Arabic speaking peoples were among the earliest members of the church. The Apostle Paul went to Arabia to study the Scriptures for a time, taking with him the knowledge of Christ. (Galatians 1:15-17) The Apostle Thaddeus took the Gospel to Arabia on a missionary journey. At Pentecost, Arabic speakers heard Peter preach the Gospel in Jerusalem. (Acts 2:11)
The early Christian church spoke, read and wrote Arabic.
In the 19th century, a Christian Paleo Arabic inscription was located in Zabad, Syria, dating to 512 A.D., engraved beside Greek and Syriac at the Church of St. Sergius.
Approximately, 300 years before the Christ Child’s arrival in Bethlehem, the Nabataean Kingdom existed in present-day Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula, southeastern Syria, and northwestern Saudi Arabia. By the time of Apostle Paul, their King Aretas had extended his reach to Damascus. (2Corinthians 11:32)
By the 4th century, the Nabateans, an ancient Arab race, were being Christianized. They built churches in their city of Petra.
The Nabatean culture developed Arabic from Aramaic which they used for commerce and trade. The cursive version became Arabic script by the third century. Aramaic features were incorporated into the new writing system.
Jesus spoke Aramaic. It was an early church language.
Other Christian Arab tribes included: the Sahilids (modern Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia), the Tanukhids (modern Southern Syria, Northern Arabia), the Ibad (Arabian tribes settled in Al-Hira, Iraq), and the Ghassanids (an Arabian tribe which migrated to the Levant).
The Ghassanids intermarried with the existing Christians of the Holy Land, those of Hebrew, Samaritan and Aramean descent. They continue to speak Arabic today.
Arabic is an early church language.
Modern Christians of the Middle East are the spiritual and physical descendants of the early church. They have kept the early church language of Arabic for 2,000 years. They have also kept the numerous holy places where Jesus walked, taught, lived, died and rose from the dead.
No matter the lines drawn by world powers, these people are one people.
In the words of the Lord, “I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20-21)
The Lord prayed for unity of his church 2,000 years ago. His prayer is yet valid today. A united church is a witness to the world of the truth of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
The mind is renewed through—the Scriptures. They speak truth. The Word states that God desires the unity of his church. It is his will.
The world speaks “division;” God speaks “unity” in Jesus. There is only one Lord. (Ephesians 4:5)
To honor the Lord and the early and present Arabic speaking church in the Holy Land, “I AM” from John 18:5 has been embroidered in this artwork titled “I AM.”
Listen to the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic: