Overview

The Christian church was born in the Middle East and grew there for centuries. Its interaction with Islam turned Christianity in this once predominantly Christian region into a marginalized jewel, surviving at great peril within a difficult, even sometimes hostile, political and religious climate. Of course, the story of Christianity over the last 1,300 years is not solely one of conflict, marginalization, and persecution but is also about accommodation, interchange, and cooperation. This introductory book details the history of the church in its Middle Eastern birthplace through the past two thousand years. It is a story described as ""a lost history"" by Philip Jenkins, but it is here uncovered and placed on display. For those with eyes to see, the church of the Middle East is here revealed as a precious jewel, still catching the light.

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9781725263208

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Reviews

With energy and verve, Surviving Jewel examines the kaleidoscope of Middle Eastern Christianity. Readers will appreciate the volume's impressive historical and geographical sweep, attention to Christian diversity, and clear analysis offered by an array of experts in the field. --Heather J. Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania Surviving Jewel tells the rich story of Christianity in the Middle East. It provides an accessible account of the Christian experience in the Middle East from origins to the present day by exploring the historical context, the diversity of experiences of Christian communities, and contemporary issues. --Fiona McCallum Guiney, University of St Andrews This volume tells an absorbing story that illustrates both how the Middle East shaped Christianity and how Christianity shaped the Middle East. This story not only illustrates the diversity of Christian life in the Middle East but is also a vital element in the study of global Christianity today. --Elizabeth Monier, University of Cambridge Imaginatively conceived and with a variety of different approaches, this appropriately titled book offers a panoptic overview of Christianity in the Middle East, with an emphasis on the contemporary situation. --Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, Oxford University Christian-Muslim relations are not defined by Muslim relations with the West. This rich resource brings together in one place a vast array of data and insight, informing readers about the mosaic of churches in the Middle East and providing vital context for understanding Christian-Muslim relations in the region and beyond. --Martin Whittingham, director, Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford Surviving Jewel is a very welcome introductory volume to Eastern Christianity. It is concise and largely comprehensible for newcomers to the subject. . . . This book will appeal both to young students in the academia and to the general public globally. Authors and editors are to be commended for this important effort. --Martin Accad, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary This book takes the reader on a journey from past to present, unfolding the rich and kaleidoscopic world of Middle Eastern Christianity. . . . Each chapter is an invitation to dive deeper into the culture, history, and theology of the different communities. This book is a much-needed addition to the growing field of Middle Eastern Christianity and a must-read for students of world Christianity, history, the Middle East, and many more fields of study. --Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, Wake Forest University For far too long, the history of Christianity has been told from a Western perspective alone, with little recognition that it spread equally to East and West. It is more than gratifying that this series begins with the cradle of Christianity in the Middle East. . . . It is most welcome that the scope of the book is extended to Western influences and the present challenges. --Dietmar W. Winkler, University of Salzburg This volume takes up an extremely challenging task: to tell the story of Christianity in the Middle East over more than two thousand years. . . . The story told here is not that of a remnant which draws its legitimacy from a remote and dilapidated past but of a surviving jewel both in interaction with its context--more particularly with an old yet still-fresh neighbor called Islam--and seeking to find appropriate answers to twenty-first-century questions and challenges. --Assaad Elias Kattan, University of Munster

Author Information

Mitri Raheb is the president of Dar al-Kalima University College in Bethlehem, Palestine, and president of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Mark A. Lamport has been a professor for thirty-five years at graduate theological schools in the United States and Europe.

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