, “defending the security of Israel is the pledge of every politician who wants to be elected or stay in power in the west” (110).

Diversity has enabled easy control of empires; however, this is far from the spirituality needed in the Middle East. The story of the Pentecost in (Acts 2:1-13) and the narrative in Genesis (11:1-9) explains the new spirituality. In the empire narrative in Genesis, “the mighty empire with a strong economy reaches to heaven and with one language holds the empire together” (111). This story of the Tower of Babel shows how empires could use might to bring together diversified communities together. This application of force to unify communities was tried by Alexander the great, the Romans, the Arabs, the Soviets and other Greek rulers without success. Empires in the Middle East have not succeeded in this as well; the Catholic Church has tried to monopolize the Christian faith, the Islam also still has distinct cultural expressions. “All efforts to unify them forcefully have come to naught” (111).

Raheb contradicts the story of the tower of babel by explaining a different context of the story of the Pentecost. The Pentecost in this context explained human diversity, the church born in Jerusalem was meant to counter the empire not by creating another, but by providing a new, pluralistic Euro-Mediterranean vision. This contradicts the empire explanation of the Tower of Babel; it explains the urgently needed spirituality as one that embraces diversity and not forcefully uniting diversity. The Middle East is a region occupied by several minorities, its future is at stake if it cannot embrace and protect the rights of all its citizens.

According to Raheb, “Pentecost was more than a vision. It provided a transformational experience for the disciples” (113). The disciples received the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost, they regained their strength, and “the spirit not only took their fear away but gave them a real sense of mission and direction”. The disciples would have spent their whole life morning Jesus; the oppressed would easily fall into the temptation of playing victims and blame games. “A major problem for victims is that they become double victims: victims of the empire and victims of themselves” (115). The spirit enabled disciples to overcome victimhood; it also gave them the mission to the people thus resulting into the birth of Christianity. Raheb quotes that “what the Middle East sorely needs today is this spirit that helps people overcome their victimhood” (115).

Freedom is an aspect of concern in Palestine, “freedom there makes little sense” (115). Many communities in the Arab world yearn for it. There are forces blocking human right in the Middle East, among them; religious movements and security nations blocking people’s movements, opinions, controversial publications, questioning of policies and critical thinkers. Raheb suggests that this limited freedom has created a society based on fear and thus reduced innovation and creativity. Finally, Raheb explains the role played by women in the growth of a state, “a capable wife who can find?” this poem explains the role of a woman in family and society building.

In conclusion, the spirit is very important for Christian theology. The spirit gives Christians authority and power to explore their talents and bring together people of diverse cultures to the Christian faith. This is in support of Raheb’s idea of using the Spirits to bring two diverse groups together. This idea is logical after the disciples received the Holy Spirit; they were able to start Christianity, which has brought a number of communities with different cultures together in one faith.

Work Cited

Raheb, Mitri. Faith in the face of empire: The Bible through Palestinian eyes. Orbis Books, 2014. (109-118). Print