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The First Advent in Palestine: Reversals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope
When we picture the first Advent, we see Mary and Joseph huddled by a manger. We picture Gabriel, magi, and shepherds tending their flocks. A shining star against a midnight sky. But this harmonized version has lifted the Advent story out of its context--those who experienced the first Advent had to travel through great darkness to reach the hope that shining star announced. Trusted scholar and community organizer Kelley Nikondeha takes us back, to where the landscape of Palestine is once again the geographic, socioeconomic, and political backdrop for the Advent story. Reading the Advent narratives of Luke and Matthew anew, in their original context, changes so much about how we see the true story of resistance, abusive rulers and systems of oppression, and God coming to earth. In Luke, Rome and Caesar loom, and young Mary's strength and resolve shine brightly as we begin to truly understand what it meant for her to live in the tumultuous Galilee region. In Matthew, through Joseph's point of view, we see the brutality of Herod's rule and how the complexities of empire weighed heavily on the Holy Family. We bear witness to the economic hardship of Nazareth, Bethlehem, and the many villages in between--concerns about daily bread, crushing debt, land loss, and dispossession that ring a familiar echo to our modern ears. Throughout her explorations, Nikondeha features the stories of modern-day Palestinians, centering their voices to help us meet an Advent recognizable for today. This thought-provoking examination invites us into a season of discovery, one that is realistic and honest, and that still wonders at the goodness of God's grace.
214 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2022
111 people are currently reading
708 people want to read
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October 2, 2022
If you're looking for a cozy Advent devotional, keep looking. If you're looking for a fresh vision of what the incarnation of Jesus Christ means in our lives, this is the book for you. Kelley Nikondeha brings a deeply human, personal, compassionate, and liberating lens to the familiar stories of advent in the scriptures. You will never look at the stories of Jesus' birth the same way again after reading Nikondeha's book, and this is a good thing. You will see them through the eyes of the first Christmas and every day since. You will see every day through an advent view after you look with imagination and stark reality at what the coming of Christ really meant and can still mean to us today.
December 28, 2022
2.5 stars. I feel really conflicted- on the one hand this book brought refreshing context and interpretation to the advent narrative, but on the other it felt as though it was communicated without a lot of textual/historical support? I found myself reading many paragraphs thinking, “that seems like a leap” due to lack of concrete data as points were being made. I can certainly appreciate possibilities offered, and feel like the author would have been more successful by writing less authoritatively about hypotheticals and rather framing them more consistently as hypotheticals.
I also feel conflicted about the author’s own experiences and relationships in the book. Some of the stories and anecdotes were interesting, but in most chapters I felt like the real examples weren’t necessarily connecting to the main points. That could be nit-picky but given that she talks about her role as a peacemaker and her knowledge of the people/lands, I felt it could have been stronger.
I do think this was a helpful book, particularly in subverting the frilly way we tend to meet the advent season. Probably the strongest point of this whole book was at the end, when she challenged us to eschew the ways of empire and rather join with the meek. That carried the weight of the advent narrative and the rest of the gospels.
I had some good takeaways, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the journey. It felt a bit tedious to work through due to some of my snags mentioned above. But I will still recommend it and be eager to hear how others encounter this book!
I also feel conflicted about the author’s own experiences and relationships in the book. Some of the stories and anecdotes were interesting, but in most chapters I felt like the real examples weren’t necessarily connecting to the main points. That could be nit-picky but given that she talks about her role as a peacemaker and her knowledge of the people/lands, I felt it could have been stronger.
I do think this was a helpful book, particularly in subverting the frilly way we tend to meet the advent season. Probably the strongest point of this whole book was at the end, when she challenged us to eschew the ways of empire and rather join with the meek. That carried the weight of the advent narrative and the rest of the gospels.
I had some good takeaways, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the journey. It felt a bit tedious to work through due to some of my snags mentioned above. But I will still recommend it and be eager to hear how others encounter this book!
August 30, 2022
The liturgical season of Advent is often forgotten as Christians rush toward Christmas. Yet, Advent is not just the prelude, it's the whole thing. That is, Advent and Christmas and even Epiphany are really one event. There is preparation and fulfillment. When we neglect the preparatory materials, we miss out on the meaning of the incarnation. Fortunately, resources appear regularly that if we pay attention to them can help broaden our experience of God's presence among us.
"The First Advent in Palestine" is the latest book by Kelley Nikondeha, who is a gifted storyteller. I have loved her books Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World and Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us about Freedom. Nikondeha has a unique ability to delve into biblical stories and connect them to real lives in the contemporary world, especially those who live on the margins. This book is no different. I should note that this review is based on my reading of an Advance Reader's copy, which means the page numbers and perhaps quotes might not be completely accurate.
In this book, which might appear at first glance, based on the title, as an Advent devotional, is instead an exploration of the Advent stories in a Palestinian context. Even as she portrayed the women of the Exodus as defiant ones, the central figures in this story are also defiant in their resistance to occupation. Even as the first Advent story was set in the context of the Roman occupation, there is another form of occupation, and that is the one experienced by Palestinians. Since the central geographical point in this story is Bethlehem, we encounter people living today in that city, people who experience the travails of occupation. She introduces us to the people and their lives, as they deal with the daily concerns of life under Israeli control. While this is a story of resistance to occupation, it is also a story of hope, though that hope is not without its complexity.
Since this is a story of people living under occupation, she begins with the story of the Maccabees. Titled "Silence and Suffering," this opening chapter takes us back to a moment in Jewish history when the people resisted an oppressive occupation. In doing this she acknowledges the experience of suffering endured by Jews both in the ancient world and in the modern one. At the same time, she wants us to hear the stories of the Palestinians who have too often been forgotten. This focus will be challenging to many, but it's an important one. Thus, she writes that "a vital part of the first advent is wrestling with those harmed by imperial oppressors---from the Babylonians to the Seleucids to the Romans." (p. 22). Thus, the first chapter introduces us to the "darkness before God's arrival."
After this introductory chapter that takes us to earlier times as described in 1 and 2 Maccabees, she turns to the infancy narratives. The first section of the book focuses on the narrative in Luke. The second part takes up the story as presented in Matthew. Thus, we see both visions of the story.
From there we move to "God's Peace Campaign," a chapter in which we encounter Zechariah, an ordinary priest, who receives word from an angel that he will be the father of a son who will announce the coming peace of God, but then is silenced. We learn here about what it means to be a priest in that time, as Herod sought to control the priesthood. While we encounter Zechariah, we also encounter Palestinians living in the region. We learn about the precarious nature of life under occupation. From Zechariah, who receives a message about a son to be born to he and his wife, we move to Mary, a girl from Galilee, who also hears a message from Gabriel. In Mary, according to Nikondeha, God finds another collaborator in this peace campaign. Again, God reaches out to an ordinary person living on the margins in a marginal region (Galilee) to work with. She tells of her own experiences of Galilee and other similar West Bank towns and people. Then we get to experience in chapter 4 the meeting of the "Mothers of Advent." That is, the encounter of Mary with Elizabeth, a visitation that led to her song (The Magnificat), a song of resistance. These are the Advent stories, which she connects with life in the region, where peace is difficult to achieve.
Now we move from the preparatory stories in Luke to the birth story itself. We return to Bethlehem to experience "A Hospitable Birth in a Hard Economy" (ch. 5). As she tells the story of the census and the travels to Bethlehem, she pushes back against the vision of inhospitality (no room in the inn). She shares how the people of Bethlehem today are gracious and hospitable and welcoming. This attitude she believes would have been true back in the first century as well. But here we get to see the baby Jesus and experience the town of his biblical birth. As we do we get introduced to tea and falafel and pomegranate juice in Manger Square. Of course, in Luke's story of Jesus' birth, there are shepherds and angels. We encounter them in chapter 6 "Visible and Invisible." She shares the realities of the life of shepherds in the ancient world, but also visit a 100-acre farm in the West Bank where olive trees and other trees are taken care of. There is in this modern context a precarious situation, as the Israeli military has plowed under Palestinian farms to make way for Jewish settlements. She writes that "Advent is not immediate. It's a slow peace." (p. 104).
In chapter 7, we begin exploring the story as told by Matthew. Whereas Joseph plays a minor role in Luke, he plays a much larger role in Matthew. We begin with a chapter titled "Generations." In this chapter, Nikondeha introduces us not only to Joseph by the Herod. This sets us the Herodian response to Jesus' birth later in the story. The focus here, besides Herod, is Jesus' family tree. We learn here about the betrothal, Joseph's concerns, and his decision to embrace Mary despite her compromised situation. Nikondeha suggests that "Advent reaches across the generations, always pushing us to embody God's peace in today's troubled times. We recognize the signature of advent not in Herod but in the true king, Jesus" (p. 128). In chapter 8 we again encounter Herod, but also the Magi and the star that leads them to the Bethlehem home of Joseph, Mary, and their child. Titled "Unexpected Hope," we again experience life in modern Bethlehem, including the realities of life under occupation. She tells of the Walled Off Hotel and the Banksy flower piece that mark the separation wall that divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem. While that is the context for hearing the story, we also learn about the Magi who come from Persia in search of the true king, and how they resisted the invitation to collaborate with the despot named Herod. Of course, the story doesn't end with the Magi's return. There is, as described in chapter 9, the flight of the Holy Family and the slaughter of the innocents. Titled "Even After God Arrived," she notes that tense political dynamics and economic hardship continued. There was still reason to lament. Injustice continued. She points out that Matthew likely wrote this after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Though this reality continues, Advents stands as a subversion of imperial power. Nikondeha concludes the book with the story of the return to the homeland, but not the home in Bethlehem, but Nazareth. She writes that the Advent story reminds us that empires keep coming. That might lead to resignation, believing that the only peace available is Caesar's. The situation for many remains grim. Occupation continues. People continue to be refugees. Nikondeha intersperses their story with that of the Holy Family. The hope is to be found in this: "Advent isn't the acceptance of status-quo peace, but an incarnation of God's peace that we live in the world. (p. 189). Such is the invitation given to us.
This is true Kelley Nikondeha. There is a love of the biblical story but also a commitment to justice for others. She has an ability to weave the two stories, ancient and modern, in ways few can, at least that I know of. If you've read her previous books, you will know this to be excellent. If you've not read the earlier books, this is an excellent book to start with, but then go back and read the others! May your Advent be life-transforming as you read this.
"The First Advent in Palestine" is the latest book by Kelley Nikondeha, who is a gifted storyteller. I have loved her books Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World and Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us about Freedom. Nikondeha has a unique ability to delve into biblical stories and connect them to real lives in the contemporary world, especially those who live on the margins. This book is no different. I should note that this review is based on my reading of an Advance Reader's copy, which means the page numbers and perhaps quotes might not be completely accurate.
In this book, which might appear at first glance, based on the title, as an Advent devotional, is instead an exploration of the Advent stories in a Palestinian context. Even as she portrayed the women of the Exodus as defiant ones, the central figures in this story are also defiant in their resistance to occupation. Even as the first Advent story was set in the context of the Roman occupation, there is another form of occupation, and that is the one experienced by Palestinians. Since the central geographical point in this story is Bethlehem, we encounter people living today in that city, people who experience the travails of occupation. She introduces us to the people and their lives, as they deal with the daily concerns of life under Israeli control. While this is a story of resistance to occupation, it is also a story of hope, though that hope is not without its complexity.
Since this is a story of people living under occupation, she begins with the story of the Maccabees. Titled "Silence and Suffering," this opening chapter takes us back to a moment in Jewish history when the people resisted an oppressive occupation. In doing this she acknowledges the experience of suffering endured by Jews both in the ancient world and in the modern one. At the same time, she wants us to hear the stories of the Palestinians who have too often been forgotten. This focus will be challenging to many, but it's an important one. Thus, she writes that "a vital part of the first advent is wrestling with those harmed by imperial oppressors---from the Babylonians to the Seleucids to the Romans." (p. 22). Thus, the first chapter introduces us to the "darkness before God's arrival."
After this introductory chapter that takes us to earlier times as described in 1 and 2 Maccabees, she turns to the infancy narratives. The first section of the book focuses on the narrative in Luke. The second part takes up the story as presented in Matthew. Thus, we see both visions of the story.
From there we move to "God's Peace Campaign," a chapter in which we encounter Zechariah, an ordinary priest, who receives word from an angel that he will be the father of a son who will announce the coming peace of God, but then is silenced. We learn here about what it means to be a priest in that time, as Herod sought to control the priesthood. While we encounter Zechariah, we also encounter Palestinians living in the region. We learn about the precarious nature of life under occupation. From Zechariah, who receives a message about a son to be born to he and his wife, we move to Mary, a girl from Galilee, who also hears a message from Gabriel. In Mary, according to Nikondeha, God finds another collaborator in this peace campaign. Again, God reaches out to an ordinary person living on the margins in a marginal region (Galilee) to work with. She tells of her own experiences of Galilee and other similar West Bank towns and people. Then we get to experience in chapter 4 the meeting of the "Mothers of Advent." That is, the encounter of Mary with Elizabeth, a visitation that led to her song (The Magnificat), a song of resistance. These are the Advent stories, which she connects with life in the region, where peace is difficult to achieve.
Now we move from the preparatory stories in Luke to the birth story itself. We return to Bethlehem to experience "A Hospitable Birth in a Hard Economy" (ch. 5). As she tells the story of the census and the travels to Bethlehem, she pushes back against the vision of inhospitality (no room in the inn). She shares how the people of Bethlehem today are gracious and hospitable and welcoming. This attitude she believes would have been true back in the first century as well. But here we get to see the baby Jesus and experience the town of his biblical birth. As we do we get introduced to tea and falafel and pomegranate juice in Manger Square. Of course, in Luke's story of Jesus' birth, there are shepherds and angels. We encounter them in chapter 6 "Visible and Invisible." She shares the realities of the life of shepherds in the ancient world, but also visit a 100-acre farm in the West Bank where olive trees and other trees are taken care of. There is in this modern context a precarious situation, as the Israeli military has plowed under Palestinian farms to make way for Jewish settlements. She writes that "Advent is not immediate. It's a slow peace." (p. 104).
In chapter 7, we begin exploring the story as told by Matthew. Whereas Joseph plays a minor role in Luke, he plays a much larger role in Matthew. We begin with a chapter titled "Generations." In this chapter, Nikondeha introduces us not only to Joseph by the Herod. This sets us the Herodian response to Jesus' birth later in the story. The focus here, besides Herod, is Jesus' family tree. We learn here about the betrothal, Joseph's concerns, and his decision to embrace Mary despite her compromised situation. Nikondeha suggests that "Advent reaches across the generations, always pushing us to embody God's peace in today's troubled times. We recognize the signature of advent not in Herod but in the true king, Jesus" (p. 128). In chapter 8 we again encounter Herod, but also the Magi and the star that leads them to the Bethlehem home of Joseph, Mary, and their child. Titled "Unexpected Hope," we again experience life in modern Bethlehem, including the realities of life under occupation. She tells of the Walled Off Hotel and the Banksy flower piece that mark the separation wall that divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem. While that is the context for hearing the story, we also learn about the Magi who come from Persia in search of the true king, and how they resisted the invitation to collaborate with the despot named Herod. Of course, the story doesn't end with the Magi's return. There is, as described in chapter 9, the flight of the Holy Family and the slaughter of the innocents. Titled "Even After God Arrived," she notes that tense political dynamics and economic hardship continued. There was still reason to lament. Injustice continued. She points out that Matthew likely wrote this after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Though this reality continues, Advents stands as a subversion of imperial power. Nikondeha concludes the book with the story of the return to the homeland, but not the home in Bethlehem, but Nazareth. She writes that the Advent story reminds us that empires keep coming. That might lead to resignation, believing that the only peace available is Caesar's. The situation for many remains grim. Occupation continues. People continue to be refugees. Nikondeha intersperses their story with that of the Holy Family. The hope is to be found in this: "Advent isn't the acceptance of status-quo peace, but an incarnation of God's peace that we live in the world. (p. 189). Such is the invitation given to us.
This is true Kelley Nikondeha. There is a love of the biblical story but also a commitment to justice for others. She has an ability to weave the two stories, ancient and modern, in ways few can, at least that I know of. If you've read her previous books, you will know this to be excellent. If you've not read the earlier books, this is an excellent book to start with, but then go back and read the others! May your Advent be life-transforming as you read this.
December 8, 2022
This book, while powerful in its illumination of the socio-economic context of Jesus’ birth left me, at several times, uneasy due to the authors use of antisemitic tropes. Importantly the authors antisemitism is not due to the authors crticism of Israeli actions and policies —to be against Zionist apartheid, after all ,is not the same as being against Judaism or Jews. Rather, the author frequently implies that Jesus and his advocacy of peace was a radical new idea and a break from tradition. This is simply not true. Jesus was a Jew, spoke in the vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible and was informed by the lessons taught by Judaism. To suggest that Jesus was a break in tradition is a subtle recycling of the tired out trope that the God in the Hebrew Bible is evil and malevolent while the God in the Greek Bible is good and benevolent. Jews are our brothers and sisters and Judaism laid the framework that allowed for Jesus’ ministry; to deny the love and peaceful message present throughout the Hebrew Bible is to deny the tradition that produced Jesus.
October 2, 2022
For many of us, advent is a time of waiting for December 25th when we celebrate Christmas with gifts and food and family gatherings. For others it’s also a time of waiting for Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
Kelley Nikondeha has studied advent for years and traveled to Palestine, the area in the world where the first Christmas happened. In her book, The First Advent in Palestine, we venture through the eyes of two bible authors, Matthew and Luke and catch a glimpse of life during that turbulent time. Each man leads us from a different perspective, one through the life of Mary and the other through the life of Joseph, Jesus’ earthly parents.
The readers also learn about the politics of the first century, the turmoil of being Palestinian in a land ruled by the Romans. We’ll begin to understand what Mary and Joseph and Jesus experienced in the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth.
But Nikondeha doesn’t leave us in the early years of the Common Era. We also explore Palestine today. Through her travels and the relationships she’s developed with people who live there now, we see the life of the people of Bethlehem in the 21st century.
Together these two perspectives help us go down a different road than the usual advent one. Our depth and breadth will become broader and give us a better understanding to life in the Middle East in the past and now. Kelley Nikondeha stretches us to think past the familiar to a more expansive world view.
Kelley Nikondeha has studied advent for years and traveled to Palestine, the area in the world where the first Christmas happened. In her book, The First Advent in Palestine, we venture through the eyes of two bible authors, Matthew and Luke and catch a glimpse of life during that turbulent time. Each man leads us from a different perspective, one through the life of Mary and the other through the life of Joseph, Jesus’ earthly parents.
The readers also learn about the politics of the first century, the turmoil of being Palestinian in a land ruled by the Romans. We’ll begin to understand what Mary and Joseph and Jesus experienced in the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth.
But Nikondeha doesn’t leave us in the early years of the Common Era. We also explore Palestine today. Through her travels and the relationships she’s developed with people who live there now, we see the life of the people of Bethlehem in the 21st century.
Together these two perspectives help us go down a different road than the usual advent one. Our depth and breadth will become broader and give us a better understanding to life in the Middle East in the past and now. Kelley Nikondeha stretches us to think past the familiar to a more expansive world view.
November 6, 2022
My mom raised us with deep tradition around the Advent season, and while I grew up with many traditional explanations of the story of the Christ child's birth and the characters around the nativity scene, they came from a general perspective of the people with power to shape narratives.
Similarly, I learned stories of humanity from my geographical home base of the Pacific Northwest. Later in life, I left North America and traveled around the globe for a year to see from new points of view and listen with an open heart.
Kelley's book provides this kind of armchair travel to new vantage points, allowing us to see the Advent story in greater context. I will be referring to this book for years to come and engaging in meaningful conversation with others who are open to reevaluating the celebrations and traditions we've been given in the past.
Similarly, I learned stories of humanity from my geographical home base of the Pacific Northwest. Later in life, I left North America and traveled around the globe for a year to see from new points of view and listen with an open heart.
Kelley's book provides this kind of armchair travel to new vantage points, allowing us to see the Advent story in greater context. I will be referring to this book for years to come and engaging in meaningful conversation with others who are open to reevaluating the celebrations and traditions we've been given in the past.
September 30, 2022
What an important book! If your view of the world has wearied & your hold on hope is slipping, this one’s for you. Advent is so much more than twinkling stars, sheep in fields, & a baby with awed young parents sheltered among animals & receiving gifts from foreign kings. Advent sings of revolution ... peaceful, non-violent change that resounds hope to our hurting world. Nikondeha weaves together the biblical story with traditional & personal stories to illuminate Advent in ways you've never seen before.
November 22, 2022
Wow. Kelley Nikondeha, the liberation theologian herself, unpacks Advent like never before. Bravo.
December 7, 2022
“…you can’t save what you don’t experience or intimately know. …Before becoming a savior, he [Jesus] would become a survivor, like his own mother.”
“This is the story of advent: we join Jesus as incarnations of God’s peace on this earth for however long it takes. God walks in deep solidarity with humanity, sharing in our sufferings and moments of hope. Amid our hardship, God is with us.”
“The peacemakers formed by advent are those who resist empire, who practice hospitality with neighbors, and who enter into solidarity with God in the work of liberation for everyone.”
This important read is unlike any Advent book I’ve read before. Nikondeha provides political, social, & historical context for the events of the first advent as told in Matthew and Luke. She relates the oppression of Jewish people under the Roman Empire to modern day oppression of Palestinians through the use of real-life stories from her visits to Bethlehem. She focuses on the historical realities of the time including stories of empire, oppression, & resistance.
I especially loved the sections on Mary & Elizabeth as nonviolent resistors, as well as the part about the Magi, who would have seen the birth of a new Jewish king to replace Herod as inspiring hope for their own liberation. Many of us Christians in the U.S. haven’t been well educated about the historical & current context of the place & significance of Jesus’ birth. If we are to follow Jesus, we need a deeper understanding of the world He entered and disrupted. A powerful read!
“This is the story of advent: we join Jesus as incarnations of God’s peace on this earth for however long it takes. God walks in deep solidarity with humanity, sharing in our sufferings and moments of hope. Amid our hardship, God is with us.”
“The peacemakers formed by advent are those who resist empire, who practice hospitality with neighbors, and who enter into solidarity with God in the work of liberation for everyone.”
This important read is unlike any Advent book I’ve read before. Nikondeha provides political, social, & historical context for the events of the first advent as told in Matthew and Luke. She relates the oppression of Jewish people under the Roman Empire to modern day oppression of Palestinians through the use of real-life stories from her visits to Bethlehem. She focuses on the historical realities of the time including stories of empire, oppression, & resistance.
I especially loved the sections on Mary & Elizabeth as nonviolent resistors, as well as the part about the Magi, who would have seen the birth of a new Jewish king to replace Herod as inspiring hope for their own liberation. Many of us Christians in the U.S. haven’t been well educated about the historical & current context of the place & significance of Jesus’ birth. If we are to follow Jesus, we need a deeper understanding of the world He entered and disrupted. A powerful read!
September 28, 2022
I love Advent already, a season of hope and waiting—and all the tensions those two words hold. But this book elevated those tensions, and increased my love for the season as well.
First Advent contextualizes the story of a miraculous birth into a landscape of empire, trauma, and pain. I think years of knowing the context of the Bible has made me close over it, easily forgetting that the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day is not that far off from the competing empires of our day.
By weaving in stories of Palestinians she’s met over the years, Kelley brings new meaning to how Jews around this time must’ve felt, even with Jesus’ story beginning to play out. How tragically ironic that those Jewish descendants now perpetrate their own form of Pax Romana with walls and guns and violence against Palestinians.
But Advent is a story that shows peace as a usurping empire, a slow-moving story that is still inviting us to be peacemakers as well. I’m closing this book with a firmer sense of what that might look like today.
I strongly recommend ordering Kelley’s book!
First Advent contextualizes the story of a miraculous birth into a landscape of empire, trauma, and pain. I think years of knowing the context of the Bible has made me close over it, easily forgetting that the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day is not that far off from the competing empires of our day.
By weaving in stories of Palestinians she’s met over the years, Kelley brings new meaning to how Jews around this time must’ve felt, even with Jesus’ story beginning to play out. How tragically ironic that those Jewish descendants now perpetrate their own form of Pax Romana with walls and guns and violence against Palestinians.
But Advent is a story that shows peace as a usurping empire, a slow-moving story that is still inviting us to be peacemakers as well. I’m closing this book with a firmer sense of what that might look like today.
I strongly recommend ordering Kelley’s book!
December 31, 2023
For Christians looking desperately for information while we watch a genocide carried out in Jesus's homeland, I can't recommend this book enough. Author beautiful draws comparisons between biblical tales and ongoing oppression faced by Palestinians. My faith has been deepened immensely by this book, and I will revisit it every advent season.
My one critique - while the Zionist State is named as an occupying force, and an empire akin to that of Rome (in terms of cruelty), there are so many times when "Jewish" and "Israeli" are used interchangeably! I would have liked to see more of a separation between the settler colonial state and Judaism, as there are also Palestinian Jews facing occupation and death.
My one critique - while the Zionist State is named as an occupying force, and an empire akin to that of Rome (in terms of cruelty), there are so many times when "Jewish" and "Israeli" are used interchangeably! I would have liked to see more of a separation between the settler colonial state and Judaism, as there are also Palestinian Jews facing occupation and death.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2024
I purchased this book intending to use it as a daily devotional reading throughout Advent this past December. It is far more in-depth and thought-provoking than I anticipated, which slowed me down considerably. In spite of not finishing “on schedule” this is an excellent book and one that has left me with much to ponder in the coming days. The author does an excellent job of bringing the story of Jesus’ birth into fresh perspective in light of what is nearly always overlooked in American christian churches. Namely, that Jesus was not a white American, but rather was born into a life lived either in exile as a refuge fleeing persecution or as part of an oppressed people governed by an occupying enemy. Finding peace in a much contested and war-torn area of the world is as relevant today as it was then and this book has much to offer in terms of hope in the face of seemingly hopeless and unchanging conflicts. Highly recommend this one.
December 19, 2023
I had hoped this book was more of a Biblical, contextual help for the Advent narrative, but I found it was full of suggestions about what might have been and not really grounded in Scripture. A few spots in particular, she takes it too far, especially in the chapter on Mary. I could see what she was maybe trying to do with the book, but it did not land for me.
June 2, 2024
Powerful and timely look at how the Advent story happened in a time of oppression, highlighting the discrimination and struggles placed upon people at the time of Jesus and that have continued into modern day Palestine and the need for justice and mercy.
It’s a deeper read of the Gospels given what’s known about the political and socioeconomic context, so there are a number of assumptions / curiosities made. I wish there was a bit more evidence or explanation provided, but the book was intended more to appeal to human curiosities and empathy than hard fact. Will be rereading.
It’s a deeper read of the Gospels given what’s known about the political and socioeconomic context, so there are a number of assumptions / curiosities made. I wish there was a bit more evidence or explanation provided, but the book was intended more to appeal to human curiosities and empathy than hard fact. Will be rereading.
November 23, 2022
In this fascinating, earnest book, Nikondeha contextualizes the first Advent within the cultural moment at the time of Jesus’s birth. Written with boldness and integrity, this book gently educates, leaving the reader with a clarified understanding of the radical implications of Christ’s arrival in a time and to a people besieged by oppression and tragedy.
Nikondeha is a bonafide storyteller and peacemaker. She weaves her scholarly research with her own experiences visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem. She makes plain the astounding truth of Jesus’s intentional alignment with those on the margins and the ways he exposed himself to very real human suffering.
I learned so much from this book, but two particular things stand out. First, Joseph’s faithfulness. We hear often of Mary and the Magnificat (rightly so!) but Nikondeha gave me fresh eyes for the ways that Joseph was facing down cultural and imperial pressures by standing by Mary and repeatedly conceding to angelic instructions. Second, the present-day ways that Palestinians are policed and controlled hearkens back to long before now and grievously impacts the lives of people who simply seek to steward the land and stories they have carried for generations. When we talk about intergenerational trauma, oh boy, is that relevant.
If you are curious about context in relation to the narratives within Christian Bible, I strongly recommend you add this to your list! It’s especially timely as Advent is just around the corner.
Nikondeha is a bonafide storyteller and peacemaker. She weaves her scholarly research with her own experiences visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem. She makes plain the astounding truth of Jesus’s intentional alignment with those on the margins and the ways he exposed himself to very real human suffering.
I learned so much from this book, but two particular things stand out. First, Joseph’s faithfulness. We hear often of Mary and the Magnificat (rightly so!) but Nikondeha gave me fresh eyes for the ways that Joseph was facing down cultural and imperial pressures by standing by Mary and repeatedly conceding to angelic instructions. Second, the present-day ways that Palestinians are policed and controlled hearkens back to long before now and grievously impacts the lives of people who simply seek to steward the land and stories they have carried for generations. When we talk about intergenerational trauma, oh boy, is that relevant.
If you are curious about context in relation to the narratives within Christian Bible, I strongly recommend you add this to your list! It’s especially timely as Advent is just around the corner.
December 15, 2022
This was a really insightful, unique Advent read that I really appreciated. I learned more about the context of Israel under Roman occupation and how it affected each of the Christmas characters than I ever had before. I appreciated how the author connected these themes to present-day. Just a reminder that 3 stars is pretty good under my rating system as I rarely give 5 :)
December 21, 2024
This book has broadened my perspective on the Advent narrative and the theme of peace woven throughout. I now have a greater understanding of the turmoil that was present at Jesus’s birth and how that still is present today.
December 26, 2023
I picked up this book as an Advent reading due to the topical nature of the continued conflict in Palestine. This was such a thoughtful, fresh, context rich & historical take on Advent. I appreciated the framing of the story of Christ’s birth in the Bethlehem at the time and Bethlehem today. And how hope is not a feeling, it’s what we do - how we carry that hope with it when it feels like we reach the end. This will be one I revisit in Advent seasons to come. Highly recommend.
October 9, 2022
Yep, if I could give it more stars, I would. I had a feeling going into it that I'd feel this way.
The unique and complex unveiling of hope in the very place where the first Advent occurred is stunningly easy to read despite being a real lament. This didn't overwhelm but also didn't fail to break my heart (as circumstances surrounding that region do so often). Easily relatable and yet I learned new things and discovered new perspectives about new subjects and old.
I feel enormously privileged to have been able to read this book prior to release, prior to being anywhere close to when we will practice Advent. I have time to make sure Advent reflects true hope and depth and isn't just a holiday to nod to in the final 2 months of the year.
This book is a treasure. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to not only learn more about the history of the land and people in the area (from before Christ to now) but who also want to understand more about the action of hope. Of meekness, stamina, endurance, hospitality, love. All around the very land where Mary discovered life inside her and Christ was burdened with the heaviness of consequences that he didn't deserve. The land that holds olives from a thousand year old olive tree, and treasured keys with no locks to put them in and yet, life keeps going, hope never dies. Just phenomenal.
The unique and complex unveiling of hope in the very place where the first Advent occurred is stunningly easy to read despite being a real lament. This didn't overwhelm but also didn't fail to break my heart (as circumstances surrounding that region do so often). Easily relatable and yet I learned new things and discovered new perspectives about new subjects and old.
I feel enormously privileged to have been able to read this book prior to release, prior to being anywhere close to when we will practice Advent. I have time to make sure Advent reflects true hope and depth and isn't just a holiday to nod to in the final 2 months of the year.
This book is a treasure. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to not only learn more about the history of the land and people in the area (from before Christ to now) but who also want to understand more about the action of hope. Of meekness, stamina, endurance, hospitality, love. All around the very land where Mary discovered life inside her and Christ was burdened with the heaviness of consequences that he didn't deserve. The land that holds olives from a thousand year old olive tree, and treasured keys with no locks to put them in and yet, life keeps going, hope never dies. Just phenomenal.
November 19, 2022
Back and forth between first and 21st century Palestine is an interesting concept. But too many speculations (Mary was possibly raped?) become grounds for historical interpretation. Didn’t work for me.
September 19, 2022
“In the advent story, as Luke tells it, the economy matters. Attentive readers are led to understand a concrete kind of pressure, which also sets tangible contours for that expectant hope. Against the backdrop of a dangerously exploitive economy, what does deliverance look like? Debt relief? Debt forgiveness? Lighter tax burden? Ample economic resources to avoid foreclosure, to keep family land? Are these a part of God’s salvation?”
I got a pre-release copy of this book. I enjoyed both of the author’s other books, so I was excited about this one. I have never read an Advent book that focused so specifically on how the place and time where the story was happening shaped the lives of people like Zechariah, and Mary, and even Herod. She shows us Palestine, both now and then, and asks important questions about what peace and hope look like in the face of oppression. If you are looking for a new Advent book this year, this one has my highest recommendation. It has 10 chapters, so it is not set up for a daily read, but you could easily work your way through it in a month.
I got a pre-release copy of this book. I enjoyed both of the author’s other books, so I was excited about this one. I have never read an Advent book that focused so specifically on how the place and time where the story was happening shaped the lives of people like Zechariah, and Mary, and even Herod. She shows us Palestine, both now and then, and asks important questions about what peace and hope look like in the face of oppression. If you are looking for a new Advent book this year, this one has my highest recommendation. It has 10 chapters, so it is not set up for a daily read, but you could easily work your way through it in a month.
January 25, 2024
I adored every word in this book, which is both deeply inspiring, comforting, and liberating during the unfolding events in Gaza. The mixture of liberation theology concerning the birth of Christ & contemporary stories about the lives of people in Occupied Palestine is deeply affecting. I wish that the Archbishop of Canterbury would read it!
December 28, 2022
Judging by some of the other reviews for this book, I wonder if I read the same book!
The author gets off to a somewhat promising start-- interestingly she links the Christian advent season especially with all people who are suffering. She goes through Zechariah and Elizabeth's waiting as a barren couple, and Mary (and Joseph) waiting and indeed by conventional standards suffering the gossip and whispers in their small community as Mary realizes she is pregnant as a virgin. She seeks to contrast this with the suffering from the Palestinian in the West Bank under Israeli occupation. OK to a point.
The author goes a little off the rails when she equates the census taking which requires Mary with child and Joseph to "report" to Bethlehem for the census, with their being forcibly evicted from Nazareth to their "new home" in Bethlehem--all by the exploitative economics of the Roman Empire. Not sure why the empire would stand to gain from Joseph the carpenter being moved from Nazareth to Bethlehem--which is of course not what the Bible says in any event. But increasingly, t becomes clear that the author is against all empires.
According to the author, in fact all empires are evil and exploitative (although confusingly perhaps not for the Persian Empire]. She then compares the Roman Empire with Israel and the USA. I understand and can agree that Israel is an occupying power and that Palestinians (at least, those in the West Bank as she has never been to the Gaza strip; rather she has visited Bethlehem and bought tea from one friendly and hospitable Palestinian and thus is an expert) do suffer. But while the title speaks of a "complexity of hope", the book becomes one repetitive and poorly researched diatribe against "empire economics".
What are these economics? Based on her "research": "Our interaction with the locals showed us that even [NB] innkeepers need to eat, purveyors of tea have school fees to pay for their children, shopkeepers have medical bills to settle. Mutuality is part of hospitality--we are given a room, a meal, and the opportunity in return to offer money that will infuse the local economy and allow for provisions for our hosts. In depressed [ONLY DEPRESSED?] economies, our dollars are a tangible sign of support. Sami's welcome was genuine--he also needed us to buy his tea. Both facts are true and common in stingy [NB] economies where people struggle to survive."--What can she mean here? that markets where there is a free exchange of goods and cash are only possible or praiseworthy in "stingy economies"?? That there is a better world out there where we do not need to pay for the tea we drink or the rooms we rent?
Sadly, the book gets much much worse. It becomes a narcissistic quagmire of ""I imagine" or "most likely" or "perhaps they would have...". If there were some occasional facts one could be forgiven for some derivative imaginings based on such facts. But to the author, Mary's Magnificat, in which she praises the Lord for blessing her with Jesus and for keeping his promise of salvation to His people in the author's words, becomes an "anthem [that] tells of those brutalized by the empire, literally and metaphorically." The author scurries to assess the implications: "With her advent song composed in the hills of Judea, Mary forged a new resistance movement."
This movement turns out to be economic and political: "Mary sings out a new social order that upends the status quo as advent begins to turn the tables on those who benefit from the injustice of empires [THERE'S THAT WORD AGAIN] and their economies--long before her own son would himself overturn tables...". That would be the Jesus who overturned the moneychangers' tables in the Jewish Temple, NOT the Jesus who said when he saw a denarius: "render to Caesar what is Caesar, and render to God what is God's"??
Elizabeth (with John the Baptist in her womb) and Mary are, according to the author, to have "shaped the infrastructure of peace. ..Together, they did the work of theology, in cooperation and communal engagement... which reversed the unjust order." Really??
It gets worse. In the next chapter "Visible and Invisible", the author characterizes Mary as follows: "A young girl from Galilee, possibly abused and from a region where many women and girls faced bodily trauma, is told [things are about to change]." NOTE: there are no footnotes to this claim or indeed most of her provocative claims--was Galilee worse than any other place in the Roman Empire? Because in the next sentence the author tells us the places farthest from the centers of "power and propriety" are "those most victimized by the empire." The logic that "Empires" are most brutal in their exploitation and violent suppression wherever it is weakest is at least counterintuitive. Maybe there might be more fighting and the order (Pax Romana) might be less reliable. But that is not what the author is saying here.
Delving deeper into this illogicality, and after explaining how poor and desperate shepherds normally were, she makes the claim that the poor and humble shepherds "of low status" had nowhere "else to go but into the clutches of empire." What in the world would "the empire" gain once these shepherds came "into their clutches"? Her logic reminds me of poor taxi drivers wearing helmets covered in aluminum foil out of an effort that the CIA is set on understanding these taxi drivers' thoughts. Not likely.
She then discussed the "thriving meat economy in Bethlehem"--where in a sign of corruption, landowners were sometimes also priests. In fact as she riffs about the corruption of Jewish priests and Herod the "king of the Jews," she loses her train of anti-Roman empire thought. It turns out that there are at least two empires here--and when the Magi come from the Persian empire there comes a third in the Hellenic empire (although curiously not the Persian empire).
But first the author has to criticize the Joseph of Egypt in contrast to Mary's Joseph (from the same genealogical line). Writes she: "I cannot ignore the juxtaposition of these two men. When appointed as food czar by Pharaoh, Joseph engaged in imperial economics according to Egypt's rules, in which he made Pharaoh richer and the peasantry poorer." [AND PERHAPS BY STORING GRAIN FOR THE 7 LEAN YEARS, KEEPING THEM ALIVE?].
Joseph of Mary, by contrast, "had evolved beyond his namesake...And after the angel spoke to him in the dream, Joseph proved to be both pious and a just economic practitioner NB], as he refrained from intimate relations with Mary until after the Spirit-breathed child was born." Economics at it again, although not an economic principle that ever appeared in my textbooks.
Perhaps the most bizarre chapter concerns the Magi, from Persia according to the author. Her chapter "Unexpected Hope" is certainly among her most incoherent as I hope this one-sentence paragraph captures well:
"When pilgrims travel, as the magi did, from faraway places in a spirit of solidarity, hungry for an infusion of hope to bring back to their own hard landscape, Matthew's narrative comes alive with the fraught political climate that nonetheless hosts hope, not only for its inhabitants, but for the wise wayfarers form the East." I did not delete or add a word in this sentence/paragraph--If you don't believe me check out p 132 in the edition I am reviewing. I guess the editor thought by now that no one would have gotten this far in the book so it did not matter either for him/her.
Back to our author's dreams and imaginings relating to the magi: "As sages who stewarded wisdom as well as other kinds of local and civic knowledge, magi had access to power in cultivating resistance traditions in Persian lands. They pushed against the Hellenization of their culture and religion, working for a future restoration." Of what, you might ask--of the Persian Empire is the answer. But wait, that is also an Empire, right?
No matter, our author continues: "And a rising star in the sky gave them reason to believe regime change was possible. [WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS THIS RELATED TO REGIME CHANGE?] They were even willing to go westward, like Abraham of Ur, to a place they did not know--a move likely to be rooted in resistance." [WHAT?? HOW ROOTED?] Apparently if they could worship a child under that star's sign, they would gain hope that the Persian empire could be restored. Again no research just "likelihood". Never mind that the child they were going to worship was prophesied to be a king for all nations. But that is in the Bible--"likely" not a relevant source for our author.
I have gone on too long--maybe just one more--speaking of the gifts from the magi--once they had found the small village of Bethlehem: "There they found the young king. They honored him, recognizing his authority [OVER WHAT? PERSIA?]. They presented gifts, including Persian gold, known to be a prized commodity in the ancient Near East and internationally." Here at last, a footnote--I assume because of how controversial the proposition that "Persian gold was 'known' to be a prized commodity...". And the source? a 1961 University if Nebraska book on studies in "Near Eastern Resistance to Hellenism, 334-31 BC".
Normally when I finish even bad books I can recall at least a few things I have learned. But with this book, I can only recall implausible arguments, radical self insertion into the book of a gushingly inconsistent author, and some really badly written English, published from Broadleaf Books in Minneapolis.
Hoping to spare you, dear reader, from this malinvestment.
The author gets off to a somewhat promising start-- interestingly she links the Christian advent season especially with all people who are suffering. She goes through Zechariah and Elizabeth's waiting as a barren couple, and Mary (and Joseph) waiting and indeed by conventional standards suffering the gossip and whispers in their small community as Mary realizes she is pregnant as a virgin. She seeks to contrast this with the suffering from the Palestinian in the West Bank under Israeli occupation. OK to a point.
The author goes a little off the rails when she equates the census taking which requires Mary with child and Joseph to "report" to Bethlehem for the census, with their being forcibly evicted from Nazareth to their "new home" in Bethlehem--all by the exploitative economics of the Roman Empire. Not sure why the empire would stand to gain from Joseph the carpenter being moved from Nazareth to Bethlehem--which is of course not what the Bible says in any event. But increasingly, t becomes clear that the author is against all empires.
According to the author, in fact all empires are evil and exploitative (although confusingly perhaps not for the Persian Empire]. She then compares the Roman Empire with Israel and the USA. I understand and can agree that Israel is an occupying power and that Palestinians (at least, those in the West Bank as she has never been to the Gaza strip; rather she has visited Bethlehem and bought tea from one friendly and hospitable Palestinian and thus is an expert) do suffer. But while the title speaks of a "complexity of hope", the book becomes one repetitive and poorly researched diatribe against "empire economics".
What are these economics? Based on her "research": "Our interaction with the locals showed us that even [NB] innkeepers need to eat, purveyors of tea have school fees to pay for their children, shopkeepers have medical bills to settle. Mutuality is part of hospitality--we are given a room, a meal, and the opportunity in return to offer money that will infuse the local economy and allow for provisions for our hosts. In depressed [ONLY DEPRESSED?] economies, our dollars are a tangible sign of support. Sami's welcome was genuine--he also needed us to buy his tea. Both facts are true and common in stingy [NB] economies where people struggle to survive."--What can she mean here? that markets where there is a free exchange of goods and cash are only possible or praiseworthy in "stingy economies"?? That there is a better world out there where we do not need to pay for the tea we drink or the rooms we rent?
Sadly, the book gets much much worse. It becomes a narcissistic quagmire of ""I imagine" or "most likely" or "perhaps they would have...". If there were some occasional facts one could be forgiven for some derivative imaginings based on such facts. But to the author, Mary's Magnificat, in which she praises the Lord for blessing her with Jesus and for keeping his promise of salvation to His people in the author's words, becomes an "anthem [that] tells of those brutalized by the empire, literally and metaphorically." The author scurries to assess the implications: "With her advent song composed in the hills of Judea, Mary forged a new resistance movement."
This movement turns out to be economic and political: "Mary sings out a new social order that upends the status quo as advent begins to turn the tables on those who benefit from the injustice of empires [THERE'S THAT WORD AGAIN] and their economies--long before her own son would himself overturn tables...". That would be the Jesus who overturned the moneychangers' tables in the Jewish Temple, NOT the Jesus who said when he saw a denarius: "render to Caesar what is Caesar, and render to God what is God's"??
Elizabeth (with John the Baptist in her womb) and Mary are, according to the author, to have "shaped the infrastructure of peace. ..Together, they did the work of theology, in cooperation and communal engagement... which reversed the unjust order." Really??
It gets worse. In the next chapter "Visible and Invisible", the author characterizes Mary as follows: "A young girl from Galilee, possibly abused and from a region where many women and girls faced bodily trauma, is told [things are about to change]." NOTE: there are no footnotes to this claim or indeed most of her provocative claims--was Galilee worse than any other place in the Roman Empire? Because in the next sentence the author tells us the places farthest from the centers of "power and propriety" are "those most victimized by the empire." The logic that "Empires" are most brutal in their exploitation and violent suppression wherever it is weakest is at least counterintuitive. Maybe there might be more fighting and the order (Pax Romana) might be less reliable. But that is not what the author is saying here.
Delving deeper into this illogicality, and after explaining how poor and desperate shepherds normally were, she makes the claim that the poor and humble shepherds "of low status" had nowhere "else to go but into the clutches of empire." What in the world would "the empire" gain once these shepherds came "into their clutches"? Her logic reminds me of poor taxi drivers wearing helmets covered in aluminum foil out of an effort that the CIA is set on understanding these taxi drivers' thoughts. Not likely.
She then discussed the "thriving meat economy in Bethlehem"--where in a sign of corruption, landowners were sometimes also priests. In fact as she riffs about the corruption of Jewish priests and Herod the "king of the Jews," she loses her train of anti-Roman empire thought. It turns out that there are at least two empires here--and when the Magi come from the Persian empire there comes a third in the Hellenic empire (although curiously not the Persian empire).
But first the author has to criticize the Joseph of Egypt in contrast to Mary's Joseph (from the same genealogical line). Writes she: "I cannot ignore the juxtaposition of these two men. When appointed as food czar by Pharaoh, Joseph engaged in imperial economics according to Egypt's rules, in which he made Pharaoh richer and the peasantry poorer." [AND PERHAPS BY STORING GRAIN FOR THE 7 LEAN YEARS, KEEPING THEM ALIVE?].
Joseph of Mary, by contrast, "had evolved beyond his namesake...And after the angel spoke to him in the dream, Joseph proved to be both pious and a just economic practitioner NB], as he refrained from intimate relations with Mary until after the Spirit-breathed child was born." Economics at it again, although not an economic principle that ever appeared in my textbooks.
Perhaps the most bizarre chapter concerns the Magi, from Persia according to the author. Her chapter "Unexpected Hope" is certainly among her most incoherent as I hope this one-sentence paragraph captures well:
"When pilgrims travel, as the magi did, from faraway places in a spirit of solidarity, hungry for an infusion of hope to bring back to their own hard landscape, Matthew's narrative comes alive with the fraught political climate that nonetheless hosts hope, not only for its inhabitants, but for the wise wayfarers form the East." I did not delete or add a word in this sentence/paragraph--If you don't believe me check out p 132 in the edition I am reviewing. I guess the editor thought by now that no one would have gotten this far in the book so it did not matter either for him/her.
Back to our author's dreams and imaginings relating to the magi: "As sages who stewarded wisdom as well as other kinds of local and civic knowledge, magi had access to power in cultivating resistance traditions in Persian lands. They pushed against the Hellenization of their culture and religion, working for a future restoration." Of what, you might ask--of the Persian Empire is the answer. But wait, that is also an Empire, right?
No matter, our author continues: "And a rising star in the sky gave them reason to believe regime change was possible. [WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS THIS RELATED TO REGIME CHANGE?] They were even willing to go westward, like Abraham of Ur, to a place they did not know--a move likely to be rooted in resistance." [WHAT?? HOW ROOTED?] Apparently if they could worship a child under that star's sign, they would gain hope that the Persian empire could be restored. Again no research just "likelihood". Never mind that the child they were going to worship was prophesied to be a king for all nations. But that is in the Bible--"likely" not a relevant source for our author.
I have gone on too long--maybe just one more--speaking of the gifts from the magi--once they had found the small village of Bethlehem: "There they found the young king. They honored him, recognizing his authority [OVER WHAT? PERSIA?]. They presented gifts, including Persian gold, known to be a prized commodity in the ancient Near East and internationally." Here at last, a footnote--I assume because of how controversial the proposition that "Persian gold was 'known' to be a prized commodity...". And the source? a 1961 University if Nebraska book on studies in "Near Eastern Resistance to Hellenism, 334-31 BC".
Normally when I finish even bad books I can recall at least a few things I have learned. But with this book, I can only recall implausible arguments, radical self insertion into the book of a gushingly inconsistent author, and some really badly written English, published from Broadleaf Books in Minneapolis.
Hoping to spare you, dear reader, from this malinvestment.
December 21, 2023
Written prior to the warfare in Gaza, this book was perfect for Advent 2023.
September 28, 2022
Kelley Nikondeha is precise and stirs my mind to more to the Advent than I have understood. Clearly she doesn’t say this is what we have always done during Advent and leave it only November and December. So far as I read I am intrigued to new ideas
December 23, 2022
Thought-provoking, creative, and informational. However, one should read with the filter of knowledge of scripture. Nikondeha is a talented storyteller, but doesn't always clarify what is supported by text (biblical or sources) and what is imaginative narrative that possibly *could* have happened. There is value in imagining details and bringing the story to life, relating to ancient people as they feel more realistic. However, it helps to know what layers of story come from which source.
While I learned a lot about historical context and modern-day Palestine, there were a few points I couldn't stand behind (for example, questioning Mary's virginity). Again, this is a good read for a mature believer who has the tools to approach each idea, consider it, and apply discernment. Overall, I appreciate the perspective this adds to the Advent story.
While I learned a lot about historical context and modern-day Palestine, there were a few points I couldn't stand behind (for example, questioning Mary's virginity). Again, this is a good read for a mature believer who has the tools to approach each idea, consider it, and apply discernment. Overall, I appreciate the perspective this adds to the Advent story.
October 4, 2022
Kelley takes us on an amazing journey through Palestine both as it was during the First Advent as well as current day. This is a book that will connect you to the complex roots of what was happening when God arrived, why that matters, and how we can continue on the work. Kelley dives into the economics and politics of the region while talking of peace, justice, lament, hope, resilience, challenges, and more. Reading this book has helped me understand so many stories and people in the gospels, not just those present in the Advent narrative. It is not a traditional Advent book, nor one that needs to be read during Advent, it is an eye opening book for anytime of year.
December 13, 2022
I was looking forward to this read: to see a greater context/meaning to advent. But I couldn’t get past chapter three. She lost me when she started to speculate that Mary could have been the victim of sexual abuse. While the traumatic context of the social landscape at the time is important I think it’s irresponsible to fantasize such a backstory for Mary, Zechariah, etc that isn’t stated in scripture. Works of Historical Fiction have their place, but the author takes too many liberties with this not being labeled a work of fiction.
February 4, 2023
Every year approximately five thousand volumes about Advent are published. I don’t know if that’s true, but it certainly feels like it. Every year, right around Advent, I find my TBR pile filled with review and endorsement requests for Advent devotionals and other Advent or Christmas-themed literature. And most of them…are fine. They’re fine. Perfectly serviceable. But it can be difficult to tell the world’s most famous story in a way that doesn’t seem like a retread of everything you’ve heard before. Unless you flip the script. Unless you upend the narrative. Unless you move into the Ancient Near East to experience Advent as the Holy Family first experienced it—The First Advent in Palestine.
Kelley Nikondeha’s refreshing take on Advent follows a mostly-traditional structure. It is set up as a series of stories, each with their own focus and portion of Scripture to reflect upon. The first indication that this isn’t an Advent like most other Advents comes at the beginning where The First Advent in Palestine doesn’t just focus on hope and longing, but silence and suffering. Nikondeha grounds the story of Advent in the story of the Maccabees—and in the story of current Palestinian suffering. From there, the story branches out to look the false peace of the Pax Romana and how it contrasts to the peace promised by God. Nikondeha tells the story of Zechariah, Mary, Elizabeth, and Joseph. She writes about the economic and political realities of the day, interspersing it with stories about the modern-day reality. It’s a story of hope and struggle, victory and suffering, advance and retreat. It’s not your typical Advent story. It’s so much more than that.
Kelley Nikondeha presents an Advent I can believe in, an Advent that has weight, an Advent that means something in this present world as well as the one to come. In the conclusion of The First Advent in Palestine, she writes that that Advent narratives are “the revelation of God engaging with human trauma of a specific place and specific people. God experienced the excruciating reality of empires and economies from the position of the weak and powerless ones.” This is an Advent of liberation, a message that is truly Good News to all whom that message was delivered—and anathema to the powers like Herod who stood in its way. In that, it becomes a cautionary tale for our own time. Where are we in this story? By intermingling her interactions with the Palestinian people into the story, Nikondeha reveals that Western Christianity just may come to Christ more like Herod than the shepherds.
The First Advent in Palestine underscores the political ramifications of the first Advent and how the rumblings from that continue on into and cry out from the current situation of oppression in Palestine today. Nikondeha sheds light onto an oppressed people, calling for a peace that is not Pax Romana or Pax Americana but from the Prince of Peace who was born of a marginalized people group two thousand years ago. I’d call it a radical reimagining of the Advent story, but in truth it is a radical realignment, one that draws us away from our sanitized versions and into messy reality. This is now my annual Advent read.
Kelley Nikondeha’s refreshing take on Advent follows a mostly-traditional structure. It is set up as a series of stories, each with their own focus and portion of Scripture to reflect upon. The first indication that this isn’t an Advent like most other Advents comes at the beginning where The First Advent in Palestine doesn’t just focus on hope and longing, but silence and suffering. Nikondeha grounds the story of Advent in the story of the Maccabees—and in the story of current Palestinian suffering. From there, the story branches out to look the false peace of the Pax Romana and how it contrasts to the peace promised by God. Nikondeha tells the story of Zechariah, Mary, Elizabeth, and Joseph. She writes about the economic and political realities of the day, interspersing it with stories about the modern-day reality. It’s a story of hope and struggle, victory and suffering, advance and retreat. It’s not your typical Advent story. It’s so much more than that.
Kelley Nikondeha presents an Advent I can believe in, an Advent that has weight, an Advent that means something in this present world as well as the one to come. In the conclusion of The First Advent in Palestine, she writes that that Advent narratives are “the revelation of God engaging with human trauma of a specific place and specific people. God experienced the excruciating reality of empires and economies from the position of the weak and powerless ones.” This is an Advent of liberation, a message that is truly Good News to all whom that message was delivered—and anathema to the powers like Herod who stood in its way. In that, it becomes a cautionary tale for our own time. Where are we in this story? By intermingling her interactions with the Palestinian people into the story, Nikondeha reveals that Western Christianity just may come to Christ more like Herod than the shepherds.
The First Advent in Palestine underscores the political ramifications of the first Advent and how the rumblings from that continue on into and cry out from the current situation of oppression in Palestine today. Nikondeha sheds light onto an oppressed people, calling for a peace that is not Pax Romana or Pax Americana but from the Prince of Peace who was born of a marginalized people group two thousand years ago. I’d call it a radical reimagining of the Advent story, but in truth it is a radical realignment, one that draws us away from our sanitized versions and into messy reality. This is now my annual Advent read.
January 25, 2024
I wanted so badly to like this book, but in the end I struggled to make it through. I don't see a lot of reviews articulating my issues with the book, so I'm going try and lay out my thoughts.
The Good Stuff
The author has a strong grasp of what it feels like to be physically in Palestine in the present age, and sees the connection between the current unrest in Israel and the unrest that has been there for centuries. That groundedness is a fresh addition to most modern writing on advent.
I appreciated taking the Luke and Matthew narratives separately. They did write with different throughlines, and respecting the separate narratives makes sense.
The Rough Stuff
I've waffled a lot on why this book didn't work for me, and I think it came down to two things.
Firstly, I struggled with the historical reliability of the narrative presented. Citing of historical sources was rare, and some of the claims were so left field they needed authoritative backup. Some claims necessitated chucking out parts of the biblical narrative. For example, the idea that Joseph was killed in the Roman attack on Sepphoris in 4 B.C. despite his appearing in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12.
The main one that threw me was the assertion that Mary was likely a rape victim. While contextualizing Mary's experience in the abusive regime of oppression is a great idea, I feel like one of the few things Christendom throughout time and across denominations has agreed on is that the virgin Mary was, in fact, a virgin. The willingness of the author to dispense with scripture for the sake of dramaticizing the narrative had me second guessing every other point they wanted to make.
Secondly, and this is a biggie for me, I think the author sort of missed the entire point of advent. And I don't make that claim lightly, nor with the opinion that I have some toehold on a perfect understanding of it myself.
The two main themes the author pushed were "resistance" (a word used 89 times in a 200 page book) and "nonviolence." In essence, Christ comes as an example of nonviolent resistance to empire, an example we are meant to follow, although little time is spent on what following that example might look like. There is no concept of Christ coming to redeem humanity's relationship to God, only their relationship to each other. In the arguments presented, violence is the main evil of the world, and if we could simply stop being violent, Christ's mission would be accomplished. Perhaps this is just indicative of my denominational leanings, but any summation of advent that leaves out that Christ has become flesh for the purpose of redeeming his people sadly misses the mark.
And as other reviewers have noted, there is a strong thread of antisemitism in the book.
In Summation
The priorities of the book seem to be first political, then shock value, with only tertiary precedence on biblical and historical accuracy. It raises some interesting questions, but doesn't put in the work to hold the tension of complexity embedded in the land of Palestine and the advent narrative.
The Good Stuff
The author has a strong grasp of what it feels like to be physically in Palestine in the present age, and sees the connection between the current unrest in Israel and the unrest that has been there for centuries. That groundedness is a fresh addition to most modern writing on advent.
I appreciated taking the Luke and Matthew narratives separately. They did write with different throughlines, and respecting the separate narratives makes sense.
The Rough Stuff
I've waffled a lot on why this book didn't work for me, and I think it came down to two things.
Firstly, I struggled with the historical reliability of the narrative presented. Citing of historical sources was rare, and some of the claims were so left field they needed authoritative backup. Some claims necessitated chucking out parts of the biblical narrative. For example, the idea that Joseph was killed in the Roman attack on Sepphoris in 4 B.C. despite his appearing in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12.
The main one that threw me was the assertion that Mary was likely a rape victim. While contextualizing Mary's experience in the abusive regime of oppression is a great idea, I feel like one of the few things Christendom throughout time and across denominations has agreed on is that the virgin Mary was, in fact, a virgin. The willingness of the author to dispense with scripture for the sake of dramaticizing the narrative had me second guessing every other point they wanted to make.
Secondly, and this is a biggie for me, I think the author sort of missed the entire point of advent. And I don't make that claim lightly, nor with the opinion that I have some toehold on a perfect understanding of it myself.
The two main themes the author pushed were "resistance" (a word used 89 times in a 200 page book) and "nonviolence." In essence, Christ comes as an example of nonviolent resistance to empire, an example we are meant to follow, although little time is spent on what following that example might look like. There is no concept of Christ coming to redeem humanity's relationship to God, only their relationship to each other. In the arguments presented, violence is the main evil of the world, and if we could simply stop being violent, Christ's mission would be accomplished. Perhaps this is just indicative of my denominational leanings, but any summation of advent that leaves out that Christ has become flesh for the purpose of redeeming his people sadly misses the mark.
And as other reviewers have noted, there is a strong thread of antisemitism in the book.
In Summation
The priorities of the book seem to be first political, then shock value, with only tertiary precedence on biblical and historical accuracy. It raises some interesting questions, but doesn't put in the work to hold the tension of complexity embedded in the land of Palestine and the advent narrative.
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