The Spirit of Peace: Pentecost and Affliction in the Middle East

Whatever happened to the Arab Spring?

Not long ago there was the dawn of a vision of peace and justice in the Middle East. Just a few years later that vision seems to have vanished and instead there has been a renewal of new threats of violence between certain Middle Eastern peoples, especially against Middle Eastern Christians. In this book, Mary Grey asks how the Holy Spirit is leading us to a new future, for all these people: Christians, Jews and Muslims. God’s outpouring Spirit must be seen as the power of resistance to evil. Pentecost lifts up the renewed hope that ever promises new energy for justice and peace.

Timothy Radcliffe says, “Mary Grey dares to look closely at the appalling affliction of the Middle East today, and there find signs of the Holy Spirit at work: enduring, healing, reconciling, and imagining a new peace. She offers us brave hope in this awful time of darkness and suffering.”

Two other books in this series by Mary Grey have been published by SPCK: The Advent of Peace and The Resurrection of Peace.

In a deeply inspiring way, Mary Grey explores the journey of the Spirit alongside struggling people through their affliction. She traces the multiple dimensions of the Spirit in the Gospel story as well as in contemporary times. A journey of hope towards peace.

The Revd Dr Naim Ateek, Founder, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem

The Spirit of Peace is an inspirational and courageous work, written with immense care and a clear love of the Middle East. Mary Grey’s emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit reveals a crucial dimension of faith dynamics in the Middle East. In that part of the world, we desperately need the work of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and inspire us so that we may understand our history better, face our challenges, and build a future where Christianity can continue to be a beacon of the love of God in the birthplace of our faith.

The Revd Nadim Nassar, Director & co-founder, The Awareness Foundation, London

In The Spirit of Peace Mary Grey has done what few Christian theologians in the West have dared to do: to apply the insights of Christian Liberation theology to the suffering of so many people in the contemporary Middle East. In so doing, she reminds us of the powerful contemporary relevance of this approach to Christianity and challenges people of all faiths and none to really allow in to our hearts and our consciousness both the suffering and the ground for hope in what is sometimes dismissed as an intractable problem.

Rabbi Michael Lerner, Chair, Network of Spiritual Progressives, and Editor, Tikkun magazine