The roots of Christianity in Lebanon -

The roots of Christianity in Lebanon 

Dr. Antoine Khoury Harb - Book: The Maronites History & Constants 

After his incarnation, his crucifixion, resurrection, and prior to his ascension to heaven, Christ said unto his disciples: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost".(1 - Mathieu 28:19)

The disciples carried the promise of salvation to the peoples of the earth.

The Lebanese were the first to receive the promise of salvation which originated in Palestine. There were three reasons for this: 

I - Geographical: Palestine is separated from Africa, Asia and Europe by deserts in the south and east, and by the Mediterranean sea in the west. Only northern Palestine is linked to southern Lebanon without any Natural obstacles.

II - Historical: (hinges on the Geographical): Christ grew up, preached, and performed most of His miracles in Galilee, in South Lebanon and Northern Palestine. That is why He was called the "Galilean". The "Dictionary of the Bible" defines Galilee as the region between Akka and Carmel in the south, Tyre and its region in the north, Tiberias and Jordan in the east, and the coastal plane in the West (2- Vigouroux, F., - <Dictionaries DE la Bible>, Paris 1903,T. III, p.87.). This area was called the "Galilee of Nations" because of the dominance of the Can'anite-Phoenician race over Jewish race since the days of Isaiah, i.e. 8th century B.C. (3 - Isaïe 9:1, Maccabees 1, 5:14-23)

Moreover, the Evangelists mentioned that Christ addressed the Lebanese directly, especially the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon and visited those two cities (4 - Marc 7:31) where He cured the daughter of “a woman of Can’an” (5 - Mathieu 15:21-28), and performed His first miracle in Cana of Galilee, 12 kms from Tyre (6 - Jean 2:2-12).

III - Cultural: Christianity was not alien to the inhabitants of Lebanon and Was not drastically different from same ancient Lebanese beliefs. Divine Incarnation, self-sacrifice, resurrection, the principal of Triad, and the necessity of human bondage, were the cornerstone of the ancient Lebanese creed (7 - HOURANI, Y., - < Le Liban dans ses valeurs historiques > (en arabe), Dar Al-Mashreq, Beyrouth 1972, p. 223-241). They understood these principles in a slightly different way from that of Christianity. This explains the intellectual and confessional affiliation which the Lebanese felt first with Christ the Man and God and then with His disciples. 

Because of its natural, intellectual, and cultural characteristics, the ancient indigenous of Lebanon were the most likely to accept Christianity following its initiation in Palestine (8 - DAOU, P.B., - <Le Liban dans la vie du Christ> (en arabe), Imp. Pauliste 1980 - HARB, A.KH.- <Les racines du christianisme au Liban> (en arabe), Libania, Beyrouth 1984).