New Faith in Ancient Lands

Book excerpt: Over the centuries, the Middle East has held an important place in the religious consciousness of many Christians in West and East. In the nineteenth century, these interests culminated in extensive missionary work of Protestant and Roman Catholic organisations, among Eastern Christians, Muslims and Jews. The present volume, in articles written by an international group of scholars, discusses themes like the historical background of Christian geopiety among Roman Catholics and Protestants, and the internal tensions and conflicting aims of missions and missionaries, such as between nationalist and internationalist interests, between various rival organisations and between conversionalist and civilizational aims of missions in the Ottoman Empire. In a synthetic overview and a comprehensive bibliography an up-to-date introduction into this field is provided.