Christianity in the Arab World

As Prince Charles commented in his opening words, "Jordan has long been conspicuousas a land of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between people of different faiths,"a coexistence increasingly abused by extremists of all three faiths included in the phraseAhl al Kitiib (People of the Book). Prince Hassan 's original intent in writing this book wasto brief Muslim Arabs on the nature of Christianity and Christian religious institutions.His major focus is on the historical development of the Eastern Christian traditions in theMuslim Arab milieu and the standing of Christians in Arab society today. ft is his intentionto provide Muslim Arabs with accurate and concise information about the Christianswho historically have lived in their midst. The text was first published in English andArabic by the Royal Institute for Inter-faith studies in Amman, Jordan. and should be classifiedunder both historical and theological sections. It is in wide demand in the Westbecause of the paucity of easily accessible relevant information.The Arab Christian tradition goes back to Christianity's very earliest days, antedatingIslam by those six centuries that witnessed the growth of Christian Trinitarian theology,the spread of the Church, and the division of that Church into different communions.Some of these historical communions have survived in the Arab world and bear titles thatusually are greeted with complete ignorance on the part of Christian tourists encounteringChristianity in Arab lands for the first time.As an overall picture of the historical development of Christian doctrine, this bookpresents the main features and arguments with exceptional clarity and a highly admirabledepth of understanding of extremely confusing issues. A more clear, precise, concisegestalt picture of the subject does not exist, so far as I know. The reader can follow thereasons for the various theological developments, the schisms that arose, and the passionswith which various positions and views were defended.The text is academic, excellent at history and explanation, and displays a sensitiveawareness of words and concepts that require careful definition. The Prince has presentedthe world of religious scholars and the issues that were so important to them that theywere (and remain) willing to sacrifice everything, even life. It does not show the world ofactual church people who regard themselves as the body of the living Christ, the devotedfollowers who strive to live good, prayerful lives pleasing to God by imitating the way ofJesus to the best of their ability. This is not a criticism, but I felt the book would have beenimproved with a short section on Christian spirituality to counter all the nitpicking andskullduggery that went on in the theological realm ...