Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in the Ottoman Empire Research Papers (original) (raw)

This is a Ph.D. dissertation in Albanian, presented at the University of Tirana, entitled "The Protestant Movement Among the Albanians, 1816–1908)." Evangelical Protestantism is one of five historic and recognized faith communities in Albania, but it is arguably the least known. Although several scholarly works have treated specific contributions or personalities of the Albanian Protestant Movement, until now there has been no exhaustive survey of the movement as a whole. The presentation of such a survey fills a necessary gap and offers Albanian scholarship new stream of historical source materials. This work, submitted on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, provides an overview of the theology that motivated global Protestant missionary expansion, explores the potential existence of Protestantism in Albanian-populated territories before the nineteenth century, and presents a chronology of the movement in four periods. The first period (1816–1858) is distinguished by the first-ever translation of the New Testament into Albanian. The second period (1858–1873) is marked by the increase of Albanian Bible distribution and the growth of American missionary endeavor in the Ottoman Empire. In the third phase (1873–1884), Protestant missionaries arrived in Monastir (Bitola) and began working with Albanians, some who converted to Protestantism and were educated in Protestant institutions. Finally, in the fourth phase (1884–1908), as the Albanian National Awakening was reaching its climax, a truly Albanian Evangelical Protestant movement was born, when Gerasim Kyrias and other Albanians preached the Gospel, translated books, established the Albanian Evangelical Brotherhood, and opened a school for girls in Kortcha. The Protestant Movement arrived in Albania when there were no Albanian Protestants, no Albanian Bibles, no Albanian books in circulation, no Albanian schools, and almost no Albanian religious services. In such a context, some Albanian nationalist figures began to perceive the religions of the day as divisive, foreign forces being misused to prevent Albanian unification and to accelerate the Albanians’ political assimilation as the Ottoman Empire weakened and other Balkan nations strengthened. As Evangelical Protestantism produced more Albanian books, Albanian Bibles, Albanian schools, Albanian religious services, Albanian hymns, and Albanian preachers, it began to be perceived as an nationalizing force that helped to enforce the Albanian identity. Approximately 165,000 words.