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Syria Christianity
The Christian communities of Syria, which comprise about 8
percent of the population, spring from two great traditions.
Because both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were introduced
by missionaries, a small number of Syrians are members of Western
denominations. The vast majority, however, belong to the Eastern
communions, which have existed in Syria since the earliest days
of Christianity. The main Eastern groups are the autonomous
Orthodox churches; the Uniate churches, which are in communion
with Rome; and the independent Nestorian church. Even though each
group forms a separate community, Christians nevertheless
cooperate increasingly, largely because of their fear of the
Muslim majority.
The schisms that brought about the many sects resulted from
political and doctrinal disagreements. The doctrine most commonly
at issue was the nature of Christ. In 431, the Nestorians broke
away because of their belief in the dual character of Christ,
i.e., that he had two separate but equal natures, the human Jesus
and the divine Christ. Therefore, Mary was not the mother of God
but only of the man Jesus. The Council of Chalcedon, representing
the mainstream of Christianity, in 451 confirmed the dual nature
of Christ in one person; Mary was therefore the mother of a
single person, mystically and simultaneously both human and
divine.
The Monophysites, another schismatic group, taught that
Christ's divinity overpowered his humanity, resulting in a single
divine nature. They were the precursors of the present-day Syrian
and Armenian Orthodox churches. The Monothelites, precursors of
the modern Maronites, tried to evolve a compromise by postulating
that Christ had two natures, human and divine, but a single will.
By the thirteenth century, Eastern or Greek Christianity had
irrevocably separated from Western or Latin Christianity. In the
following centuries, however, especially during the crusades,
some offshoots of the Eastern churches accepted the authority of
the pope in Rome and entered into communion with Roman Catholic
Christianity. Today called the Uniate churches, they retain a
distinctive language and liturgy.
The largest Christian denomination in Syria is the Greek
Orthodox church, also known as the Melkite church. The
appellation "Greek" refers to the language of liturgy, not to the
ethnic origin of the members. Arabic is also used. The Syrian
Orthodox, or Jacobite, church, whose liturgy is in Syriac, split
off from the main body of orthodoxy over the Monophysite heresy.
The Armenian Orthodox, or Jacobite, church is the second
largest Syrian Christian group. It uses an Armenian liturgy and
its doctrine is Monophysite.
Of the Uniate churches, the oldest is the Maronite, with ties
to Rome dating to the twelfth century. This group originally held
to the Monothelite heresy, but in 1215 renounced it. The liturgy
is in Syriac.
Among the Uniate churches, the largest is the Syrian Catholic
church, a Uniate offshoot of the Syrian Orthodox church, which
uses the same liturgy as the Maronites and has a similar
background. The Greek Catholic church is a Uniate offshoot of the
Greek Orthodox and, like it, uses Greek and Arabic. In contrast
to the Uniate Chaldean Catholics who derive from the Nestorian
church, the Nestorians, descendants of the ancient Nestorian
schismatics, are in communion with no other church and have their
own very ancient liturgy.
With the exception of the Armenians, most Christians are
Arab, sharing the pride of Muslims in the Islamic-Arabic
tradition and in Syria's special role in that tradition. Many
Christians, particularly the Eastern Orthodox, have joined in the
Arab nationalist movement and some are changing their Westernized
names to Arabic ones. More Syrian Arab Christians participate in
proportion to their number in political and administrative
affairs than do Muslims. Especially among the young, relations
between Christians and Muslims are improving.
There are several social differences between Christians and
Muslims. For example, Syrian Christians are more highly urbanized
than Muslims;many live either in or around Damascus, Aleppo,
Hamah, or Latakia, and there are relatively fewer of them in the
lower income groups. Proportionately more Christians than Muslims
are educated beyond the primary level, and there are relatively
more of them in white-collar and professional occupations. The
education that Christians receive has differed in kind from that
of Muslims in the sense that many more Christian children have
attended Western-oriented foreign and private schools.
Data as of April 1987
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