A study of the identity-formation process that the Christians of Syria-Palestine experienced during the Umayyad Caliphate. It approaches this subject by using John of Damascus and his writings on Islam as a case-study. This provides an exhaustive study of the available historical data in order to stimulate some further thought on John of Damascus’s theology and legacy from a contextual and intercultural methodology. Such an examination has not yet been pursued in the scholarship of Byzantine Christianity during that era. Proceeding from a centralizing ‘context’, the monograph revisits John of Damascus’s legacy (and the Umayyad Christians’ identity-formation of that era) from the perspective of his historical, Islamic-Arabic context, and not from any assumed, metanarrative, common to contemporary pro-Byzantine theology scholars.
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-0757-1
Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Dec 6,2018
Interior Color: Black with Color Inserts
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 484
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-0757-1
A study of the identity-formation process that the Christians of Syria-Palestine experienced during Umayyad Caliphate. It approaches this subject by using John of Damascus and his writings on Islam as a case-study. This provides an exhaustive study of the available historical data in order to stimulate some further thought on John of Damascus’s theology and legacy from a contextual and intercultural methodology. Such an examination has not yet been pursued in the scholarship of Byzantine Christianity during that era. Proceeding from a centralizing ‘context’, the monograph revisits John of Damascus’s legacy (and the Umayyad Christians’ identity-formation of that era) from the perspective of his historical, Islamic-Arabic context, and not from any assumed, mita-narrative, common to contemporary pro-Byzantine theology scholars.
''...a useful contribution to the Umayyad context of John of Damascus’s writings, which are fairly situated in their sociocultural environment (the Sitz im Leben). In the light of Awad’s broad investigations, we are now able better to understand why John focussed rather on popular beliefs than on theological arguments (although these must not be neglected).
Professor Reinhold F. Glei, Der Islam, 2020, Volume 20, Issue 4.
"Umayyad Christianity is an important book that tries to decryt the complexity of the Sufyanic-Marwanid switch, identifying John of Damascus and the religious spectrum as paradigmatically relevant in establishing a proto-Islamic spiritual identity."
Dr Marco Demichelis, Gregorianum, 2020, Vol. 101, Issue IV
"Awad’s book can prove helpful for students of Christian identity under Arab rule, particularly those who wish to study more about the identity and legacy of John of Damascus."
Samuel Nwokoro, The Expository Times , 2019, Vol. 131, Issue 2
"Awad’s monograph Umayyad Christianity is an extensive analysis of Melkite Christians living during the Umayyad period (661–750).."
Associate Professor David Bertaina; Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, June 2020, Vol. 89, Issue 2
