A note on the icon on the cover of this book.
The Byzantine icon displayed on the cover of this book shows Jesus Christ risen from the dead. He is standing on top of the gates of Sheol, the abode of the dead, and is raising Adam and Eve up from the nether world. Figures representing John the Baptist, the kings of Israel, and others stand in the background too. Jesus will raise all those who have died. The proclamation of the resurrection—Christ has risen—heralds the celebration of Easter, the feast of the resurrection. This is the good news of the Christian community: its kerygma, a Greek word meaning “proclamation”. The icon illustrates the meaning of the Gospel, the good news that death has been conquered, and life has been given to all who dwell in the darkness of death.
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Fr David Neuhaus SJ was born in South Africa and has lived in Jerusalem for most of his life. He holds a B.A., M.A. and PhD in Political Science from Hebrew University. After entering the Jesuits, he obtained Pontifical Licenses in Theology in Paris and Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He was a lecturer in Scripture for twenty-two years at the Latin Catholic Patriarchate Seminary and Bethlehem University, as well as other academic institutions in Israel and Palestine. Fr. David served as Episcopal Vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics and migrants and asylum seekers in Israel from 2009 until 2017. He has written widely on Scripture, the Israel-Palestine conflict and interreligious dialogue. He has recently returned, for a time, to South Africa to be closer to his elderly mother and rediscover the land of his roots.