Assyrian Church of the East

The Assyrian Church of the East is a Christian denominational body that traces its origins to the See of Babylon, said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. It sometimes calls itself the Assyrian Orthodox Church, but should not be confused with the distinct Syriac Orthodox Church, which is an Oriental Orthodox body. In India, it is known as the Chaldean Syrian Church of the East. In the West it is often known, inaccurately, as the Nestorian Church.

Related Topics:
Assyria - East - Christian - Denominational body - See - Babylon - Saint Thomas the Apostle - Syriac Orthodox Church - Oriental Orthodox - India - Chaldean - Syria - West - Nestorian

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The Assyrian Church is the original Christian church in what was once Parthia; today Iraq and western Iran. Geographically it stretched in the medieval period to China and India: a monument found in Xi'an (Hsi-an), the Tang-period capital of China, in Chinese and Syriac described the activities of the church in the 7th and 8th century, while half a millennium later a Chinese monk went from Beijing to Paris and Rome to call for a crusade with the Mongols against the Mamelukes; prior to the Portuguese arrival in India in 1498, it provided "East Syrian" bishops to the Saint Thomas Christians.

Related Topics:
Parthia - Iraq - Iran - Medieval period - China - Xi'an - Tang-period - Capital - Chinese - Syriac - 7th - 8th century - Millennium - Monk - Beijing - Paris - Rome - Crusade - Mongol - Mamelukes - Portuguese - 1498 - Saint Thomas Christians

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The foundations of Assyrian theology are Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, who taught at Antioch. The normative Christology of the Assyrian church was written by Babai the Great (551-628) and is clearly different from the dualism that Nestorius was accused of: his main christological work is strikingly called the 'Book of the Union', and in it Babai teaches that the two qnome (essence) are unmingled but everlastingly united in the one parsopa (personality) of Christ.

Related Topics:
Diodorus of Tarsus - Theodore of Mopsuestia - Antioch - Christology - Babai the Great - 551 - 628 - Dualism - Nestorius - Book of the Union - Essence - Personality - Christ

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