Our pilgrimage to Eastern Turkey Day 1: Erzurum

For those of us who had never been to this part of Turkey before, I don’t think any of us had very much idea what to expect from this trip. The itinerary, telling us that we would start with an exploration of the abandoned ruins of Armenian Christianity and some spectacular remains of their civilization, meant little to me anyway, in spite of some background reading beforehand.

I found history very boring at school but I wish I'd paid a little more attention because I soon found that it was important to understand some of the historical background to the places we were to visit if we were to get the most out of our trip. So here's a little background to Erzurum, in Eastern Anatolia. This paragraph can be skipped if you just want to read about the sites visited and nothing more but I promise you it does have some relevance now and later!

Erzurum can only be traced with certainty to the 4th century AD, when it was part of the old Armenian Empire, where our pilgrimage begins. Some however claim a history dating as far back as 4000 BC. It is located on the historic Silk Road from Persia to the Black Sea and is Turkey’s highest main city at more than 1750 metres. Erzurum is famous for its Seljuk architecture, the House of Seljuq being a Turkish Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually adopted Persian culture and contributed to the Turko-Persian tradition in the medieval West and Central Asia. As with so many of the towns in this part of the world, Erzurum has had a turbulent and violent history. Occupied twice by the Russians in the19th Century and again in the First World War, it features in John Buchan’s novel Greenmantle, a mainly fictional story but with a smattering of truth; in the story Richard Hannay of The Thirty Nine Steps fame, and his friends, must thwart the Germans’ plans to use religion to help them win the war, climaxing at the battle of Erzurum. In 1915 in real life the town suffered from the genocide by the Ottomans of its prominent Armenian Christians and by 1919 the mostly Christian Armenian population, predominantly of the Armenian Apostolic Church, had virtually died out. This ethnic cleansing of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire is air brushed out of some history books and not always accepted as the genocide that it clearly was. It is estimated that 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the persecutions of 1894-1896, and then in 1915-1916, when during WW1 the Turks regarded the Christian Armenians in Turkey of being potential allies of Imperial Russia and therefore the enemy. It is clear that there are still deep and unhealed wounds felt by the remaining Armenians from this era. It was a sobering start to our journey.

Erzurum is now a huge commercial and cultural center, known for its winter sports, its precious minerals and tourism, but mainly perhaps for its Ataturk University, which makes an important contribution to the economy of the city. On the surrounding fertile plain crops of wheat, barley, millet, sugar beets, and other vegetables, are grown, and there is much livestock trading. As we drove in from the hotel we saw huge flocks of sheep and goats seemingly roaming freely everywhere around the outskirts, under the watchful eye of one or more shepherds, usually assisted by a dog or two.

We stopped off in Erzurum mainly to see the Çifte Minareli Medrese or twin minaret madrasa, a typical example of a Seljuk Koranic school, and the Ulu Cami, a somewhat plain looking mosque from the street before we entered, but noted for its seven wide aisles and pillared hall, and for being the oldest building in Erzurum after the madrasa.

Unfortunately the madrasa was closed and undergoing extensive renovation at the time of our visit so we were unable to enter the museum or see very much of the outside beyond the scaffolding. But we could clearly see the two fluted brick minarets flanking the exceptionally fine ornamented entrance portal, and make out the partial relief decoration in the form of ornamental borders, a tree with a double eagle and a vase of leaves.

Before we took a guided tour of the Ulu Cami, just around the corner from the Medrese, and opposite the town hall, our attention was caught by the "Three Kümbets", to the rear of the medrese, up a side street lined with what were clearly very old buildings, some housing small shops and cafes. These Kumbets, or mausolea, free standing buildings that housed burial chambers or interment spaces, date from the 13th or early 14th century. The Taj Mahal is of course the most famous and most photographed mausoleum, and these were not quite in that league, but interesting none the less. The most splendid of the three is the octagonal Emir Sultan Türbesi, with a conical roof, stalactitic mouldings and handsome reliefs of creatures such as snakes, eagles, and rabbits' heads.

Some boys had been watching us explore the mausolea. Soon they came over and invited us to go with them to view what turned out to be a very old house furnished in the old Armenian style, presented as a museum of that culture. We all took off our shoes as is the custom and went indoors, ducking our heads as we climbed the very old, low ceilinged stairs to enter into the amazing array of rooms within, seemingly on many different uneven levels. In the first room, the main living area, the no nails roof construction gave a curious and appealing appearance of an internally terraced cone. This was to be repeated in later mosques and churches we visited.

The door knockers on the outer door were fascinating. There were two, one larger, for the men, and the smaller one for the women and children; so the people within could know who was knocking!

We finally made it to the mosque where the Imam was waiting to show us around. My abiding memory from that visit is of a man with the kindest glowing face who clearly loved showing off such an interesting and ancient building. He can be found giving much the same guided tour of his mosque on YouTube. The mosque was constructed in 1179, but was badly damaged in the massive 1939 earthquake which claimed many thousands of lives in the city. It has now been accurately and sympathetically restored. We learnt so much that was fascinating about the design and architecture of mosques from this man. The mosque pillars here, we were told, were placed for best acoustics. Windows high above us in the walls were designed to capture the changing directions of the sun’s rays throughout the day to signal the times for prayer. This mosque, we were told, was also used as a depot in Ottoman times. Early mosques were built with very thick walls, and often several columns and domes, to support large enough spaces to accommodate the male and female faithful in segregation.

The floor space was wide rather than long, so that all could be as close as possible to the mihrab, the ornamental indentation present in the wall of the mosque which marks the direction of the qiblah, the direction that should be faced by a Muslim in prayer. It was only later that the floor plan became square. Early mosques did not have minarets, as long as there was a high point from which to call people to prayer. The minaret design may have been inspired by the towers of Byzantine buildings. We were later to observe the marked similarities between these mihrabs and some of the more ornate altars within the sanctuaries of the Syrian Orthodox churches which we visited and in which we worshipped during the second part of our pilgrimage.

As we left Erzurum on our coach we glimpsed through the gaps between the shops and houses the Medieval Citadel Fortress high on its hill in the center of town. It is thought that this was built during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius around the 5^th Century AD. Guide books tell us that there is a very good view to be had from the clock tower of the city’s landmarks including the Medrese and the Ulu Cami. Some also say that the clock in the tower was made in Croydon, England, and was a gift from Queen Victoria to the Ottoman Sultan in 1877. But I understand that the tower is now closed to visitors and with a long journey ahead and much more to see today we chose to drive on.

A Pilgrimage to Syriac and Armenian Christianity in Eastern Turkey

Istanbul is in a unique location geographically, bridging Europe with Asia. Not only that, it is centrally located on the historic Silk Road and has served to meaningfully connect very different civilizations and cultures over millennia. 

We were coming to Turkey at the time of the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice, an important annual occasion for Muslims, symbolizing the obedience of Abraham to God and the submission of Ishmael. We were to experience this holiday festival first hand much later in our travels when we arrived in Tur Abdin. Whilst the idea of such animal sacrifice now seems anathema to the Western Christian, there are more similarities between Christianity and Islam than many realize. For a start they are both Abrahamic faiths, sharing the same God, although some would claim that Islam is merely a heretical form of Christianity. Then again some Muslims claim that the Christians are heretical in their Trinitarian approach to God, in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therein lie tensions and intolerances rather than the building of respect and understanding.

It wasn’t until I read William Dalrymple’s From the Holy Mountain that I realized the profound kinship of Christianity and Islam, the close affinities between these two religions, how the Islamic culture was forged in the Eastern homelands of Christianity. 

Christianity was after all and first of all an oriental faith. We forget this in the West with our current demonization of Islam and the threat of Muslim fundamentalism. When Dalrymple underwent the travels which formed the basis of his book, in the late 1990’s, the Eastern Christians were fleeing to safer countries in the face of persecution and hostility from the Islamic establishment. Now the future looks a little more secure for Christians in this part of the world.


We were here as a small group from our Anglican Diocese, our intent to make a pilgrimage first to the abandoned ruins of Armenian Christianity in the North East of Turkey, then to experience at first hand the flourishing Syriac Church of the Tur Abdin region of South East Turkey, now showing signs of dynamic growth after decades of persecution and sad decline. 

I hoped that I for one would understand much more clearly by the end of the pilgrimage the dynamics and history of the two greatest religions of the world, from the places we were to visit.

As we flew from Istanbul eastwards to Erzurum the seemingly vast empty countryside and dark mountain ranges soon became hidden from view by white fluffy meringue clouds scudding by below us; the clear blue sky above gave little hint of the cold that was to confront us on touch down. As we neared Erzurum and came once more below the clouds there was a patchwork quilt of fields spread out below us, in all shades of green and brown, and for the first time in Turkey we could see snow dusting the distant mountain tops. The temperature when we left London was 16.5C. It was now 9C, and worse was to come. I was glad I’d packed some thick warm cardigans but they were deep in my suitcase. Gulgun met us at the airport. She was to be our able guide for the next nine days, with Mustafa our driver behind the wheel of the comfortable and spacious coach we now boarded and which was to accompany us throughout the trip.
Over the course of the next few days and weeks I shall be telling the complete and fully illustrated story of our pilgrimage.. 
Do join me on my journey and I welcome comments as long as they follow normal rules of decency...

The photo by the way is the view from our first ski resort hotel room near Erzurum looking out to the ski slopes waiting for their first snow...

A Common Word...and World Interfaith Harmony

In September 2005 Pope Benedict XVI gave an address at the University of Regensburg, where he had once been Professor of Theology, on Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections. Part of this Regensburg address, as it became known, was taken as provocative and insulting by certain parts of the Muslim community, and sparked mass street protests in many Islamic countries. Pakistan called on the Pope to retract what it called “this objectionable statement.” The Pope apologized to Muslims and assured them that the passage quoted did not reflect his own views. 

Relations between Muslims and Christians at that time were stormy and deteriorating. Into this climate a letter was launched, printed in The New York Times in October 2007, signed by 138 leading Muslim intellectuals and scholars. It extended a hand to the leaders of the world’s Christian churches and denominations, including His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, in a call for peace and harmony between the two religions worldwide. The letter, “A Common Word Between Us and You”, outlined the basis of this offering, in the spirit of the shared doctrine of love of God and love of neighbor on which dialogue could be opened.

The handshake was symbolically returned within just over a month, in a letter known as the Yale Response, also published in The New York Times (accompanied by the release of an Arabic translation in the United Arab Emirates). It was written originally by four Christian scholars, and then endorsed by more than 500 Christian theologians and leaders, representing many hundreds of millions of Christians across the globe. 

From this exchange of handshakes has grown an organization based on the expressed purpose to find common ways, in Christianity and Islam, to work together for the social good of all. Grievances are recognized on both sides of the faith divide; it is acknowledged that there are some irreconcilable differences of interpretation on both sides, some difficult questions to deal with.

Sixty leading Christian figures including H.H. Pope Benedict XVI responded to the document in the two years following its issue. A Common Word has been the subject of major international conferences at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, Lambeth Palace, Georgetown University, and other venues. University and college courses have been built around the initiative, it has spawned hundreds of articles and books, won various awards and led to the launch of the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week. Nearly half a million people have visited its official website to date. However, while millions will view the latest YouTube frivolity within hours or days, less than 13,000 have signed up on the Common Word site since 2007 to endorse its intentions and less than 600 people "like" its Facebook page. Now isn't that a tragedy?

We must all hope and pray that the momentum of this initiative is not lost and that the movement continues to fulfill its promise of ever more understanding and respect between these two religions.

Recent events yet again remind us that relationships between the Muslim and Christian worlds are undoubtedly of the greatest importance in forging a more peaceable future for us all, given the sheer numbers involved, and the grievances, differences, prejudices, and caricatures forged out of misunderstandings, which both religions can claim. Nonetheless, other faiths and belief systems must not be ignored. As Professor David F. Ford, Director of the Cambridge Inter-faithProgram has said:

“Our society is not simply secular; nor is it simply religious; it is both religious and secular in complex ways. If it is to work well there need to be huge numbers of conversations and collaborations across religious and secular boundaries.”

From the founding of the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 to the latest A Common Word initiative in 2007 and beyond, has much changed? We have certainly failed to prevent dreadful wars and mass genocides, and we live under greater threats than could have been conceived possible a century ago. We have to continue promoting and forging peaceful dialogue between religions, so that we may come to understand that we are as one in our beliefs to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. This will need plenty of work by religious leaders, who bear an awesome responsibility for ensuring that this unifying message of love and peace trickles down to the mass population: because trickle down it must! And it will need responsible media. We need their cooperation and support in spreading awareness of the good work being done by religions across the world, in informing the general public of this huge social capital that seems to be largely unappreciated.

As individuals we are not let off the hook either. We have an equally vital role to play: in building on empathy and compassion, and love for all, seeking our own ways of bridging gaps, building up from grass roots. Think of stalactites and stalagmites meeting, of ideas trickling down through the hierarchies, and growing upwards from the masses, until we reach a point of coalescence, where there is a total fusion of ideas and actions, coming from different directions: 

all working towards the same common good.

Incensed by the verger

Someone asked me today what a verger does in the Church of England - so as well as referring her to the official website of the C of E Guild of Vergers (see also the site for the Episcopal Guild of Vergers) I dug out an article I wrote quite a while ago  for our parish newsletter on the office of verger- combined with some words about incense. It may seem like a strange combination of subjects - but here it is anyway. As a contribution to religious tolerance I guess it is relevant to the extent it may help people understand a little of some one else's religious practices and traditions - read on:

(In)censed by the Verger

Incense – verb – To cause to be extremely angry – to infuriate

                            To perfume with incense 

                            To burn incense as a ritual offering

Incense - noun – an aromatic substance such as wood, gum or spices that is burned to produce a sweet smelling perfume (which may or may not be found pleasant according to your point of view!).

The Office of Verger (Virger, Custos, Sub-Sacrist, Serjeant of the Vestry, or even ‘Church Mouse’) is an ancient one and means ‘He who carries the Virge before the procession’. 

The ‘Verge’ or Virge is the rod of office (Latin - Virga; Old French-Vergier).

Incense could include for example camphor, cedar, clove, frankincense, jasmine, myrrh, musk, nutmeg, rose, sandalwood – to name a few. Numerous web sites offering many different types of incense and incense burner testify to its general popular usage but it is also employed widely for the purposes of religious worship,

Incense was used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and is mentioned in the Old and the New Testaments. It is also found in the major religions of Asia. The Babylonians used it while praying in the 6th and 5th century B.C. and the Greeks used it as protection against demons during the 8th century B.C.  When exactly it was introduced into the religious services of the Church it is not easy to say, but the earliest clear record of its use in public worship in the Roman Catholic Church is c.500 AD. By the command of God, Moses built an altar of incense on which the sweetest spices and gums were burnt, and the references to it in the New Testament would suggest an early familiarity with it in Christian worship.

With its perfume and high-ascending smoke it is symbolic of the Christian prayer which, enkindled in the heart by the fire of God’s love and exhaling the odour of Christ, rises up as a pleasing offering in His sight.

The Office of Verger

Vergers are committed Christians dedicated to serving Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church.  There is a Guild of Vergers within the Anglican Church, founded in 1932, that exists to promote Christian Fellowship and spiritual guidance among vergers and to organise training in the work and for the ministry of vergers in all aspects. Its Patrons the archbishops of Canterbury and York take a very keen interest in the Guild.                   

In the Middle Ages a verger might have needed to use his virge to keep back an overenthusiastic crowd from the personage he was escorting.

However, the Verger’s duties have developed over the centuries, and now combine tasks which were often carried out by other individuals.

Today, Vergers can still be seen in their ceremonial role in many larger churches, university and school chapels and cathedrals, where they still carry the Virge and ceremonially precede the religious participants as they move about the church, for example moving to the pulpit to preach or the lectern to read a lesson. At local parish church level the role will vary greatly from parish to parish, and could include behind the scenes management of and preparation for worship and the care of vestments etc. and generally to be available to assist the incumbent and visiting priests in any way that may be required. Often this will include the setting up of services such as weddings and funerals, and of course the clearing up afterwards when everyone else has gone home!

One unusual duty traces back to the traditions connected with Pancake Day and the Pancake race.  In 1634 William Fennor wrote in his Palinodia "And every man and maide doe take their turne, And tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne." But the tradition of pancake racing had started long before that. The tradition is said to have originated in the town of Olney in the Midlands. It is said that in 1445 a housewife from Olney was so busy making pancakes that the curfew bell took her completely by surprise. She ran out of the house to church still carrying the frying pan in her hand.

The Olney race is still held today; in fact, it has now gone international. Since 1950 the people of Liberal, Kansas, USA and Olney have held the "International Pancake Day" race between the two towns. The winner is the first woman to reach their church; she gets a "Kiss of Peace" from the verger there (who is presumably male!)  Perhaps the Olney tradition should be resurrected in Limpsfield with male contestants!!

It has also been known for the verger to act as the Thurifer – she who looks after and  passes the censer (the vessel containing the burning incense) to the priest for him to incense the altar or other object such as a coffin, saint, crucifix for example as appropriate.  Not forgetting the Virge to keep back the overenthusiastic crowds –

And this, I think, is where we came in!!

Abraham, a Bridge so Near

"It is widely believed that there is a basic antagonism between Christianity and Islam. Current events on our streets do little to reassure us otherwise", so it is timely that a book has been published which "sets out to challenge this belief as a dangerous fallacy fuelled by a minority fundamentalist element in society. Most significantly, the author Basil Hazledine sets out a carefully researched positive way forward for the world’s main faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam, but also Judaism, showing how we may, indeed must, all work together to tackle what he sees as two serious ills of our world; the rising tide of militant atheism, and aggressive materialism."

These quoted passages come from my detailed review of the book Abraham, A Bridge So Near, which I wrote for a new magazine called On Religion. As they say on their website, the magazine has been "born out of a desire to provide commentary on religion that (is) nuanced, in-depth and informed. The media in general tends towards sensationalism and simplicity, and this is even more pronounced when coverage is of religion and faith." I recommend you to go over to their site for more info. and details on how to subscribe. Some articles from previous editions of the magazine are available online, including a review of my own book, Why Religions Work, by the editor of On Religion, Abdul-Azim Ahmed, a graduate of religion and theology, and a Masters in Islam in Contemporary Britain.

Spiritual but not religious? The great unchurched!

I found a fascinating article recently from Outreach Magazine on 15 things you need to know about unchurched people today. 

Here are some valuable insights into how Christians can make a church that unchurched people would like to attend. It is written by Carey Nieuwhof. “Ever since I started ministry 18 years ago,” she writes, “there’s been a big shift in how unchurched people think.” She is writing about Canada, “”a bit of a hybrid”, she continues, “between the U.S. and Europe. Canadians are less ‘religious’ than Americans, but less secular than Europeans.”

But read on. Many of these points which she has learnt from her own experience can be translated to the American and European church experience.

Most of these unchurched are spiritual rather than atheist, she points out. And this is why I have been thinking much more over the last few years as to how the church could change to satisfy the spiritual hunger of the vast “spiritual but not religious” population.

As one of our priests pointed out in a sermon a few weeks ago, the world has moved on its spiritual axis, and religions also need to recognize this. 

The main role of the religions is the care of our spiritual lives. We sometimes rather quaintly call this the 'cure' of souls. We are spiritual beings. So alongside the drift away from religion and the general decline in congregations in both Europe and America over the last few decades we have also seen an increasing interest in spirituality, in its broadest sense. Because without religion people soon find that there is something missing in their lives, some hard- to- describe quality that may be called Spirit, the Other, Presence, even sometimes god with a small G. And this is where I think the initially hugely successful atheist Sunday Assembly, an unashamedly "Godless congregation" may eventually stumble.

Many, myself included, are calling for the need to enhance and nurture spiritual literacy if we are to build a better world for all.

There is a danger in many New-Age spiritualities that seem to exist mainly to feed the self-centered Me-Millennium attitude, to make us feel better inside purely for our own satisfaction, rather than being world focused.

That may be why so many are coming back to worship in our great cathedrals again. These buildings with their beautiful liturgies, music and pageantry are offering something in the awe and majesty and spirituality of the services that satisfies a hole in our unchurched souls.

Why does this interest me? Because I'm a Christian, but also because I am convinced that religion, and this includes the finer aspects of organized religion, has a vital role to play in shaping the world towards a better future for us all; religions cannot be ignored, should not be abused; but yes, they also need to change. How do they do this?

In the UK the Church of England launched a new initiative called “Fresh Expressions” about five years ago, which seems to be making exciting inroads into the increasingly unchurched population. A comprehensive article by Graham Cray on their website tells us much more about this initiative, also taken up by the Methodists. In a very comprehensive introduction Graham writes: “Some fresh expressions are very different from church as we are used to it in the UK – there is a surfer church on Polzeath beach, a Eucharist for Goths in central Cambridge, a youth congregation based in a skate park, and cell church among the Merseyside Police (yes I did say cell church!). Others are more familiar but in unfamiliar settings – church in a café, church in the function room of a pub, church in a school, church in a gym or a sports club. They can be found in rural areas as well as in towns and cities, and have been planted to reach all age groups, pensioners as well as those focused on children or young families…” 

The website is absolutely full of resources and here is an exciting project, full of hope and promise for the future of the Christian church and for the world.

Here is a review I posted on Goodreads today for a book which I felt deserved a wider airing and has a place within the ethos of my own books and this blog: The God That Says I Am: A Scientist's Meditations on the Nature of Spiritual Experience by J.A.V. Simson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Do you know what you mean by words such as soul, spirit and spirituality? These words, as the author points out, are bandied about as if we all know with certainty and agree amongst ourselves as to their precise meanings. Of course their meanings can vary depending on translation and context. And we do not know, indeed cannot know all the answers.
As the subtitle declares, this is a collection of one scientist's meditations on the nature of spiritual experience, as reflected in religious practice and doctrine. The author confesses to being a life time seeker of truth and is well versed in most of the major world religions. Here in this book are her personal introspective essays written and reworked over 30 years or so, by this well travelled and well read biologist, as she draws on her own experiences, acquired knowledge and thoughts over 60 years or so.
What is meant, and what is experienced, by those of us who find spiritual experience significant in our lives? What is spiritual experience? She defines this as moments of intensity, wonder and awe. Her meditations, she says, set out to explore this notion from an experiential or existential point of view, although there is plenty of philosophy along the way.

The book sets the scene with the biblical Old Testament story of Moses and the burning bush, and a discussion of the meaning of "I Am," a reality that has been the subject of continuing debate over interpretation ever since.
Then in 9 fascinating chapters, she sets out to explore the nature of Reality, how it is experienced, the nature of human spiritual experience, how that relates to the concept of God, worship in relation to religion, the relationship of religion to morality, the difference between faith and belief, and the vexed question of the conflict between religion and science.
The real issue, she writes, is "whether there is a larger Reality to which we may be connected. And if so, are we willing to acknowledge and explore that?" In conclusion she writes: "All of the myths about gods and heroes and saints, all of the stories and books about God and religion, are simply human attempts to solidify that Reality, to make It more comprehensible to human minds and to provide rules for belief and behaviour that will make us feel more secure in the face of such an awesome unknown. It's not necessary to believe any of the stories, simply to have faith in the encompassing Reality, to treat the surrounding world and all beings in it with reverence and respect, and to be grateful for life."

Here is a very well reasoned and fascinating book for all those who struggle with the nature of Truth and Reality, who seek to further explore the big perennial questions, underlying the whole book: "What is actually meant when we talk about spirit, or soul, or God?" and "What happens to our soul or consciousness, our internal reality, when we die?"

I very much liked the author's own useful glossary of her suggested meanings of many religious terms, as used in her essays and which she encourages others to use to clarify their own terminologies. These in themselves offered plenty of food for further thought.

View all my reviews