Bonaparte’s Expedition to Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) and His Policy towards Local Christians

В статье рассматриваются основные аспекты политики французского военного командования в отношении христианских общин Османского Египта и Османской Сирии во время экспедиции Бонапарта (1798–1801 гг.). Особое внимание уделено замыслам Бонапарта и его преемников на посту главнокомандующего по привлечению египетских и сирийских христиан к сотрудничеству с французской оккупационной администрацией в качестве чиновников и солдат вспомогательных военных отрядов. Также в статье рассматривается французская пропаганда в сопоставлении с практическими действиями в отношении египетских коптов и сирийских христиан наряду с ответной реакцией со стороны как христианских общин, так и мусульманского большинства населения Османского Египта и Османской Сирии. Выявлены противоречия и двойственность политики Бонапарта и его преемников на посту главнокомандующего Восточной армии – Клебера и Мену в отношении местных христиан. Французское командование рассматривало восточных христиан как потенциальных союзников, но в то же время не решалось выражать к ним особые симпатии, поскольку подобные действия могли вызвать возмущение среди мусульманского большинства населения и создать впечатление, что французы ведут религиозную войну против ислама и мусульман. В статье сделан вывод о том, что эта непоследовательность стала одной из причин неудачи египетской экспедиции Бонапарта, когда французская армия в ходе военных действий в Египте и Сирии оказалась отрезанной от Франции и в то же время не могла пополнять свои ряды добровольцами из числа местных жителей. The article examines the main aspects of the policy of the French military command in relation to the Christian communities of Ottoman Egypt and Ottoman Syria during the expedition of Bonaparte (1798–1801). Particular attention is paid to the plans of Bonaparte and his successors as commander-in-chief to attract Egyptian and Syrian Christians to cooperate with the French occupation administration as officials and soldiers of auxiliary military units. The article also examines French propaganda in comparison with practical actions towards Egyptian Copts and Syrian Christians, and the response from both Christian communities and the Muslim majority of the population of Ottoman Egypt and Ottoman Syria. The contradictions and ambiguity of the policy of Bonaparte and his successors as commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army – Kleber and Menou towards local Christians are revealed. The French command considered Eastern Christians as potential allies, but at the same time did not dare to express special sympathy for them, since such actions could cause outrage among the Muslim majority of the population and create the impression that the French are waging a religious war against Islam and Muslims. The article concludes that this inconsistency was one of the reasons for the failure of Bonaparte's Egyptian expedition, when the French army was cut off from France during the hostilities in Egypt and Syria and at the same time could not replenish its ranks with volunteers from among the local residents.

Child Sexual Abuse by Religious Authority Figures in Germany and Israel: The Experiences and Perceptions of Adult Survivors

The current study is based on an in-depth thematic analysis of 20 interviews with German and Israeli adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) by religious authority figures (RAF). This paper aims to explore survivors’ experiences within the Jewish ultra-Orthodox and Christian communities, as well as to draw comparisons between the abusive structures and disclosure in these two contexts. The results point to the complexity of CSA by RAF, which is embedded in the survivors’ perceptions of themselves as emotionally and cognitively captured by the perpetrators who are a symbol of a parent or God and faith. The participants expressed great concern regarding disclosing the abuse against the backdrop of familial, cultural, and community inhibitors, such as fear of social stigmatization, inability to recognize the abuse, and the taboo of sexuality discourse. The survivors’ traumatic experiences were intensified in light of negative social responses to disclosure and encounters with insensitive officials. A comparison of the cultures revealed differences regarding the nature of community life and educational institutions, which may have shaped the disclosure and recognition of the abuse. The study highlights the importance of comparative follow-up studies related to this phenomenon in order to examine its universal and unique cultural contexts.

A Posture of Protest? The Search for Christian Identity in A Post-Secular Society: Between Secularised Eschatology and A Sacralisation of History

This article theorises ideations of “the people” in a comparative reflection on Latin-Christian theologies and typologies of time and secularised appropriations thereof in right-wing as well as far-right movements in Europe and the United States of America. Understanding the world in grand narratives of “good” and “evil” emerges from Christian eschatological hope: the hope of the restoration and renewal of the cosmos and the final defeat of evil prophesised in association with the return of Christ. However, this language of good and evil becomes detached from the wider corpus of Christian belief and theology. In its secular expression, it may attach the good to an abstract and normative account of “the people”, who are defined in contrast to a range of others, both internal and external to the nation. Secular iterations might further echo the stratification of present, past and future through a sacralisation of the past and a dramatization of the future. The context of contemporary right-wing and far-right movements poses a series of questions about the relationship between belief and belonging, the acceptability of the secularization of Christian traditions and theologies, and the extent to which Christian communities can legitimately associate with right-wing movements.

Augusta (c. AD 350–80)

London’s later Roman defences were enhanced by a series of towers, or bastions, likely to have been built in association with military campaigns in Britain in the 360s. The revived walled city housed important institutions of Roman government, several of which were later described in the Notitia Dignitatum, and was renamed Augusta. This chapter reviews the archaeological evidence for the fourth century city set within its historical context. It also summarizes the uncertain evidence of London’s first Christian communities, and considers the extent to which new institutional arrangements gave rise to new forms of public architecture.

Interactions between Jews and Christians in Later Medieval Provence

This study uses an extensive body of archival evidence from Latin-Christian sources to explore economic and social interactions between Provençal Jews and Christians. Evidence discussed in section one indicates that the city’s Jewish and Christian communities interacted to a significant degree, and not just in the domain of moneylending. Data derived from a network analysis suggests that Jews were prominent in providing brokerage services. In the second section, analysis of a small sample of Jewish estate inventories indicates that the material profiles of Jewish and Christian families were very similar. In the third section, an analysis of a register of debt collection shows that Jews were involved in credit relations at a rate that was proportional to their population. Jewish moneylenders filled an economic niche by providing Christians with the liquidity to pay off structural debts generated by the political economy of rents and taxes.

The Poverty Captivity of Mission in the Churches—and Strategies for Its Liberation

Western world mission initiatives since World War II have become captive to a dominant emphasis on socioeconomic amelioration. The Poverty Captivity of Mission departs from the economically multivalent mission patterns of Jesus, early Christian communities, and the medieval church. It typically recapitulates assumptions of Western and white superiority embedded in colonial emphases on “civilizing” mission. Strategies for its liberation include learning from the Majority World, reaching middle and elite classes as well as the poor, developing relationships of companionship and friendship, and employing asset-based community development.

Yorùbá Coastal Christian Communities: From the Evangelist Band Mission to the Zion and Holy Apostles Communities

This article highlights the diversity of African Christianity in the Ìlàjẹ and Ìkále areas of present-day Ondo State, as well as in neighboring communities. It compares the successive religious movements led by E. M. Líjàdú and his Evangelist Band Mission, which represents an African missionary effort of the first generation in the Ikale and Ìlàjẹ areas, and the more recent Zion and Holy Apostles communities that have been established along the coast as independent Christian settlements under local spiritual leaders and kings. The article shows that there are certain similarities and differences between the successive movements. While the different conditions of the periods in which these movements operated, and the different conditions in which these religious activities were organized, matter, both movements offered their converts a new understanding of the world in which existing practices, were re-examined through an engagement with education and ‘modernity’ in a more general sense, and through existing forms of spiritual expression such as music, dance, and dress.

Intercultural Dialogue in the Middle Ages: A Christian Cemetery in Pagan Vilnius

In Medieval Europe, Lithuania remained a pagan state the longest, officially accepting Catholic baptism only in 1387. But the country had already been influenced by Christian culture, Orthodox from the East and Catholic from the West, since the 11th century. It should be noted that this influence was not the same: Catholicism was mostly brought ‘by fire and sword’ in the role of the Teutonic Order while the spread of Orthodox Christianity could be more peaceful. It is frequently stressed that the Ruthenian Orthodox Christians were close neighbours of the pagan Lithuanians, settling in Lithuania as subjects of the grand dukes. While the Catholics needed to be invited, the Orthodox Christians from the Ruthenian lands were already subjects of the grand dukes. Thus, communities of both branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic, had settled here and were interacting in a still pagan environment in pagan cities ruled by pagan dukes. This article, in seeking to present the circumstances of the settlement of one of the early Christian communities in Vilnius, the Orthodox one, and its development, examines this community through data from the burial site it left and the interpretation of those data.

Harag és agresszió a keresztyén viselkedéskultúrában

Anger and Aggression in the Christian Cultural Behaviour. One of the typical pitfalls of the Christian practice of piety is the image of the Christian man born of high ideals. The inner image of the perfect Christian hides man’s true SELF. The incorporation of sin-oriented theology, shame, and self-infidelity shapes hiding strategies in Christians. This is the reason for disabling impermissible feelings such as anger and aggression. However, spiritual bypasses that offer a quick solution pose a serious threat to Christian communities. Keywords: anger, aggression, Christian community, ideal, spiritual bypass