We have much to learn
December 1, 2008
INTERFAITH RELATIONS – William G. Gepford, American-Arab Relations
“We Have Much to Learn”
Involvement in interfaith and multicultural activities has many benefits. An example of this is the discovery of relationships of old we thought to be of our own making.
A recent article (The Christian Century, November 4, 2008, Long-Lost Christians by Philip Jenkins) reveals that our myth of a Christian world that existed mostly west of the Levant in medieval Europe is easily dispelled. My seminary requirements included courses on the growth and expansion of the church. The vast material presented to us was about Western Europe. Little was said about the growth of Christian communities in the Eastern world that centered in Constantinople.
According to the above- mentioned article, the leader of that expansion was Bishop Timothy I. “At every stage, Timothy’s career violates everything we think we knew about the history of Christianity—about its geographical spread, its relationship with political state power, its cultural breadth and its interaction with other religions (italics mine).” The eighth- century patriarch of the Nestorian Church of the East was probably looked upon by one-fourth of the world’s Christians as both spiritual and political head.
For example, Mesopotamia, or Iraq, reflected a powerful Christian culture at least through the 13th century. Well into the Middle Ages, the established Christian communities of the Middle East included such Iraqi cities as Basra, Mosul and Kirkuk, Tikrit—hometown of Saddam Hussein—was a thriving Christian center “several centuries after the coming of Islam.”
These centers hosted quite well- advanced scholarship in classical learning and were located throughout the Eastern world. Bishop Timothy had even created a center in Yemen. Monks carried the faith even into China.
According to one scholar, who has translated the Bible into the Eastern languages, most people would be surprised to learn that the oldest known translation of a portion of the Bible into the Persian language was discovered in China and dates from the sixth century. Recent publications in Iran itself have made some other older translations available to the general public.
It perhaps was just as well that the Christian communities of those times never aligned themselves with state power (as happened during Charlemagne’s reign) for they survived by developing skills necessary for effective interfaith relationships. The lesson to be learned? –Eastern Christians looked to Jesus himself rather than some earthly potentate of power. The Eastern minority churches had little choice but to dialog with the religions of their time –Islam, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. In this process each was affected and in turn reshaped by them.
Might it be that such a search of our religious roots will save us from destroying one another? The Apostle Paul said, “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor” (Romans 13:9b-10).
