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120-936: Saint Thomas Christian denominations Syro-Malabar Catholic , Syro-Malankara Catholic , Latin Catholic Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church , Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Malabar Independent Syrian Church Chaldean Syrian Mar Thoma Syrian , St. Thomas Evangelical Protestant denominations Andhra Evangelical Lutheran , Assemblies Jehovah Shammah , Christian Revival Church , Church of North India , Church of South India , Garo Baptist , Indian Brethren , Indian Pentecostal Church of God , Church of God (Full Gospel) , North Bank Baptist Christian , Northern Evangelical Lutheran , Methodist Church , Presbyterian , The Pentecostal Mission , Seventh-day Adventist , United Evangelical Lutheran The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church ( MOSC ) also known as

240-468: A Dominican , followed in 1321–22. He reported to Rome , apparently from somewhere on the west coast of India, that he had given Christian burial to four martyred monks. Jordanus, between 1324 and 1328 (if not earlier), probably visited Kulam and selected it as for his future work. He was appointed a bishop in 1328 and nominated by Pope John XXII in his bull Venerabili Fratri Jordano to the see of Columbum or Kulam ( Quilon ) on 21 August 1329. This diocese

360-529: A concilium but a latrocinium , a robber council rather than a proper council, declared it null and void. The miaphysite churches still recognize it as valid, but outside their ranks it is not reckoned as an ecumenical council . The Council of Chalcedon was held in 451 and annulled the earlier council that had been presided over by Dioscurus. It has not been accepted by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, who do not defend Eutyches and accept

480-479: A reformation movement under Abraham Malpan due to influence of British Anglican missionaries in the 1800s. The Mar Thoma Church employs a reformed variant of the liturgical West Syriac Rite. The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India is an evangelical faction that split off from the Marthoma Church in 1961. CSI Syrian Christians are a minority faction of Malankara Syrian Christians , who joined

600-456: A Constantinopole-based archimandrite named Eutyches , whose answer to questions put to him was judged heretical by Bishop Flavian of Constantinople , in turn, accused Flavian of heresy. The Emperor convoked a council and entrusted its presidency to Dioscurus. This Second Council of Ephesus , held in 449, rehabilitated Eutyches and condemned and deposed Flavian and some other bishops. These appealed to Pope Leo I , who, calling their assembly not

720-582: A book about his travels titled The Travels of Joseph the Indian which was widely disseminated across Europe. Miaphysitism Both miaphysitism and dyophysitism are oppositional to monophysitism , which all mainstream Christian communions view as heretical. While historically a major point of controversy within Christianity , some modern declarations by both Chalcedonian and miaphysite ( / m aɪ ˈ æ f ɪ s aɪ t , m iː -/ ) churches claim that

840-595: A religious group, they refer to themselves as Mar Thoma Khristianis or in English as Saint Thomas Christians , based on their religious tradition of Syriac Christianity . However, from a religious angle, the Saint Thomas Christians of today belong to various denominations as a result of a series of developments including Portuguese persecution (a landmark split leading to a public Oath known as Coonen Cross Oath ), reformative activities during

960-558: A renewed relationship with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and Saint Thomas Christians, which laid the foundation for adopting West Syrian liturgy and practices over the next two centuries. Those who supported the indigenous church leader of Malankara, Thoma I, and adopted West Syrian liturgies and practices and Miaphysite faith evolved into the Malankara Church . The Arthat Padiyola declared that

1080-652: A saint. In 2012, the centennial of the establishment of the church and Catholicate were celebrated with history classes and church publications. On 3 July 2017, a major verdict by the Supreme Court of India declared the MOSC legally applicable to all parishes in disputed possession between the MOSC and Jacobite Syrian Christian Church . The spiritual head of the church is the Catholicos of the East, and its temporal head

1200-541: A separate identity They had regular visitors from their home land. Some of their priests and bishops visited them. But these visiting bishops had no authority over Saint Thomas Christians. The Church is mentioned by Cosmas Indicopleustes (about 535). He notes that, "There are Christians and believers in Taprobane ( Sri Lanka ), in Malabar where pepper grows there is a Christian church. At a place known as Kalyan, there

1320-845: A significant proportion of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's adherents reside in the southern India state of Kerala with the diaspora communities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. According to tradition, Christianity first arrived in India with Thomas the Apostle during the 1st century AD, evolving into Saint Thomas Christianity over several centuries. While isolated and generally independent in administration, Indian Christians maintained contact with

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1440-415: Is a bishop sent from Persia.". St. Gregory of Tours , before 590, reports that Theodore, a pilgrim who had gone to Gaul, told him that in that part of India where the corpus (bones) of St. Thomas had first rested, there stood a monastery and a church of striking dimensions and elaborately adorned, adding: "After a long interval of time these remains had been removed thence to the city of Edessa." As per

1560-644: Is one, perfect in his humanity and perfect in his divinity – at once consubstantial with the Father in his divinity, and consubstantial with us in his humanity. His humanity is one with his divinity – without change, without commingling, without division and without separation. In the Person of the Eternal Logos Incarnate are united and active in a real and perfect way the divine and human natures, with all their properties, faculties and operations. ... It

1680-742: Is the Malankara Metropolitan . Since 1934, both titles have been vested in one person; the official title of the head of the church is "The Catholicos of the Apostolic Throne of Saint Thomas and The Malankara Metropolitan". Baselios Marthoma Mathews III was enthroned as the Malankara Metropolitan and the Catholicos of the East. He is the eighth Catholicose of the East in Malankara and the 21st Malankara Metropolitan . Oriental Orthodox Churches , including

1800-465: Is the small cross at Kottayam dated 7th century. In 829 CE, the Udayamperoor (Diamper) church was built. A priest (or bishop) from Persia Abo came to Kadamattom. With the help of a widow and her son, he built a small hut and lived there. He called the boy Poulose. Abo taught him Syriac and later ordained him as a deacon. After this deacon Poulose disappeared for twelve years. It is said that he

1920-487: Is this faith which we both confess. Its content is the same in both communions; in formulating that content in the course of history, however, differences have arisen, in terminology and emphasis. We are convinced that these differences are such as can co-exist in the same communion and therefore need not and should not divide us, especially when we proclaim Him to our brothers and sisters in the world in terms which they can more easily understand. Similar accords were signed by

2040-690: Is to us One and the same Son, the Self-same Perfect in Godhead, the Self-same Perfect in Manhood; truly God and truly Man; the Self-same of a rational soul and body; co-essential with the Father according to the Godhead, the Self-same co-essential with us according to the Manhood; like us in all things, sin apart; before the ages begotten of the Father as to the Godhead, but in the last days, the Self-same, for us and for our salvation (born) of Mary

2160-599: Is vested in the Malankara Metropolitan , subject to the church constitution which was adopted in 1934. The Malankara Metropolitan is president of the Malankara Syrian Christian Association (Malankara Association) and its managing committee, and trustee of community properties. He is the custodian of the Pazhaya Seminary and other common properties of Malankara Syrian Community. He is also the custodian of vattipanam interest which

2280-781: The Anglican Church in 1836, and eventually became part of the Church of South India in 1947, after Indian independence . The C.S.I. is in full communion with the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. By the 20th century, various Syrian Christians joined Pentecostal and other evangelical denominations like the Kerala Brethren , Indian Pentecostal Church of God , Assemblies of God , among others. They are known as Pentecostal Saint Thomas Christians . Their traditions go back to first-century Christian thought, and

2400-592: The Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan . Recipients include Bartholomew I of Constantinople , Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II , Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Paulos , Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I , and Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Mathias . Saint Thomas Christian denominations The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala , India , which traditionally trace their ultimate origins to

2520-555: The Church of the East , which was also established by Thomas the apostle according to early Christian writings. The Primate or Metropolitan of Persia consecrated bishops for the Indian Church, which brought it indirectly under the control of Seleucia . The Church of the East traces its origins to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , said to be founded by Thomas the Apostle . Other founding figures are Mari and Addai as evidenced in

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2640-829: The Doctrine of Addai and the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari . This is the original Christian church in what was once Parthia : eastern Iraq and Iran. The See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon developing within the Persian Empire, at the east of the Christian world, rapidly took a different course from other Eastern Christians. The First Council of Nicaea , held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey ), convoked by

2760-631: The Indian Orthodox Church ( IOC ) or simply as the Malankara Church , is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam , near Kottayam , India . It serves India's Saint Thomas Christian (also known as Nasrani ) population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century (circa 52 AD). It employs the Malankara Rite , an Indian form of

2880-609: The Malankara Rite led to the first of several rifts in the community. These divisions intensified following the 1599 Synod of Diamper . Saint Thomas Christians who were opposed to the Portuguese Padroado missionaries took the Coonan Cross Oath on 3 January 1653. The Dutch East India Company expulsion of the Portuguese from much of Malabar enabled the reconciliation of some Saint Thomas Christians and

3000-649: The Malankara Rite , part of the Antiochene Rite , since the 17th century. The Jacobite Church and the Maronite Church also belong to the same liturgical family. In the first half of the fifth century, the Antiochene church adopted the Liturgy of Saint James . In the 4th and 5th centuries, The liturgical language of fourth- and fifth-century Jerusalem and Antioch was Greek, and the original liturgy

3120-549: The Oriental Orthodox Churches reject the label "monophysite". Coptic Metropolitan Bishop of Damiette declared it a misnomer to call them monophysites, for "they always confessed the continuity of existence of the two natures in the one incarnate nature of the Word of God. Non[e] of the natures ceased to exist because of the union and the term 'mia physis' denoting the incarnate nature is completely different from

3240-718: The Russian Orthodox Church in December 2006; Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II in November 2008, Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Paulos in December 2008; the Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I Keshishian in February 2010, and Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Mathias in November 2016. The Order of St. Thomas , the church's highest award is presented to heads of state and churches by

3360-663: The Thiruvithamcode Arappally in Kanyakumari district. The Apostle also preached in other parts of India . The visit of the Apostle Thomas to these places and to Mylapore on the East coast of India can be read in the Ramban Songs of Thomas Ramban , set into 'moc', 1500. He was martyred in 72 at Little Mount, a little distant from St. Thomas Mount , and was buried at San Thome , near

3480-561: The West Syriac liturgical rite . The MOSC descends from the Malankara Church and its affiliation with the Syriac Orthodox Church . However, between 1909 and 1912, a schism over the authority of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch resulted in the dissolution of the unified Malankara Church and establishment of the overlapping and conflicting MOSC and Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC). Since 1912,

3600-689: The World Council of Churches . Catholicos Geevarghese II and other metropolitan participated in the 1937 Conference on Faith and Order in Edinburgh ; a church delegation participated in the 1948 WCC meeting in Amsterdam in 1948, and the church played a role in the 1961 WCC conference in New Delhi . Metropolitan Paulos Gregorios was president of the WCC from 1983 to 1991. The church participated in

3720-677: The hypostasis of Christ, one of the three hypostaseis or prosopa (persons) of the Trinity, who has "become incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Blessed Virgin Mary Theotokos, and thus became man, consubstantial with us in His humanity but without sin. He is true God and true Man at the same time, perfect in his Divinity, perfect in His humanity. Because the one she bore in her womb was at the same time fully God as well as fully human we call

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3840-417: The social status system according to their professions with special privileges for trade granted by the benevolent kings who ruled the area. After the 8th century when Hindu Kingdoms came to sway, Christians were expected to strictly abide by stringent rules pertaining to caste and religion. This became a matter of survival. This is why St. Thomas Christians had such a strong sense of caste and tradition, being

3960-663: The spice route . For much of this period, Saint Thomas Christians were under the leadership of an archdeacon (a native ecclesiastical head with temporal powers, deriving from the Greek arkhidiākonos ). During the 16th century, efforts by the Portuguese Padroado –an arm of the Catholic Church –to bring the Saint Thomas Christians under the administration of the Latin Church and attempts to Latinize

4080-1141: The 1965 Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in Addis Ababa . It is a member of the Faith and Order Commission , the Christian Conference of Asia and the Global Christian Forum. A number of primates of sister churches have visited, including Patriarch Justinian of Romania in February 1957 and in January 1969; Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I in December 1963; Armenian Patriarch Derderian of Jerusalem in December 1972; Patriarch Pimen I of Moscow in January 1977; Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II in September 1982; Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie in 1986, Patriarch Teoctist Arăpașu of Romania in 1989; Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I in November 2000; Metropolitan (later Patriarch) Kirill of

4200-880: The 4th ecumenical council, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, an incident that resulted in the second major split in the main body of the Christian Church (after the Nestorian schism ). While the Oriental Orthodox churches rejected the Chalcedonian definition , the sees that would later become the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church accepted this council. Self-reporting roughly 2.5 million members (with external estimates of roughly 1 million) across 30 dioceses worldwide,

4320-594: The Antiochene liturgy is its large number of anaphoras (celebrations of the Eucharist ). About eighty are known, and about a dozen are used in India. All have been composed following the Liturgy of Saint James. Christians of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church pray the canonical hours of the Shehimo at fixed prayer times seven times a day. The liturgy of Mor Addai is still in use, in anaphora form, similar to

4440-488: The Apostles foreigners? Granting that Judea was the country of Peter, what had Saul to do with the Gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy?." Ambrose (340–397) writes "When the Lord Jesus said to the Apostles, go and teach all nations, even the kingdoms that had been shut off by the barbaric mountains lay open to them as India to Thomas, as Persia to Mathew." There are other passages in ancient liturgies and martyrologies which refer to

4560-438: The Blessed Virgin Theotokos. When we speak of the one composite hypostasis of our Lord Jesus Christ, we do not say that in Him, a divine hypostasis and a human hypostasis came together. It is that the one eternal hypostasis of the Second Person of the Trinity has assumed our created human nature in that act uniting it with His own uncreated divine nature, to form an inseparably and unconfusedly united real divine-human being,

4680-458: The Catholic Church, with this group eventually evolving into the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church , an Eastern Catholic church that adopted the Chaldean Catholic Church 's East Syriac Rite and Diophysite christology . Many Saint Thomas Christian chose to remain independent from the Catholic Church. Patriarch Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem , witnessed the 1665 ordination of Thomas as Bishop Thoma I , who forged

4800-408: The Chalcedonian teaching but also what Nestorianism interpreted as meaning that Jesus is not only of two natures but is in fact two centres of attribution, and thus two persons, a view condemned by the Council of Chalcedon. Similarly, "monophysitism" covers not only Oriental Orthodox teaching but also the view called Eutychianism , according to which, after the union of the divine and human natures in

4920-426: The Christian hierarchies of Antioch , Persia, and potentially Alexandria. The Saint Thomas Christians had relationships with the Persian Church of the East from at least the 6th century onward. The Indians inherited its East Syriac dialect for liturgical use and gradually became Syriac Christians in ritual and doctrine. They received clerical support from Persian bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships on

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5040-448: The East of Malankara Church: Until the 17th century, the church was administered by the archdeacon (Malankara Moopan). The elected archdeacon was in charge of day-to-day affairs, including the ordination of deacons to the priesthood. Ordinations were performed by Persian bishops visiting India. The Malankara Palliyogam (a forerunner of the Malankara Association) consisted of elected representatives from individual parishes. The isolation of

5160-401: The East , on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas at St. Mary's Church in Niranam on 15 September 1912. In 1934, The Malankara Church adopted a constitution for smooth functioning of the church, parishes and institution. In 1947, Saint Gregorios of Parumala was declared as a saint by the Church. In 1952 the Official Residence of the Malankara Metropolitan and the Headquarters of Malankara Church

5280-418: The East Bishop during the 1870s. The Assyrian Church is one of the descendant churches of the Church of the East. Thus it forms the continuation of the traditional church of Saint Thomas Christians in India. Oriental Protestant denominations include the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India . The Marthoma Syrian Church were a part of the Malankara Church that went through

5400-444: The East Syriac liturgy of the historic Church of the East. The Oriental Orthodox faction includes the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , resulting from a split within the Malankara Church in 1912 over whether the church should be autocephalous or rather under the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch . As such, the Malankara Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Church independent of

5520-448: The East had declined drastically, and the 16th century witnessed the Portuguese colonial overtures to bring St Thomas Christians into the Latin Catholic Church , administered by their Padroado , leading to the first of several rifts ( schisms ) in the community. The attempts of the Portuguese culminated in the Synod of Diamper in 1599 and was resisted by local Christians through the Coonan Cross Oath protest in 1653. This led to

5640-408: The East, the Catholicate of Armenia, the Catholicate of Georgia and the Catholicate of Albania. The archdeacons reigned from the fourth to the 16th centuries; in 1653, the archdeacon was elevated to bishop by the community as Mar Thoma I. The Catholicate of the East was relocated to India in 1912, and Baselios Paulose I was seated on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas as the Catholicos of the East by

5760-433: The Elder and the author of Periplus of the Erythraean sea, Muziris in Kerala could be reached in 40 days' time from the Egyptian coast purely depending on the southwest monsoon winds. The Sangam works Puranaooru and Akananooru have many lines which speak of the Roman vessels and the Roman gold that used to come to the Kerala ports of the great Chera kings in search of pepper and other spices, which had enormous demand in

5880-408: The Holy See in Rome. This includes the aforementioned Syro-Malabar Church as well as the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church , the latter arising from an Oriental Orthodox faction that entered into communion with Rome in 1930 under Bishop Geevarghese Ivanios (d. 1953). As such the Malankara Catholic Church employs the West Syriac liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, while the Syro-Malabar Church employs

6000-530: The Jews at "Maliyankara" on the sea coast. Jews were living in Kerala from the time of Solomon. Later, large numbers of them arrived in 586 BC and 72 AD. Malabari Jewish tradition hold these facts. Its traditionally believed that during his stay in Kerala , the Apostle baptized the Jews and some of the wise men who adored the Infant Jesus . The Apostle established seven "and a half" churches in Malabar at Kodungalloor ( Muziris ), Paravur , Palayoor , Kokkamangalam , Niranam , Nilackal , Kollam , and

6120-423: The Logos which Eutyches denied. The Orthodox also use this terminology. The Oriental Orthodox agree that the Orthodox are justified in their use of the two-natures formula, since they acknowledge that the distinction is "in thought alone" (τῇ θεωρίᾳ μόνῃ). ... we have now clearly understood that both families have always loyally maintained the same authentic Orthodox Christological faith, and the unbroken continuity of

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6240-412: The MOSC constitution adopted in 1934 was valid. In 2002, fresh elections were conducted in Malankara Association under the observation of Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews II is the official and legitimate Malankara Metropolitan and also declared that this decision cannot be disputed in any platform. In 2003, Vattasheril Dionysius VI was declared as

6360-438: The MOSC has maintained a catholicate , the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan –presently Baselios Marthoma Mathews III –who is the primate of the church. The MOSC drafted and formally adopted a constitution in 1934, in order to define the relationship it has with the Syriac Orthodox Church and the patriarch, wherein it defined itself a division of the Syriac Orthodox Church with its supreme spiritual leader being

6480-438: The Malankara Church. The second article addresses the establishment of the Malankara Church by St. Thomas and ascribes primacy to the Catholicos . The third article regards the church's name. The fourth article describes the faith and its traditions. The fifth article examines church governance canon law . The elected Malankara Association, consisting of parish members, manages the church's religious and social concerns. Formerly

6600-496: The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, accept only the first three ecumenical councils : the First Council of Nicaea , the First Council of Constantinople , and the Council of Ephesus . The church, like all other Oriental Orthodox Churches, uses the original Nicene Creed without the filioque clause . Like the Syriac Orthodox Church , it primarily uses the liturgy of Saint James in Malayalam , Konkani , Kannada , Hindi , English and other Indian languages. The church has used

6720-412: The Malankara Palli-yogam (മലങ്കര പള്ളി യോഗം; Malankara Parish Assembly, its modern form is believed to have been founded in 1873 as the Mulanthuruthy Synod, a gathering of parish representatives in Parumala . In 1876, the Malankara Association began. The church constitution outlines the association's powers and responsibilities. The Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan is the president, and

6840-411: The Malankara church from the rest of Christendom preserved the apostolic age's democratic nature through interactions with Portuguese (Roman Catholic) and British (Anglican) colonialists. From the 17th to the 20th centuries, the church had five pillars of administration: Envisioned by Dionysius VI, the church's general and day-to-day administration was codified in its 1934 constitution. The constitution

6960-423: The Malankara metropolitan bishop in 1908, played a significant role with the other clerical and lay leaders of Malankara in re-establishing the Catholicos of the East in India in 1912. In 1909 the relations with the Syrian Orthodox Church soured, when Patriarch Ignatius Abded Aloho II who arrived in India, began demanding registered deeds granting the patriarch temporal authority over the church. Dionysius rejected

7080-400: The Maronite Sharar. The anaphora of St. John Chrysostom is sometimes used. In conformity with other Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches , and also with the Roman Catholic Church , the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church adheres to the tradition of seeking the intercession of saints . Several have been canonized : The temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administration of the church

7200-408: The Nasranis. The First Council of Nicaea , held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey ), convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed . Many historians have written that ‘’Mar John, the Bishop of Great India’’ attended

7320-429: The Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Chalcedonian churches later divided into the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church and its Protestant derivations. In recent decades a number of Christological agreements between miaphysite and Chalcedonian churches have been signed not just by theologians but by heads of churches. They explicitly distinguish the divinity and the humanity of Christ, without necessarily using

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7440-407: The Patriarch of Antioch, whereas the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church is an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church and is headed by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. The Iraq -based Assyrian Church of the East 's archdiocese includes the Chaldean Syrian Church based in Thrissur . They were a minority faction within the Syro-Malabar Church, which split off and joined with the Church of

7560-452: The Patriarch of Antioch. However the constitution stipulated that all the spiritual duties of the patriarch in the Malankara Church was entrusted to the Catholicos of the East and reiterated that its administration was the prerogative of the Malankara Metropolitan. The constitution further declared that the positions of the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan are to be held by the same person from then on, who shall henceforth act as

7680-554: The Persian Church suffered severe persecutions. The persecuted Christians and even bishops, at least on two occasions, sought an asylum in Malabar. The Rock crosses of Kerala found at St.Thomas Mount and throughout Malabar coast has inscriptions in Pahlavi and Syriac . It is dated from before the 8th Century. In 825, the arrival of two bishops are documented, Sapor and Prodh. Le Quien says that "these bishops were Chaldaeans and had come to Quilon soon after its foundation. They were men illustrious for their sanctity, and their memory

7800-416: The Portuguese, organized themselves as the independent Malankara Church, entered into a new communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch , and they inherited the West Syriac Rite from the Syriac Orthodox Church, which employs the Liturgy of Saint James , an ancient rite of the Church of Antioch , replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy. The Eastern Catholic faction is in full communion with

7920-418: The Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed . It is documented that John, the Bishop of Great India attended the council. The prelate signs himself as "John the Persian presiding over the Churches in the whole of Persia and Great India." Some centuries following,

8040-411: The Self-same Son and Only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ; even as from the beginning the prophets have taught concerning Him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself hath taught us, and as the Symbol of the Fathers hath handed down to us. Dissent from this definition did not at first lead to a clean break between what are now the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches . While in

8160-435: The Virgin Theotokos as to the Manhood; One and the Same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten; acknowledged in Two Natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the difference of the Natures being in no way removed because of the Union, but rather the properties of each Nature being preserved, and (both) concurring into One Person and One Hypostasis; not as though He was parted or divided into Two Persons, but One and

8280-435: The West, Rome tended to uphold steadfastly the text of Leo's Tome and of the Chalcedonian definition, the situation in the East was fluid for a century after the council, with compromise formulas imposed by the emperors and accepted by the church and leading at times to schisms between East and West (cf. Acacian Schism , Henotikon , Monoenergism ). The situation then hardened into a fixed division between what are now called

8400-417: The West. The lure of spices attracted traders from the Middle East and Europe to the many trading ports of Keralaputera (Kerala) — Tyndis, ( Ponnani ), Muziris , near Kodungallur, Niranam, Bacare, Belitha, and Comari ( Kanyakumari ) long before the time of Christ. Thomas the Apostle in one of these ships, arrived at Muziris in 52, from E’zion-ge’ber on the Red Sea. He started his gospel mission among

8520-415: The Word made flesh"). The 451 Council of Chalcedon used physis to mean "nature" (as in "divine nature" and "human nature"), and defined that there is in Jesus one hypostasis (person) but two physeis (natures). It is disputed whether Cyril used physis in that sense. John Anthony McGuckin says that in Cyril's formula " physis serves as a rough semantic equivalent to hypostasis ". Others interpret

8640-603: The administration of Malankara Church was independent and the bishops from Rome, Antioch, and Babylon had no role in the Malankara Church hierarchy, despite continued efforts to integrate the remaining independent Saint Thomas Christians into these patriarchates. In 1807, four gospels of Holy Bible in Syriac were translated to Malayalam by Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban. The Malankara Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam

8760-584: The apostolic tradition, though they have used Christological terms in different ways. It is this common faith and continuous loyalty to the Apostolic Tradition that should be the basis for our unity and communion. Implementation of the recommendations of these two Agreed Statements would mean restoration of full communion between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, but as of 2021 they have not been put into effect. Of

8880-535: The authority of the metropolitan. By the fifth century, the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control of the churches in surrounding cities. They gradually became the heads of the regional churches, and were known as patriarchs (common father). Outside the Roman Empire, patriarchs were known as catholicos. There were four catholicates before the fifth century: the Catholicate of

9000-810: The commission that carried on that dialogue signed "a common formula expressing our official agreement on Christology which was already approved by the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church on 21 June 1986". The brief common formula was as follows: We believe that our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Incarnate-Logos, is perfect in His Divinity and perfect in His Humanity. He made His Humanity one with His Divinity without mixture nor mingling, nor confusion. His Divinity

9120-480: The council. Church life bore characteristics of a church which had its origin and growth outside the Graeco-Roman world . There was no centralized administrative structure on a monarchical pattern. The territorial administrative system which developed after the diocesan pattern within the eastern and western Roman empires did not exist in the Indian Church. "They have the uncorrupted Testament Which they believe

9240-550: The difference between the two Christological formulations does not reflect any significant difference in belief about the nature of Christ. The word miaphysite derives from the Ancient Greek μία ( mía , "one") and φύσις ( phúsis , "nature, substance"). Miaphysite teaching is based on Cyril of Alexandria 's formula μία φύσις τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου σεσαρκωμένη, meaning "one physis of the Word of God made flesh" (or "... of God

9360-655: The diocesan metropolitan bishops are vice-presidents. All positions are elected. Each parish is represented in the association by an elected priest and laypeople, proportional to parish-membership size. This is a list of co-trustees ( priest trustee & lay trustee) elected by the Malankara Association of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church: Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Dioceses The church's episcopal synod has

9480-481: The disposed Patriarch of Antioch Abdul Masih. The headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholicos of the East is the Catholicate Palace at Devalokam, Kottayam , Kerala , which was consecrated on 31 December 1951. The new palace, built in 1961, was dedicated by visiting Armenian Catholicos Vazgen I . The Holy Synod and Managing committee designated H.G.Dr. Mathews Mor Severios to

9600-589: The evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution. Historically, this community formed a part of the Church of the East, served by metropolitan bishops and a local archdeacon . By the 15th century, the Church of

9720-463: The following diocesan bishops: The church has a number of spiritual organizations: The two seminaries which offers bachelor's and master's degrees in theology are Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam and St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur . The Malankara Orthodox Seminary at Kottayam is the first Orthodox Seminary in Asia established in year 1815. The church was a founding member of

9840-506: The forty-second of his "Carmina Nisibina" that the Apostle was put to death in India, and that his remains were subsequently buried in Edessa , brought there by a merchant. St. Ephraem in a hymn about the relics of St. Thomas at Edessa depicts Satan exclaiming, "The Apostle whom I killed in India comes to meet me in Edessa." Gregory Nazianzen , (329–389), in a homily says; "What! were not

9960-796: The great of Wessex in England sent donations to the Christians in Malabar. Marco Polo visited Malabar on his return journey from China . He wrote about the people whom he saw in Malabar, this way. "The people are idolaters, though there are some Christians and Jews among them. They speak a language of their own. The king is tributary to none." The two Rock crosses of Kerala are found at Kottayam, one each at Kadamattam, Muttuchira and at St.Thomas Mount, in Mylapore. and throughout Malabar coast has inscriptions in Pahlavi and Syriac. The earliest

10080-698: The head of the Catholic Church and the heads of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Although unofficial dialogue between individual theologians of the (Eastern) Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox began in 1964, official dialogue did not begin until 1985; but already by 1989 an agreement was reached on the Christological dogma, stating that the word physis in Cyril of Alexandria's formula referred to

10200-578: The holy book." In short, the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala have blended well with the ecclesiastical world of the Eastern Churches and with the changing socio-cultural environment of their homeland. Thus, the Malabar Church was Hindu or Indian in culture , Christian in religion , and Judeo-Syriac-Oriental in terms of origin and worship. According to the 1st century annals of Pliny

10320-434: The holy see of St.Thomas the Apostle". The life-style of the Saint Thomas Christians might be stated as "Indian in culture, Christian in faith and Oriental in worship". Socially and culturally these Saint Thomas Christians remain as a part of the wider Indian community. They keep their Indian social customs, names and practices relating to birth, marriage, and death. They have Biblical names ( Mar Thoma Christian names ). At

10440-518: The human nature was absorbed in his divinity, as was taught by Eutyches . The conflict over terminology was to some extent a conflict between two renowned theological schools. The Catechetical School of Alexandria focused on the divinity of Christ as the Logos or Word of God and thereby risked leaving his real humanity out of proper consideration (cf. Apollinarism ). The stress by the School of Antioch

10560-534: The implicit condemnation of him by the (non-ecumenical) Third Council of Ephesus held in 475. Chalcedon accepted by acclamation Leo's Tome , the letter by Pope Leo I setting out, as he saw it, the church's doctrine on the matter, and issued what has been called the Chalcedonian Definition , of which the part that directly concerns miaphysitism runs as follows: Following, then, the holy Fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ

10680-469: The incarnation of the eternal Son or Word of God, he has only a single "nature", a synthesis of divine and human, identical with neither. This doctrine is rejected by miaphysites, who teach instead that the incarnate Christ has one "nature" that is both divine and human in its character, retaining all the characteristics of both humans and divinity, but with no mingling, confusion ( pouring together ) or change within. To avoid being confused with Eutychians,

10800-660: The miaphysite term physis in line with its use by the Council of Chalcedon and speak of "miaphysitism" as " monophysitism ", a word used of all forms of denial of the Chalcedonian doctrine. However, they add that "miaphysitism" is "the more accurate term for the position held by the Syriac, Coptic and Armenian churches". The Second Council of Constantinople (553), the ecumenical council that followed that of Chalcedon, accepted Cyril's phrase but warned against misinterpreting it. The broad term " dyophysitism " covers not only

10920-711: The modern city of Chennai . The body of Apostle Thomas was translated to Edessa, Iraq. It is now in Ortona , Italy . Relics of Apostle Thomas were translated to the San Thome Cathedral in Chennai and to St Thomas Church in Palayur, near Guruvayoor at Chavakkad Taluk, Thrissur District in Kerala. Several ancient writers mention India as the scene of St. Thomas ’ labours. Ephrem the Syrian (300–378) writes in

11040-401: The natures being distinguished from each other in contemplation only." A second Agreed Statement was published in the following year 1990 declaring: The Orthodox agree that the Oriental Orthodox will continue to maintain their traditional Cyrillian terminology of "one nature of the incarnate Logos" (μία φύσις τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου σεσαρκωμένη), since they acknowledge the double consubstantiality of

11160-519: The new Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicos of Malankara Church succeeding Baselios Marthoma Paulose II. He was consecrated as the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan during the Malankara Association that took place on 14 October 2021 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala and enthroned as the 9th Catholicos of Malankara Church on 15 October 2021. Relics of St. Thomas are kept in the catholicate chapel, and Geevarghese II , Augen I , Mathews I and Paulose II are interred there. The list of Catholicos of

11280-533: The oldest order of Christianity in India . The Archdeacon was the head of the Church, and Palliyogams (Parish Councils) were in charge of temporal affairs. They had a liturgy -centered life with days of fasting and abstinence. Their devotion to the Mar Thoma tradition was absolute. Their churches were modelled after Jewish synagogues . "The church is neat and they keep it sweetly. There are mats but no seats. Instead of images, they have some useful writing from

11400-468: The one person of Jesus Christ , divinity and humanity are united in one (μία, mia ) nature (φύσις – " physis ") without separation, without confusion, without alteration and without mixing where Christ is consubstantial with God the Father . Around 500 bishops within the Patriarchates of Alexandria , Antioch and Jerusalem refused to accept the dyophysitism (two natures) doctrine decreed by

11520-463: The permanent schism among the Thomas' Christians of India, leading to the formation of Puthenkūr (New allegiance, pronounced Pùttènkūṟ ) and Pazhayakūr (Old allegiance, pronounced Paḻayakūṟ ) factions. The Pazhayakūr comprise the present day Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church which continue to employ the original East Syriac Rite liturgy . The Puthenkūr group, who resisted

11640-541: The phrase "two natures". On 20 May 1973, Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria and Pope Paul VI jointly declared: We confess that our Lord and God and Saviour and King of us all, Jesus Christ, is perfect God with respect to His Divinity, perfect man with respect to His humanity. In Him His divinity is united with His humanity in a real, perfect union without mingling, without commixtion, without confusion, without alteration, without division, without separation. His divinity did not separate from His humanity for an instant, not for

11760-536: The relationship with their home Church in Persia, which was also established by St. Thomas the Apostle. Following is a rough chronology of events associated with St. Thomas Christianity. Doctrine of the Apostles states that, "India and all its countries . . . received the Apostle's hand of priesthood from Judas Thomas…." From an early period the Church of St. Thomas Christians came into a lifelong relationship with

11880-564: The request and thus emerged two factions in the church. The faction that supported the Patriarch came to be called as "Bava Kakshi" (Patriarch Faction) and the faction that supported the Malankara Metropolitan came to be known as "Methran Kakshi" (Metropolitan Faction). The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church wanted to retain its autocephaly , and appealed to Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Abdul Masih II . He enthroned Murimattathil Paulose Ivanios as Baselios Paulose I, Catholicos of

12000-449: The same time they follow a number of Jewish customs like worship, baptism, wedding and other ceremonies which are entirely different from Western Churches. The rulers of Kerala, always appreciated the contributions of St. Thomas Christians to the country and society. Thazhekad sasanam and deeds on copper plates bear witness to it. Five sheets of the three copper plates are now in the custody of St. Thomas Christians. In 883 King Alfred

12120-533: The seven "and a half" churches established by Thomas the Apostle during his mission in Malabar. These are located at Kodungalloor ( Muziris ), Paravur , Palayoor , Kokkamangalam , Niranam , Nilackal , Kollam , and the Thiruvithamcode Arappally in Kanyakumari district . The Nasranis are an ethnic people, and a single community. As a community with common cultural heritage and cultural tradition, they refer to themselves as Nasranis . However, as

12240-482: The spiritual and administrative head of the church. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church asserts communion with the other Oriental Orthodox churches. However, regular legal and occasional physical confrontations between the MOSC and the Syriac Orthodox JSCC have continued despite multiple efforts to reconcile the churches. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church accepts miaphysitism , which holds that in

12360-621: The term 'monophysites'. ... The Oriental Orthodox do not believe in a single nature in Jesus Christ but rather a united divine-human nature." The Agreed Statement by the Anglican –Oriental Orthodox International Commission in 2014 said: The term 'monophysite', which has been falsely used to describe the Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, is both misleading and offensive as it implies Eutychianism. Anglicans, together with

12480-645: The time of the British (6,000 - 12,000 Jacobites joined the C.M.S. in 1836, after the Synod of Mavelikara; who are now within the Church of South India ), doctrines and missionary zeal influence ( Malankara Church and Patriarch/Catholicos issue (division of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church (1912)). St. Thomas Christian families who claim their descent from ancestors who were baptized by Apostle Thomas are found all over Kerala . St. Thomas Christians were classified into

12600-562: The tradition of Saint Thomas Christians , St. Thomas the Apostle established his throne in India and India was his See (Kolla Hendo), therefore the see of the metropolitan of Saint Thomas Christians was India and used the title Metropolitan and Gate of all India. In Syriac Manuscript Vatican Syriac Codex 22 the title given for the Metropolitan of the Saint Thomas Christians was "the superintendent and ruler of

12720-413: The twinkling of an eye. He who is God eternal and invisible became visible in the flesh, and took upon Himself the form of a servant. In Him are preserved all the properties of the divinity and all the properties of the humanity, together in a real, perfect, indivisible and inseparable union. At that meeting they decided to set up an official theological dialogue between the two churches. On 12 February 1988

12840-596: The west coast of India, i.e., Malabar . Shapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During that period, there was persecution against Christians. So in AD 345 under the leadership of Thomas of Cana 72 families landed at Muziris near Cranganore. They formed the group known as Knanaya Christians. They cooperated with the Malankara Church, attended worship services together but remained

12960-456: The wider oikumene , use the accurate term 'miaphysite' to refer to the Cyrilline teaching of the family of Oriental Orthodox Churches, and furthermore call each of these Churches by their official title of "Oriental Orthodox". The teaching of this family confesses not a single nature but one incarnate united divine-human nature of the Word of God. To say "a single nature" would be to imply that

13080-529: The work of St. Thomas in India . These passages indicate that the tradition that St. Thomas died in India was widespread among the early churches. Many writers have mentioned that the Apostle established seven "and a half" churches in Malabar. They are: Doctrine of the Apostles states that, "India and all its countries...received the Apostle's hand of priesthood from Judas Thomas…." From 345 AD, when Knanaya Christians arrived from Persia , they had continued

13200-607: Was a well known exorcist. He is well known in Kerala as Kadamattathu Kathanar. Abo died and was buried in Thevalakara church (now St. Mary's Orthodox Church). There are many accounts of visits from Rome, before the arrival of Portuguese. John of Monte Corvino , was a Franciscan missionary who traveled from Persia and moved down by sea to India, in 1291 Odoric of Pordenone who arrived in India in 1321. He visited Malabar, landing at Pandarani (20 m. north of Calicut ), at Cranganore , and at Kulam or Quilon . Jordanus ,

13320-1030: Was composed in Greek. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Eastern Church was divided in two; one group accepted the council, and the other opposed it. Both groups continued to use the Greek version of the Saint James liturgy. The Byzantine emperor Justin (518–527) expelled the opponents from Antioch, and they took refuge in the Syriac-speaking Mesopotamia on the Roman–Persian border (modern eastern Syria, Iraq , and southeastern Turkey). The Antiochene liturgical rites were gradually translated into Syriac, and Syriac hymns were introduced. Gregorios Abdal Jaleel came to Malankara from Jerusalem in 1665 and introduced Syriac Orthodox liturgical rites. The most striking characteristic of

13440-577: Was deposited in Travancore Government by Marthoma VII. He is elected by the Malankara association. "Catholicos" means "the general head", and can be considered equivalent to "universal bishop." The early church had three priestly ranks: episcopos (bishop), priest and deacon. By the end of the third century, bishops of important cities in the Roman Empire became known as metropolitans. The fourth-century ecumenical councils recognized

13560-474: Was established in 1815 under the leadership of Pulikottil Ittup Ramban (Mar Dionysius II). The Mavelikara Synod (Padiyola) led by Cheppad Mar Dionysius rejected the suggestions put forward by Anglican missioneries and Reformation group and declared the beliefs and theology of Malankara Church were same as the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril , who became

13680-479: Was held sacred in the Malabar Church. They constructed many churches and, during their lifetime, the Christian religion flourished especially in the kingdom of Diamper." The beginning of Kolla Varsham resulted in the origin of Christianity in Kerala as an individual religion outside vedic Vaishnavism In 190, Pantaenus , probably the founder of the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria , visited India and

13800-510: Was not separated from His Humanity even for a moment or twinkling of an eye. At the same time, we anathematize the doctrines of both Nestorius and Eutyches. A "Doctrinal Agreement on Christology" was signed on 3 June 1990 by Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I , Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Pope John Paul II , in which they explicitly spoke of "divine and human natures": Our Lord Jesus Christ

13920-624: Was on the humanity of Jesus as a historical figure. To the theological rivalry between the two schools added a certain political competitiveness between, on the one hand, Alexandria and, on the other, Antioch and Constantinople. The condemnation of Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus in 431 was a victory for the Alexandrian school and church, but its acceptance required a compromise, the "Formula of Reunion", entered into by Cyril of Alexandria and John of Antioch two years later. Cyril died in 444. Under his successor, Dioscurus I of Alexandria ,

14040-486: Was presented at the 26 December 1934 Malankara Christian Association meeting at M. D. Seminary, adopted and enacted. It has been amended three times. Although the constitution was challenged in court by dissident supporters of the Patriarch of Antioch , Supreme Court rulings in 1958, 1995, 2017 and 2018 upheld its validity. The constitution's first article asserts the relationship between the Syriac Orthodox Church and

14160-496: Was shifted to Devalokam from Pazhaya Seminary. In 1958, The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Geevarghese II as the legitimate Malankara Metropolitan. The two factions of the Malankara Orthodox Church rejoined. In 1964, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch participated in the enthronement ceremony of the Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan, Baselios Augen I. In 1995, the Supreme Court of India declared

14280-476: Was the first in the whole of the Indies , with jurisdiction over modern India, Pakistan , Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Burma , and Sri Lanka. In 1347, Giovanni de' Marignolli visited Malabar. Another prominent Indian traveler was Joseph, priest over Cranganore. He journeyed to Babylon in 1490 and then sailed to Europe and visited Portugal , Rome, and Venice before returning to India. He helped to write

14400-535: Was translated for them by St. Thomas the apostle himself." Theophilus (ca 354) as recorded by church historian Philostorgius mentions about a church, priests, liturgy, in the immediate vicinity of the Maldives , which can only apply to a Christian church and faithful on the adjacent coast of India. The people referred to were the Christians known as a body who had their liturgy in the Syriac language and inhabited

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