One of the five greatest generals of the ancient world and probably of all time was Hannibal of Carthage. He was Phoenician. He was from Lebanon. Not all Lebanese are bloody killers as we were led to believe. Some fanatic fundamentalists in Lebanon are. They are killers, but the Majority of Lebanese are not. So if you have read your Bible (Old or New Testament), you would know by now a lot of things and a lot of history about Lebanon (Ancient Phoenicia), including but not limited to Jesus visit to the Lebanese city of Saida, the sea travel departure spot of St. Paul near the Lebanese city of Jbeil, the Temple of Solomon, etc… And if you are a student of ecclesiastic and theological studies and the history of the first Christian churches, you already know that Lebanon was the cradle of Christianity. The very first Christian churches were not built in Rome but, in Lebanon and Antioch.
In the United States, as well as in
numerous Christian countries, the Catholic mass is celebrated and officiated
in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, etc., sometimes part of it
is offered to the worshipers in Latin. But did you know that the only
country in the world where the Christian mass is still offered in the
original tongue of Jesus Christ is Lebanon? The Christian priests and monks
in Lebanon recite prayers and read the Bible in Aramaic, the native language
of Jesus Christ. Christian Lebanese know more about Christian love for peace
and martyrdom than any of those big mouth politicians on Capitol Hill.
You
will learn from the Bible, from the Psalms, from the Poems of Solomon,
from the prophecies of the prophets of Israel, from the terra-cotta and
tablets of Babylonia, Luxor, Ougarit, Ain Shamra, Antioch, Assyria, Hyskos,
etc., etc., etc., that ancient Lebanese were the natural allies of the
Israelites and beloved neighbors of Israel!! Of course, things have
changed now
because of the influence
of the Islamic world, their Arab neighbors and the American foreign
policies.