1864-1866 - Conversions slow-Mrs. Jessup's death - A sorrowful furlough - Cholera epidemic - A new church building. AT the opening of 1864, Dr. Thomson was in Egypt en route to Sinai, engaged in Biblical researches, accompanied by Dr. E. R. Beadle (of Hartford and Philadelphia and formerly a missionary in Syria), and Rev. Arthur Mitchell. January 3d, six adults were received to the Beirut church, one of them a daughter of Shaheen Barakat, the elder of the church in Hasbeiya who was killed in the massacre while praying for his enemies. The Sunday-school and Bible classes were well attended and there were seven hundred and fifty children i...

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