• Login
    View Item 
    •   NWU-IR Home
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
    • Theology
    • View Item
    •   NWU-IR Home
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
    • Theology
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The decline of the Christian church in Turkey in the 15th and 20th century : a church–historical study

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Kim_KS.pdf (3.964Mb)
    Date
    2010
    Author
    Kim, Kwi Soon
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This thesis explores the reasons that contributed to the decline of the Christian population during the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires. Furthermore, the study compares the differences and similarities in the causes of the decline of Christianity in the land of Turkey during the Medieval and modem eras. In the Byzantine Empire, especially during the late periods of the 11 th -15th centuries, the Eastern Church was not independent. Most of the time, the Church subordinated herself to the state. This subordination led to compromise with the political power and spiritual deterioration. The clergymen, for instance, lived a loose lifestyle and neglected their responsibilities. Moreover, the Church's original eschatological expectation and apocalyptic ideas dissipated. The teaching of the Scripture was ignored. The Church in the Ottoman Empire existed under the Muslim authority. Christians became second-rate citizens, and lived in restricted situations under the Islamic law for about four hundred years. Many Christians became Muslims because of various advantageous options that were given by the Muslim rulers during the 15th - 17th centuries. Like the Byzantine Church, the Church in the Ottoman Empire was also corrupted by the financial greed of the bishops who had political ambitions. With the coming of missionaries in the nineteenth century, the Christian minority lived energetic lives for a century. However, when nationalism arose among the minorities, the Church got deeply involved in politics and suffered with their parishioners. As a result, numerous Greeks, and over one million Armenians paid their lives for their earthly freedom from the Ottoman Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries. The Christian population shrank. Sadly, only a handful of Christians have remained. The study concludes that although various reasons contributed to the decline of Christianity and Christian population, the main reason was the Church herself.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10394/8456
    Collections
    • Theology [774]

    Copyright © North-West University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of NWU-IR Communities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisor/SupervisorThesis TypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisor/SupervisorThesis Type

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Copyright © North-West University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV