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CHAPTER 7
PAPAS, FIRST HEAD OF THE CHURCH IN ASIA

In learning the story of God's true church we have been looking at Europe and the British Isles, but we are now moving east of Jerusalem into a land and culture that we don't know as much about. We will be studying the spread of Christianity in the area where our most ancient history comes from - the "cradle of civilization" - the area known as Mesopotamia. Today we call that area Iran and Iraq.

Some of our favorite Bible stories come from this area. Tradition tells us that God planted the Garden of Eden in this area and the tower of Babel was built here. Abraham left Ur, a city in this region, to obey God's call, and Daniel and his three friends were brought here as captives to Babylon. Esther was crowned queen in the court of Ahasuerus, Ezra and Nehemiah worked for Persian monarchs, and the three wise men who came to worship baby Jesus were from this area that we are going to learn about.

After Jesus' resurrection and return to heaven the disciples obeyed their Master's command, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations." Matthew 28:19. On the Day of Pentecost people from many areas of the East heard the powerful preaching of Peter and they took the gospel back to their family and friends. "Only a hundred years after the death of the apostle John, the Assyrian Christians had planted their churches among the Parthians, Persians, Medes, … Turks, and Huns." Truth Triumphant 118.

Although most of us haven't learned much of the history of this Church in the East it was "the oldest of Christian sects; and, in their better days, were numerous through all the vast regions from Palestine to China; and they carried the gospel into China itself." Truth Triumphant 117.  God's Church in this part of the world has been called by many names - the Nestorian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Church of Babylon and also the Chaldean Church - but we are going to call it the Church of the East.

Tradition tells us that the Apostle Matthew worked among the Parthians who were the rulers at that time in what is now Iran and Iraq. Early Christianity had great success in preaching the gospel and changing the lives of its converts. As the holy scriptures were read, sang, or recited from memory, many of the Parthians came to know about the true God in heaven. These people who were known for their immoral lives began to follow God's laws. Those who were not kind to the sick and dying became compassionate and loving, and those who used to take justice into their own hands by stoning thieves now turned justice over to God.

This new church in the East was permitted to grow quickly till around AD 225. Because the ruling Parthians did not have an official state religion new religions were allowed to grow and prosper  under their unprejudiced rule.

This was not the way the early Christians were treated by the Roman Empire in Europe. We have heard stories of the cruelty of Nero as he would use Christians as human torches to light up his evening entertainment. To escape these persecutions the early Christians dug out homes, meeting places and cemeteries under the city of Rome. Today if you visit that city you can take a tour into the catacombs dug out of the earth and rock and see how these faithful Christians lived.

One of the reasons for the rapid spread of the gospel was due to the many well-kept roads along the silk-trade routes linking the East and the West. These roads made it easy for people to travel, both for business and also for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Wilkinson shows the range where truth traveled, "Travelers paused at the famous cities of Edessa or Arbela as they passed on their way from the Celts of Ireland to the Celts of Turkistand or Mongolia." Truth Triumphant 121.

Christian missionaries often sacrificed the comforts of a home and family to spread the good news of salvation. We are told that many young men chose not to marry so that they would be free to go where God led them without worrying about the obligations of a wife and family. We know the gospel went to the whole world within one generation after the return of Jesus to heaven.

All of this early activity gave a solid foundation to the Church of the East before persecution began from religions like Zoroastrianism. In AD 225 persecution began as the Persians replaced the Parthian kingdom. Its rulers were devout Zoroastrians. The leaders of that religion were worried as they saw so many in their region join Christianity.  Five Christian leaders of  various church districts were put to death for opposing Zoroastrianism.

Although there had been leaders over small districts before this time, it was decided that having one person over all the work in the East would help make the church a strong and coordinated organization. Papas was elected as the first person to become the head of the entire Church of the East in AD 285. He was so well thought of that churches stretching from Syria all the way to the Orient chose him to be their leader. He was known by the title "catholicos." He was a good choice because he was respected  as someone with leadership qualities and he was well educated in Persian and Syrian literature.

When Papas organized the Church of the East, its first headquarters was located in Seleucia which is only about forty miles north from the ancient city of Babylon. This city was one of two cities founded on the Tigris River. Today there is another well-known city in that area that we call Baghdad - the capital of Iraq..

Baghdad is an ancient city with museums which chronicle the history of empires which existed  thousands of years before Jesus was born. This is what made the looting of the libraries and museums during the 2003 war in Iraq so devastating. Those artifacts and manuscripts were valuable as a record of this "cradle of civilization" and all its history.                          

A supreme head of the church was valuable in keeping all parts of the work organized. Before Papas, district leaders had to solve problems, make decisions affecting the work, raise money, and plan expansion into new territories without others to counsel with. Now the districts were under the leadership of directors and they were expected to report yearly to the catholicos. Those from more distant lands, like China, were required to report at least every six years. Successes and needs could be presented and the church was able to send workers and funds where they were most needed. This caused the gospel to be spread more quickly and with better order.

We already learned about Lucien who started a college in Antioch. He and Papas lived at the same time and were both important in keeping true Christianity strong in the East. You'll remember that Lucien edited the manuscripts of scripture into what we call the Textus Receptus. This translation was the basis for the Authorized Version from which our King James Version Bible came from.

We know that the Peshitta - the Syriac translation - was the Bible used by the Church of the East. This translation came from the same manuscripts that Lucien used, and many people believe that it came from the school of Lucian.

An interesting story comes from India. A man tells that while he was visiting  around 1812 "he saw in that land a  Syrian version of the Bible which according to popular belief would date probably as far back as 325, the year of the Council of Nicaea." Truth Triumphant 275. Having a pure translation kept the doctrines unchanged and free from corruption. The Christian church from Syria to China all had the same beliefs.

Both Papas and Lucien had to stand against the growing apostasy that was developing in the West as the Roman Church began to exercise power over all who would bow to her authority. We  learned that the Roman Church "determined to bring together Easter, a yearly festival, and Sunday, a weekly holiday sacred to the worship of the sun, to make the greatest church festival of the year." Truth Triumphant 123.

Throughout its history we see the Roman Church using pagan festivals to help keep her new members. By keeping the forms of the holidays yet "Christianizing" them, the pagan people felt comfortable in their new religion. As one writer said, "It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. ... The missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner."

The name Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon pagan festival Eostre (pronounced "Easter"). This was a celebration that took place on the full moon after the vernal equinox - sometime between March 22 and April 25.  Rome saw that she could begin conditioning people toward Sunday sacredness by using the resurrection of Christ on "the first day of the week" as a starting point. Victor I's decree in AD 190 made Easter always fall on a Sunday.

Today Satan is working to have all the world worship on Sunday. Through ecumenism and the use of the Church's festivals (like Easter and Christmas) Rome hopes to lead all Christianity back into her fold. We need to study Revelation 18:4 which says, "Come out of her (Babylon), my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."  We must be sure we have come out of Babylon so we don't participate in her judgments.

The Church of the East  would not agree to Pope Victor's decree and Papas found his church separated from the fellowship of the Roman Church. As we will see, this exclusion was actually a protection for the Church of the East. It helped  to keep her doctrines pure and she had the freedom to spread the gospel through the region.

Easter was not the only difference between the Church of the East and the Roman Church. The Church of the East "rejected the use of images, and interposed no mediator like the Virgin Mary between God and man. The Church of the East also dispensed with candles, incense, relics, and many other usages of imperial Christianity.... [They] rejected the supremacy of the bishop of Rome." Truth Triumphant 273. The clergy were allowed to marry although, as was mentioned earlier, many of the young men chose to not marry so they could work full time for God's cause. The Church of the East did not teach transubstantiation, (the wafer becoming the real body of Jesus and the wine becoming the real blood of Jesus during the mass) or that there was a purgatory.

Not only did The Church of the East have to contend with Rome's anger over their unwillingness to accept pagan customs but it was met with hostility by other religions in their area. One of them was Zoroastrianism. This was a religion which was begun by a man named Zoroaster around the time when Daniel was in Babylon (around 600 BC). Some scholars believe he knew of the Jew's beliefs and thought he could become powerful through beginning a religion that had many similarities to the Hebrews' religion but which would appeal to human nature.

In Zoroastrianism we find angels, and a messiah that was to come. They believed in a resurrection of the dead and a judgment. Foods were divided into clean and unclean meats, a tithe was paid to support a priesthood and they taught that one day in seven was to be sacred. The many colorful ceremonies and processions pleased the people and Zoroastrianism's appeal grew rapidly.  Today the ruins of its fire temples can be found in modern Iran, Iraq and India.

This new religion was primarily sun worship. Mithra, the god of light, was the object of their worship. "Sunday was devoted to Mithra, or the sun, the greatest of all gods of Zoroastrianism. … Since it was pre-eminently a religion of sun worship, what was more appropriate than to choose Sunday, the day of the sun, as the holy day?" Truth Triumphant 130. The priests gathered the people together to be taught their religious laws and Sunday was chosen as their day of worship.     Mithraism, a later religion, adopted Zoroastrianism and introduced it into the Roman Empire "thus having paved the way for this form of sun worship to become a universal religion in the Roman world. ...This same religion captivated province after province of the Roman Empire until, through the popularizing of its sun-god, Mithra, it threatened to stifle Christianity." Truth Triumphant 268, 129. The worship of the sun was something the early Christians had to face in both the East and the West.

We are told a story of the catholico who succeeded Papas, Mar Shimun. The Persian Shah was his childhood friend and now he was in trouble with the king because he would not force his church people to pay taxes for a war between Persia and Rome. Mar Shimun "refused to do so, on the grounds that his people were too poor to pay and that he was not a tax-collector. His arrest and the destruction of all Christian churches was immediately ordered. He was arrested at Seleucia-Ctesiphon and taken to Karka d'Ledan where the king was. …

"He was offered freedom, not only for himself, but for his 'melet' of people, if he would worship the sun only once. 'The sun went into mourning when its creator died,' said Shimun. The king begged him by the memory of their personal friendship to yield, but the [catholico] remained firm, and on the morning of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the year AD 339, along with five bishops and a hundred minor clergy, he sealed his testimony with his blood. Mar Shimun, the last of the company to suffer martyrdom, died for two of the noblest causes for which it is possible for man to suffer: his faith in God and his duty to his people."

God has told us that there will again be a test for His people over worshipping the sun. In The Great Controversy 605 we are told, "The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God."

Like Mar Shimun we will have a life or death decision to make. Are you learning now to trust God in everything so that you are ready for this terrible trial?

CHAPTER 8
ABA

The 250 years following Papas' leadership went back and forth between peace and persecution. The political battles of Persia brought on persecution for the Church of the East. At that time Persia was at war with the Roman Empire, and the Persian rulers were afraid of a conspiracy between the Christians of Rome and those of Persia. He did not realize that already there were differences in doctrine because the Christians in Rome were beginning to accept some of the philosophies of Mithraism.

The Zoroastrians would go to the king and stir up trouble against the Christians by accusing them of tearing down their religion. They would say, "They despise our sun-god. Did not Zoroaster, the sainted founder of our divine beliefs, institute Sunday one thousand years ago in honor of the sun and supplant the Sabbath of the Old Testament which the Jews in our land then sanctified? … They desecrate the sacred earth by burying their dead in it and pollute the water by their ablutions. They refuse to go to war for the shah-in-shah; and they preach that snakes, scorpions, and creeping things were created by a good God." Truth Triumphant 270.

These types of accusations brought persecution on the Church of the East. Churches were destroyed and many of the leaders suffered martyrdoms. Those who especially experienced the wrath of the Persians were those who converted from Magianism. There were horrible tortures for some, while others were locked in prisons where they  starved to death.

These persecutions did not weaken the faith or resolve of the Christians. They took comfort in repeating to themselves the words of Jesus who prophesied that these types of things would happen to His followers. They remembered the words of Jesus, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Matthew 5:11, 12.

Jesus knew that His followers would be treated badly by those who did not love Him and He wanted to encourage them. He said, "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not know the Father, nor me." John 16:1 - 3. 

It is hard to think about anything positive coming from persecution, but one of the advantages of the oppression was that there was no contact between the Church of the East and the Roman Church. They were not caught up in the controversy over Sunday worship, disputes about the Godhead, or whether their ministers should marry or not. These Christians were free to evangelize and worship as they had been taught by the apostles without the conflicts which the true believers in the West had to meet. This kept the Church of the East strong and united and the message went forward quickly.

Another thing persecution did was bring many converts into the church. Often persecution only served to expand the Church of the East. When the college at Edessa was closed by the Roman emperor because its theological views did not agree with the state religion, brave leaders moved the school to Nisibis, a strong fortress city. There the college continued to grow and flourish and send out trained missionaries.

The missionaries trained at Nisibis used their skills to win the respect, trust and favor of the people whom they wanted to reach with the gospel. These Christians taught arts and sciences to the Muslim Arabs. "Physicians, in the celebrated school of medicine founded by the Nestorian Christians at Edessa in Mesopotamia, were settled at Mecca as early as Mohammed's time, and there lived on a footing of friendly intercourse with the Prophet (Mohammed) and Abu-Bekr." Truth Triumphant  274.

Christianity has always understood the need of true education for the health of the church. That is why Patrick, Columba and Lucien established training centers where students would be taught not only to read and write but to preach the gospel while teaching others these skills.

Christians of the Church of the East are credited with teaching the Turks how to write in their own language. It is well-known that the Syriac characters were the basis for the Mongolian, Manchu and Soghdian alphabets. It has been said that in Tibet, the Christian-like ceremonies practiced by the llamas came from missionaries who took the gospel to that remote and rugged land.

These early Christians studied Jesus' example of self-denying, loving service to those around Him, and they felt privileged to walk in His footsteps. Their lives showed the principles that Jesus outlined in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. They were fair with their neighbors, loving to those who treated them badly, and stood as lights in dark, heathen lands.

We find that these early Christians had friends in high offices. "When the Persian king, Kawad (AD 498), because of rebellions in his kingdom, twice took refuge with the Huns and Turks, he found Christians there who helped him to reconquer his land. When he had regained his throne, he killed some Mithraists, incarcerated others, but was benevolent toward the Christians because a company of them rendered service to him on his way to the king of the Turks." Truth Triumphant 273.

In AD 538 this quickly growing church elected a new catholico by the name of Aba. All the districts of the Church of the East were happy about his appointment because they had not had a leader in Seleucia for twenty years. During that time heavy persecution didn't make it practical for there to be a catholico to direct the work. Now each district needed  strong leadership from Aba.

The new catholico had been a Zoroastrian and because of his learning and ability he had been a teacher of the Magi. As we mentioned earlier, those who converted from Magianism were especially persecuted. Aba was to be no exception. The story of his life should inspire us to courage, steadfastness and faithfulness to duty.

He was quickly attacked and accused by the Zoroastrian leaders of being an apostate and converting many to Christianity. When brought before the king he admitted to the charges. In his response to the king, Aba said, "I am a Christian. I preach my own faith, and I want every man to join it; but of his own free will, and not of compulsion. I use force on no man." Truth Triumphant 177.

The king apparently liked Aba and told him, "You shall go free and continue to act as catholicos if you will stop receiving converts, admit those married by Magian law to communion, and allow your people to eat Magian sacrifices." Truth Triumphant 177. When Aba refused these conditions of release he was ordered to prison under the care of the Magi. Because of the hatred toward Aba his friends feared that he would be killed in prison. However, God took care of His faithful worker. Some people say that through the intervention of the king Aba was allowed to live in a house of his own where he was able to carry on his duties as head of the Church of the East. He wrote letters, received visitors, consecrated bishops and helped settle problems that arose in the church.

The Magians were angry at this type of freedom which allowed Aba to continue with his duties as catholicos, and which kept him safe from their plots on his life. Aba realized that one of the plots to kill him would eventually succeed so he escaped with the help of friends and went straight to the king for help. The king was amazed to see his prisoner standing in front of him.

Aba said, "[I am] the king's servant, ready to die if that [is your] will. But though [I am] willing to be executed at the king's order, [I am] not willing to be murdered contrary to his order. Let the king of kings do justice!" Truth Triumphant 279. Because of his fear of the Magians, the king allowed Aba to be taken back to prison but he ordered that he was not to be killed.

For months Aba was kept in prison, but since he was allowed visitors he was still able to carry on the work of the church. For the summer he was ordered to go with the king on a tour of the kingdom and at each place Christians crowded around to see their spiritual leader and receive his blessing. Many of them begged the king for Aba's release, and soon after their return to Seleucia the king sent for him and gave him an unconditional pardon.

The powerful Magians were most unhappy with this development, and as soon as the king left the city they quickly took Aba back to prison. When the king heard about that he sent a strongly-worded message demanding that Aba be released immediately. This was done, but the nine years of persecution had worn down his health and he died shortly after his release from prison.

During these troubled years we find God's church gaining strength and members. Those who fled the various persecutions moved eastward and established new churches where they settled. Vast areas from India to China were under the catholicos of Seleucia. Even secular history verifies the scope of influence of the Church of the East. "Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveler, speaks of the large island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea near the Gulf of Aden, possessing many baptized Christians who had nothing to do with the pope at Rome, but were subject to the catholicos at Bagdad." Truth Triumphant 275.

Here we see the march of truth through the East even though there were persecutions and setbacks. The most powerful nations of the eastern world were exposed to Christianity and many accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 9
TIMOTHY OF BAGDAD
(The Church Under Mohammedan Rule)

Before following the progress of the Church of the East we should look at the rise of Mohammedism. Mohammed was a charismatic man who saw the unhappiness of the Arabs with their old religion of idolatry. In AD 612 this little-known camel driver began telling about revelations from heaven. These visions and dreams convinced some to follow him.  He taught that there was just one God and he (Mohammed) was His prophet.

He and his followers attacked caravans and took their rich burden of gold, silk, porcelain and other treasures to use in building up their new religion. By the time Mohammed died he ruled Arabia, and his successors quickly took over Syria, Egypt and Persia. They made Bagdad (the way they used to spell Baghdad) their capital and the Church of the East also moved their headquarters from Seleucia to Bagdad.

Mohammed and the man who took over leadership when he died, Abu Bakr, both were friendly to Christians. After Aba's time, one of the catholicos, Ishoyabh, was given a promise that the Church of the East would be granted freedom of worship, be protected from attacks of enemies, that they wouldn't be forced to change their manners and laws, and a Christian woman servant would not be made to change her faith or be forbidden to fast and pray. They also wrote up what tributes (money) the Church of the East would pay the government, but under Omar, the successor of Abu Bakr, even those taxes didn't have to be paid.

There were several reason why the Mohammedan government treated the Christians very well. Not only did the leaders have a respect for the Church of the East but they needed the services of the students from the schools it had built. These Christians were hired as secretaries and government representatives because of their excellent skills with words and numbers. Medicine was also well developed in these schools by this time and court physicians were Church  members.

Education in the Christian schools continued to mature and expand. Many of the courses taught were similar to those we find in universities today. The students were taught "science, philosophy, materia medica, medicine, astronomy, law, Bible theology, geometry, music, arithmetic, dialectics, grammar, rhetoric, Greek literature, and the Greek, Syrian, Chaldean and Egyptian languages." Truth Triumphant 287. This thorough education produced intelligent, resourceful and dedicated Christian missionaries who were well prepared to spread the gospel into foreign fields.

It was at this time (AD 780 - 824) that Timothy was elected as catholicos. He oversaw the schools and encouraged them to train more and more missionaries. "He watched over the purity of the doctrine. He was continually consecrating devoted young men that had the spirit of sacrifice, missionaries who would bring mercy into cruel hearts, who would instill culture into repulsive peoples, and who would gather the galloping tribes of the desert around them to study the messages of the Sacred Word." Truth Triumphant 287.

Under Timothy better organization took place. "The believers in all Asia had been divided by the church into twenty-six to thirty grand divisions. Over each of these there was the metropolitan or presiding officer." Truth Triumphant 296. These leaders oversaw the work in their division and found solutions for the various problems which occurred. This was an evangelistic church which rapidly established itself in the nations of the Far East.                                 

From the time of Timothy and onward this was an exciting time for the Church of the East. The reports coming from China, the greatest empire in the world at that time, told of a huge stone monument to Christianity that had been erected with the help of the emperor. The king of the Turks became a convert to Christianity while a leader was consecrated to lead the Tibetan people.

To give you an idea of the spread of the gospel we will give some little-known facts of this Church of the East. The country of China was divided into four kingdoms known as Tartar kingdoms. There was a king over each division. There were over 400,000 families in one kingdom which accepted and obeyed the teachings of Christ. That means there could have been a population of about eight million people who  were all Christians.

We know that in India there were Christians which even today are called St. Thomas Christians. They were named after the apostle Thomas who went to preach to them. We will learn later about these people who kept their doctrines pure and did not accept the traditions of the Church of Rome. All these Christians who belonged to the Church of the East observed the seventh-day Sabbath. They also kept the  Levitical health laws and their priests were allowed to marry.

Throughout the East, even in high ranking homes, there were Christians who helped to influence the laws of the land. In the early thirteenth century "the scourge of God" - Genghis Khan - appeared as the leader of the Turko-Mongol peoples. We are told that one of his wives was a Christian. Some time after his father's death, Genghis' son, Kuyuk, was elected as khan. It should be noted that he was a true Christian and during his reign the Church of the East was treated very well. After the death of Kuyuk in 1251 Christians continued have powerful positions. The wife of the next khan was a Christian and her three sons, Mangu, Hulagu, and Kublai will have their story told when we learn about the Church of the East in China.

An interesting conversion story is told of a king in what today is Russia. "The king of the Keraits (a group of people from around Lake Baikal in Siberia)…had been found wandering in a high mountain where he had been overtaken by a violent snowstorm. In his hopelessness he considered himself lost, and dreamed or thought he saw a giant appear to him in vision, saying, 'If you will accept Christ, I will lead you to safety.' Having promised to become a Christian and having returned safely to his kingdom, he sought out Christian merchants who were traveling among his tribes, and learned from them the way of salvation." Truth Triumphant 291.

As we hear these thrilling stories of the Church in the East we sometimes wonder that the gospel could spread so quickly and with such power in heathen lands. We need to learn the lessons of our early Christian heroes so that we can be as effective in spreading the gospel of Jesus today. We must know our Bibles as well as they did, have the love for God that they had, and live the self-sacrificing lives they lived and we will see an outpouring of God's Spirit which will finish the work of taking the gospel to "every nations, tongue, and people."

Satan now has a special hatred for God's Church that is giving the Three Angels' Messages. Today we have a warning to give to the people of the earth. God has told us that Satan is going to try to change our doctrines and get us to disobey God's law. People will think that they are doing a great work for God, but rather they will be deceived by the devil and obey him. Satan knows that disobedience will keep God's Holy Spirit from being given in the Latter Rain.

We are told in Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 204: "The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result?

"The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure."

I hope that we will be like the Church of the East. "The members ...  were not only a church of evangelical activities, but also a people of sound doctrines. It is difficult to say which is the more dangerous - sound doctrines without evangelism, or evangelism without sound doctrine. The first leads to coldness in religion; the second produces vaudeville in preaching. Both these extremes were avoided by the Church of the East. It was able to give a reason for the faith, and at the same time, it displayed a life of missionary zeal and sacrifice which has seldom been surpassed." Truth Triumphant 300

CHAPTER 10
ST. THOMAS CHRISTIANS OF INDIA
(AD 72 - 1500)

The fascinating and colorful country of India is where we will go next in our story of the Church of the East. The gospel was taken to this country of elephants, spices, exotic woods and the mighty Ganges at the same time as it was taken to Italy.

Tradition tells us that the Apostle Thomas was sent shortly after Pentecost to take the message to what was then called Parthia. "It is the constant tradition of the Eastern Church that the apostle Thomas evangelized India, and there is no historian, no poet, … no writer of any kind who, having the opportunity of speaking of Thomas, does not associate his name with India." Truth Triumphant 302.

Throughout the East at this time there were many Jews who had left Judah before the birth of Jesus and they had thriving communities and synagogues in most of the large centers. The Aramaic language was widely used and this made it easy for the spread of the gospel. Many in the East, even in big cities like Seleucia, spoke this language so it was easy to preach and write to large masses of people.

The apostle Thomas first worked in India along the Malabar Coast with the Jewish community in Cranganor. He preached and taught in the synagogue and converted them to the gospel. This city was known as the cradle of Christianity in India. After Thomas established a church in one place he journeyed through India preaching with great success and established many churches filled with devout Christians. The Brahmins (the Buddhist priests) were very angry at the success of this new religion and created so much controversy among the people that they attacked Thomas and stoned him. One of the Brahmins put a lance through him which caused his death in AD 72.

As Christianity in India was getting established a revolution was taking place in the West. The compromise of Christianity with paganism impacted the true Christians in places such as Rome who came under heavy persecution. Groups of believers traveled to India in AD 345 bringing  with them their skills as mechanics, merchants, artisans and preachers. These early Christians were well educated and many brought with them manuscripts of the scriptures in the Syriac language.

For several hundred years many Christians moved to India. Many came from Persia and the West fleeing persecution, but others came from more peaceful areas to help strengthen the church in an area where there were few believers in the Messiah.

The king of Malabar welcomed the Christians and gave them many privileges. It is even thought that some of the believers were made part of the nobility. In this sheltered environment the gospel spread rapidly and was well received. An important traveler from Florence in Italy named Marignolli tells that the Indian Christians around 1290 were the masters of the steelyards and in charge of the spices of south India.

Marco Polo, a famous explorer, wrote in 1295 about the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, "Their religion is Christianity, and they are duly baptized, and are under the government, as well temporal as spiritual, of an archbishop, who is not in subjection to the pope of Rome, but to a patriarch who resides in the city of  Baghdad, by whom he is appointed." Truth Triumphant 310. Another explorer, Nicolo de Conti, said in 1440 that most of the people of Socotrine were Nestorian Christians.

Christian parents sent their children to the schools operated by the Church of the East with the hopes that they would become ministers or missionaries. When the Portuguese came around 1500 to India they "'found [the Indian Christians] firmly organized under their spiritual leaders … who acted as their representatives in dealing with the Indian princes. For long they had Christian kings, and at a later period chiefs, of their own.' Every community that was under a supreme spiritual director endeavored to maintain a college of advanced grades. From these institutions of learning graduates went to the scholarly theological seminaries in Assyria." Truth Triumphant 311. These devoted and well-trained young people helped carry the gospel to China, Japan, Ceylon and  many countries beyond.

Satan became concerned as truth was taught and accepted. He began to work through the dominant religions of India, Buddhism and Hinduism. Their leaders saw the wide appeal of Christianity and they became concerned. In 600 AD Hinduism began to take action. Dr. Wilkinson tells the story this way: "To build a defense against the gospel, they were obliged to do three things. First, they must invent a god of their own who entered a human body. This could compete with the story of the birth of Jesus in the flesh, which was winning hearts everywhere. Secondly, they must give this counterfeit messiah a name similar to Christ, with similar events of His life and parallel teachings. Thirdly, they must arrange their chronology with Hindu astronomy to throw the date of this fabricated incarnation centuries previous to the birth of Jesus in order to make Christianity appear to have been copied from Hinduism. New literature was provided to give success to the venture.

"The deity they chose to incarnate was Krishna, a name much like that of Christ. Books written by pagans, before the coming of Christianity, had told of the descents of the gods among men. ... The new doctrine of incarnation (that you come back to earth again and again - sometimes as a dog or maybe a cow or even a person) which now sprang up produced a complete round of literature and theology concerning the wondrous birth of Vishnu, the supreme deity, who came in human flesh under the name 'Krishna.' ... Many epics were written to glorify the exploits of this god who had descended to share the joys and sorrows of humanity. In the hearts of millions, Krishna has come to occupy the place of Vishnu himself. Even as Christians may direct their prayers to Christ instead of to God, so Hindus may direct their prayers to Krishna rather than to Vishnu, the supreme deity." Truth Triumphant 137.

For many years this elaborate deception was believed. However, even the best-planned deceptions are often shown to be lies. This was the case with the story of Krishna.

Dr. Wilkinson continues the story - "Great credit is due to John Bentley who, in 1825, detected this fraud of the Brahmans after it had been accepted for twelve hundred years. The similarity between the name of Christ and Krishna had long been noticed. Writers had listed the many agreements between the events of Christ's birth and life and those of Krishna. When later translations of Hindu literature were published, thinkers were puzzled over the many startling similarities between the teachings of the two religions. The priests of India who claimed that the incarnation of Krishna was six hundred years before Christ, loved to boast that the New Testament was built out of the Hindu epics. Bentley solved the mystery. He obtained from the Brahmans the horoscope of Krishna, who, they said, was born at midnight of March 25, and also the positions of the sun, the moon, and the five planets among the heavenly constellations. This keen Englishman, skilled in the mathematics of astronomy, proved conclusively that the earliest date which could be claimed for the birth of Krishna was August 7, AD 600." Truth Triumphant 137, 138.

The Christians of India were well grounded in scriptures. True converts to the Church of the East were never lured by pomp and ceremony, nor by the rites that were practiced in Buddhism or Hinduism. Because of their diligent study of scripture, the St. Thomas Christians kept their religion free of many of the heresies which had been accepted by the Church in the West. The  early Christians in India did a thorough work in perserving the gospel. When the Portuguese arrived with  their image of the Virgin Mary these faithful believers said, "We are Christians, not idolaters."

These St. Thomas Christians also ...

• Condemned the pope's supremacy.
• Affirmed that the Roman Church had departed from the faith.
• Denied transubstantiation.
• Condemned the worship of images.
• Made no use of oils.
• Denied purgatory - (A place where people who died, but didn't go straight to heaven, could be purified).
• Knew nothing of auricular confessions - (confession to a priest).
• Never heard of extreme unction - (special anointing and prayers when a person was dying).
• Permitted the clergy to marry. Truth Triumphant 297.

There are exciting days before God's people. Let us pray that we have "washed [our] robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Revelation 7:14. When we are ready, God has a Loud Cry message to give to those in darkness. Will you be a member of God's army?