Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East also called Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East[1] is a Christian church. It is one of the earliest churches to separate from the larger Church. It traces its origins to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, started by Saint Thomas the Apostle as well as Saint Mari and Addai as shown in the Doctrine of Addai. This church is sometimes known as the "Nestorian Church", the "Syrian Church" or the "Persian Church." The church is currently headed by Mar Dinkha IV.
Other names have been given as well, but they are not accurate. One of these names is Assyrian Orthodox Church, which has led some people to believe that it is part of the Oriental Orthodox community. The church itself does not use the word "Orthodox" in any of its service books or in any of its official correspondence, nor does it use any word which can be translated as "correct faith" or "correct doctrine", the rough translation of the word Orthodox. In India, it is known as the Chaldean Syrian Church. In the West it is often known as the Nestorian Church. The Church itself believes that the term 'Nestorian Church' is chosen badly.
The Assyrian Church is the original Christian church in what was once Parthia; eastern Iraq and Iran. Geographically its influence stretched to China and India in the Middle Ages: a monument found in Xi'an (Hsi-an), the Tang-period capital of China (originally Chang'an), in Chinese and Syriac described the activities of the church in the 7th and 8th century, while half a millennium later a Chinese monk went from Beijing to Paris and Rome to call for an alliance with the Mongols against the Mamelukes. Before the Portuguese arrival in India in 1498, it provided "East Syrian" bishops to the Saint Thomas Christians. Patriarch Timothy I (727–823) wrote of the large Christian community in Tibet.
The creators of Assyrian theology are Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia. Both taught at Antioch. The normative Christology of the Assyrian church was written by Babai the Great (551–628) and is clearly different from the accusations of dualism directed toward Nestorius: his main christological work is called the 'Book of the Union', and in it Babai teaches that the two qnome (essences) are unmingled but everlastingly united in the one parsopa (personality) of Christ.
Assyrian Church Of The East Media
Mar Toma church near Urmia, Iran
Mar Elias (Eliya), the Nestorian bishop of the Urmia Plain village of Geogtapa, c. 1831. The image comes from A Residence of Eight Years in Persia Among the Nestorians, with Notes of the Mohammedans by Justin Perkins (Andover, 1843).
Early 20th century Assyrian archbishop and servants
St. Mary Assyrian Church in Moscow. In spite of both ethnic and religious persecution and a serious decline in membership since their height around the fourth century, the Assyrian Church of the East has survived into the 21st century.
Mar Gewargis Assyrian Cathedral in Chicago: Former Patriarchal See
Mar Narsai Church in Nohadra
Saint Mary Church: an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran
Residence of the Patriarch in Qudshanis, Ottoman Empire (1692–1918).
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References
- ↑ Binns, John (4 July 2002). An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches. p. 28. ISBN 9780521667388.
