In terms of religious comparison, mainstream Christian denominations do not believe in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul, contrary to the beliefs of the Druze. Where the reincarnation is a paramount tenet in the Druze faith. Christianity teaches evangelism, often through the establishment of missions, unlike the Druze who do not accept converts to their faith. Marriage outside the Druze faith is rare and is strongly discouraged. Similarities between the Druze and Christians include commonalities in their view of monogamous marriage and divorce, as well as belief in the oneness of God and theophany. The Druze faith incorporates some elements of Christianity, and other religious beliefs. Both faiths give a prominent place to Jesus: Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, and in the Druze faith, Jesus is considered an important prophet of God, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history. Both religions venerated John the Baptist, Saint George, Elijah, and other common figures.
History
The relationship between the Druze and Christians has been characterized by harmony and coexistence, with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war. Fakhr-al-Din II was a Druze prince and a leader of the Mount Lebanon Emirate. Maronite Abū Nādir al-Khāzin was one of his foremost supporters and served as Fakhr-al-Din's adjutant. Phares notes that "The emirs prospered from the intellectual skills and trading talents of the Maronites, while the Christians gained political protection, autonomy and a local ally against the ever-present threat of direct Ottoman rule. After the Shehab dynastyconverted to Christianity, the Druze lost most of their political and feudal powers. Also, the Druze formed an alliance with Britain and allowed Protestant Christianmissionaries to enter Mount Lebanon, creating tension between them and the native Maronite Church. Approximately 10,000 Christians were killed by the Druze during inter-communal violence in 1860. The members of the Christian communities mixed with the Unitarian Druze, led to the presence of mixed villages and towns in Mount Lebanon, Jabal al-Druze, the Galilee region, and Mount Carmel. The Maronite Catholic and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. A number of the Druze embraced Christianity, such as some of Shihab dynasty remembers, as well as the Abi-Lamma clan. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Protestant missionaries established schools and churches in Druze strongholds, with some Druze converting to Protestant Christianity; yet they did not succeed to convert Druze to Christianity en masse. On the other hand, many Druze immigrants to the United States converted to Protestantism, becoming communicants of the Presbyterian or Methodist Churches. According to the Druze religious courts, between 1952 to 2009, around 10% of Israeli Druze who left the Druze faith converted to Christianity. By one estimate made by Elisabe Granli from University of Oslo, around 1,920 Syrian Druze converted to Christianity; according to the same study, Christians with a Druze background still regard themselves as Druze, and claim that there is no contradiction between being Druze and being Christian.
