Table Of ContentThe Rowman &
Littlefield Handbook
of Christianity
in the Middle East
The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook Series
This contemporary series of academic handbooks provides authoritative guides to
relevant and emerging topics across the humanities and social sciences. To encourage
greater dialogue across disciplines, this series engages high-quality, original, and multi-
disciplinary research on topics, themes, and key debates in academia today.
• Each handbook draws together newly commissioned work to provide a compre-
hensive benchmark for a field or subdiscipline
• Individual handbooks include an international team of contributors with valuable
expertise, knowledge, and perspective in their fields
• Handbooks correspond to the latest topics on courses around the world
Each handbook is available for purchase in both print and digital formats. For more
information, see www.rowman.com.
The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East
Edited by Mitri Raheb and Mark A. Lamport
The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Media Management and Business
Edited by L. Meghan Mahoney and Tang Tang
MASTHEAD PERSONNEL
Editors
Mitri Raheb
Mark A. Lamport
Introduction
Heather J. Sharkey
Foreword
Philip Jenkins
Editorial Advisory Board
Martin Accad (Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Lebanon)
Charles E. Farhadian (Westmont College)
Sidney H. Griffith (The Catholic University of America)
Erica C. D. Hunter (University of London)
Philip Jenkins (Baylor University)
Akram Fouad Khater (North Carolina State University)
Ussama S. Makdisi (Rice University)
Fiona McCallum Guiney (University of St. Andrews, UK)
David A. Michelson (Vanderbilt University)
Duane Alexander Miller (Institute of Islamic Studies)
Elizabeth Monier (University of Cambridge, UK)
Joshua Ralston (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Salam Rassi (Hill Museum & Manuscript Library)
Meredith L. D. Riedel (Duke University/Duke Divinity School)
Abdul M. Saadi (Baylor University)
Martin Tamcke (Georg-August-Universität, Germany)
Nelly van Doorn-Harder (Wake Forest University)
Wafik Wahba (Tyndale Seminary, Canada)
Deanna Ferree Womack (Emory University/Candler School of Theology)
Editorial Consultants
Tala Raheb
Ron J. Bigalke
J. Scott Bridger
Philip Bustrum
Benjamin Espinoza
Trent Hancock
Bryce Hantla
Mel Wilhoit
The Rowman &
Littlefield Handbook
of Christianity
in the Middle East
Edited by
MITRI RAHEB
and
MARK A. LAMPORT
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Raheb, Mitri, editor. | Lamport, Mark A., editor.
Title: The Rowman & Littlefield handbook of Christianity in the Middle East
/ edited by Mitri Raheb and Mark A. Lamport.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. | Series: The Rowman &
Littlefield handbook series | Includes bibliographical references and
index. | Summary: “With 46 chapters, The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook
of Christianity in the Middle East spans the historical, socio-political
and contemporary settings of the region and importantly describes the
interactions that Christianity has had with other major/minor religions
in the region”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025695 (print) | LCCN 2020025696 (ebook) | ISBN
9781538124178 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538124185 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Christianity—Middle East. | Middle East—Church history. |
Christianity and other religions—Middle East.
Classification: LCC BR1070 .R69 2020 (print) | LCC BR1070 (ebook) | DDC
275.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025695
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025696
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
For Mitri—To my fellow Middle Eastern Christians so that they may know their rich
heritage and keep faith and hope alive.
For Mark—To Tertullian, Origen, and Athanasius of Alexandria, who have been my
teachers; and to Lydia Baker and Lennox Reisert, who will be.
Contents
List of figures xiii
About the editors, introduction And foreword contributors,
And editoriAL Advisory boArd xvii
church growth And decLine in the MiddLe eAst Across the centuries
by Todd M. Johnson xxi
PrefAce by MiTri raheb and Mark a. LaMporT xxix
foreword by phiLip Jenkins xxxv
introduction by heaTher J. sharkey xxxix
SECTION ONE • SOCIOHISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Preview by saLaM rassi 1
1 Christianity within the Ancient Empires by James C. Skedros 5
2 Christological Debates and Divisions in Middle Eastern Christianity
(400–550 CE) by Byard J. Bennett 16
3 The Rise of the Church of the East by Philip Michael Forness 27
4 Missionary Movements in Nisibis, Armenia, and the Silk Road
by Salim Daccache SJ 44
5 Christianity within the Islamic Empires by Wafik Wahba 56
6 Christianity during the Crusades by Andrew Jotischky 66
7 Christianity within the Ottoman Empire by Bernard Heyberger 77
8 Christianity and European Colonial Rule by Hiroko Miyokawa 88
9 Mission Movements to and from the Middle East by Chantal Verdeil 99
ix
