Subtitled: The Muslims were pricks.............. or were they?
I'm reading a fascinating book called The Lost History of Christianity by J. P. Jenkins and no, it is not about the Eusebius inspired bullshit story of how the church spread across Europe. Rather it deals with the relative success of xtianity in Asia and to a lesser degree, Africa. But it is not any kind of xtianity that popes and patriarchs would have liked. Its about the Nestorians and the Jacobites who literally flourished in Asia from Syria to Japan.
The Nestorians were declared heretical and the adherents were pushed out of the Byzantine Empire into Persia which was still Zoroastrian at the time. From there they followed the Silk Road and established churches across Asia.
As noted by Jenkins:
Dante died in 1321 and it is the 14th century where islamic violence was unleashed on xtians with a vengeance. But, you might say, islam expanded in the 7th century... what happened before then? The answer will make our muslim friends feel vindicated...where it isn't making them furious. History is rarely one-dimensional.
Early islamic conquests...and Spencer and others doubt exactly how "islamic" they were...generally did not result in widespread persecution. So throughout Egypt, Syria, Persia and into Anatolia ( all heavily urbanized areas ) there was precious little of the "convert or die" routine which is popular with the press. North Africa was a somewhat different case. The cities had been hammered by the Vandals in the 5th century and subsequent Byzantine efforts to reconquer the area added to the carnage in the 6th century. Further, the non-urban population of Africa tended to be Bedouin nomads and they may have felt a certain affinity for the Arab armies. It is completely possible that after being fucked over by rival bands of xtians ( the Vandals were Arians ) the Bedouin may have decided to opt out.
Back in the urbanized areas the muslims found that they needed the literate xtian churchmen to run the local governments. And it seems to have been reciprocated as Jenkins writes:
So what the fuck happened? Firstly, The Mongols a significant number of whom had been converted by the diligent Nestorians traveling the Silk Road as mentioned above. In 1258 Baghdad was sacked and while muslims were killed by the thousands the xtians were spared and rewarded. This was remembered when the Mongols were subsequently defeated and driven out. And that is when fans all over the islamic world started getting covered with xtian shit!
Again, its a fascinating book and not a difficult read. If anyone wants it, pm an email address.
I'm reading a fascinating book called The Lost History of Christianity by J. P. Jenkins and no, it is not about the Eusebius inspired bullshit story of how the church spread across Europe. Rather it deals with the relative success of xtianity in Asia and to a lesser degree, Africa. But it is not any kind of xtianity that popes and patriarchs would have liked. Its about the Nestorians and the Jacobites who literally flourished in Asia from Syria to Japan.
The Nestorians were declared heretical and the adherents were pushed out of the Byzantine Empire into Persia which was still Zoroastrian at the time. From there they followed the Silk Road and established churches across Asia.
As noted by Jenkins:
Quote:The story of Christianity’s collapse outside Europe runs contrary to many assumptions about the shape of religious history. Though everyone knows that Christianity emerges in the Middle East, and that that area subsequently becomes Muslim, the chronology of that change remains hazy. Popular depictions of that history—for example, in the maps presented by television documentaries—usually show Islam spreading rapidly over the formerly Christian Middle East and North Africa, and the implication is that conversion to Islam was a swift and painless process. Presumably, infidels rapidly came to acknowledge the superior virtues of Islam. Yet the Egyptian persecutions came several centuries afterward, during and after the age of Dante, as western Europe was entering the early Renaissance.
Dante died in 1321 and it is the 14th century where islamic violence was unleashed on xtians with a vengeance. But, you might say, islam expanded in the 7th century... what happened before then? The answer will make our muslim friends feel vindicated...where it isn't making them furious. History is rarely one-dimensional.
Early islamic conquests...and Spencer and others doubt exactly how "islamic" they were...generally did not result in widespread persecution. So throughout Egypt, Syria, Persia and into Anatolia ( all heavily urbanized areas ) there was precious little of the "convert or die" routine which is popular with the press. North Africa was a somewhat different case. The cities had been hammered by the Vandals in the 5th century and subsequent Byzantine efforts to reconquer the area added to the carnage in the 6th century. Further, the non-urban population of Africa tended to be Bedouin nomads and they may have felt a certain affinity for the Arab armies. It is completely possible that after being fucked over by rival bands of xtians ( the Vandals were Arians ) the Bedouin may have decided to opt out.
Back in the urbanized areas the muslims found that they needed the literate xtian churchmen to run the local governments. And it seems to have been reciprocated as Jenkins writes:
Quote:In 869, the Melkite (Orthodox) patriarch of Jerusalem wrote of the Muslims, “They are just, and do us no wrong or violence of any kind.”13
So what the fuck happened? Firstly, The Mongols a significant number of whom had been converted by the diligent Nestorians traveling the Silk Road as mentioned above. In 1258 Baghdad was sacked and while muslims were killed by the thousands the xtians were spared and rewarded. This was remembered when the Mongols were subsequently defeated and driven out. And that is when fans all over the islamic world started getting covered with xtian shit!
Again, its a fascinating book and not a difficult read. If anyone wants it, pm an email address.
