"Christianity was Eurocentric for centuries for the chief reason that it was decimated almost everywhere except Europe [...] For thirteen hundred years after the Arab conquest of Christian Africa and West Asia in the 600s, Europe was the center of Christianity. But the centuries before and after reveal a wider picture. Jesus, the apostles and almost all the earliest converts were West Asians. In the first six centuries Christianity spread northward and eastward from Palestine throughout Syria and Asia Minor and as far as Iran and even India. [...] As late as 600, the vast majority of Christians were in Africa and Asia. Westward, Christianity spread both to Europe and to North africa. In 600, most Christians lived in Africa and Asia, and most of the centers of Christianity were there. The five great centers of Christianity, led by the most important bishops--called patriarchs--were Jerusalem, and Antioch in Asia, Alexandria in Africa, Consantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey) and Rome--the only one solidly in Europe. In the 600s, with astounding suddenness, the picture changed dramatically. All of North Africa and almost all of West Asia were subdued by Islam, overwhelming three out of the five patriarchates: Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria. Spain and the Mediterranean islands were taken by Islam, and northern and eastern Europe were for several centuries all that remained to Christianity. After 1453, when the Muslim Turks conquered Constantinople, the only ancient patriarchate left in Christian hands was Rome." Jeffrey Burton Russell, Exposing Myths About Christianity, p.120
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 15:40:15 +0000
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