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Christianity in Jordan

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The Greek Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist at Al-Maghtas, Jordan.

Jordan is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, dating back to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ early in the 1st century AD. Christians today make up about 3% of the population. There are approximately 250,000-400,000 Jordanian Christians in a country of almost 10 million.[1] Their total share of the population was 20% in 1930, and their absolute numbers have increased since then.[2] This is the result of high immigration rate of Muslims into Jordan, high emigration rates of Christians, and high birth rates for Muslims.

Jordan's Arab Christians are well integrated in the Jordanian society and enjoy a high level of freedom.[3] All Christian religious ceremonies are allowed to be publicly celebrated in Jordan.[4]

History

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A small percentage of Jordanian Christians are Bedouin, the picture shows a Bedouin Christian family from Madaba in 1904

The history of Christianity in present-day Jordan dates back to the Apostolic Age, when the region formed part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea and the wider Holy Land. Archaeological and literary evidence indicates that the region became an important center of Christianity during the Byzantine period and remained home to substantial Christian communities after the Muslim conquest of the Levant.[5]

Many Jordanian Christians trace their ancestry to the indigenous Christian populations of the Levant, including Arab tribes such as the Ghassanids, who served as federates of the Byzantine Empire and played a major role in the religious and political life of the region.[6]

The majority of Jordanian Christians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, one of the oldest Christian sees in the world.[7]

During the Battle of Mu'tah in 629 CE, fought near present-day Al-Karak, Muslim forces confronted troops of the Byzantine Empire and their Arab Christian allies, including contingents associated with the Ghassanids.[8][9]

Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the seventh century, Christian communities continued to live throughout the region and remained an important component of its social and religious landscape.[10]

From 1916 to 1918, during the Arab Revolt, Arab forces in the region that later became Jordan participated alongside other Arab groups in the uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Following the collapse of Ottoman rule after World War I, the territory of Transjordan came under British administration as part of the British Mandate period and the Emirate of Transjordan, which later became the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the Six-Day War of 1967, the Jordanian Armed Forces included both Muslim and Christian citizens, who served together in defense of Jordan and participated in the broader Arab–Israeli conflicts. Jordanian Christians have also played an active role in the social, political, and economic development of the modern Jordanian state, contributing significantly to public service, education, healthcare, commerce, and other sectors.[11][12]

Role in Jordanian society

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Christians are exceptionally well integrated in the Jordanian society and have a comparatively high level of freedom, though they are not free to evangelize Muslims.[3] They form a significant part of the kingdom's political and economic elite. Christians enjoy high economic and social opportunities in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan compared to the position of some, but not all, of their co-religionists in the rest of the Middle East. Christians are allotted 9 out of 130 seats in the Jordanian parliament[13] and also hold important ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank.

Jordanian Christians are allowed by the public and private sectors to leave their work to attend mass on Sundays. All Christian religious ceremonies are publicly celebrated in Jordan. Christians have established good relations with the royal family and the various Jordanian government officials, and they have their own ecclesiastical courts for matters of personal status. The government has contributed to restoring pilgrimages to the baptismal site of Jesus. Christians involved in Jordanian politics include Deputy Prime Minister Rajai Muasher and ambassador to the U.S. Dina Kawar.[14]

Jordanian Christians of the evangelical church created the Jordan Evangelical Council in 2006. The most recent elections in September 2019 elected Reverend Habes Nimat as president and Reverend David Rihani as vice president.[15]

King Abdullah II is an ardent supporter of Arab Christians:[16]

Let me say once again: Arab Christians are an integral part of my region’s past, present, and future.

Demographics

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In 2022 Muslims made up about 97.2% of the country's population, while Christians made up 2.1% of the country's population.[17] Half of the Christians, or 1.06% of the country's population, were Catholics (115,000 people).[18] A 2015 study estimated 6,500 Christian believers, from a Muslim background, were in the country (mainly Protestant).[19] Jordanian Christians number around 250,000, most of whom are ethnically Arab, according to a 2014 estimate by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The study excluded minority Christian groups and the thousands of Iraqi and Syrian Christians residing in Jordan.[20]

Under sharia law converts from Islam are still considered Muslims;[17] however, there are cases in which a Muslim will adopt the Christian faith, secretly declaring their faith. In effect, they are practising Christians but legally Muslims; thus, the statistics of Jordanian Christians does not include Muslim converts to Christianity. A 2015 study estimates there are some 6,500 Christians from a Muslim background in Jordan.[21]

Denominations

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Group of Iraqi Christians (Assyrians) in an evangelical alliance church, Jabal Amman, 1998.
Ittihad Uniting Church, Jabal Amman.

Among the recognized denominations the Greek Orthodox, Catholic (Latin, Melkite Greek Catholic, and Maronite Catholic), Anglican, Armenian Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox Church make up the majority of Jordan's Christian population. Also the Lutheran, Coptic Orthodox, Seventh-day Adventist, United Pentecostal, Latter-day Saints, and Presbyterian churches are recognized denominations while they make up a much smaller proportion of the Christian population.

In addition to the recognized denominations there are religious societies that are allowed to meet freely, but are not recognized as churches by the government. The recognized religious societies are the Evangelical Free Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Assembly of God, the Baptist Church, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance.[22]

Christian denominations in Jordan belong to four major denominational groups:

Sites

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Biblical sites

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Jordan is part of the Holy Land and has several biblical attractions that attract pilgrimage and tourist activities. Biblical sites include; Al-Maghtas where Jesus was baptized; Mount Nebo where Moses looked on to the Promised Land; Umm ar-Rasas, a fortified Roman garrison that contains 16 Byzantine churches; Madaba that holds the Madaba Map which is the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land; Machaerus which is a fortified hilltop overlooking the Dead Sea where John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed; and Umm Qais (Gadara) where Jesus expelled demons out of a man near the shores of the Sea of Galilee.[23]

In northern Jordan, there is a small creek where an angel met and wrestled with the patriarch Jacob. The rock struck by Moses to bring forth water and the patriarch Aaron's tomb are both in southern Jordan. The ruins of the fortress of the Ammonites are on a mountain overlooking downtown Amman. This is the site where King David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah the Hittite killed.

Other sites

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There are many Arab and Frankish castles from the period of the Crusades in Jordan, the most famous of which is Ajlun castle located in the Ajloun district in northern Jordan. Other castles include Montreal and Kerak. Fuheis and Al Husn are two predominantly Christian towns of Jordan. The world's oldest known purpose-built church exists in Aqaba.

Institutions

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Schools

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The National Orthodox School in Amman

There are many Christian schools in Jordan that educate students from both Christian and Muslim families. Some members of the royal family have attended a Christian school for a portion of their education. The Rosary Sister's School is run by the Catholic Church. The Franciscan Sisters School is run by the Franciscans. The National Orthodox School is run by the Eastern Orthodox Church and has received The Cambridge Queen Rania Award multiple times.

The Ahliyyah School for Girls, the Bishop's School for Boys, and the Schneller School are run by the Anglican Church in Amman. There are also a school for the blind, a school for the deaf, and a school for physically handicapped students run by the Anglican church. The Baptist School of Amman is administered by the Baptist church in Jordan and enrolls students of both genders. The Baptist School band has played at many official government occasions.

La Salle Amman is one of the most prestigious schools in Amman founded in 1950. An institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools founded by Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. Along with Our Lady of Nazareth college and Terra Santa college. The Alliance Academy of Jordan a newly founded school in 2014 by the oldest Evangelical community in Jordan the Church & Missionary Alliance, regarded as a state of the art British and American based system school. The latest Chairman of the Board was Vice President of the CMA Rev. Hassan Dababneh.

Hospitals

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The first hospital built in Jordan was the "Evangelical Hospital" built in As-Salt by the Church Missionary Society. The Italian Hospital in Amman and in Kerak were started by a Catholic surgeon and are entrusted to the Comboni Missionary Sisters. The Catholic Church runs a maternity hospital and a general hospital in Irbid. The Government Hospital in Ajloun was originally run by Baptists.

The Annoor Sanatorium in Mafraq, which treats tuberculosis and other lung diseases, was founded by a Christian doctor. Several mission clinics were founded across Jordan.

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Kildani, Hanna (8 July 2015). "الأب د. حنا كلداني: نسبة الأردنيين المسيحيين المقيمين 3.68%" (in Arabic). Abouna.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Vela, Justin (14 February 2015). "Jordan: The safe haven for Christians fleeing ISIL". The National. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 Miller, Duane Alexander (November 2011). "The Episcopal Church in Jordan: Identity, Liturgy, and Mission". Journal of Anglican Studies. 9 (2): 134–153. doi:10.1017/S1740355309990271. S2CID 144069423. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Fleishman, Jeffrey (10 May 2009). "For Christian enclave in Jordan, tribal lands are sacred". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Schick, Robert (1995). The Christian Communities of Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic Rule: A Historical and Archaeological Study. Princeton: Darwin Press. pp. 303–320.
  6. ↑ Shahîd, Irfan (1995). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 1, Part 1. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 306–320.
  7. ↑ Pacini, Andrea (1998). Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 38–40.
  8. ↑ Donner, Fred M. (1981). The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton University Press. pp. 86–88.
  9. ↑ Kennedy, Hugh (2007). The Great Arab Conquests. Da Capo Press. pp. 33–35.
  10. ↑ Schick, Robert (1995). The Christian Communities of Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic Rule: A Historical and Archaeological Study. Princeton: Darwin Press. pp. 321–340.
  11. ↑ Fromkin, David (1989). A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. Henry Holt. pp. 288–310.
  12. ↑ Pacini, Andrea (1998). Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future. Clarendon Press. pp. 92–97.
  13. ↑ "Home - Minority Rights Group". Minorityrights.org. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  14. ↑ "Kawar appointed envoy at UN". Jordan Times. 4 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "Jordan Evangelical Council selects new president". Jordan Times. September 7, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Remarks by His Majesty King Abdullah II at the Plenary Session of the 69th United Nations General Assembly". Royal Hashemite Court. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  17. 1 2 US State Dept 2022 report
  18. ↑ Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08
  19. ↑ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11: 14. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  20. ↑ Kildani, Hanna (8 July 2015). "الأب د. حنا كلداني: نسبة الأردنيين المسيحيين المقيمين 3.68%" (in Arabic). Abouna.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  21. ↑ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 11: 16. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Jordan". United States Department of State. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "Jordan's Historical and Christian Sites Are Worth a Middle Eastern Journey". The Christian Post. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
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