Prof. Scott Vitkovic, Ph.D.

Christianity in the Middle East is an international, quarterly, bilingual, open access, SCOPUS-indexed scientific journal thematically focused on the study of the formation, development and current position of the Christian religion and theology in general in the Greater Middle East. ISSN: 2587-9316, e-ISSN: 2949-3234; The edited issue contains the following titles: • Sanoyan D.A., Fadeyev I.A. Between Empire and Mandate: The Institutional Transformation of the Armenian Catholic Community in Jerusalem and Palestine (1850s–1940s). Christianity in the Middle East, 2025, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 5–27. • Gansinger M.A.M. Embodied Covenant: Physiological Interpretation of Scripture and Cross-Traditional Parallels. Christianity in the Middle East, 2025, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 28–50. • Abdalla M. The Syrian City of Qāmišlī (Zālīn) as a Testament to the Forced Migration of Assyrian Christians from Southeastern Turkey after World War I. Christianity in the Middle East, 2025, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 51–66. • Roodgar N. The Motion of the Soul According to Avicenna, Mulla Sadra, and Thomas Aquinas. Christianity in the Middle East, 2025, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 67–87. • Rastegar M., Meftah A.R., Sadeghnia M. A Shiite Islamic Grounding for Comparative Theology: Insights from Catholic and Shiite Sources. Christianity in the Middle East, 2025, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 88–101. • Awad N.G. Religionizing or Self-Religionizing? A Provocative Assessment of Selfing-Othering Binarism and the Meta-Narrative of Christian Religionization. Christianity in the Middle East, 2025, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 102–116.

Aquinas’ Summa contra Gentiles (SCG), in its apologetic discourse aimed at Jews and Muslims of the Latin Christendom, strategically engages with Islamic and Jewish sages of its scholastic era. Since existing scholarship has not sufficiently qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated Aquinas’ most frequently referenced Islamic and Jewish philosophers in SCG, leaving a significant scholarly lacuna, this study addressed the gap by analyzing Aquinas’ direct references to and argumentative engagements with Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, and Avicebron, showing their distribution, Aquinas’ argumentative stance of agreements, partial agreements/disagreements, or disagreements, and purpose of these reference-based arguments, categorized as either Aquinas’ aim to refute the referenced proposition or utilize it to support, build upon, and advance his thesis. The methodology employed a dual analytical approach, consisting of a qualitative textual-philosophical analysis of the SCG text in the scholarly authoritative Editio Leonina, cross-verified against Vansteenkiste’s studies and Busa’s Index Thomisticus, followed by a quantitative assay. The results revealed that Aquinas directly referenced the Islamic and Jewish philosophers 61 times in the SCG’s 415 Capitula. Islamic philosophers (95%) Averroes (64%) and Avicenna (31%) are the most prominent. In contrast, Jewish philosophers, Maimonides and Avicebron, comprise only a minor fraction. These references are concentrated in SCG II, followed by SCG III and SCG I. The SCG IV, which deals with the Latin Catholic dogmatic theology, has only one direct reference to Avicenna. Aquinas often engaged with these philosophers through argumentative disagreements (81%), primarily based on Averroes’ arguments and secondarily on Avicenna’s. However, he never refuted the relatively few agreements (14%) and partial agreements (5%), instead utilizing them to build upon, advance, and support his thesis. Aquinas never agreed with Maimonides and Avicebron and always used these argumentative disagreements to refute their philosophical propositions. This pattern exhibits a strong correlation between Aquinas’ argumentative agreement level and purpose of direct reference-based argument, illustrating the Thomistic method of theological discernment, characterized by Aquinas’ selective appropriation, adaptation, and adoption of the other two Abrahamic traditions’ philosophies when compatible with the Latin Church’s teachings, and systematic refutations when incompatible, terming them ‘errors’ that must be countered. This study demonstrates that the Thomistic theological synthesis of Islamic and Jewish philosophy in Aquinas’ SCG Sacra Doctrina not only strengthened Thomistic theology and defended the Roman Catholic faith but also succeeded in bridging the three Abrahamic monotheistic traditions, Christian, Islamic, and Jewish, through their shared Peripatetic philosophy of universal truth, the truth that commences in God.

This study systematically identified and enumerated Aquinas’ direct references to the two most frequently quoted Islamic and Jewish philosophers, Avicenna, Averroes, Rabbi Moyses, and Avicebron, in Summa Theologiæ (ST), analyzed Aquinas’ argumentative responses to their philosophical positions, and based on Aquinas’ alignment or divergence with the cited and attributed philosophical thought, categorized them according to agreement, partial agreement/disagreement, and disagreement. Furthermore, the study compared these arguments vis-à-vis their locus in ST, Aquinas’ stance, and philosophical and denominational origins. This investigation introduced a novel data-driven methodology that integrated traditional textual and philosophical qualitative analyses with a structured quantitative assay and rigorous cross-examination of data, yielding precise qualitative and quantitative findings and filling the extant gap in Thomistic scholarship. The results demonstrated that Aquinas’ engagement with these philosophers was strategically selective. Aquinas’ direct reference-based arguments were most prevalent in ST I, followed by ST Supplement and ST I–II. Conversely, ST II–II and ST III featured minimal engagement. Avicenna and Averroes were the principal focus of Aquinas’ arguments, whereas Rabbi Moyses and, marginally, Avicebron received less attention. The correlational pattern identified herein originates in Aquinas’ realization of Aristotelian peripatetic philosophy and Abrahamic scriptural theology. Aquinas’ attainment of knowledge from divergent philosophical traditions represents a critical element of Thomistic theological synthesis, strengthening ST’s philosophically expansive yet doctrinally consistent character. Furthermore, it attests that Aquinas’ philosophical theology, as a scientific discipline, has matured in profoundly dynamic interactions with Islamic and Jewish traditions, remaining influential over the past 750 years since the composition of ST.

This quantitative analysis of direct references to the two most frequently cited Greek, Roman, Christian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophers within Aquinas’ opus, with a detailed examination of Avicenna, addressed a gap in the systematic enumeration of sources using a three-tiered methodology, which included documentation of Aquinas’ direct citations from Leonina, cross-checked with Index Thomisticus, and statistically validated. The findings demonstrated dominance of Christian Augustinus and Dionysius and Greek Aristoteles and Plato, with the highest concentrations in Summa Theologiæ and Expositio Aristotelis, respectively, while affirming Islamic philosophy’s secondary influence through Averroes and Avicenna. Roman and Jewish sources had the fewest references. A near-perfect correlation between the Leonina and Index Thomisticus datasets was established. This study’s data-driven approach to Thomistic philosophy bridged traditional textual scholarship with digital humanities and by documenting Aquinas’ direct sources, refined our understanding of the divergent philosophical traditions’ influences on Aquinas’ philosophical and theological synthesis. Its originality and contribution lie in establishing a consistent methodology for documenting direct references to multiple sources across a complete philosophical opus and facilitating replicable textual and computational analysis in Thomistic, medieval, and manuscript studies.

This thesis undertakes a comparative analysis of the philosophical contributions of Avicenna and Aquinas, focusing on the influence of Avicenna's Sufficientia on Aquinas' De Ente et Essentia, Summa Contra Gentiles, and Summa Theologiae. The central theme of this study is the transmission and adaptation of Avicenna's metaphysics, especially the distinction between essentia (مَاهِيَّة) and esse (وجود) within Aquinas' Sacra Doctrina. This Avicennian distinction, first integrated into De Ente et Essentia, became the basis for Aquinas' demonstration and proof of God's existence in his Summa Contra Gentiles I. and Summa Theologiae I. This thesis also investigates the bearing of Aristotle's Metaphysica on both Avicenna and Aquinas. It distinguishes between Aristotelian and Avicennian influences on Aquinas' metaphysical theology of Sacra Doctrina concerning the subject matter of metaphysics, the definition of God (or lack thereof), the essence and existence of God, the demonstration of God's existence, the proofs of God's existence, the unity and oneness of God, and divine thought and intellect. This thesis employed a rigorous methodology that combined historical textual analysis, philosophical exegesis, and comparative conceptual analysis, examined primary texts in Koine Greek, Arabic, and Latin, alongside authoritative English translations, and traced the transmission of Aristotle's and Avicenna's metaphysics in Aquinas' texts. Additionally, the study engaged extensively with both ancient and contemporary scholarly writings on Aristotle, Avicenna, and Aquinas, contextualized and interpreted their metaphysical arguments, and showed that Avicenna's metaphysics was integral to Aquinas' knowledge of the nature of God as the necesse esse (واجِبُ الوُجُود) and ipsum esse subsistens (أن يكون قائما بنفسه) whose essence is identical to His existence. These concepts informed Aquinas' doctrines on God's divine simplicity and unity and impacted the fundamental doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church's dogmatic and natural theology. This thesis contributed to comparative medieval philosophy by demonstrating the profound philosophical influence of Avicenna's Islamic philosophy on Thomism. The engagement between these two great philosophers reflects the universality of metaphysical inquiry and demonstrates its enduring relevance to Shia Islam and Western Christianity. Avicenna and Aquinas left an indelible mark on the development of medieval scholastic philosophy, proving that Peripatetic metaphysics transcends temporal, geographic, linguistic, cultural, and religious boundaries in the interest of the ultimate Truth.

This manuscript consists of two parts, Part I. and Part II. Part I., written by the same author and titled "THE PERSECUTED CHURCH: THE CLANDESTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH (ECCLESIA SILENTII) IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA DURING COMMUNISM 1948 – 1991," was published in the January issue of the Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe (OPREE), ISSN: 2693-2148.2 It includes a brief historical overview and introduces the Clandestine Catholic Church (Ecclesia Silentii) in Czechoslovakia during Communism from 1948 to 1991. Part II. directly follows Part I. and continues with the following sections: Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. Part II considers the collapse of the Czech Roman Catholic Church and the end destruction of the Clandestine Catholic Church by the Holy See, along with the process of secularization after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia from 1991 to 2021.

This research examines the most important historical, political, economic, social, cultural, and religious factors before, during, and after the reign of Communism in Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 2021 and their effect on the extreme increase in atheism and decrease in Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, in the present-day Czech Republic. It devotes special attention to the role of the Clandestine Catholic Church (Ecclesia Silentii) and the changing policies of the Holy See vis-à-vis this Church, examining these policies' impact on the continuing decline of Roman Catholicism in the Czech Republic after the collapse of Communism. The article also deals with Pope Pius XII's Secret Mandates of 1948-1950, the Second Vatican Council, and the Holy See's Ostpolitik. Scholars, who previously relied only on the views of the Czechs, blame the unprecedented drop in Christianity, the near-total destruction of the Catholic Church, and the rise in atheism on the Czechoslovak communist government's four decades of totalitarianism. Although the increase in atheism and decrease in Christianity were substantial during the era of Communism from 1948 to 1989, our data indicate that the decline in Christianity, particularly the historically predominating Roman Catholicism, did not commence with the 1948 communist coup d’état but traces its origins to the breakdown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the conclusion of WWI and the establishment of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1918. What's more, this research shows that the most significant and unprecedented steep deterioration of the Christian Faith, namely Roman Catholicism, did not occur during the era of Communism but only after the Czechoslovak communist government collapsed in 1989. This massive decay did not happen even during the most extraordinary communist persecution of the Catholic Church during the era of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia. This research further finds that the Holy See's ill-advised policies and systematic, sustained, and prevalent failures in leadership, guidance, and teachings are responsible for the near destruction of the Roman Catholic Church and especially the end destruction of the Clandestine Catholic Church (Ecclesia Silentii), in the Czech and Slovak Republics after the fall of Communism. These failures furthermore contributed to the Czech Republic, the historical lands of Bohemia and Moravia that once were in the center of Christendom, degenerating into the most atheist country in Europe and the world today.

Four decades have passed since the EU and China established diplomatic relations in 1975, and now became mutually indispensable economic partners, presenting both an opportunity and challenge. During that time, after the first market reforms were introduced in 1978, China has transitioned from a predominantly agricultural to industrial and service-oriented economy. On 11 December 2001, China also became the 143rd member of the WTO. The aim of this research is to quantitatively compare the US, EU and Chinese GDP from 1995 to 2014, the US and Chinese outward FDI from 1995 to 2013, and the EU 28 Total Imports from and Exports to the US and China between 2002 to 2014, and analyse the impact of the exponentially rising Chinese investments in the European Union (EU). We have found that while the US economy experienced a regression in general, and exhibited outward FDI exponential decrease in particular, the Chinese outward FDI sustained an exponential growth. Our analysis has shown that the now weakened US dollar and diminished US economic and industrial power, along with the US designed and archaic post World War II European institutions, vitiated by the recent US Economic Recession, which has swept along the EU and all other US dependent foreign economies globally, are and will continue to experience the primary impact of the exponentially rising economic investment of China in the EU. Furthermore, we have found that the Chinese economic growth has been affecting both the EU identity and policies. Yet, its full effect is waiting to be realized. The Chinese investment in the EU is estimated to peak during the next decade, when China will become by far the foremost economic partner of the EU. This crossroad may be reached as soon as in few years’ time and contribute towards the EU – Asian regional stabilization. In the changing context of the Sino – EU - US relations, due to the exponentially growing economic prosperity and rising global influence of China, the EU international institutions and socio-political structures will re-emerge with the once forgotten access to the 21st Century Silk Road Economic Belt, “The Silk Road II”, between China and the EU in the foreseeable future.

The past 15 years of exceptionally severe water scarcity in the Islamic Republic of Iran have resulted in the desertification and salinity of formerly arable lands, drying out of Iranian lakes and rivers, and quickly shrinking groundwater resources, while water demand has risen, along with the size of the Iranian population, of which over 70% lives in urban areas now. We have aimed to discover the causes of water scarcity in the IR Iran and evaluated its social and economic impacts. First, we computed the Weighted Anomaly Standardized Precipitation (WASP) Index for the period of 1979-2014. To illustrate the social impact of water scarcity, we analyzed the current water risk for the twenty most populous Iranian cities, by employing the composite index approach to translate hydrological data into comprehensible indicators of water related risks, and made a projection for 2020-2030, by modeling potential changes in the future demand and supply of water. To demonstrate the economic impact of water scarcity, we evaluated the overall agricultural contribution to the IR Iran GDP. We have found that the 1999 severe drought in the IR Iran commenced a period of unusually dry conditions that is still ongoing. The rapidly growing Iranian urban populations presently experience a medium to extremely high overall water risk, with extremely high baseline water stress that, in part, is due to the lack of upstream protected lands. The relationship between baseline water stress and drought severity has been determined as weak, confirming that other factors than drought are equally or more important contributors to the existing water risk. Our projection calculations indicate that Iranian urban populations will continue to experience an extremely high water stress for the coming decade. Due to the fast growth of these populations as well as considerable rise of value added to the IR Iran GDP by other sectors of the national economy, the contribution of agricultural production to the national GDP has declined from about 25% to under 10% (although its total yield has risen considerably) during the past 30 years. This decrease has been directly proportional to the increased foreign food imports, dependency on the IR Iran oil exports and reduction in the non-oil exports. The main causes of water scarcity in the IR Iran appear to be due to climatic factors, insufficient environmental protection, and over-exploitation and mismanagement of water resources, especially by the agricultural sector. In conclusion, our study proposes anti-wasting water management action plan that recommends shifting the IR Iran government response to water scarcity from reactive survival strategies to proactive crisis prevention, with emphasis on safeguarding, monitoring, early warning, and effective step-by-step preparedness and readiness, and by laterally integrating water management between all levels of the IR Iran government, including local, regional and national, for a sustainable, resilient and prosperous economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran now and in the future.

This research outlines the concept of resurrection from the ancient Hebrew Torah to Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity according to authoritative and linguistically accurate scriptures accompanied by English translations. Although some contemporary scholars are of the opinion that resurrection is vaguely portrayed in the Hebrew Torah, our research into the ancient texts offers quotes and provides proofs to the contrary. With the passing time, the concept of the resurrection grew even stronger and became one of the most important doctrines of Judaism, enjoined as one of the thirteen articles of faith by Maimonides in the Mishnah. Imitative of the Jewish concept of God reaching out to save Israelites from gehenna, Jesus’ crucifixion and death for the sins of the world, resurrection on the third day, descend into the hells and subsequent rise into heavens became the essential foundation of Christianity, with Christ's resurrection as the impetus for the resurrection of those who believe in him. According to this Pauline theology, Christian faith is based upon the resurrection of Jesus and the hope for a life after death.

Our research has surveyed the philological origins of the word ‘science’ and ‘religion’. Furthermore, it has re-examined the definitions of ‘The Science of Religion’ and ‘The Science of Comparative Religion’. Building on this foundation, the author compared the major similarities and differences between the Jewish, Christian and Islamic Religions, especially via the lens of Monotheism, exploring the Jewish Shema, Christian Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, and Islam’s Tawheed. This new research aims to contribute to a better understanding of our three major monotheistic religions.