If Islam had never existed, would the Middle East be mostly Christian now? (war, Egypt)
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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Since Christianity spread as far as Europe, and there weren't really any religions as big to compete with it by the time of Muhammad in the Middle East and Europe. Judaism was confined mostly to Jews. Do you think Zoroastrianism might have fused with Christianity to form another religion, this time with roots in Persia? Would there be anything like Islam without Muhammad? Or do you think Christianity would have grown to dominate the Middle East? I mean the oldest Christian communities today are in Syria, Jordan and Ethiopia. Would the form of Christianity be similar to that find in Ethiopia and Egypt - the Coptic tradition, or something like the Nestorian tradition of Syria and Palestine?
Since Christianity spread as far as Europe, and there weren't really any religions as big to compete with it by the time of Muhammad in the Middle East and Europe. Judaism was confined mostly to Jews. Do you think Zoroastrianism might have fused with Christianity to form another religion, this time with roots in Persia? Would there be anything like Islam without Muhammad? Or do you think Christianity would have grown to dominate the Middle East? I mean the oldest Christian communities today are in Syria, Jordan and Ethiopia. Would the form of Christianity be similar to that find in Ethiopia and Egypt - the Coptic tradition, or something like the Nestorian tradition of Syria and Palestine?
I don't know about that...you didn't answer my question.
The Middle East wasn't exactly peaceful before Islam came around.
Monophysite, Nestorian, and other unorthodox forms of Christianity were very commonly practiced amongst Arabs and other eastern peoples (who were later Arabized). There was considerable religious tension between the peoples of the middle east and Byzantium, and plenty of religious tension directed amongst themselves.
Muhammad had Christians in his family, and Mecca and Medina were both strongholds of Nestorian Christianity. If there had been no Islam there would probably be conflict between Christian sects - not to mention that the Persians after the Sassanids came to power became much more hardline Zoroastrian than they were before.
Europe has been mostly Christian since the Dark Ages and they were still slaughtering each other by the millions in brutal warfare as recently as the 1940s.
I agree with Majoun's post. The Middle East would be different, but there would most likely be plenty of conflict between different Catholic or Orthodox sects along with plenty of other cultural divisions. There might be war and mistrust between Persian and Arab kingdoms or between the Turks---there would be historic times when outside powers invading and stirring up the region throughout history and so on(The Mongols for example). There'd still be mutual mistrust and divisions between the European powers and the Middle East. In some ways the more unified empires that existed in the early Muslim period might have been replaced by some other hegemonic power.
Since Christianity spread as far as Europe, and there weren't really any religions as big to compete with it by the time of Muhammad in the Middle East and Europe. Judaism was confined mostly to Jews. Do you think Zoroastrianism might have fused with Christianity to form another religion, this time with roots in Persia? Would there be anything like Islam without Muhammad? Or do you think Christianity would have grown to dominate the Middle East? I mean the oldest Christian communities today are in Syria, Jordan and Ethiopia. Would the form of Christianity be similar to that find in Ethiopia and Egypt - the Coptic tradition, or something like the Nestorian tradition of Syria and Palestine?
No, I don't think Christianity would have dominated the Middle East if Islam came along. Most likely pantheistic, ritual-based religious would have succeeded, and if it HAD to be a big religion, I could see Buddhism or Judaism being more popular.
There would be small pockets of Christianity everywhere, though, and we would have avoided the nasty affairs of the Crusades.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JordanJP
No, I don't think Christianity would have dominated the Middle East if Islam came along. Most likely pantheistic, ritual-based religious would have succeeded, and if it HAD to be a big religion, I could see Buddhism or Judaism being more popular.
There would be small pockets of Christianity everywhere, though, and we would have avoided the nasty affairs of the Crusades.
If it happened in Europe, why not the Middle East, where Christianity has it's roots? A lot of Jewish culture is similar to other Middle Eastern cultures, and those cultures influenced a lot of Hebrew society and thought, including religion.
If it happened in Europe, why not the Middle East, where Christianity has it's roots? A lot of Jewish culture is similar to other Middle Eastern cultures, and those cultures influenced a lot of Hebrew society and thought, including religion.
Because Trimac I suspect that from theological point of view Islam (and the philosophy behind it) is more about women than men. Islam as religion indeed is far more restrictive on women than Christianity, and it looks like the conquered nations (Persia first of all) received the harshest treatment under it. Women from Southern Europe ( Spain and Italy first of all) that are probably closest in line, received the harshest treatment under Christian Catholicism, that was hovering over them for long time. Their northern European counterparts however ( starting from England) received the "amnesty" so to speak - i.e Reformation of Church, so their burden was the lightest from that point on, not to mention that that's where the modern women's liberation/emancipation has originated.
So Zoroastrism ( that was really predecessor of Christianity) has been taken away from Persia and the banner of Christianity at the end has been given to Anglo-Saxons ( should we say ultimately to the US, that's hanging on to the Holly Land, i.e. Israel.)
However if you read the bible, it was Persia, that was traditionally supporting Israel, helping it to rebuild the Temple and what's not ( before it became Islamic of course.)
If to take it in consideration, it doesn't look like a mere coincidence any longer, that when in the modern world the US is striving for the dominance, lo and behold - who is standing on its way, seething with hatred, but Persia, ( Iran) that was ruined by Islam, the country that doesn't have any future...
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,076,059 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by erasure
Because Trimac I suspect that from theological point of view Islam (and the philosophy behind it) is more about women than men. Islam as religion indeed is far more restrictive on women than Christianity, and it looks like the conquered nations (Persia first of all) received the harshest treatment under it. Women from Southern Europe ( Spain and Italy first of all) that are probably closest in line, received the harshest treatment under Christian Catholicism, that was hovering over them for long time. Their northern European counterparts however ( starting from England) received the "amnesty" so to speak - i.e Reformation of Church, so their burden was the lightest from that point on, not to mention that that's where the modern women's liberation/emancipation has originated.
So Zoroastrism ( that was really predecessor of Christianity) has been taken away from Persia and the banner of Christianity at the end has been given to Anglo-Saxons ( should we say ultimately to the US, that's hanging on to the Holly Land, i.e. Israel.)
However if you read the bible, it was Persia, that was traditionally supporting Israel, helping it to rebuild the Temple and what's not ( before it became Islamic of course.)
If to take it in consideration, it doesn't look like a mere coincidence any longer, that when in the modern world the US is striving for the dominance, lo and behold - who is standing on its way, seething with hatred, but Persia, ( Iran) that was ruined by Islam, the country that doesn't have any future...
I'm still not sure what that has to do with why the Middle East would not be Christian today if not for Islam.
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