"The almond tree shall blossom. " - Eccl. 12 5 ON the 7th of February, 1856 when we landed in Beirut, the almond trees were in bloom; their snow-white domes in full blossom were fragrant and full of promise of abundant fruit: "The silvery almond flower That blooms on a leafless bough," was a token for good. Flowers promise fruit. And now, February, 1909, fifty-three years have passed. The almond snowwhite blossoms have now drifted from the trees to the heads of the two youthful missionaries who landed in 1856. We area pair of hoary heads. We see those flowers all around us and over us. They give promise of fruit-of som…

What is religion? This question has puzzled theologians throughout human history. But how did religion start in the first place? Why did it start? In order to understand some of these issues, let us have a look at the etymology of the word “religion” itself, and see that when and where this word was used for the very first time in the human history.

The word religion was used for the very first time in the Latin language. The actual word used in Latin was “religio”, which changed into religion when came into English. The roots of the Arabic word “Mazhab” or “Deen” can also be traced back to “religio”. In the Latin language, the word “religio” had three basic meanings; which are Faith, Trust & Belief.

If you further analyse these three words, faith, trust and belief; then you realize that there are actually three different characteristics