Theology 1.0: Who are the St. Thomas Christians?

 

Kerala, India

One of things I like to highlight is the different Christian communities in Asia. Today I want to bring to attention the St Thomas Christians, who mainly hail from Kerala, India.

Origins
According to their traditions, they claim that St Thomas (an Apostle of Christ) came to Kerala in 52 AD to evangelise. Locally, the St Thomas Christians are also known as Nasranis, derived from the Syriac word for Christians. St Thomas converted 32 Brahmin (priest/scholar) families to Christianity during his time there. The earliest document detailing St Thomas's trip to India was the Acts of Thomas written in circa 240 AD.

The church also grew bigger when Christians from Persia migrated to India during the 3rd Century (200s AD). This brought the St Thomas Christians to be in connection with the Church of the East.

In 1498 the Portuguese open a port in India, and attempted to bring the St Thomas Christians under the Roman Catholic Church. In 1795, some Indian regions became tributiaries to the British East Indian Company, allowing contact with the Anglican Church.

Theology
Historically, the St Thomas Christians adopted Nestorianism (the belief that Christ is both human and divine but not at the same time), use the Syriac Rite and practise seven sacrements (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick). 

However, some of these changed with the coming of the Western Christians. For instance, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is in full communion with Rome and maintains an Eastern liturgy. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is also aligned with Rome but influenced by the West Syriac tradition. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church is a reformed church with Protestant influences. 

Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Singapore

Practices

Indian culture is integrated into their Christian practices, such as wearing saris in church and adapting local architectural styles for their churches.

They maintain a strong communal identity, with unique traditions like the margam kali, a Christian dance-drama.

Theology 1.0: Who brought Christianity to China?

 

The Nestorian Stele, the earliest evidence of Christianity in China

One of the earliest evidence of Christianity in China comes from the record of Arnobius, the 4th century Christian apologist. In his work Against the Heathens II, Arnobius claims that missionaries had been dispatched to Seres (the ancient Roman name for China). 

Despite this claim, no hard evidence showed that there were Christians in China until the 8th century -- the Nestorian Stele. Uncovered near the Chinese city of Xian, the Nestorian Stele credited "Alopen”  for bringing Nestorian Christianity to China during the Tang Dynasty.

In addition, the Nestorian Stele provides descriptions of the events of Genesis and explanations of the Incarnation. The Stele also records the leaders of the Nestorian Church, and how they were allowed by the Imperial Chinese court to propagate their faith.

Theology 1.0: What is Nestorianism?

 

Nestorian Mongolian tribe, as portrayed in the game Crusader Kings 2

In recent years, there has been interest about Christianity in Asia during Antiquity and Medieval times. This is because evidence of strong Christian presence (during that time) has been discovered recently in the tribes of Mongolia, Western China, India and in Iran.

These Christians were often referred as Nestorian Christians. So who were the Nestorians?

A tale of two terms
The term "Nestorians" often refer to two group of Christians. They may refer to (A) the people who follow the teachings of Nestorius, or (B) the Church of the East (aka the Persian Church)

A) Followers of Nestorius

Nestorius was a Christian theologian and the Archbishop of Constantinople. Nestorius was removed from his office in 431 AD due to his heretical teaching. Nestorius taught that Jesus was both human and divine, but not at the same time. In other words, Jesus could adopt a human or divine stance, but not both at the same time. Thus Nestorius believed that Mary (mother of Jesus) could not be given the title of Theotokos (God-bearer)

This belief, called Nestorianism, ran contrary to traditional Christian teaching. Traditional belief was that Jesus was always fully human and full divine.

Nestorius was then sent into exile.

The Church of the East (aka the Persian church), however, felt that his removal from office was more political than theological. Thus they did not condemned him.

Ancient Nestorian Christian writings in West China

B) The Church of the East

While The Church of the East did not officially condemned the teachings of Nestorius, they did not officially accept them either. Nevertheless, the Church of the East included some of the rites of Nestorius, and thus earned the name "Nestorians".

After the Muslim conquest of Asian, the Church of the East expanded eastwards to India, Central Asia and China.

Today

The Church of the East still exists today in three forms: the Ancient Church of the East, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The name Nestorian is no longer used to refer to the churches as they do affirm the role of Mary as the God-bearer.