Through my Enemy’s Eyes

by Lisa Loden, Salim J Munayer

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Especially for those, who are followers of Jesus Christ.  If I were to make a short list of “Must Reads,” this would have to be among the top. Palestinian Christians and Israeli Messianic believers both follow Jesus.  Yet, that is about the only thing they claim in common.  It troubles me greatly to see the deep divide that exists among Jesus’s followers in the Holy Land. Yet, I understand the the issues that divide them are of serious consequence.

It is out of this same spirit of lament over the division, that the authors, Salim Munayer, a Palestinian Christian, and Lisa Loden, an Israeli Messianic believer, address the theological issues that divide their community head on.  Their families have been friends for quite a while.  They remain deeply committed to nurturing the friendship between them, as well as with the community of the other.  Yet, this does not mean that you cannot sense the honest tension that arises, as they coauthor this book.  I know Salim Munayer, and have had numerous conversations with him.  I can sense how difficult some of the passages must have been for him either to write himself, or to accept into the book.  I imagine the same to be true for Lisa Loden.  Yet, I am inspired by their commitment to addressing the divide among them, which is manifest in the writing of this work.

If you have previously only invested energy in understanding one community’s concerns, or if you are seriously committed to the idea that the Kingdom of God is above all national authority or interests, then you owe it to yourself, and these two communities, to read this work.

“This book addresses the universal theological dimension of reconciliation in the context of the Israeli Messianic Jewish and Palestinian Christian divide. Palestinian Christians and Israeli Messianic Jews share a belief in Jesus as the son of God and Messiah. Often, though, that is all they have in common. This remarkable book, written in collaboration by a local Palestinian Christian and an Israeli Messianic Jew, seeks to bridge this gap by addressing head on, divisive theological issues (as well as their political implications) such as land, covenant, prophecy and eschatology which separate their two communities. The struggle for reconciliation is painful and often extremely difficult for all of us. This unique work seeks to show a way forward.” [from the publisher]