Ecclesiastical Geography and Topography of the Christian World - Chapter XVI

 Chapter 16

The Churches outside the Empire:

the Nestorian and Monophysite churches, their birth and spread

Churches outside the Empire - Some preliminary observations:

1) The Churches outside the Empire developed beyond the eastern border of the Roman Empire, not the western one, for the following reasons:

* The eastern limes (frontier) are more fluid and permeable, ideas circulate and trade with eastern peoples develops.

*  In the East there are ancient and well-developed cultures open to Christianity.

* In the 1st and 2nd centuries, everyone referred to the capital and many went there to visit or live there. This relationship with the centre of the state broke down during the 4th century. The mental geography, especially of the Mediterranean had been expanded to the East, towards Asia, by Alexander the Great. Antioch in Syria had thus become a meeting and connection point between the West and the East. Commercial relations had opened up vast horizons and allowed the circulation not only of goods but also of individuals, each carrying their own philosophical ideas and religious beliefs.

2) The Churches outside the Empire become "non-orthodox" over time, that is, those that do not follow the faith of the "great Church" but have evolved from Christological controversies, especially the Nestorian and Monophysite Churches born in the 5th century. and divided into different denominations.

3) In the first centuries of the Empire, the spread of Christianity beyond the Roman frontier was not very extensive, also because it was thought that the territories outside the Greco-Roman world were inhabited only by barbarians. In this sense, the conception of the world widespread among the ancients, whether pagans or Christians, is the same: coincidence of the geographical space of the world (Orbis terrarium) with the extension of the Roman Empire (Orbis Romanus). Despite this, Christianity has already been expanding in various areas of the Middle East since apostolic times.

The Nestorian Churches of Mesopotamia and Persia

Christianity was born in the Middle East and during the first centuries, it had its most important centres, and the most famous churches and monasteries in Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia. Ancient traditions trace the first spread of Christianity in Mesopotamia to Thaddeus-Addai, Mari, Thomas, and Bartholomew. In 330 Christianity in Mesopotamia must have already been widespread given that the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (Ctesiphon), Gaggi, took the title of catholicos (corresponding to the title patriarch) of the East.

Christological Controversies - Birth of the Nestorian and Monophysite Churches

The first Eastern Christians wrote and thought in Syriac, a language very close to the Aramaic of Jesus and his disciples. These Churches engaged in passionate debates that divided the community into several schools or factions that often fought each other with decidedly non-Christian violence. A deep rift appeared in the fourth century when the Council of Nicaea in 325 reaffirmed the doctrine of the divinity of Christ against Arianism.

But in the decades since the majority of Christians, who accepted the doctrine are divided on further issues, especially concerning the Person of Christ. In fact, Christ was in a sense both human and divine, but how precisely define the relationship between the two aspects? How could anyone argue that Jesus was man and God at the same time? These questions and discussions that arose from them led to the formation of the Churches 'unorthodox', meaning they did not accept the dogmatic decisions of the Ecumenical Councils and followed their own doctrine.

Nestorianism and Monophysitism

Nestorianism: Many Eastern followed the Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, who accepted the two natures but argued that they were by no means united in the mystical sense taught by the Orthodox. From the position of Nestorius, it followed that the Virgin Mary could not be properly called the Mother of God. After bitter fighting, the Nestorians were excommunicated at the Council of Ephesus in 431.

Monophysitism: Meanwhile, after the conviction of Nestorius another current that moss and in the opposite direction: several Egyptian and oriental professed that Christ had only one nature, that in Him God's annihilating the human. Thus, they became known as the Monophysites, that is, those who believe in "nature". In 451 the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon defeated the Monophysites and declared them heretics. The Council of Chalcedon is one of the most important moments in the history of the Eastern Churches. The assembly failed to define the official doctrine of the Church and defeated the heretical currents, but some of the churches, for religious and political reasons, broke away from the "Great Church", forming national churches unorthodox.

The “non-Orthodox” Churches

Within the Empire, Monophysitism became the doctrine of the Egyptian (or Coptic) Church which became a sort of national Church and Monophysitism took on the meaning of national identity. Professing Monophysitism, the Copts opposed the Empire and considered the occupier. The Egyptian Churches therefore separated from the "Great Church", used their own language, developed their own liturgy, their own customs and began to organize their own hierarchy. The Empire tried to curb the Coptic Church by establishing its own hierarchy subservient to the emperor. From here the so-called Melkites were born (from Melech - king - that is, those who follow the orders of the emperor).

Similarly, the Church in Syria embraced Monophysitism and became a separate Church. In the 6th century a Syrian priest, James Baradeus, organized the Monophysites into a clandestine parallel Church whose followers were called Jacobites. The Monophysites persecuted in the Roman Empire also took refuge and dispersed in the East beyond the limes e.g. in Edessa and between Baghdad and Mosul in Mesopotamia where they formed their communities.

At the time of the Arab conquest in the 7th century, probably most of the Christians of Greater Syria were Jacobites, while the Nestorians dominated the territories further east in present-day Iraq and Iran, i.e. in Persia, where Christianity had spread quite early, perhaps even in apostolic times.

The descendants of the Jacobites are today called "Syrian Orthodox", the Nestorian Church instead evolved into the Assyrian Church of the East. Some scholars prefer to call the Jacobites "West Syriacs" and the Nestorians "East Syriacs."

 (Jenkins Philip, Lost History of Christianity. The golden millennium of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia (5th-15th centuries). How a civilization ended, Bologna 2016). According to Philip Jenkins, despite the Arab conquest, Mesopotamia and Persia maintained a strong Christian culture of Nestorian faith at least until the 13th century. Iraq (Nestorian) and Syria (Monophysite) were the bases of two large transnational Churches, considered heretical by the Catholic and Orthodox communities.

The most important exponent of the Nestorian Church of Mesopotamia was Bishop Timothy who in 780 became catholicos, or "patriarch" of the Church of the East, whose seat was then located in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Seleucia (then moved to Baghdad). Timothy died in 823, exceeding the age of 90. It was the same era in which Charlemagne restored the Western Empire. Regarding the prestige and geographic extent of Timothy's authority, he was probably the most significant Christian spiritual leader of his day. The Nestorians of Persia are also called Chaldeans. The Nestorian Church of the Mesopotamian area was the largest and most important of the Churches formed outside the Roman Empire.

Map of Mesopotamia around 400 AD, indicating the border between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire. After 384 it was increasingly difficult for Eastern Christians to remain in communion with the Greek and Latin Churches

              The Syriac language and Syriac Christianity in the Middle East and Asia 

Turmanin. Basilica (late/early 5th century)

Qalb Lozeh. Basilica (first half of the 6th century) is an example of Syriac architecture

Diocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Today the Syriac Church is organized into approximately 26 archdioceses and 12 vicariates. The Church is led by a Patriarch who resides in Damascus, the capital of Syria. In the world, the faithful of the Syriac Orthodox Church are approximately 2,250,000. The Syrian Orthodox are still Monophysites today, that is, they believe in a Christ who is only apparently man, whose nature is totally divine therefore they do not recognize the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon 451.

Ecclesiastical provinces of the Assyrian (Nestorian) Church of the East in the 10th century.

    Diocese of the Assyrian Church of the East, also known as the Nestorian Church, and area of expansion of missionary activity. There are three archdioceses of the Assyrian Church, one for Lebanon, Syria and Europe, one for India, the third for Iraq and Russia. There are also dioceses in the eastern United States (including Chicago), in the western United States, in Eastern California, Canada, Syria, Iran, and Europe, and one each in Australia and New Zealand. Several congregations of the faithful are found in Georgia, India, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria. There is only one parish of the faithful in China, whose origin is very ancient, and another in Moscow

The Nestorian Stele (also known as the Nestorian Monument) is an epigraphic erected in China in 781, at the time of the Tang Dynasty, intending to document approximately 150 years of Nestorian Christian presence in the country.

One of the churches of the Iraqi Chaldean Patriarchate was destroyed by the war.

Other Churches outside the Empire.

In East Africa in the 4th century, Christianity reached Ethiopia, reaching as far as Yemen and India. In Asia in the same period, it had already spread to Armenia, a buffer territory between the Persian and Roman empires.

 The East at the time of Trajan towards the end of 115 and the beginning of 116.

Armenia

In classical antiquity the term Armenia had two different meanings, being able to indicate:

• Armenia Major (Magna), which extends east from the Euphrates River, to the confluence of the Araxes and Kura rivers (in Turkish Kyros, in Italian Ciro; today it is the Mtkvari, Kura, Turkish), to the south up to the Tigris River, to the north up to the Kura; it was the kingdom of the Armenian Arsacid until 387.

• Armenia Minor, which is located west of the Euphrates and has been part of the Roman Empire since the 1st century. This is an area that has remained politically, demographically and culturally outside of Armenian history; with Diocletian, it became a distinct Roman province with its capital at Melitene (today Malatya, Turkey; for a long time, a legionary fortress).

        

         Ancient sources usually do not allow us to understand whether they are referring to Armenia Minor or Armenia Major, therefore making it difficult to exactly understand the documents: which Armenia, which Armenian Church, which Armenians are we talking about?

Tertullian mentions Armenian Christians; according to Eusebius of Caesarea, bishop Dionysius of Alexandria wrote a letter to the brothers of Armenia, whose bishop is Meruzanes, adding that the Armenians have become Christians. It is thought that his diocese was the satrapy of Sophene, a territory east of Commagene (main city and at certain times also capital: Samosata) and north of Osroene (capital: Edessa). The border between the Roman Empire and the Armenian plateau was very open at the time, due to the movement of populations and goods. Therefore, missionaries could also cross borders very easily, as in fact, they did well before the beginning of the 4th century. The sources that inform on evangelization are from the end of the 5th century: Agatangelo and Pseudo-Faustus of Byzantium. King Tiridates the Great (250-330) converted to Christianity, which thus became the official religion of the Armenian (Arsacid) kingdom; 301 is considered the canonical date. However, the king encountered opposition from landowners attached to ancestral tradition. Gregory the Illuminator, an apostle of Armenia, who was consecrated bishop in Caesarea of Cappadocia in 314 by Leontius, thus found himself to be the true head of the Church in Armenia (a function which was transmitted within his family until 438). The close link with eastern Syria and Mesopotamia explains the liturgical similarities between the two geographical areas and numerous terms in the Christian vocabulary (the Armenian baptismal liturgy follows the Syriac one). According to the sources, Gregory also carried out an intense work of evangelization, even with the destruction of pagan temples: he baptized many Armenians and created several episcopal sees. In reality, the evangelization of Armenia is not immediate at all, and instead requires a long time, encountering opposition from followers of traditional religions. Many noble families lean towards the original cults of Persia and Christianity remained a faith foreign to the religious tradition of this country for a long time. The Armenian Church is linked to that of Cappadocia to such an extent that bishop Nerses (353-373), ordained by Eusebius of Caesarea of Cappadocia, organizes the Armenian Church according to the Cappadocian model. The Armenian Church was initially Nestorian (but not entirely Nestorian) in orientation – in a 505/6 Synod at Dwin the Armenian bishops rejected Chalcedonian Christology. Today scholars agree in stating that the Christology of the Armenian Church presents a substantial concordance with the Chalcedonian doctrine in its essential core. However, the Armenian Church became a national Church in which the rejection of the Chalcedonian doctrine was a sign of its identity.

Georgia

The Modern Georgia (Sak'art'velo) corresponds to the whole of Colchis (Egrisi: the western coastal plain: Lazica) and Iberia (mountainous eastern part). This region is part of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia until the 4th century. The first certain element of the Christian presence in the region is Stratophilus, bishop of Piziunte/Pitionte (Dioecesis Pityuntina, based in today's Pitsunda, in Georgian Bichvinta), present at the Council of Nicaea. However, Piziunte/Pitionte is a city of Greek tradition on the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea. It cannot be specified when Christianity arrived in Georgia due to the lack of reliable sources. Archaeology is now making significant contributions. Rufinus of Aquileia (the other sources depend on him) informs about the spread of Christianity in Iberia, which occurred through St. Nino (or perhaps Nouné, which could be the translation of grandmother, i.e. 'consecrated woman'), a captive (true Roman prisoner, or Captiva Dei?) of Cappadocia. Other information can be obtained from the Life of Santa Nino. Rufinus' source states that St. Nino converts the queen, who in turn converts her husband, Mirian III, who lived between 284 and 361. The king of the Iberians, Mirian, around 337, imposed the new religion on his nation, also asking Emperor Constantine for a bishop and priests, who, having arrived, immediately built what became the first Christian church. The king's request also has a political character. The first bishop would be consecrated by Alexander of Constantinople. Mirian also goes to Jerusalem and has a monastery built there. In the Armenian tradition, however, the evangelization of Iberia is linked to the grandson of Gregory the Illuminator. The Church of Iberia was for a time linked to the Armenian one and initially, both Churches rejected the Chalcedonian doctrine and moved towards Nestorianism. However, in 608 the bishops of Iberia broke ties with the Armenian Church and moved towards the Chalcedonian confession. For ecclesiastical organization, the region depended on Constantinople and was divided into two ecclesiastical provinces.

Albania

Albania corresponds to present-day northern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan. It is bordered to the north by the Cerauni mountains, an extension of the Caucasus, to the east by the Caspian Sea, and to the south by the lower course of the Araxes River (Aras). The unification of the Albans is a slow process, due to the variety and multiplicity of dialects spoken by the different tribes (Strabo states that there are as many as twenty-six). According to tradition, Albania discovered the Christian religion early through the work of Elisha, a disciple of Thaddeus. In reality, there is no precise information before the 4th century. The king of Albania, Urnayr, would have travelled to Armenia, where he would have been baptized by Gregory the Illuminator. The latter's nephew, also named Gregory (Grigoris), is among the first catholicos; he has a church built in the fortress city of Tri (or Tsri), supplying it with priests, who are then killed by the pagan population. Christianity therefore spread slowly also in Albania, especially in rural areas, as demonstrated by King Vačagan's action in the 5th century. From the beginning, the Albans were linked to the lost Nestorian Church and, despite various pressures from the imperial Church of Constantinople, they officially embraced Monophysitism.

India

The beginning of the evangelization of India since the apostolic times, although it is not supported by any scientific evidence, is historically admissible, due to the commercial relations that took place, starting from the Augustan age, between the Roman Empire and the southwestern coasts of that immense Asian region. Augustus receives ambassadors from India. Under the reigns of Constantius II and Julian, delegations arrived from India and Sri Lanka. In ancient texts, it is not easy to understand what the term 'India' refers to. According to tradition, the evangelizers of India were Saint Thomas and Saint Bartholomew. Of the first, there is the memory of the tomb of Saint Thomas in Mylapore. In the 2nd century, according to the testimony of Eusebius of Caesarea, Panthenaeus went to India. Tradition, as well as various sources, report the existence of relations with the Nestorian Persian Church. Nestorian Persian missionaries developed the missionary program well and arrived in India as early as the 5th century. This link is also confirmed by the use of Syriac in the liturgy and by the Chaldean rite. It seems that at the time of the Catholicos Sliwa Zkha (714-728) a metropolitan seat was established in India. The Indian Christians, however, did not consider themselves dependent on the Nestorian see of Ctesiphon. The arrival of the Portuguese in 1498 favoured their union with Rome. Today the name "Christians of Saint Thomas" refers to those Christians of different confessions present on the southwestern coast of India, in particular in the state of Kerala.

          The cross of St. Thomas, the symbol of the St. Thomas Christians in India

 Provinces of the Latin rite and dioceses of the Catholic Church in India

 Ethiopia

The ancients called Ethiopia (and Ethiopians) the territories south of Egypt: the kingdoms of Kush, Meroe and Aksum. The spread of Christianity in Ethiopia dates back to the 4th century. Some Christians, traders or missionaries, may have already previously been present in Ethiopia, but evangelization is linked to a precise moment, remembered both in inscriptions and coins (marked by the symbol of the cross) and in literary sources. A detailed and precise description is offered by Rufino. Around 303, among others, Meropius and two boys, Frumentius and Aedesius, who landed at the port of Adulis to stock up on water, were taken prisoner. All the prisoners are killed, except the two young men, as they are students; they are brought before the king (Ella Amida or Usanas), who welcomes them kindly at court. Around 320 they begin to dedicate themselves to the education of the crown prince Ezana. Around 328 Aedesius returned to Tyre, while Frumentius went to Alexandria, where he stayed with Athanasius, who ordained him bishop. At a time that fluctuates approximately between 330 and date after 346, he returns to Ethiopia (here he is known by the name of Feremnatos, which corresponds to the Frumenzio, and Salama). Ezana (Aizanas, who died perhaps after 360), having now become king, becomes a Christian, although the precise date is unknown (350? 360?), and with him also his brother Sazana. The conversion of the negus Ezana is also confirmed by some inscriptions, one of which is in Greek, and by the sign of the cross on the coins. Athanasius also reports a letter from Emperor Constantius II to the Aksumites (presumably to the king), written around 356, with which he invites them to send Frumentius back to Alexandria, to submit to the new patriarch George of Cappadocia, an Arian. It is likely that the king's conversion also entailed that of many subjects. The second wave of evangelization occurred under King Ella Amidas (c. 475-486) with Syrian missionary monks (probably Monophysites). These introduced monastic life into Ethiopia which significantly influenced the Ethiopian Church. The expansion of Islam isolated the Christians of Ethiopia, who maintained contact only with the Egyptian Church and Jerusalem. The Ethiopian Church remained united with the Coptic one, from which it received the metropolitan, chosen from the Egyptian monasteries, and consecrated by the Coptic patriarch until 1950.

Church in Ethiopia today

The Church in Ethiopia today is part of the universal Catholic Church, in communion with the bishop of Rome, the pope and is called the Ethiopian Catholic Church. The first attempts to bring the Ethiopian Orthodox Church closer to Roman Catholicism took place in 1555 with the Jesuits (Father Paez) Their mission gets an initial. In fact, it happened in 1626 that Catholicism became the state religion, but already in 1632 persecutions against Catholics began. In 1839, almost two centuries after the first attempts, Father Giustino de Jacobis entered secretly Ethiopia and laid the foundations for a revival of the Catholic Church in 1846 the apostolic vicariate of Abyssinia and the Galla was created, entrusted to the future Cardinal, Guglielmo Massaia.

While Ethiopian rite dioceses will be created in the central north of the country, in the central south, especially after the Second World War, apostolic vicariates of the Latin rite, thanks to the evangelization work of the Capuchins. The Ethiopian Catholic Church is present in the territory with 13 districts ecclesiastical, 4 of the Ethiopian rites and 9 of the Latin rites:

* The archeparchy of Addis belongs to the Ethiopian Catholic Church Ababa and its three suffragan eparchies of Adigrat, Bahir Dar Dessie and Emdeber.

* The following vicariates belong to the Latin Catholic Church apostolic churches immediately subject to the Holy See: Ausasa, Gambella, Harar, Hosanna, Gimma Bonga, Meki, Nekemte and Soddo, and the apostolic prefecture of Robe.

 

Dark Blue territory is the Archeparchy of Addis Ababa

Structure of the Ethiopian Catholic Church

The Church of St. George in Lalibela, Ethiopia

The magnificent frescoes of the cave churches in Lalibela

 

Aksum (Stele of King Ezana) educated by the Christian Frumentius converted to Christianity together with his brother, probably between 360 and 370 

(To be Continued)

Dr. Nicholas Macedon OCD

Carmelite Priory, Oxford.            

9698453101

nicholasocd@yahoo.com

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