Faith Sharing Series #2

FAITH SHARING SERIES                        #2

And you will know the truth, and the very truth will make you free. (Jn 8:32)

 

 

 

 

 

General Introduction.

The most essential faith that any Christian ought to possess is contained in the Nicene Creed. This creed was formulated by the Church in the two earliest universal Ecumenical Synods held at Nicea (325 AD) and at Constantinople (381 AD). The Nicene Creed remains the basic declaration of faith of all Christians. (Notwithstanding the later addition of the clause of “FILIOQUE”, by the Roman Church: this will be discussed in detail later on). For anyone who is being initiated into Christian faith, the Nicene Creed is the base on which the initiation can be built upon. Each clause of the Creed can be studied in detail to learn all essential aspects of Christian faith. While being baptized, the candidate professes his/her acceptance and faith in the Creed.

The purpose of this study is not to initiate a person into Christianity. A baptized Christian ought to practice and develop his/her faith in day to day life. In this process, the Christian becomes matured to grow in the understanding of the mysteries of Christian faith. Every Christian is called upon to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Church teaches that the “source and summit” of Christian faith is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. (LG11, CCC 1324)  It is in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, that a Christian has to delve deep into, in order to understand the magnificent mysteries of our faith. It is here that the Church gives its full expression of what it believes in. We find that the form and manner of celebration of this mystery varies widely amongst the different Churches, though the basic core is the same.   

In its two thousand year history, the Universal Christianity went thru many schisms and divisions. Many of these divisions took place due to theological differences and some were caused by clash of personalities among leading ecclesial figures and some splits occurred even due to regional politics. Presently, these churches can be grouped into three major categories: the Catholic Churches, the Orthodox Churches and the Protestant and Anglican Churches. There is still another category which considers itself not belonging to any of the above three groups, but still considers being true Christians. (We shall deal with these schisms and divisions, in detail, in later chapters.) The faith lives of all Catholic and Orthodox Churches are centered on the Eucharist. The Protestant and Anglican groups too have Eucharistic celebration with varying levels of importance. Though the essence of the Eucharistic celebration is the same in all the Catholic and Orthodox churches (and also in some Anglican churches), the expression of the celebration is as varied as there are as many different Churches. In the Catholic communion, there are 23 individual Churches, all in communion with one another and with the bishop of Rome. (Additionally, “Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans”, following Anglican traditions have been erected since 2009) Each of these Churches has its own administrative and canonical regime. They all profess the same faith in communion with the bishop of Rome. Each of these Churches also has its own Eucharistic theology as well as liturgical traditions. What binds them together is the common profession of faith and their communion with the bishop of Rome, who has, from the earliest times, been recognized as the successor of Simeon Keppa (or Simon Peter), or the Rock on which Jesus Christ established His Church (Mt 16:18).

Until about 75 years ago, not much details were known to most of the world about the existence of one of the oldest and most  vibrant Christian communities in the world; a faithful Nazrani community that existed in the south western coastal region of India for as long as Christianity existed. The world takes India as synonymous with Hinduism and thinks that everyone who comes from India has come out of a Hindu fold. But, the facts are quite different. It may surprise many; even shock a few, if it is revealed that Hinduism actually came later than Christianity in South India, more particularly in the present states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Hinduism established itself as a major religious community in Kerala only by the latter half of the first millennium. Whereas, the first Jewish settlements along the Malabar (Kerala) coast took place during the time of King Solomon, before 500 B.C. Around the time of Christ (50 B.C. to 50 A, D.) there was another wave of Jewish migration to the west coast of India. There were much larger number of Jews settled out side of the Palestinian and neighboring areas of the Roman Empire than within that area. Rather, there were only 2 Israeli tribes (Judah and Benjamin) settled in the Palestine and neighborhood, while 10 tribes had made their homes outside the Roman Empire. A majority of these Jews were in the Persian Empire and a large number of them found their abode in the peaceful environments of the South and Western India. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., even the Jews, (and also the Nazrani Jews), settled in Palestine immigrated en masse to Persia, to India and further east. (See Mar Bawai Soro “The Church of the East.”) It is also believed that a large number of Jews got dispersed amongst a wide cross section spread throughout the Eastern world mixing with the nations of the world. (Remember the promise that God made to Abraham Gen 26:4) (Also, please read the highly researched book “The Jewish background of Indian People” by Abraham Benhur)

It is quite clear that the earliest Christians were all of Jewish origin. The Apostles went to different parts of the world to spread the Good News of the arrival of M’siha, to the multitude of Jewish people spread throughout the known world. (See Mt 15:24 and Mt 10:5. It is clear that the disciples, at first, got the impression that the Gospel, (Good News), was meant for the Jews). No wonder that the great apostle Thoma came to India, precisely because of the existence of large Jewish colonies in Malabar and also in the east coast surrounding the port town of Chennai-Mylapore. We must note that the localities where Thoma established the earliest Nazrani communities were all Jewish centers. It was only after some decades later that there was a general agreement amongst the Apostles, that the Christian message was equally meant for gentiles and pagans as it was for the Jews. (See Acts of the Apostles ch. 15) Apart from Jews, the early converts to Christianity, in Malabar, were people of local ethnicity, who were mostly of the Dravidian stock who were Jains, Buddhists or of local pagan religions (not Hindus). There is evidence of the presence of early St Thomas Nazranis in other parts of  the west coast of India up along the Konkan coast right up to Goa and beyond, as also along the east coast of India. (Marco Polo, the famous Venetian seafarer records the presence of 1000 Nazrani families around the great shrine of Mar Thoma in Mylapore. (13^th century) 

Mar Thoma arrived in India, via Persia, to spread the Good News. This is evident from the active traditions and writings of the Persian Church; both the Assyrian Church of the East as well as the Chaldean Catholic Church. Persia was closely connected with the Malabar Coast, for commercial reasons, even long before the Christian era. Also the fact that there were significant Jewish settlements in both these areas was a factor of close relationship between these two distant geographical lands. Both the Persian Church and the Indian Church consider Mar Thoma as their “father in faith”. As such it was quite natural that these sister Churches had common ecclesial regime as well as the same “East Syriac (Aramaic)” liturgical and sacramental traditions.

 (General Introduction)  To continue: FSS #3