Christian Homeland: Episcopalians and the Middle East
The Rev. Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr.
Retired priest, Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island
Date: Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Time: 12 - 1pm
Location: 24 Quincy Road, Room 101
As the birthplace of the Christian faith, the Middle East had always been an area of fascination to church people in the West, and with the expansion of American diplomatic and commercial interests into the Mediterranean in the early nineteen century, leaders of the newly organized Episcopal Church felt empowered to similarly spread their religious values into the region. Beginning in the 1830s, Episcopalians established mission posts in Athens and Constantinople (Istanbul), from which they expected to initiate a mass conversion of Muslims and Jews to Christianity, but when these evangelistic aspirations failed to materialize, they turned their attention to reforming the ancient churches of the East instead. Later assisted by the Church of England’s missionary episcopate in Jerusalem, a small, but influential corps of Episcopalians dedicated themselves to keeping church members in the United States informed about Middle Eastern affairs, particularly the increasingly tenuous status of the region’s Christian population. In this talk, Gardiner Shattuck will outline how the theological and ecclesiastical assumptions held by Episcopal leaders not only guided their missionary activities in the Middle East, but also influenced their denomination’s response to major social and political questions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries – issues such as immigration into the United States, genocide, refugee relief, and Zionism.
The Rev. Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr. is both a retired priest of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island and an academically trained historian who has written extensively about the involvement of American Protestants in political and social issues during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A graduate of Brown University (A.B.), General Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Harvard University (A.M., Ph.D.), he is the author of A Shield and Hiding Place: The Religious Life of the Civil War Armies (1987), Episcopalians and Race: Civil War to Civil Rights (2000), and Christian Homeland: Episcopalians and the Middle East, 1820-1958 (2023) as well as a co-author of The Encyclopedia of American Religious History (1996, 2001) and The Episcopalians (2004). He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church and the Steering Committee of the African American Episcopal Historical Collection at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Carenen, Caitlin. The Fervent Embrace: Liberal Protestants, Evangelicals, and Israel. New York: New York University Press, 2012.
Geffert, Bryn. Eastern Orthodox and Anglicans: Diplomacy, Theology, and the Politics of Interwar Ecumenism. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010.
Hollinger, David A. Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2017.
Hutchison, William R. Errand to the World: American Protestant Thought and Foreign Missions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Marr, Timothy. The Cultural Roots of American Islamicism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Nirenberg, David. Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition. New York: Norton, 2013.
Perry, Yaron. British Mission to the Jews in Nineteenth-Century Palestine. London: Frank Cass, 2003.
Robson, Laura. Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011.
Winter, Jay, ed. America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
This past March, Matija Šerić, a geopolitical analyst for the Eurasia Review, published an article addressing modern Christian experiences in the Middle East. Šerić offered data showing the decreased rates of Christians in the region due to high levels of religious discrimination and persecution. He advocates for an increased awareness of religious diversity in the Middle East and for increased protection from religion-based violence. This article provides an interesting backdrop for Shattuck’s book and upcoming luncheon that discusses the history of Episcopalian missionaries in the region.
Rev. Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr. addressing the audience during his luncheon colloquium.
Photo Credits: Christopher Soldt, MTS
At the first luncheon of the academic year, Reverend Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr. delved into the history of Christianity, particularly the Episcopal Church's involvement in the Middle East. Shattuck, whose academic background spans American religious studies and American politics, initially had little knowledge of the Episcopal Church's presence in the Middle East until embarking on his latest research project, which culminated in his newest book, Christian Homeland: Episcopalians and the Middle East.
His research was motivated by the responses to a protest in Boston, where three Episcopal bishops demonstrated Muslim solidarity in response to Israeli actions in Bethlehem. Shattuck's presentation focused on five main areas of Christian engagement in the Middle East, highlighting the activities of Episcopal Church leaders. These areas included evangelization, ecumenical outreach, humanitarian aid, assistance to Middle Eastern Christians seeking refuge in the United States, and influence on U.S. foreign policy.
A significant portion of his research revolved around Horatio Southgate, the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church. The historical context of Southgate helped Shattuck present the discrimination and violence against Christians in the Ottoman Empire, the response of Protestant Bishop Henry Yates Satterlee, and the later Armenian genocide (1915-1922) by the Empire. Shattuck also explored the creation of the Episcopal-inspired American Committee for Relief in the Near East in response to these events.
These historical events paved the way for the Palestine Zionist movement, which Shattuck connected to the Peel Commission partition plan, opposition from both Christian and Jewish populations to the partition of Palestine, and the overarching influence of supersessionist theology.
Shattuck concluded his presentation by highlighting three examples of lay Episcopal involvement in major anti-Zionist organizations. He then opened the floor for discussion, inviting responses to his book, and fielding questions from the audience.