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HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
M.M.NINAN
India Before Christ
In order to understand
the History of Indian Christianity it is necessary to look into the
environment in which Christianity developed in India. At the time of
Jesus, India had a very flourishing civilization. It is normal for
any country to claim a civilization, which started from the beginning
of creation. But this is just a feature of nationalism. The reality
is that there had always been civilizations in regions, which
sustained life all over the world. Trade and relations between these
civilizations molded the religious atmosphere of every civilization
and country. India was no different.
At the time of Jesus,
the Aryans were practically all over India. They had a very weak
presence in South India where the Dravidians were more concentrated.
By the second century BC Aryans must have reached even Sri Lanka.
Aryan religion was essentially Vedic Religion. Though for the sake of
pushing the date of the origin of Hinduism, Vedic religion is
erroneously equated with Hinduism. Vedic religion in fact has nothing
to do with Hinduism.
Vedism is a polytheistic
religion brought to India around 1500 B.C.E. by the Aryans. It was
the faith of nomadic warrior tribes whose gods were heroes of war and
this reflected in their Scriptures. Thus, Vedic Religion was
essentially a worship of the forces of nature. The famous triad gods
are Indra, Agni and Varuna. Indra, the god of thunder was the king of
gods. Agni, the fire god was the giver of energy and life. Surya or
Varuna was the sun god. There are thirty-three gods mentioned in the
Vedas. Today they are relegated to the level of secondary gods.
There was no concept of Brahman. This concept of the ultimate God is
nowhere found in the Vedas. It would require extreme allegory to
impose the later concepts of Para Brahman into Vedic treatments as
Swami Aurobindo has done. (1). One will have to manipulate and wrench
out the secret meaning and the mystic wisdom couched in allegory and
parables if at all they exist. “But all cannot enter into its secret
meaning.” At any rate it totally lacked the concepts of karma and
reincarnation, which dominate Hinduism, as we know of today. (2)(3)
Vedism came from Persia and is a branch
parallel to Zoroastrianism and Mithraism. Vedas are written in a
language similar to Old Iranian, the language of Zoroastrianism's
scriptures, the Avesta. (4) For lack of writing skills, these
were not written down till the 2nd C BC. “The
Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas, was composed about 1500 B.C.,
and codified about 600 B.C. It is unknown when it was finally
committed to writing, but this probably was at some point after 300
B.C.” (5) (6) (7)
The Vedic language is often erroneously
referred to as Sanskrit. Vedas are written in Vedic language, which is
very close to the Iranian languages and is almost identical with the
Avestan language in which the scriptures of Zoroastrianism are
written. Sanskrit on the other hand has close affinity with the
Dravidian languages and was developed during the early second century
AD. All the three religious branches, Vedic, Zoroastrian and
Mithraism grew separately after branching out. Vedism emphasizes,
nature worship and rituals involved in offering of sacrifices, magic
and witchcraft.
Buddhism and Jainism
developed in India around fifth century BC and are atheistic
religions. They were essentially materialistic religion of action.
The basic teachings of karma and reincarnations or transmigration of
souls, brought into India probably by the Greeks, form the background
of these religions. Under Emperor Asoka (ca. 273–232 B.C), the third
Mauryan emperor, Buddhism spread far and wide; not only in India but
also into neighboring countries. The Emperor Asoka built monolithic
pillars with carved epigraphs crowned by capitals, rock-cut
architecture, and stupas to spread the gospel. By the first century
BC, Vedism, Buddhism and Jainism were the religions of the whole of
India. There must have been also the Dravidian religion all over
Southern India. We know very little about the nature of this
religion. They had the concept of the “God Most High” – “El Elyon” –
the Parameshwara or Maheswara. Most scholars believe that the
Dravidian Civilization in Moahen-Jodero and Harappa worshipped Siva as
the great God who ruled the heavens and the earth. Their religion
included animal sacrifice and was very similar to Judaism. Like
Judaism under the judges, early Dravidians did not leave any symbols
or idols or temples. Almost all sophisticated art and architecture
were either Jain or Buddhist origin until 300 AD. Under the influence
of other religions, Buddhism developed later into two branches -
Theravada or Hinayana (Lower Vehicle) and Mahayana (Higher Vehicle).
Hinayana found mostly in Sri Lanka is still atheistic in content, and
Mahayana (Higher Vehicle) found in China and neighboring countries is
theistic in content. Theravada Buddhism sees Buddha as a man. Gautama
never claimed to be deity, but rather a "way shower." Mahayana
Buddhism, however, worships Buddha as a manifestation of the divine
Buddha essence. The later sect came into existence by the early second
century AD and crystallized by the third century. It emphasizes
salvation of sentient beings through the assistance of bodhisattvas,
which later became the dominant form of Buddhism in most of Asia. (8)
Socio-Political
background
Inter continental trade
played a major role in the political, cultural, religious, and
artistic exchanges between civilizations. These land routes were in
existence for centuries. The trade routes provided much needed luxury
and exotic items to other lands. Some areas controlled monopoly of
certain goods, like silk by China, Spices by Western coast of India
and incense by Northern India and the Arabia. Thus there were Silk
routes, Spice (cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg) routes and Incense
routes. The ancient port of Muziris was described by the Roman
historian Pliny (A.D. 23-79) as the most important port in the East,
and Vanji (Thiruvanjikulam) was the capital city of the Cera
people. While discussing the dealings of the Phoenicians with Muziris,
Pliny mentions that every year large sum of money was going to India
for silk, pearls, gems and spices. He states that Malabar ships were
visiting the Persian Gulf, Aden, the Red Sea and Egypt regularly.
Ptolemy's mid-second century map of India (9)(10) and the apparent
third century (11) Tabula Peutingeriana or Peutinger Table.
(A.D. 100-160) and the Periplus (the list of ports with distances)
(12) of the Erythraean Sea (AD 90) include Malabar and its port
Muziris. Diplomatic relations between India and Roman Empire existed
even before the Christian era. Conquerors followed these routes to
control them. The land routes were dangerous due to the presence of
robbers, and later, sea routes became favorites due to its speed of
transport and safety. Land transport was incredibly expensive in
comparison with the sea routes. (13)
One such route was the
spice route connecting Malabar Coast to Yemen, Egypt and to rest of
Europe. In A.D. 45 Hippalus discovered the monsoon winds in the Indian
Ocean and this discovery reduced the time of transit to less than
forty days. It was this route that St.Thomas took. (14) (15)
Indo-Parthian Kingdom of
Takshashila
Following the Aryans, other
invasions came along the same land route. Persian emperor Darius
established two provinces in India – Gandara and Hindush. This was
followed by the conquest of Alexander the Great (331 BC). The Indo
Greek King Meanader I established a kingdom in Taxila in 170 BC.
Sakas (Scythians), Kushans and Huns came in from Central Asia. In due
course, the Parthians ended up controlling all of Bactria and
extensive territories in Northern India, after fighting Kushan Emperor
Kujula Kadphises, in the Gandhara region.
Taxila was the meeting place of the four
great civilizations of the time -- Greco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and
Chinese. At that time it was the capital of Hindus – The Indus
Valley.
Around 20 AD, Gondophares, one of
the Parthian conquerors, declared his independence from the Parthian
empire and established the Indo-Parthian kingdom in the conquered
territories. The kingdom barely lasted one century. It started to
fragment under Gondophares' successor Abdagases. The northern Indian
part of the kingdom was retaken by the Kushans around 75 AD. (9)
Enter Thomas
Judas
Thomas was one of the disciples of
Jesus. He is also known as Didymus, which means the Twin. Thomas means
Twin in Aramaic and Didymus means Twin in Greek. He is generally known
as the Doubting Thomas since he refused to believe the resurrection
unless he has verified it himself. If we apply the criteria of Rom.
10:10 Thomas was the
first Christian, since he was the first person to confess that Jesus
was indeed God.
His acts are
not found in the Acts of the Apostles. But an apocryphal book written
around 300 AD called "Acts of Thomas”, describes it with
embellishments and exaggerations. It was probably written in Greek
and was translated in to Syriac. (16). It is also found in
Latin, Armenian, Ethiopic
(Coptic), and Arabic. These
were written by Gnostic writers in
Edessa
and some scholars ascribe it to
Bardaisan (155-223 AD) of Syria. Apart from embellishments and
exaggerations typical of these types of writings, the context and
historical facts are true.
Archeology
and
Indian traditions
substantiate the basic historic and geographic context in this book.
“This Pseudepigraphic
text relates the adventures of the apostle Judas Thomas as he preaches
an ascetical or encratite form of Christianity on the way to and from
India. Like other apocryphal acts combining popular legend and
religious propaganda, the work attempts to entertain and instruct. In
addition to narratives of Thomas' adventures, its poetic and
liturgical elements provide important evidence for early Syrian
Christian traditions.” (17)
One of the
reasons for doubting the story was the absence of any King by the name
of Gondophores in India. During the last few decades a large deposit
of coins turned up which clearly showed Gondophores as the Indo-
Parthian King with a brother whose name was Gad as mentioned in the
Acts of Thomas. The coins
from Taxila with the seal and inscription of King Gundophorus read:
"Maharaja - rajarajasamahata -dramia -devavrata Gundapharase". Rock
stone called Takhth-i-Bahi Stone of size 17" long and 14.5" broad has
this inscription: "In the twenty-sixth year of the great King
Gudaphara in the year three and one hundred, in the month of Vaishakh,
on the fifth day" (18)
Kerala traditions are encoded in oral
traditions handed down through generations as folklore, music and
drama.
·
Rambaan Paattu or
Thomma Parvom is a song about the Acts of Thomas written around 1600
by Rambaan Thomas. Rambaan Thomas of Malyakal Family descends from the
first Bishop whom St. Thomas is said to have ordained. The poem is the
oral tradition handed down through generations. It is said to have
been originally written by the Rambaan Thomas, the Bishop.
·
Margom Kali (Drama
about the Way) and Mappila Paattu (The Songs of the Children of the
King) are series of songs of the Acts of Thomas and the history of
the Malabar Church. They are sung in consonance with dance forms that
are typical of the Syrian Christians. Some of them are dance dramas
performed in the open as part of the festivals of the church. These
have no specific origin, but grew up in the course of history.
·
Veeradian Paattu is
sung by a local Hindu group (called Veeradians) in accompaniment of
Villu - a local instrument (a stringed instrument like the bow) -
during Christian festivals. This form of art also dates back to
unknown period handed down through generations and modified in that
process.
According to Kerala
tradition Thomas landed in Cranganore in Mali Island on the present
Alwaye coast in Malabar Coast, in 52 AD. It is also called Muchiri –
three lips – cleft lips - as the River Periyar splits into three
braches before reaching the Sea to form this island. This came to be
known Muziris to the seafarers. The ruler of the Chera kingdom at
that time was Udayan Cheran Athen I (page 44 of Cochin State Manual).
Other names of this port are Kodungaloor, Cranganore and Maliankara..
There were Jewish colonies in Malabar in the first century. Here he
preached to a Jewish community who accepted Jesus as mesia and their
synagogue became a Christian church.
It is said that Thomas ordained one
Prince Peter to be the head of the church of the Jews and left for
Takshasila, (Taxila, a
University City in the
Indus Valley) the capital of Gondaphorus Kingdom. He established a
church in that region before he traveled to other areas of India.
These churches were annihilated during the invasion of Kushan and
Moghal dynasty and the Christians went underground.
He returned to
Kerala where he established seven and half churches with 12 Brahmin
families as teachers and over 3000 converts from Kshatriyas, Nairs and
Chettiars. These new converts were called St: Thomas Christians. This
church is one of the most ancient churches in Christendom. The seven
churches are at Malankara, Palayur, Paravoor, Kokkamangalam, Niranam,
Chayal and Kollam.
Apostle Thomas was martyred in
Mylapore near
Madras. (Tradition
calls this place Kalloor - the place of rock) in Tamilnadu State,
India.
“There are other facts which seem to
indicate a northern locus for St. Thomas’s work. Bardaisan in his Book
of Fate (AD 196) speaks of Parthian Christians living among pagans,
which might be a result of the destruction of the Indian Parthian
empire by Kushan invaders about AD 50. There are also said to be
Christian tribes still living in north India, but holding their faith
a secret from all others. For example, at Tatta in Sind (the ancient
port of Pattiala at the mouth of Indus), there is a fakir community
which calls itself by an Aramaic name, something like ‘Bartolmai’(Beth
Thuma), and claims to have been descended from St. Thomas’s converts
and to have books and relics to prove it. Unfortunately no outsider
has ever been allowed to see this alleged proof.” (19)
The Problem of Brahmin presence in
Kerala
One of objections of this traditional story
raised recently is the problem of the presence of Brahmins in Kerala
who were converted and were given the responsibility of teaching the
gospel. The Namboodiri traditions of the present day traces their
origins back only to the sixth century AD. That does not mean, there
were no Brahmins in the first century in Kerala region. We know for
certain that the Aryan conquest reached as far as Sri Lanka long
before the Christian era. However the Aryans were never a controlling
force economically or even intellectually until eighth century AD.
There must have been a few Brahmin families, (as is true even today in
the central Travancore area where Christians are concentrated) who
were probably small businessmen in various parts of South India. As
in all countries, it was the poor and the persecuted communities that
came to faith first. I would assume that the Brahminic community of
that time accepted Christianity en masse in Kerala. Conversion in
early days was in community groups and families. Thus if 12 Brahmin
families accepted Christianity in Malabar it cannot be an exaggeration
or an impossibility. The tradition says that Thomas met these
Brahmins while they were worshipping the Sun in their traditional
way. Other than that it does not directly or indirectly ascribe power
or prestige to these people. By the third century when the Syrian
immigration took place, since Aryans are also of the same ethnicity,
their status became more pronounced. Notice that they were not the
only people who were converted. The majority of the converts were
Dravidians with a Dravid to Aryan ratio of 3000 to 12.
Other References to Thomas
Christian Tradition
There are
several references to Thomas' acts in India, which corroborates the
general validity of the story.
-
A Syriac
document "Doctrines of the Apostles", (2nd Century AD)
states, "India and all its own countries and those bordering on it,
even to the farthest sea,
received the Apostle's Hand of Priesthood from Judas Thomas,
who was the Guide and Ruler in the Church which he built
there and ministered there."
-
St. Gregory of Nazianzen (AD
329-390) refers to Thomas along with other Apostles work in Contra
Aranos et de Seipso Oratio
-
Ambrose of Milan (AD 333-397)
wrote thus: "Even to those Kingdoms which were shout out by rugged
mountains became accessible to them as India to Thomas, Persia to
Mathew...." Ambrose De Moribus. Brach.
-
Jerome (AD 342-420)
wrote thus: "Jesus dwelt in all places; with Thomas in India, with
Peter in Rome, with Paul in Illyricum, with Titus in Crete with
Andrew in Achaia, with each apostolic man in each and all
countries." epistles of Jerome. He mentions
the mission of Pantaenus, a Christian philosopher
sent by bishop Demetrius of Alexandria, "to preach Christ to the
Brahmins and to the philosophers of India" in A.D. 190. Born a Jew,
thoroughly trained in Greek philosophy, Pantaenus converted to
Christianity, and was the most outstanding Christian scholar of his
time. He probably was the first head of the theological college of
Alexandria. He was the teacher of the great Clement. (20)
-
Jacob of
Sarug (451 - 521) was a Syriac ecclesiastical writer. He was
educated at Edessa and became bishop of Batnae in the year 519. He
wrote hymns, - but his principal writing is a series of metrical
homilies and his contemporaries gave him the name of honour: "The
flute of the Holy Ghost". Two homilies are on the Ministry of Thomas
in India and repeats the evangelization of Thomas as in Acts of
Thomas.(21)
-
Gregory, the Bishop of Tours (AD
538-593) in his In Gloria Martyrdom writes: "Thomas, the Apostle,
according to the history of passion, is declared to have suffered in
India. After a long time his body was taken into a city which they
called Edessa in Syria and there buried. Therefore, in that Indian
place where he firs rested there is a monastery and a church of
wonderful size, and carefully adorned and arrayed."
-
Mar Solomon in 13th C wrote in his
Book of the Bee as follows: Thomas was from Jerusalem of the tribe
of Juda. He taught the Persians, Medes and the Indians; and because
he baptized the daughter of the King of the Indians he stabbed him
with a spear and died. Habban the merchant brought his body and laid
it in Edessa, the blessed city of our Lord. Others say that he was
buried in Mahluph (Mylapore) a city in the land of Indians.
Enter Barthelomew
There is also a tradition that the Apostle
Barthemew came to India in AD 55 and preached the Gospel in the area
near Kalyan, Bombay and was martyred in AD 62. (22)(23)(24)
Bar Thalomew is not
really a full name. Most people think it is Nathaniel bar Thalomew –
Nathaniel son of Thalmoi. Tradition makes North India his missionary
field and Armenia the place of his martyrdom by flaying. The only
references to this effect is found in the writings of Eusebius and
Jerome (340-420 AD) where they say that Pantaenus the Philosopher of
Alexandrian School was asked to go to India as a teacher in the Third
Century and found in India some Christians. They showed him a copy of
St. Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew, which had been brought there by St.
Bartholomew .
Some scholars strongly
believe that the reference of India in terms of Pantaneus is to the
generic use of India, which could mean any where between Arabia Felix
to Armenia. (25)
Dr. Miguana says: “…
the India they refer to is without doubt Arabia Felix. The fact has
been recognized by all historians since Assemani and Tillemont, and
has been considered as established even by such conservative writer as
Medlycott.”
However the second
reference of Jerome says:
“Pantaenus, on account
of the rumor of his excellent learning, was sent by Demetrius into
India, that he might preach Christ among the Brahmins and philosophers
of that nation” (26) (27) The mention of Brahmins certainly settles
the place as India.
The area of his work is
thought to be in Konkan in Maharastra. Research Historian Mascarenhas
in ‘Konkanachem
Christaunponn’-1929 - [Apostolic Christianity in Konkan]
says: “In Tulunadu, in South
Kanara, there is Kallianpur. Here Bartholomew, then popularly known as
Bhethal, preached the Gospel…….….. There are many names and places,
words and usages in the coastal Konkan region going up to Bombay and
beyond which have originated from his name Bhethal and his preaching
and that Barkur which is close to Kallianpur sprung after his name
Bartholomew i.e. Bar + Thulami + Ooru = and so BARKURU” (28)
“Christianity has been long established in South Kanara and its
adherents are more numerous here, than any other district of India. It
is certain that, foreign Christian merchants were visiting the coastal
town of Kanara and during that period of commerce some priests also
might have accompanied them for evangelical work. According to
tradition Kanara had its first missionary the Apostle St.Barthelomew,
who landed on the shores of river Swarna at Colombian or
Colombo village
an ancient maritime port adjacent to Kallianpur, stayed there to
preach. He was popularly called Bethel and so the origin of the place
Barkur……..” (29) Barkur is located
in Udupi Taluk of Karnataka, India.
Bar Thalomew’s ministry
extended over several regions including Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt,
Armenia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and on the shores of the Black Sea. He
was martyred in Armenia. So it is possible that Barthelomew’s work
was only for a limited time in the Konkan region.
The alternate
possibility is that the name of Bar Tholomai is simply an intonational
corruption of the tribal memory of Mar Thoma. This is supported by
the presence of the fakir community in Sind which calls itself
‘Bartolmai’ and claims to have been descended from St. Thomas’s
converts. (30) I would think this is a real possibility.
Possible route of
Thomas.
Taking all the traditions and documents
into account we can vaguely trace the route of Thomas in India. It
covers almost all areas of India as far as China. Thomas must have
traveled from Jerusalem to Yemen and must have taken a ship to Muziris
in Malabar Coast. After a short initial stay, he must have traveled
along the west coast of India to the city of Taxila. Here he must
have stayed for at least a year or more and then proceeded to the
Northern regions even unto China. At some point he returned to
Ephesus to the deathbed of Mary, Mother of Jesus and then returned. I
assume that this must have been around this time and so he must have
traveled along the spice route from and back to China. He seems to
have returned from there to the North India along Ganges area to the
Kaveri River area and to Coromandels – the land of Cholas. The capital
of Chola Kingdom was Urayar with its port Kaveri and the Capital of
Pandian Kingdom was Madurai with its port Korkai. It is during the
second visit Thomas converted the local Brahmins and Dravidians and
established seven and a half churches in Chera (Kerala). There was
also another minor kingdom known as Ayr (probably the present Ayroor)
ruled by Vel (from which we get the word Venad.) where Thomas
established his church at Nilackel. Ptolemy mentions this Kingdom as
Aioi in the second century. Ayr Kingdom lasted for over a thousand
years from the time of Thomas. Even today most people in this area
are Christians. (59) He then returned to Coromandel Area which was
probably his head quarters. We have evidence to show that he made
trips between Chera, Chola and Pandya regions during this time. Dr.
Farquahar gives an alternative probable route: " Apostle St. Thomas,
one of the 12 disciples of Jesus sailed from Alexadria to the Indus
and reached the Kings capital 'Taxila' (Presently known as Punjab)
about A.D 48-49. He left Taxila when the Punjab and its capital were
seized by the 'Indo-Scythian Kushans' from China about A.D 50 and went
from there to "Muziri' (Presently known as Kodungallur in Kerala) on
the Malabar coast via Socotra, reaching Muziri in AD 51-52.”
Evidently Thomas’
ministry covered the entire land of India over twenty years until his
martyrdom in Mylapore. In AD 72 he was speared at Mylapore, Madras.
The legend has that spear was inflicted on his side. He did not die
instantly but crawled while bleeding through a tunnel and reached
Chinnamalai and died there.
His followers took his body and buried him in the tombs of the
Chiefs. A merchant from
Edessa in Syria who
visited that region exhumed his body and took it to Syria where it was
entombed in about AD 200. We could see these tombs in Mylapore and in
Edessa.
They were later translated from Edessa to
the island of Khios in the Aegean, and from there to Ortona in Italy,
where they are now.
What form of
Church did Thomas Institute?
The question now is,
what happened to these churches? Looking at the story of Thomas as a
rationalist doubter turned believer, who unhesitatingly declared Jesus
as “My Lord, and My God “, we should have no doubt about the theology
of the churches he established. He certainly emphasized the God
incarnate as the Jesus ben Joseph, the Carpenter, his Lord and
Master. He was no Gnostic. Jesus of Nazareth was indeed God and
Lord.
The first Council of the
Churches at Jerusalem (49 AD) under James set the standards for
gentile churches. It was Paul of Tarsus who proposed the model for
Gentile Churches. The Council decided that the central core of the
Gospel is not to be confused with the cultural forms of worship and
life of the Christians. The Church was to interpret the Gospel, which
was revealed in the Jewish cultural context to the other cultures in a
culturally relevant manner. Paul illustrated the working of the model
in transferring the gospel in Greco-Roman culture. This was already
in process before Thomas left Jerusalem and Middle East. Thomas
therefore knew the Apostolic mission and must have established norms
and standards, which were culturally relevant to the Indian context.
Hence we should not expect Thomas Churches of India to have the
ritualism and structures of Greco-Roman or Asia Minor. There would
be no church building with a cross on the top, no altars nor candles
and candle stands. We should expect a replication of the events of
the early Christian Churches in Jerusalem soon after the
resurrection. These emphasized communal living, fellowship, sharing,
singing, worship, common meals and symbolic Prasadams as Holy
Communion with God and Man. For a very long time Christianity left no
artifacts. Institutionalization came most probably after a century of
Christian existence. Symbols and temples came into existence as a
means of communication. By AD 150 we can see abstract symbols – Siva
Lingam and Omkhara etc. Sanskrit came into existence as a
liturgical language.
Thomas found a people
who were very similar to the Hebrews in the Dravidians who were at
that time concentrated in the Southern States. We have reason to
believe that at least a part of the blood of Dravidans came from
Abraham through his second wife Keturah. They worshipped a God of
love who was willing to die for his creation and practiced animal
sacrifice for the propitiation of sins. So it was easy for Thomas to
preach to the Dravidian population rather than to the Aryans. There
are some who believe that one of the wise men who visited baby Jesus
was from these people. Compared to the Dravids, Aryans were still
pagans, worshipping the elementary forces of nature and involved deep
in magic and witchcraft. This shows why Thomas had greater success in
supplanting the Buddhism, Jainism and Vedism in the South rather than
in the North.
The introduction of
Christianity in the Indian religious arena brought forth an explosion
of change, which can be easily seen by comparing the religious
theology and practice before and after the arrival of St.Thomas. For
some strange reason the history of religion is totally erased for the
first three centuries except for few stray documents, reports of
travelers, archeological and architectural evidences, artifacts and
traditions. We have a lot of mythological stories in that place.
History then starts only after 3rd century in Chola and
Pandya regions and only after 8th century in Chera region.
We can check up on any time line and see silence for this period.
Original Thomas
Christians of Dravids
In Kerala itself the
first Christian Church was established among the Jews. Hence at least
for these Jewish Christians, historians are of the opinion, that
Thomas established the early liturgy in Aramaic (Syriac) the language
spoken by Jesus and the Jews of that period. But for the Churches
that he established in his second visit among the Indians he must have
used local cultural modes of worship.
God and Trinity
in Indian terms
How would you
translate the concept of God and incarnation into Indian context which
never had that concept defined? Except for Dravids, there probably
was no name for God. For Dravids the word translated as Isa or
Maheswara – El Elyon. That was exactly the experience of Thomas when
he said “My God”. How would the Apostle translate the holy Trinity,
Father, Spirit and the Son in Dravidian language? Father is evidently
Appan. The Aramaic female gender Holy Spirit that gives life is best
translated as Amma and Son, evidently as Makan. And the original true
Saiva Siddhantha was born. The correlation goes much deeper.
Siva Kovils –
Early Indian Christian Churches
Those
of us who have been collaborating closely with the Bible Translators
in Africa know the innuendos of the translation. There are occasional
traps in translation. It can go at a tangent and the concept can be
misconstrued and misinterpreted. All the places associated with
Thomas are Saivite Temples. Those who place “Hinduism” - whatever
that means - to have been in existence millions of years has it that
this indicate the destruction of Temples and take over of temple sites
by Christians. One such series is elaborated in “The
Myth of
Saint
Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple”
(31).
Mylapore Shiva Temple was most probably one of the Kovils
established by Thomas and was probably his seat in the Southern
India. For all probability the Saivite temples were really the
original Christian Churches. They flourished for at least three
centuries when Gnostics and Brahmins took over these temples and
converted them to “Hindu” temples.
In the same way it is
not difficult to see the distribution of the Jyotirlingas all over
India fall on the route of Thomas and its density proportional to the
number of years Thomas labored in those areas. Thus we have a large
number of Jyotir lingams near Taxila and Tamil Nadu. All along the
route of Thomas schools of theologies developed and major teachers
arose from these schools in the years that followed as attempts in
revival of original Christian theology.
At any rate after a
million years of “Hindu” existence in India, (as is claimed) something
happened in Indian religions that drastically changed its content and
form during the first century. The concept of God changed
completely. The lower nature gods and their worship were replaced
with the concept of Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman. Nirguna
Brahman is the ultimate God who cannot be comprehended, who resides in
the darkness, cannot be seen or known. This God revealed himself as
Saguna Brahman, who can be comprehended, seen, heard and touched and
is a person, not just a force of nature. He is a person with a purpose
and so created the cosmos. The concept of Trinity and the concept of
Om – the Logos as the creative force of universe became part of the
later Upanishadic theology. Kovils with tripartite separations of
Outer Court, Inner Court and the Holies came to be prevalent. It took
only two to three generations after the advent of Thomas for these to
appear all over India. All these were alien concepts to Indian soil.
There can be no doubt that these are the results of efforts of Thomas.
Dr. M. Deivanayagam
and Dr. Devakala in their studies on “Hinduism – Dravidian Religion”
- The Revival Movement
of Dravidian Religion
(32) mentions five new doctrines that appeared all of
a sudden in the Indian religious scenario in the first century:
-
“Doctrine
of Avatar - God becoming a man in order to redeem human beings.
(Unborn Prime God was born in order to give us eternal pleasure)
-
Trinity or Triune
doctrine - God in triune stage - Appan, Ammai, Makan (Saivism);
Siva, Vishnu, Brahma (Vaishnavism)
-
Doctrine of
fulfillment of sacrifice - The offering of sacrifice has ceased even
though there is sacrificial altar in the temple. People do not offer
sacrifice while they worship God.
-
Doctrine of
forgiveness of sin - There is forgiveness for the sins of human
beings by the grace of God and this doctrine is totally
controversial to the saying that ‘the actions of one person
would definitely yield its fruits’.
-
Doctrine of bhakthi
- Appreciating the bhakthi which is in ones heart irrespective of
one’s appearance, color, culture etc. (Kannappa Nayanar)
The five doctrines mentioned above are the
basic doctrines for the religion of the Tamils or the religion of the
Dravidians or for the Hindu religion. These doctrines are the Taproots
for Hindu religion (Saivism, Vaishnavism).”
These form the back bone of the St.Thomas
Christianity or Hindu Sanadhana Dharma, the Indian Catholic Church.
Thus just as Roman Catholic Church developed in the cultural context
of Greco-Roman culture, Indian Catholic Church was developed in the
Indian cultural context just as Thomas expected it to be. Just for
the fun of it, if you remove Jesus from the Roman Catholic Church, you
will probably be surprised to see the modern Hindu Sanadhana Dharama.
Dr. Alexander Harris puts this as follows: (33)
“In its section on the history of the
Indian Subcontinent, the Encyclopedia Britannica (1982 edition)
describes major changes in the religions of India. For instance the
Vedic religion underwent changes with the gradual fading out of some
of the Vedic deities, and further they state that,
"The two major gods
were Visnu and Siva, around whom there emerged a monotheistic trend
perhaps best expressed in the
Bhagavad Gita . . ."
"Sacrificial ritual
was beginning to be replaced by the practice of bhakti (personal
devotion), positing a personal relationship between the individual and
the deity"
Thus we see a new religion arise based on a
monotheistic doctrine, and God who is first called Isa.
"The cult of Siva or
Saivism emerged first, and the Vishnu-Krishna cult or Vaishnavism came
afterwards as an imitation or duplication. The earlier appearance of
Siva is indicated in the first instance by the fact that it is he
alone who is called Isa or Isvara."
and
"This peculiar
character of the cult makes it permissible to infer that Siva was
probably the first and only only god of the monotheistic Hinduism
which replaced Vedic polytheism as the highest expression of the
religious sentiment of the Hindus. That is to say, originally the
monotheism was unitary. In fact, even in recent times the Saivas of
the south maintained that Siva was the only supreme deity."
“
Just as various theological stands
produced various denominations and sects in the Western World in the
later period, various sects were also developed in India emphasizing
one or the other aspect of God and or ritual.
Saivism and Vaishnavism developed as a
Bhakti movement around 6th, 7th c. A.D. in South Indian Thomas
Churches. Yet in years to come these were disfigured and manipulated
by Gnostics and the Aryans from Persia under the influence of Mani.
Thus the modern Hinduism is an outgrowth of the Gnostic Christianity,
and is a heresy of Christianity.
We can only make guesses regarding the
original form of Indian Catholic Church prior to the 3rd
century.
Sivlinga – Form
of the Formless
The development of the
symbols of Sivlinga and the development of Makan as Ganapathy are
interesting studies in the concept developments. They also show how
symbols can be misinterpreted by later generations and an edifice of
myths and legends can come out of something very simple and direct.
Today Sivlinga has been given a sexual interpretation assuming that it
represents the penis. However any Saivite will be horrified by such
a reference and will tell you that this is a misrepresentation of the
concept by people who wanted to denigrate the Saivites. Since the God
of creation do not have a form, the best visible representation of
Invisible formless form is a formless form - the lingam. All symbols
are meant to convey some deep mental and spiritual concept. These may
be in sound as in languages and music, or form as in icons, idols and
artifacts and architecture. Later in order to represent that this
incomprehensible God incarnated in human form a face was added to the
lingam. The earliest Ekmukh lingams (Udayagiri, Madhya Pradesh) are
still in existence. (34)
Later another
interesting representation was the placement of the Tamil Om on top of
the lingam, which later led to the form of Ganapathy, the elephant
faced. None of these symbolisms are found earlier than the first
century AD.
Om as Logos
The study of the sacred
sound Om indicates that it is the representation of the Logos
concept. In fact John 1:1 is replicated in exact form in the later
Indian scriptures. Surprisingly the Om is not found directly or
indirectly in any document or Vedas before the advent of Thomas. The
earliest direct references are found in Prashna Upanishad and
in Mandukya Upanishad which were written after 150 AD. . On the
other hand Om is inscribed in all Kerala Christian Churches of
antiquity at the entrance.
Development of
Sects and Gnostic infiltration – Enter Mani
As time went on evidently new thought
patterns and theologies brought in varying sects emphasizing the
various aspects and rituals of the Church. This resulted in competing
and practically opposing groups. Gnostic infiltration into
Christianity started early - even during the Apostolic era. Simon
Magnus who is revered as a saint in the Gnostic Church is referred to
in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:9ff.). While they were thwarted
off by collective churches that emphasized the historical Jesus, the
Gnostics thrived in many countries, especially in Persia.
Gnosticism
is a philosophical and religious movement, which started in
pre-Christian times. The term is derived from the Greek word gnosis,
which means "knowledge”. It introduced novel beliefs and new
gods and goddesses who exist in “divine dimension”. They insisted on
universal revelation and insisted on considering all religions as
equal and the ultimate salvation being achieved through the inner
knowledge or enlightenment. Some of the early Gnostics include, Simon
Magnus and Simonians, Nicolaitans, Cerinthus, Marcion, Basilides,
(130-150 AD), Theodotus (140-160 AD), Valentinus, (140-160 AD),
Heracleon, (170-180AD), and The Sethians. All these were dealt with
by the early church. However the idea that Man can become God had
always been a tender spot and temptation for man from the beginning
with Adam and Eve. The Gnosticism always revived.
The land route to India brought in
Gnosticism into India from its home land of Persia and impacted it to
the utmost. It transformed Buddhism and Christian Churches of Inner
India. Even though Gnosticism practically died out in Persia it
still survives in China and India. It is told that Bardaisan came to
Kerala during AD 154 – 222. (35). We have no details about this
visit. But there are evidences that indicate that Bardesai met Mani
in Kerala. It was after this visit he wrote the Acts of Thomas to
present Thomas as a Gnostic. Apparently his labors were not fruitful
in Kerala. Since at the end of his life Bardaisen returned to
Christian faith, his followers probably returned to faith or merged
with Manicheans.
Mission of Bardesai was followed by the
ministry of Manichean (Mani or Manes) (c.216-300 AD). “About the
year 242, he undertook an extensive journey as an itinerant preacher,
proclaiming himself as the "Messenger of Truth," the Paraclete
promised by Christ. Traveling throughout the Persian Empire and as far
as India, he gathered a considerable following.” (36) . Manicheanism
was centralized in Kanchipuram Pallava Dynasty of Dravidia with
its capital in Kanchi is known to be of the Persian race.
Mani is associated with peacock and he is said to have had the ability
to fly as a peacock. Probably the city of
Mylapore was the headquarters of Mani
also. He practically took over Thomas Churches. Some people think
that it is probably this concept of Mani the Ambasador of Light,
that crystallized later in the Subramaniam myth associated with
Saivism.
He called himself the
Prophet of Jesus and Jesus was one of the first emanations from
godhead. In Mani’s own words: “At the close of King Ardashir’s years
I set out to preach. I sailed to the land of the Indians. I preached
to them the hope of life and I chose there a good selection.” And
what did Mani teach? “The Bride is the Church, the Bride Groom is the
Light Mind; the Bride is the soul and Jesus is the bridegroom! If he
rise in us, we too shall live in him, if we believe in him, we shall
transcend death and come to Life” (37). Mani’s work were in Chola
region where he had a great following. He removed the Jesus of
Nazareth as an incarnation and replaced him with a teacher who showed
the inner path to realization. (38) As a result the historical Jesus
was of no consequence nor his life and death and resurrection.
Gnostics differentiated Jesus from the Christ. The experience of the
divine within each person was only important. As a result Inner
Indian Churches became Gnostic Churches and dropped off Jesus as a
whole. After returning to Persia, Mani sent his Father and one of his
disciples called Thomas to India to continue to evangelize the nation.
Mani was executed for heresy in Persia and all his followers in Persia
went to the East – to India and China. All his apostles and his mother
Mary were buried in Kashmir in a place called Barmulla. It is this
last Aryan Brahminic migration that made a great difference in Indian
Religious scenario. Mani’s version of the Christianity is still seen
in the Gnostic Churches of America and the Church of the East which
presents the Yoga of Jesus. Thus Indian Christian Churches took a new
form. - the form of Sanadhana Dharma, meaning Eternal Religion –
Religion that started even before Man. In the process of historic
growth it became the “Hinduism” as we know today
The early Gnostic
Hidutva unleashed a war on historic Christianity - ideological, social
and physical. In the North India the believers went underground as a
group of Fakirs, who were sworn in secrecy as to their true identity.
These Fakirs surface occasionally. Sadhu Sunder Singh report to have
seen them on his journey to the Himalayas. When the poor Indian
missionaries need help they always appear from nowhere. Among the
Sindhi’s of the North India there is a group called Tatanagar Fakirs,
who venerate Thomas as Thuma Bhagat. (39)
It was probably during
this time Pantaneus was sent to India from the School of Alexandria to
counter the teachings of Mani. The Manigramakkar, a sect of Hindu
Nairs found in Quilon and Mavelikara, still preserve certain Christian
customs. They are said to be the descendants of those apostatized
early Christians.(40)
When the cloud clears
off we have a large number of sects of varying faith and practices all
over India. The Inner India Churches became Gnostic (“Hinduism”) since
they had little or no contact with the Christian Churches elsewhere.
The Malabar Churches however because of its geographic position was in
constant contact with other churches in Alexandria, Ethiopia, Rome and
Antioch through the sea route. Because of this they remained within
the Apostolic traditions – the faith that was handed over once and for
all at the shores of India by Apostle Thomas – as was practiced in the
rest of the world especially in Alexandria, Ethiopia, Rome and Syria.
By the third century while the rest of India became Hindu, Hinduism
came to stay in Malabar Coast only by the eighth century. Malabar
remained a safe haven for Christians for several centuries.
As a result when the
Gnostic (Hindu) persecution broke out in the Chola and Pandya region,
many believers fled to Malabar. One such mention is seen in the Palm
Leaf documents.
“AD 293. The Vallala converts to
Christianity in Kavery poopattanam were persecuted by their King. So
72 families embarked on a ship and came to Korakkeni (Kollam, Quilon)
where there were Christians at that time.” (41)
This is followed by
another citation, which says:
“ AD 315 A certain
sorcerer called Manikka Vachakar came (to Kollam) and converted back
to Hinduism 116 persons belonging to eight of the 72 families from
Puhur”
This story is also cited
by other historians such as Moraes (42), White House (43), and Ittup
(44).
Another Palm
Leaf says:
“A certain
sorcerer called Manikka Vachakar came to Kollam and converted back to
Hinduism 116 persons belonging to 72 families from Puhur, 4 of about
half a dozen families subsequently came from Coromandel Coast (perhaps
from Puhur itself) and 20 families of local Christians (presumably
from Quilon)”. Pam-leaf
quotation.
We are not
sure who this Manikka Vachakar is. The mention of the term Sorcerer
and the name Manikka leads us to identify this person as Gnostic.
The Manichaen cross “was
brought to Kerala by Mani himself. Abandoned during the sixth century
it surfaced as Marthoma Cross” (45)
The impact of this
Persian Gnosticism is seen in the appearance of idols and temples and
an endless system of myths and legends and visions. By the end of
third century most of the region beyond the Sahya Mountains became
“Hindu” . It took at least three centuries more for it to reach
Kerala.
The Story of Kerala.
As mentioned earlier
Malabar Churches developed independent of the rest of the Indian
Churches. Kerala remained unconquered by any outside forces because
of its geographical position. Recent Archeological and documentary
studies by Prof. George Menacheril, indicates that Aryans came to
prominence in Kerala, only by 4th century or later and
Hinduism only by 8th century. (46)
“It may even be that the
Syriac script and liturgy - surely the Pahlavi script - were in Kerala
much before the Devanagari and the Vedas found their foothold here.
In spite of the many
statements in Keralolpathy (47) most historians today believe that the
Parasurama story is only a legend and Brahmins arrived in Kerala for
all practical purposes only in the 4th century or later, and the
Brahmins or Namboodiris established dominance only around the end of
the first millennium C.E”
Parasurama legend says
that the seventh incarnation of Vishnu rose up the land of Kerala from
Gokarnam to Kanya Kumari and gave them to Sixty-four Brahmin
families. This must have been around the 4th century or
even later, if the Namboodiri traditions can be trusted. This legend
therefore speaks only of the historical situation of the later
centuries how the Aryan Brahmins came to dominate Kerala probably as
advisers to the Kings of Chera, from the Tulunad. Who were the Kings
of Chera is difficult to ascertain. Until the first century till the
coming of Thomas, it is certain that Buddhist Kings ruled Chera. But
Buddhism disappeared from the Kerala scene altogether. Vaishanavites
or Aryan Brahmins came into power only by the 6th century.
Islam came into existence only by the 6th century and was
never a power in Kerala. Then what was the religion of the Chera
Kings? The only alternative is that they were Christians. It points
to the possibility that Mahabali whom the fifth avatar of Vishnu
defeated by cheating was none other than the Christian Dravidian King
“The Great Sacrifice”. This name evidently fits only Christ and
Christians. . His Kingdom evidently extended over three regions of
India (the three worlds). Most probably the name is a generic name for
Christian Kings. (The Chera King Kuru Varman-1 also known as
Vyakrasenan who ruled Kerala from 40 AD to 55 AD was a Christian.) It
is interesting to note that Mahabali was the grandson of Prahalada
who was a staunch Vaishnavite (Brahmin?). Prahalada was the son of
King Hiranyakashipu a
Dravidian.
Hiranyakashipu
was killed by the fourth incarnation of
Vishnu the Lion- Man. His brother
Hiranyaksha
was killed by the earlier incarnation of Vishnu, the Boar. Vishnu
threw both these brothers out of the heavens where they were the gate
keepers of Heaven. We know for certain that Mahabalipuram was
Mahabali’s resort since every other attempt to explain the name fails.
Mahabalikkara – Mavelikkara is traditionally associated with Mahabali.
Incidentally Onam is the only festival, which is celebrated both by
the Christians and the Hindus. If the Onam songs handed down to us
from the 8th century are true, there was an egalitarian
society – virtual Kingdom of God - fashioned out of the early
Christian Fellowship Community experiment Jerusalem. The Jerusalem
experiment failed with the deceit of Aninias and Saphira and the
Kerala experiment with the deceit of Vamana. With the long period of
innocence Mahabali could not discern the deceit of Vamana. Kerala,
during the Tamil Sangam Age (1-500 AD) was a very egalitarian society.
(48) Untouchability was unknown, manual labor was respected and women
held in high esteem. The first Brahmin missionaries moved into Kerala
through Tulu-naadu (Mangalore area). Thus Chera Kingdom continued as a
Christian Kigdom from the first century onwards until the sixth
century. Gradually the influence of the Hinduism from Chola and
Pandya dislocated the Christian dynasties of Chera. With the
cunningness of the Brahmin dominated Vaishnava advisors of other
Kingdoms, Chera Kingdom was taken over by the Vaishnava cult
finally. However one Christian Dynasty continued till the 15th
century – the Villar Vattom Pana.
Even today Christians are respectfully
addressed as "Nazarani mappilas", "sons of kings who follow the
Nazarene" or "of the first Christian kings" (49) (50) It is actually
a direct translation of the word “Israel”. If this is the intent, it
means the idea of Kingdom of Priests was introduced most probably by
St.Thomas himself. Alternately, such a position came into existence
because Christians were Kings in early period. The special position
of Nazrani in relation to Hindu temples itself speak of the origins.
Even today as a tradition, some old temples cannot open their gates,
or open the holy of holies or raise the flag to start a festival
without the physical presence of a Nazrani in the temple ground.
The Mahabali myth had
created sensation even in the West, during the Middle Ages, as the
myth of the Prestor John – a Priest King who ruled a powerful vast
kingdom in India.- ruling over 72 countries in three Indias. (51)
(52) (53) (54). This legend says that St. Thomas travelled to India
and there established a Christian community that retained many of the
ideals of the original church, and which blossomed into an almost
perfect Christian kingdom, ruled over by this legendary king, Prester
John. A second century Peutinger Map (11) indicates a temple not far
from Muziris as “Temple Augusti” or “Temple of the Great King”.
Around the middle of the 12th century, a series of letters (forged?)
found their way to the court of Pope Alexander III. These letters were
from the Prester himself. Apparently an emissary was sent to the King
Prestor John, but he was never seen again. This mythical
(mystical?) figure certainly came from Chera Kingdom as Meir Bar-Ilan
(55) points out. India is mentioned several times in these letters
and the city of Kalicut is mentioned in one of the letters
specifically. It specifies that he was in the land of India where
the body of St. Thomas the Apostle was buried and they celebrated the
memorial of Thomas on July 3rd. The letter also mentions
that it is the land of the pepper and elephants.
When history finally
opens, it was with Kulasekara Alwar who ruled Kerala in the 8th
century. He became a devotional Vaishnavite poet. The earliest
document, which tells us about the Onam festival, comes from this
period. A last Perumal, Cheraman Perumal abdicated his throne in 825
AD, (some documents give it as 642-643 AD) converted to Islam and went
to Mecca and died in Yemen. (56) He divided the kingdom and gave it
to his Nephews.
AD 325
The Council of Nicea Indian representation through Bishop
Johannes
At this time
the Christological discourse and controversies were raging in the
West. The Council of Nicea was held to draw up the Nicean Creed in
order to establish the cannon of faith. 318 bishops attended it among
them was a Bishop Johannes, the Persian, for the churches of the whole
of Persia and Greater India.
The Indian
Church had ties with the Persian Churches right from early period. It
is assumed that Indian Churches invited Persian priests to teach the
Bible. The earliest bibles translated from Greek are found in Syriac.
Malayalam did not have bible until recently. So it was necessary to
have priests from Syria to publicly read, teach and explain the Bible
to the believers. However the church administrations were completely
controlled by the local elders while the clergy who were brought into
the country provided the ecclesiastical services and doctrinal
teachings.
Persian Immigrations
In AD 340 the Suraya Christians from
Persia (now known as Syrian Christians) came to Malabar Coast under
the leadership of a bishop by name Dawood.
Later a
group of immigrants under the leadership of Thomman from Persia
landed in Cranganoor in AD 345.
They included about 400 persons of
seventy-two families of seven clans. A bishop named Mar Joseph, four
priests and a few deacons were also with them.
It is assumed that they came because of the Persian persecution under
Zoroastrianism. There are scholars who believe that
at least some of them were actually Mani followers (60) who came as a
result of persecution.
Other
sources indicate that they were sent by the Catholicos of Jerusalem to
get information about the state of the Church in Malabar. Whatever is
the reason, they were received kindly by the Cheraman Perumal who gave
him permission to buy land and settle down. The King also offered
special privileges to him and his group.
This
group kept their social identity and forms the Kananaya Christians.
Thomas is said to have married a local woman and hence had two groups
- known as Eastern Group and the Western Group.
These Royal grants given by Cheraman
Perumal, who was the ruler of Malabar, were inscribed on copper plates
( Knai Thomman Cheppedu),
giving Knai Thomman and his descendants seventy-two royal
privileges, in AD 345 In some places they are referred to as
“Manigrama Nivasikal”. These privileges are all Royal privileges
indicating equal status of the Knai Thomman with the Kings of Chera.
They include: Royal robes, Royal Crown and head dress and other
ornaments, authority to exact all types of taxes and act as judges
over several groups of people.
This was followed by
several other immigrations from Persia. In 880 AD, some Syrian
Christian families led by Sabar Iso , a merchant
from Persia, immigrated to Quilon. Two holy men named Mar Sapor and
Mar Proth were also with them. They were twin brothers .[57]
The presence and the
powers of the new comers from Persia added a new dimension to the
local Christians who were already in contact with their counterparts
in Persia. These ties were now strengthened. The Aryan Brahminic
elements within the church itself got a privilieged status within the
caste system which began to appear. They now began to exchange
priests, who brought with them the documents known as the bible, which
were only available in Greek and Syriac. They soon incorporated the
Persian way of church institution, worship and other ritualism. This
gave them a unique culture,- under the influence of the Syrian Church
- which came to be known as Syrian Christian culture. Kerala
Christians came to be known as Syrian Christians- not because they are
from Syria, but because they followed the liturgy and customs of the
Syrian Churches.
Theophilus, The Indian
Theophilus was
a native of Maldive Islands, off Kerala coast. Emperor Constantine
took him as a hostage so that the Maldive people will not plunder
Roman ships as it passed that way. In Rome he became a Christian and
became a Bishop. He visited India in AD 354 and noted that their
worship practices differed considerably from those of other parts of
the world. Particularly he noticed that Indians sang, heard the gospel
and worshipped sitting down. He thought they were outrageous and
ordered it changed. Probably the practice of worship standing was
introduced from that time onwards.
AD 425
Daniel, The Priest, Indian
It may be
assumed that Indians sent their priests for training and studies to
Syria. There was one Daniel who translated the commentary on the
Epistle to the Romans from Greek to Syriac in Edessa. He signed it as
Daniel, the priest, the Indian. Ecclesiastical language of India was
probably Greek and Syriac as the teaching of Bible came from there.
Greek inscriptions are found on the bells of several churches.
Cosmos Indicopleustes and Universal
Christian Topology
Around AD 522,
Cosmos a rich Christian merchant from Alexandria, visited India and
wrote a book called Universal Christian Topology. He describes his
visit thus:
"We have found
the church not destroyed, but very widely diffused and the whole world
filled with the doctrine of Christ, which is being day by day
propagated and the Gospel preached over the whole earth. This I have
seen with my own eyes in many places and have heard narrated by
others. I as a witness of truth relate: In the land of Taprobane (Srilanka),
Inner India, where the Indian sea is, there is a church of Christians,
with clergy and congregation of believers, though I know not if there
be any Christians further in this direction. And such also is the case
in the land called Male (Malabar), where the pepper grows. And in the
place called Kallia (Kollam) there is a bishop appointed from Persia,
as well as in the island called Dioscores (Socotra) in the same Indian
Sea. The inhabitants of that island speak Greek, having been
originally settled there by Ptolemies, who ruled after Alexander of
Macedonia. There are clergy there also ordained and sent from Persia
to minister among the people of the island, and the multitude of
Christians..."
A.D. 431 Council of Ephesus
A.D. 451 Council of
Chalcedon
: Nestorian Schism
Soon after the
formation of the Church, heresy and variations in teachings were in
existence in one form or other, all over the world. During the
Apostolic Period, they were settled with the mediation of the Apostles
and Apostolic Synods and Councils. The first of the council was the
council of Jerusalem where the question of gentile inclusion in the
church was discussed. However after the apostolic period this
continued. Even today we have large number of theological systems
varying ever so slightly. These movements arose powerfully around 400
A.D when Christianity became free from oppression and when being a
Christian became a prestige. In the year AD 425 Nestorius, a presbyter
of the Church of Antioch became the Patriarch of Constantinople. He
legitimately objected to the epithet of "Theokotos" or "Mother of God"
as applied to Mary; since Mary was only the mother of the incarnation
and not the mother who produced a God. This would imply that Mary was
a Goddess. In this sense he was indeed right. However he was
understood to have propounded the concept that the Logos of God
indwelt Jesus the man. Thus there were two natures in Jesus at the
same time. If we are to judge by the Nestorian churches of today this
was a misunderstanding.
Cyril the
Patriarch of Alexandria opposed this dual nature concept and insisted
on the unity that Jesus was perfect man and perfect God without
inconsistency. The controversy reached a climax when these Patriarchs
excommunicated each other. However the conduct of the Ephesus council
was totally deplorable that Nestorius was not even given a hearing. By
the time Nestorius arrived at Ephesus the council had voted against
him and he was excommunicated and exiled. Its decision though
universally accepted, the way the issue was treated is still
considered deplorable. Nestorius, a genius theologian of the time was
derided without even giving him a hearing.
The fight went
on and in AD 451 the Nestorians claimed a victory in the council of
Chaldeons. In this council it was declared that in Christ the two
natures were hypostatically united, without mixture, confusion and
divisibility.
Cyril the Patriarch of Alexandria and
John the Patriarch of Antioch finally reconciled. Nestorians adopted
the name
Chaldeon Church and
the Patriarch took the title of Patriarch of Babylon.
These in fights in the
Middle East and Europe
had its repercussions in India too. There exists a Chaldean church
with few followings even today, though majority of the Christian
churches remained faithful to the declarations of Nicea and Ephesus.
A copy of the pre-Diampur liturgy shows that Thomas churches
considered Nestorius as one of their bishops and revered him.
A.D 510 – 1439
The Christian Dynasty of Villarvattom
By this
period, the great Empire of the Chera Kingdom came to ruins and an
immense number of small independent Kingdoms came into existence.
Thus those areas where Christians were in prominence established
themselves into Kingdoms. Christians were traditionally good statesmen
and warriors. One such Kingdom was the Villarvattom Pana. This
Kingdom Villarvattom Pana extended from the coastal islands of
Chennamangalam, Maliankara and others to the north of and south of
Udayamperoor. The capital of this kingdom was at Mahadevarpattanam (Maha
Thevar = Great God = El Elyon) in the island of Chennamangalam and
later it was shifted to Udayamperoor when the Arab invaders attacked
the island. The Udayamperror Church - which stands even today - was
built by Raja of Villarvottam in A.D 510. There are several
inscriptions in this church that supports this including the mention
of one Raja Thomas who ruled in AD 900. In A.D 1330, Pope John XXII in
a letter sent with Friar Jordan to the king of Vellar Vattom, address
him as the successor of Raja Thomas. Pope Eugene IV addresses a Raja
Thomas in A.D 1439. The papal record mentions "that there is a Kingdom
twenty days journey from Cathay, of which the king and all the
inhabitants are Christians, but heretics, being said to be
Nestorians." "Historia de Variatate Fortunae, liv. IV, Poggi
Bracciolini , Secretary to Pope Eugenius IV). It all indicates that
Kerala was predominantly Christian in the First Century and was ruled
by Christian Kings.
Reformation and Revival attempts in
Inner Indian Churches
In the 8th c A.D, Sankara a Brahmin born of
an itinerant Aryan priest, from Kerala became the champion of the
philosophical system known as Advaita which became the core of Gnostic
Hindu thesis. As Gnosticism
took its grip on Indian Christianity, saints from both the
Vaishanavite and Saivite sects made several attempts to thwart all
syncretization and to bring the God of incarnation and sacrifice back
in the culture. The theology presented by Ramanujam (Vishista Advaita
– Modified Monism) (1011-1137 AD), Madhava (Dvaita Vada – Dualistic
theism)( (1197-1273 AD) and all the works of saints of the 7th
to 12th century were bold attempts in reformation opposing
Sankara. All the sixty three Nayanmars of Saivite persuation, and
twelve Alwars of Vaishnavite persuation came from the Dravids. But
the coming in of the Theosophical Society in the wake of Independence
Movement practically took over Hinduism away from the reach of
redemption.
However we can
still see the worship of Jesus embedded in the temple worship and
symbolisms. One such Namavali, worships the one who was born of a
virgin, circumcised, died on a cross and resurrected. It was this
faith that the Tamil saints were trying to revive. (58) For other
embedded mythological symbolism and theological expressions see
Deivanayagam and Devakala (59)
AD 1498
Arrival of Vasco Da Gama and Roman Catholic
Mission
Vasco Da Gama landed in Calicut in AD 1498
and this started the Colonization process of India by the Western
Nations. Along with this came the religious domination of Roman
Catholic Church over the independent churches of Malabar. By this time
Hinduism has lost Christ. Portuguese being of Roman Catholic
persuasion wanted to bring the Malabar Christians under the
pontificate of Rome. According to the Roman concept the Pope of Rome
is the heir to the throne of Peter and is the Vicar of the Church
Universal all over the world wherever it may be. The Roman Catholicism
claimed that Pope of Rome was the supreme head of all the churches of
the world and Indian Churches should also submit to this supremacy if
they are to remain true as Catholic Church. The first such claim came
with Friar John, whom Pope John XXII ordained as Bishop of Quilon in
AD 1330 when he was sent him with a letter. Friar John is reported to
have come to Quilon and founded a church in Latin rite. However
historically there is no evidence that he ever came to Quilon. He is
said to have been martyred at Kalyan in Bombay. There were similar
visits from other legations from Rome. Though these were received with
Christian courtesy it did not lead to acknowledgement of Papal
supremacy as expected.
AD 1599
Synod of Diampore
The Portuguese became powerful in certain
areas of India especially in Goa and Bombay. In Jan. 1599, Alexiyodi
Menessis, the Archbishop of Goa came to Cochin. Geevarghese Archdeacon
was in charge of the churches in Kerala at that time. Menessis
Archbishop with the colonial power behind him used the power to get
Geevarghese Archdeacon arrested and put in prison under the orders of
the King of Cochin. Then he traveled extensively and influenced the
leaders and people. In July 5, 1599, he called the famous Udayam
Perror Council (Sunnahadose). There were 153 leaders and 660 laymen
were represented in that council. Under the yoke of the Portuguese
Colonial force they, accepted the supremacy of the Pope of Rome.
However the sailing was not smooth for Roman church. This domination
continued for over five decades. Through political influence the Synod
of Diamper (Portuguese name for Udayamperoor) was held in 1599 and
most of the St: Thomas Christians were brought under the Pope. During
this period the Malabar Church assimilated many of the teachings and
rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. They burnt almost all available
documents as heretic.
References
(1). On the Veda. Aurobindo, Sri. (1964).
Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Aurobindo's writings were published in the monthly review, 'Arya'
between 1914 and 1920.
(2). J-Claude et Bernard Binett, History
of the Hindu religion, Vedism and Hinduism: http://members.tripod.com/historel/orient/10inde.htm.
See also Prof. Ingrid Shafer: http://www.usao.edu/~usao-ids3313/ids/html/vedism.html
(3) ) Pundit Page:
Wyatt Robertson
http://www.karma2grace.org/Webcomponents/FAQ/index.asp?det=65
“There are indeed no references to reincarnation in the Rig Veda. Or
for that matter in the other Vedas (Sama, Yajur and Atharva).”
(4). Dr. Deen B Chandora: In what
language were the Vedas originally written? http://www.geocities.com/vedic_temple/hinducentum/q10.html
(5). Internet Sacred Text Archive:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/
(6).
Richard K. Hines:
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCINDIA/VEDAS.HTM
(7).
Brian Turner:
http://www.comparative-religion.com/hinduism/vedas/
(8) Pat Zukeran, Buddhism, http://www.probe.org/docs/buddhism.html
(9) Stevenson, Edward
Luther , 1991 Claudius Ptolemy The Geography New York: Dover
Publications.
(10) Ptolemy and the Southeast Coast of
India http://www.nfobase.com/html/ptolemy_and_the_southeast_coas.html
“The great trading post here was Muziris,
Ptolemy has it connected by the Psuedostomus River to the Chera
capital of Karur. The Cheras controlled the interior of the southern
part of the peninsula and the lower West Coast.”
(11) http://www.nfobase.com/html/the_peutinger_table.html
“What is really interesting here is the centrality of Muziris. It is
marked with a big red circle. It is, indeed, the most important city
east of Antioch. Yet it is not connected to anything in the interior,
much less across the peninsula. To the left of Muziris is an
"Augustinian temple." Many have taken this to be an old Roman
structure. But that would seem odd on this decidedly Christian map.”
Peutinger's Tabula was originally a long parchment map 6.80 metres by
34 centimetres.
(12) The Periplus of the Eritrean Sea
http://www.earth-history.com/India/periplus.htm
(13) E. H. Warmington, The Commerce
between the Roman Empire and
India, London, Curzon Press.
1928, p.14. as quoted in T.V. Philip, East of the Euphrates: Early
Christianity in Asia, CSS & ISPCK, India, 1998)
(14) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippalus
(15) Influence of Monsoon Winds, Kerala
Calling, August, 2003 http://www.kerala.gov.in/kerala_callingaug/p24-26.pdf
(16)
M.R. James
,“The Apocryphal New Testament" Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1924 http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actsthomas.html
(17)
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/actsthomas.html
(18)
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/html/chap4/chapter4a.htm
(19) (Lawrence E. Browne, The Eclipse
of Christianity in Asia.
New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1933, p.47. The information about the Bartolmai
tribe is given by R. A. Trotter in a paper presented at a conference
in Sind in 1947.
(20) Clement of Alexandria, Stromata,
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol.1. p. 301.
(21) A. Mingana, Early Spread of
Christianity in India, Manchestor University, `926 p 71
(22). Rev Henry Heras, The Two Apostles of
India (Trichinopoly 1844)
(23) Quoted in C.V Cherian, Kerala Historical Society. CMS
Press 1973
(24) The Church History of Eusebius. Book V, Chapter X
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-01/Npnf2-01 10.htm
(25) A. Mingana, Early Spread of
Christianity in India, Manchestor University, `926 p 71
(26) Jerome, Liber de viris Illustribus as
quoted by Dr. Berchmans Kodackal in http://members.tripod.com/~Berchmans/apostle.html
(27) http://www.ccel.org/w/wace/biodict/htm/iii.xvi.vi.htm
(28). Quoted from http://www.barkuronline.com/Abtbkr/Abtbkr5.html
(29) William Pais and Vincent
Mendonca, ‘The land called South Kanara’-2000, - Image flex Publishers
(30) R. A. Trotter in a paper presented at
a conference in Sind in 1947
(31) “The Myth of
Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva
Temple” http://hamsa.org
(32)
Dr. M. Deivanayagam,
Dr. D. Devakala,
The Revival Movement of
Dravidian Religion, Hinduism – Dravidian
Religion http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/1412/hindudravid.html
(33) Alexander Harris, The Development of
Civilization and Religion in India and its influence in World Society.
Chennai p 58 ff http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2104/hinduism.html
(34) http://indiatemple.blogspot.com/2004/11/lingam-phallic-symbol-of-lord-shiva.html
(35) http://alackal.conscient.com/SyrianChristians.html]
(36) http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/manichae.htm
(37) Duncan Greenlees, The Gospel of the
Prophet Mani, Adyar, Madras, India the Theosophical Publishing House,
1956
(38) For Manichean Scrolls see: http://essenes.net/primarytexts.html
(39) http://santhomechurch.com/apostleofindia/apostleofindia.html
(40) Travancore State Manual Vol. II, 139-142.
(41) From the Palm-leaf manuscript entitled Keralathil Margam Vazhiyute Avastha
(42) Moraes, G. M. A History of
Christianity in India.
Vol. 1. Bombay: Manaktalas, 1964
(43) White House, The lingering Light
(44) Ittup, History of the Malabar Syrian
Christian Church
(45) Indian Express, Friday April 24,
1998
(46) Christianity Older than Hinduism in
Kerala World Syriac Conference 2002 -SEERI – KOTTAYAM Paper presented
by Prof. George MENACHERY
(47) Keralolpathi printed by
Gundert in AD 1890
(48) How was the Caste System introduced
in Kerala? http://www.thrikodithanam.org/tidbits.htm
(49) Malankara Nasranikal : http://www.indianchristianity.org/malankara.htm
(50) Dr. Berchmans Kodackal, The Early
Christians of India, January 1998 http://members.tripod.com/~Berchmans/early.html
(51) http://www.commonplacebook.com/fiction/myths/ch02/
(52) Otto of Freising: Medieval
Sourcebook: The Legend of Prester John http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/otto-prester.html
(53) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John
(54) http://www.laohats.com/Prester%20John.htm
(55) M. Bar-Ilan, 'Prester John: Fiction
and History', History of European Ideas, 20/1-3 (1995), pp.
291-298. http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/presjohn.html
(56)
B.S. Rao New Facts on the Arrival of
Islam PTI, India,
http://muslimsonline.com/babri/keralamuslim.htm
(57) Moraes, G. M. A History of
Christianity in India.
Vol. 1. Bombay: Manaktalas, 1964
(58) M.M.Ninan, Hinduism –What Really
Happened in India, Global Publishers, 2003
(59)
Dr. M. Deivanayagam,
Dr. D. Devakala,
The Revival
Movement of Dravidian Religion, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/1412/
(59) Syrian Christian
Traditions, P.E.Esow http://alackal.conscient.com/SyrianChristians.html
(60) Mr. P.V. Mathew:
Sugantha Bandu Nasrani History
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