Changes

Although Christianity existed in Roman Phoenice since the time of the Apostles, Christians were a minority among the majority pagans by the time Emperor Theodosius I issued The Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD. The coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon remained prosperous during Roman rule, but Phoenicia had ceased to be the maritime empire it once was centuries ago and the north of Berytus (Beirut) and the mountains of Lebanon concentrated a big part of the intellectual and religious activities. Very few Roman temples were built in the coastal cities, hence the reason for the reign of paganism in the interior of the land. The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when in 402 AD Saint Maron's first disciple, Abraham of Cyrrhus, who was called the Apostle of Lebanon, realized that there were many non-Christians in Lebanon and so he set out to convert the Phoenician inhabitants of the coastal lines and mountains of Lebanon, introducing them to the way of Saint Maron. In 451 AD, the Maronites followed the Council of Chalcedon, rejecting both monophysitism and miaphysitisim in favor of maintaining full communion with the then united Catholic Church. In 517 AD, a Chalcedonian conflict resulted in the massacre of 350 Maronite monks. Some sources detail the massacre was exacted under the orders of Monophysite Emperor Anastasius I, while others assign the responsibility to the Miaphysite Jacobite Syriacs.

Although Christianity existed in Roman Phoenice since the time of the Apostles, Christians were a minority among the majority pagans by the time Emperor Theodosius I issued The Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD. The coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon remained prosperous during Roman rule, but Phoenicia had ceased to be the maritime empire it once was centuries ago and the north of Berytus (Beirut) and the mountains of Lebanon concentrated a big part of the intellectual and religious activities. Very few Roman temples were built in the coastal cities, hence the reason for the reign of paganism in the interior of the land. The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when in 402 AD Saint Maron's first disciple, Abraham of Cyrrhus, who was called the Apostle of Lebanon, realized that there were many non-Christians in Lebanon and so he set out to convert the Phoenician inhabitants of the coastal lines and mountains of Lebanon, introducing them to the way of Saint Maron. In 451 AD, the Maronites followed the Council of Chalcedon, rejecting both monophysitism and miaphysitisim in favor of maintaining full communion with the then united Catholic Church. In 517 AD, a Chalcedonian conflict resulted in the massacre of 350 Maronite monks. Some sources detail the massacre was exacted under the orders of Monophysite Emperor Anastasius I, while others assign the responsibility to the Miaphysite Jacobite Syriacs.

[[Category:Catholics]]

[[Category:Catholics]]

[[Category:Lebanon]]

[[Category:Lebanon]]

[[Category:Middle East]]

[[Category:Middle East]]