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The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. This book offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915.
Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syrian Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on Translation
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Evangelical Awakening: Becoming Protestant in the Arab Renaissance
2. "Publishing" the Gospel, Reading the
Nahda: Protestant Print Culture in Late Ottoman Syria
3. A Feminist Awakening? Evangelical Women and the Arab Renaissance
4. Ministers and
Nahdawi Masculinity: The Beirut Church Controversy
5. Syrian Women with a Mission: Preaching the Bible and Building the Protestant Church
Conclusion
Glossary
Appendix A: Syrian Protestant Genealogies
Appendix B: American Missionary Families and Dates of Service
Appendix C: Founding Members of the Evangelical Independent Church of Beirut, 1894
Appendix D: Biblewomen Employed by the British Syrian Mission: 1860-1914
Appendix E: Statistical Comparison: Biblewomen of the British and American Missions
Appendix F: Publications of Syrian Women at the American Mission Press, Beirut
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Deanna Ferree Womack is Assistant Professor of History of Religions and Multifaith Relations at Emory University's Candler School of Theology and director of the Leadership and Multifaith Program (LAMP) in Atlanta. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Womack has lectured and published widely on the subjects of Arab Protestantism, mission history, world Christianity and Christian-Muslim relations. 'Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria' is her first book. Womack is co-editor, with Philip Forness, of the Edinburgh Studies in Middle Eastern Christianity series.
Summary
The Ottoman Syrians – residents of modern Syria and Lebanon – formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. This book offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915.
