blogbipj

By D. Mc. Peace Studies Student at Bethlehem Bible College. The wisdom from above, as described in James 3:17-18, is "pure, peaceable, considerate, and filled with love," and it calls us as Christians to reflect the heart of God in all situations. As we look at the ongoing violence and suffering in Gaza, the West Bank, and other parts of the Middle East, it’s clear that the world desperately needs this wisdom. Though many may see these conflicts as complex and political, at the core, they touch on deeply human issues—suffering, injustice, and the longing for peace. Despite numerous attempts [...]

The Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice (BIPJ) launched its fall semester course, Introduction to Peacemaking and Justice in the Palestinian Context 1, on September 9. This asynchronous online course has its most robust enrollment yet, with forty students from various countries, from the Philippines to Hungary to Australia. Rev. Dr. Jack Sara, the president of Bethlehem Bible College, and Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac welcomed the course participants, expressing how important it is that the Palestinian voice is heard today and that the course will be personally transformative and a valuable resource for peacemaking in their context. Dr. Andrew Bush, [...]

The Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice at Bethlehem Bible College is off to a strong start this academic year! Thirty-one participants from Japan, the Philippines, India, Tanzania, Palestine, Canada, and the United States gathered online to launch the fall semester course, Introduction to Peacemaking and Justice in the Palestinian Context 1.   Jack Sara, the president of Bethlehem Bible College, began the session by describing BBC's more than forty-year history and its desire to be an agent of peace. He said, "We want to raise peacemakers from the birthplace of the Prince of Peace. "Several students expressed that they are deeply [...]

Have you given up on the Book of Revelation as too irrelevant to daily life?  Tired of recycled ‘prophetic’ teachings? The Bethlehem Institute of Peace at Justice at Bethlehem Bible College is offering a new five-lecture  online course entitled  Apocalypse, Empire and Palestine offers insightful new perspectives. As John in Revelation warns Christians to come out of the corruption and idolatry of the Roman Empire in his day, so Christians today are called to come out of and resist  empire – those political structures that oppress the marginalized and compromise Christian life.   Lecturer J. Nelson Kraybill, president emeritus of Anabaptist [...]

The Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice completed its two-week Summer Intensive in Peacemaking and Justice course (www.bipj.org). Participants from Canada, the United States, Palestine, Belgium, Jordan, and Wales explored the conflict and the difficult road to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel through classroom lectures, field research, readings and student-led in-depth personal interviews. Conducted every year during the last two weeks of May and based at Bethlehem Bible College, the Intensive was a transforming experience for all sixteen students, whether 18 or 65! It was a time of learning how faith and spirituality intersect with peace and justice. For example, [...]

On April 28, the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice (BIPJ) at Bethlehem Bible College conducted an academic symposium entitled "Normalization and Resistance: Christian Responses to Oppression." This topic is not theoretical to the Palestinian community, which must live under the burden of the occupation every day and is at times divided by how to respond. Andrew Bush, the director of the BIPJ, says, "This symposium represents the goal of the Institute to bring the voices of international peacemakers to Palestine and to bring the insights of [...]

The Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice’s online courses continue to gain wide approval. Eastern University in St. David’s, Pennsylvania, approved all three BIPJ’s Certificate Program courses to be added as electives to its MA in Theological and Cultural Anthropology. These courses include the semester-length Peacemaking and Justice in the Palestinian Context 1 and 2, offered in the Fall and Spring semesters, respectively, and the Summer Intensive, a residential program in Bethlehem provided during the last two weeks of May. The approval by Eastern University of these courses, and the academic credits earned with their completion, occurred after a review [...]