The Forgotten History of Christianity – The Golden Millennium of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia… and its Destruction

Religions die. In the course of history, some religions fade away completely, and others that were once global now have only a handful of adherents. In some cases, religions survive in certain parts of the world, but die out in territories they once considered their own. For a thousand years, India was primarily Buddhist, but today this faith is marginal; so is Zoroastrianism in Persia or Islam in Spain. Such disasters are not limited to ancient or “primitive” beliefs; indeed, what we now consider the world’s great religions are as vulnerable to destruction as the faith practiced by the Aztecs or Mayans. Christianity has also disappeared several times in regions where it once flourished. In most cases, even the memory of Christians having ever been there has been erased, and today they are regarded as an invasive species from the West. This book deals precisely with the history of Christianity in those places where it no longer exists, from the Middle East to China, passing through North Africa, Ethiopia, Persia, India and other corners of the Far East.

PHILIP JENKINS T

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