The author examines the role played by Syrian Christians in accelerating the forces of change in Muslim society: the formative phase, when they brought to the Muslims Syrian Christian and pagan Greek thought; and the Ottoman collapse, when the Maronite, Uniate Melkite, and Orthodox Melkite communities contributed to the emergence of Lebanese, Syrian, and Arab nationalism. The study also shows how these communities began to see in Western ideas the key to creating a new order in which they could share equally with the Muslims.