Pastor from Bethlehem (viral Christmas sermon) arrives in South Africa
"The Bible has been weaponised against the Palestinians since the founding of the state of Israel,” laments Reverand Munther Isaac of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.
Lester Kiewit speaks to Reverand Munther Isaac, Minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem.
Isaac's powerful 'Christ in the Rubble' sermon delivered this past Christmas Eve is still going viral.
In the sermon, he criticises the silence of the Church on the genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza following the attack by Hamas, which killed 1200 Israeli civilians and took at least 240 people hostage.
Isaac is a pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. He arrived in South Africa at the weekend, speaking at St George's Cathedral on Sunday.
He joined Lester Kiewit to speak about the global reception of his Christmas sermon and the significance of his visit to South Africa.
"If a sermon should go viral, it should go viral about good news... not about Palestinians being traumatised by a genocide and the silence of the Church."
- Reverand Munther Isaac, Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church (Bethlehem)
"[It] touched the hearts and souls and challenged many people around the world... so that no-one can claim, 'we did not know', no-one."
- Reverand Munther Isaac, Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church (Bethlehem)
"The Bible has been weaponised against the Palestinians since the very beginning. Since the inception of the state of Israel."
- Reverand Munther Isaac, Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church (Bethlehem)
Isaac calls his visit to South Africa a 'spiritual pilgrimage' and is modest about comparisons to the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
"I would be honoured to be metioned in the same sentence as Archbishop Tutu, let alone compared to him."
- Reverand Munther Isaac, Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church (Bethlehem)
Isaac joins Dr Allan Boesak at Stellenbosch University on Monday, where he will deliver the keynote speech on 'South African Faith Communities and Justice in the Context of Zionism Today'.
"There are so many similarities between what we call Chrisitan Zionism and apartheid theology. Both are based on an ideology of supremacy. Both use the Bible to justify colonialism."
- Reverand Munther Isaac, Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church (Bethlehem)
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.