Contemporary Practices in the Middle East
Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the world. Based on the teachings and the belief in Jesus Christ, the religion has three significant subdivisions which are Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. Albeit the subdivisions have different views about Jesus and His teachings, He is the central focus of their religion. Christianity defines the religion which acknowledges Jesus Christ as the anointed one of God, conceived through the Holy Spirit, and died for the sins of humankind. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the historical foundations of Christianity and the current practices related to other religions in the Middle East. The essay also elaborates on the religion’s objectives for the future.
Historical Foundations
The grassroots of Christianity base their values on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The religion was first developed in the Middle East. The term Christian derives its meaning from the name Christ which depicts Christ-like people. The believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ bear the title Christians to mean His followers. Jesus is the Savior of humankind from their sins, and hence the channel to connect humans and the supreme God. The Christians are monotheists – believe in one God, and the holy book that guides their faith is the Bible (Cullmann, 2018). The teachings of Jesus inspire the believers on the paths to righteousness and doing the will of God. Further, the teachings are presented all through the other books of the Bible. Attaining salvation requires one to believe in Jesus as the Savior and following His instructions concerning obedience to God – the father. Salvation leads one into holiness, and as such, love, compassion, and generosity are fundamental practices of this religion.
A key consideration in Jesus’ teachings is that He expressed the Christian practices through actions. For instance, the love, which is the greatest commandment, was expressed through crucifixion at Calvary, where Jesus sacrificed His life for the sinners (Cullmann, 2018). The teachings inscribe love as the most significant command which guides the others in shaping the life of Christians. Based on Christian faith, Satan is the rival of God and lures people into sin by rejecting the truth of God’s word. As such, the Christians believe in the life after death whereby God will judge between the righteous to attain eternal life, and the sinners to get burnt in the abyss, with the devil (Cullmann, 2018). According to Christianity, everyone is born a sinner, and obtaining salvation through acceptance and confession of the Lord Jesus as the Savior and practicing His teachings is the way to escape the eternal punishment.
Current Practices/Relations with Other Religious Communities in the Middle East
The concept of religion in the Middle East has changed predominantly in the last few decades. The Muslim community currently dominates the Middle East, and the fate of Christians has posed a significant concern. As such, the relations between Christians and Muslims is shaped by historical incidences, beliefs, and theologies shared by the two religions. The industrialization era in the 18th century resulted in the reorganization of people in terms of social and religious methodologies. Such explains the adamant dominance of the Muslim community as compared to Christians in the Middle East. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, and Iraq, among others, are highly dominated by Muslims who disregard the Christian community (Malik, 2010). As such, the prevalent persecution of Christians in the Middle East has imposed a massive exodus in fear of genocide incidences. Consequently, the current fate of Christians in the Middle East is unpredictable, and Christians fear to settle in those countries. However, while Muslims prefer killing the Christians to avoid the spread of the faith that complicates theirs, the Christians have maintained their faithful practices of loving their enemies.
According to Malik (2010), the Christian population in the middle east has dropped drastically in the past decades to about 5%. In this regard, the Christians living in the middle east live in fear of attacks by the Islamists. Importantly to note, some of their religious practices are carried out in hide-outs due to lack of freedom. Jesus, the central focus of Christianity, commanded the believers to spread the gospel in the whole world. Such practice is usually done through crusades, social gatherings, and even in travel caravans. However, the Christians in the middle east face difficulties practicing such a virtue for fear of attacks and hence choose to remain indoors and avoid exposing their practices in the public.
Goals and Objectives for the Future of the Religion
The future of Christianity in the Middle East is quite uncertain, considering the massive immigration following the threats imposed on them by the Islamists. The current Arab-Muslim rule vanquishes the Christians intending to make them feel inferior in their land. As such, Christians are subjected to recognize Islam’s superiority, and hence, the goals and objectives for their future in the middle east get suppressed (Malik, 2010). While establishing churches is a critical approach in spreading Christianity, the rule not to build new ones supposedly affects the believers’ goals and objectives. In reference to the last century, the Christian goal was to spread the gospel of Christ and attain a substantial share of the population. However, the ruthless persecution bookended by the recurrent genocides by the Muslim community has shifted their goals and objectives to evade the region and settle in areas with favorable religious terms (Palmer, 2019).