The Extinction of Christianity in the Middle East

Christianity’s Holy Book, The Bible, is replete with the history and stories of the Jews and other peoples and places of the Middle East from the early civilization period to the early Roman times. Amongst several Biblical serial stories are those of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, the founding the Church in Jerusalem and the tagging of Jesus Christ followers as ‘Christians’ in Antioch. Aside Biblical history, contemporary history also alludes to the origins of Christianity from the Middle East.

The Syrian flag flying in front of the dome of the Syrian Saint Sarkis Church for Armenian Orthodox in Damascus
Source: http://www.hudson.org/research/11072-isis-captures-christians-piece-by-piece-middle-eastern-christianity-is-being-shattered

As home of Christianity, the Middle East was home to four of the five Patriarchate cities namely: Jerusalem (Spiritual capital of the Church), Antioch (founded by Peter), Alexandria (founded by John Mark), Rome (Political Capital of the Western Roman Empire) and Constantinople (Political Capital of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire). As such, only the Patriarchate of Rome existed outside the Middle East.

From humble origins in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, Christianity first spread amongst the Jewish acquaintances of Jesus Christ from Roman occupied Palestine during the first century AD, and then these initial Jewish converts (Apostles) spread their faith in series of evangelistic endeavours around the Roman Empire. By the Fourth Century AD, despite series of gruesome persecutions of the adherents of Christianity, the Faith was firmly rooted amongst the Copts, Berbers and Carthaginians of North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tunisia and Algeria) and the Arab tribes of the Ghassinds and Lakhmids of Arabia; the Greek and Armenian population of the Anatolian Peninsula (modern day Turkey); and the Assyrians and Chaldeans of the fertile Crescent (modern day Iraq and Iran). At the turn of the 7th Century AD, Christianity was the dominant religion amongst the peoples dwelling in the area spanning West from the British Isles to the foothills Hindu Kush mountains of India in Near East.

The Zenith of Christian domains by the 4th Century AD
Source: http://maryourmother.net/Eastern.html

After the waning threat of persecution from Political authorities especially during the period of the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished at its best though its unity was threatened by doctrinal schisms which delineate Christendom till this day. Starting from the rejection of the outcome the Council of Chalcedon of 451AD mostly by the non-Greek speaking Christians of the Middle East, in which the Monophysite theology of Eutyches was condemned, gave impetus to the founding of autocephalous (self governing) religious communes of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in revolt against the Greek Speaking Byzantine Church. Thus the origins of:

1.     The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (Egyptian Orthodox)

2.     The Syriac Orthodox Church (comprising the non Greek speaking of the Eastern Mediterranean under the Patriarchate of Antioch

3.     The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthox Tewahedo Churches

4.     The Armenian Apostolic Church

Yet there were several schisms in Christendom, the grandest of which was the Great Schism of 1054 between the Patriarchate of Rome and Constantinople thus eternally dividing Christendom along the rites of Latin and Greek Liturgy. Whilst the Roman Patriarchate held sway in the Western world and gave rise to the Protestant reformation that branded Christianity in Western Europe, the Americas and Sub Saharan Africa, the Constantinople Patriarchate administered the spiritual needs of Middle Eastern Christianity, Chiefly among the Greek population. As such, the remaining delineates of Middle Eastern Christianity were:

1.     The Holy Apostolic Catholic Church of Assyrian Church of the East

2.     The Byzantine/Greek Orthodox Church (Basically in Asia minor or Turkey)

3.     The Melkite Church (amongst the Greek and Arab Christians of the Middle East in communion with the Patriarchate of Rome)

4.     The Maronite Church (Phoenician/Lebanese Church in communion with the Patriarchate of Rome)

The encroachment of Arab invaders from the Arabian peninsula in series of conquest and Jihadist endeavours in the 7th Century began an epoch of existential threat to Christendom in the Middle East. Though Christians accounted for over 70% of the populace of the Middle Orient at that time till the Middle Ages, they were derided of political power under an accorded dhimmi status and made to pay the Jizya tax despite being accorded the status of people of the books which require special protection from the ruling Islamic Caliphate. The definitive blow of existential threat to Middle Eastern Christianity was delivered by the advance of the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia to the Anatolian peninsula in the 10th Century AD.

After an initial definitive victory by the Turks over the Byzantines in the battle of Manzikert in 1071 AD, the Byzantine Empire which was the protector of Middle Eastern Christianity began to crumble in bit and pieces in series of defeats and then perished in 1453 when the Ottoman army swept into Constantinople after months of bombardments. From thenceforth, the Hagia Sophia which was the seat of the Bishopric of Constantinople was converted to a mosque. Though the governing Ottoman Empire was initially benevolent to the plight of subjugated Christians under its domain, Christians were nevertheless subjugated to the worse especially during moments of war with Christian empires from the West. To endure series of targeted purges against their populace, most Christian groups retreated to highlands/mountainous areas e.g the Maronites retreated to the anti-Lebanon Mountains and the Assyrians concentrated themselves in the plains of Nineveh and highlands of Sinjar and Zagros mountains. At their interactive best, Christians aligned and actively participated in regimes of secular Middle Eastern governments such as the Baath Movement of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Syria’s Assad and Egyptian regimes of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarek; who were seen as their protectors from Islamic extremists.

In 1900, most of Constantinople’s residents were Christian; today, of Istanbul’s population of some 14.4 million people, fewer than 150,000 identify with any faith other than Islam. The major account for this trend was the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. From the 19th Century, the non Turkish population of the Ottoman Empire (most of whom were Christian) where decimated in series of targeted killings. The Assyrians (despite being once empire holders in ancient times) were decimated into less than half of their populace in the 13th century following the Mongolian invasion of Mesopotamia by Tamerlane. They suffered worse fate under the Ottomans as they were seen to be siding with the British whilst the Ottomans fought alongside the Germans during the First World War. They were pillaged and faced the same fate as the Armenians. By the early 1930’s Christians who accounted for over 40% of the population of (Anatolia) modern day Turkey were extinct as the Greeks were forced to leave in series of population exchanges between Greek and Turkey, over 1 million Armenians and Assyrians were massacred and deported thus leaving the Christian population of Turkey at a meagre 1%!

The Assyrians who were the major Christian population of modern day Iraq suffered similar fate as their Anatolian kinsmen. Denied of their promised State of Assuristan just like the Kurds by the British following the Sykes and Picot agreement of 1916 which guaranteed Lebanon as the only Christian majority nation in the Middle East (60%), the Assyrian population was decimated in waves of Arab attacks and Arabization after the withdrawal of the British in 1922. Though they still numbered about 1.5 million at the turn of the 21st Century, their population has been heavily decimated after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. Following series of targeted persecutions and assassinations, an existential blow to what remains of the Assyrian peoples and history is being delivered by the Islamic State following the capture of major Assyrian population centres in Mosul (Nineveh) and Quaraqosh. Accounting for 40% of Iraqi refugees, the current Christian population of Iraq is now a few hundred thousand by estimates.

The ''Nasrani" Arabic symbol for Christians used to mark Christian properties in areas under the domain of the Islamic State

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/multimedia/image/10272014_b3-thomas8201jpg/

Christians in Syria are suffering similar fate under the domain of the Islamic State and are facing an existential threat as the Assad regime loose territory to Islamic extremists. Their population is fast dwindling from 10% of the Country’s 22million pre war population.

In Lebanon, the Christian population is down from the majority 60% in the 1930’s to just over 30% currently.  This was due to the Lebanese civil war between Christians and Muslims and then the influx of Palestinian Arab refugees following the creation of Israel in 1948; whilst low birth rate compared to high birth rate due to the practice of polygamy amongst the Muslim population severed a crucial factor.

Despite the extinction of Christianity amongst the Arab tribes of the Arabian Peninsula following the advent of Islam in the 7th Century, it must be noted that Christianity significantly thrives amongst the indigenous population of Bahrain accounting for 10%. Christian presence in the Arabian Peninsula is driven by the presence of foreign expatriates attracted by the regions burgeoning oil industry.

A damaged painting of Jesus Christ on the ground of Syriac Orthodox Um al-Zinar church in Homs, central Syria, May 12, 2014.
Source: http://www.hudson.org/research/11301-the-plight-of-the-middle-east-s-christians

Though Christianity has faced series of persecutions from its inception in the 1st Century AD, never in modern times has the conscience of the world been pricked to the plight of Christians in Islamic domains as this period. Most saddening is that the fact that Christian adherents of the Middle East constitute the original indigenous populations of these land dating back to over 3000years and their heritage is being wiped out by seeming Arabization and Islamic extremism.

The World owes the indigenous Middle East Christian population a duty to protect their heritage else their extinction.