Maronites and Missionaries: a critical appraisal of the affair of As’ad al-Shidyâq (1825-1829)

A critical comparison of two mid 19th century versions of the story of As’ad al-Shidyâq, a young Maronite who became the first Protestant sympathiser in Lebanon; the first version written by an American missionary (Isaac Bird), the second by a Lebanese intellectual (Butrus al-Bustani) who became a Protestant. The comparison reveals differences between expatriate and indigenous perceptions of Protestantism in 19th century Lebanon