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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
