How Christianity evolved in the last two thousand years in India
Christianity in Malabar Coast is Pre-Nestorian, Pre-Latin and as old as Judean — Part I
This is a Three-Part Series. What you are reading is Part I. Click here for Part II and here for Part III.
Introduction
Since I wrote my earlier blog on the ‘real’ lineage of Christians in Kerala, several people have been asking me the reasons for the conflicts currently going on in Kerala, in both the Catholic as well as the Orthodox Church.
I know I am not a historian, nor do I have a doctorate in theology to hold forth on the complex issues involved. But I can explain things in simple words as I’ve come to understand them. So here I am making an effort to unravel the complex mystery behind the arrival of Christianity in India, unknown to even the majority of Christians today.
Sadly, most Christians in Kerala have little idea about how we reached here. This history, really a matter of pride, is not taught in Catechism classes nor discussed in common reflections. The problem with Bible Sunday classes is that they’re a type of Madrasa learning except that you needn’t stay in a mosque to learn the religious texts (though not all Madrasas require you to stay on-premises).
Ideally, teaching ancestral history, especially when you have such a rich past, should be as important as teaching the Word of God. But very few Christian friends have been told about their lineage or history.
Once I went to the Saint Thomas Orthodox Cathedral in Karthikappally, Kerala built in the eighth century. It now belongs to the Malankara Orthodox Church. There are many such beautiful churches-built hundreds of years ago. But this heritage is neither known nor publicized by even Orthodox members. Very few have seen these early churches or appreciated their architecture or historical value.
A trustee of the Karthikappally Cathedral told me the situation is the same even with members of this cathedral. So, there certainly is something lacking in the way the Church communicates with its faithful.
After reading my earlier piece on our ancestral lineage, many asked me how we ended up in so many diverse groups of churches. Hence, I am writing this piece for the benefit of those who care to read and may do so out of curiosity in the future.
The original ancestry of Kerala Christians arguably has Judeo-Dravidian-Nasrani roots, which can be labeled as original ones. This was a unique tradition, but colonialism and modernity led to the introduction or invasion of western traditions.
For example, let’s take the long Masses in some rites that irritate quite a few, especially the youth who want to be done with the Mass as quickly as possible, as if it were a T20 match — 30 minutes maximum as some might want it to be.
But the indigenous Mass can be a long-winding affair, which is a fact! The shorter version of it is nothing but ‘cultural baggage’ adopted from foreign traditions. No doubt, the duration of the Mass in a few rites is made boringly lengthy and unbearable because of the repetitions and prolonged self-appraisals by the clergy.
However, the Anaphora is almost common to all the rites. Anaphora is the most solemn part of any Christian Communion rite where the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. It is commonly referred to as the Eucharistic Prayer.
You are welcome to correct me if there are factual errors here and pardon me for not providing any reference material within this article though this piece is based on my readings for a prolonged period. And although the title refers to India, I only delve into Kerala, where the evolution of Christianity is quite complicated, to say the least.
I will come to other regions of India in a later article.
I am dividing this attempted ‘long form’ piece into three parts, hoping to make it easy for my readers, as also for me. I am also trying to make it simple with each part delving into three different eras.
So, let’s start at the beginning.
Origin of Christianity
“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16: 15–16).
This was the message to the Twelve Apostles who were eyewitnesses to the Christ event. One among the twelve disciples was Saint Thomas who set sail to the Malabar Coast (now part of Kerala).
Thomas coming to India does not have any documentary evidence, but there are enough archeological references to show he went to Herath (now in Afghanistan) and then, in search of Jews to Afghanistan from the Indo-Parthian kingdom founded by Gondophares and spread across Arachosia, Kabul, and Gandhara (the current Afghanistan and Pakistan regions).
In all probability, Thomas set out on this journey from the Malabar coast though this conclusion is based on circumstantial evidence and not archeological. Dr. David Taylor, associate professor of Aramaic and Syriac at Oxford University, and a few other historians have reasons to believe that Thomas did visit Malabar Coast.
Another Oxford University Scholar D. L. Page quotes a Greek drama ‘Charition’ through Periplus Maris Erythraei (CE 40 -70) — a study of original Papyrus manuscripts of the first century — about two lovers eloping to India (there is dispute whether they were brother-sister or lovers). There is a reference in it to St. Thomas Christians on the Malabar coast. This fact is also referred to in a study by P. J. Cherian on the Evidence of Maritime Exchanges in and before the first century.
Another enthusiast, Dr. Zacharia Mani, who retired as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Department, Karnataka, and Goa in 2002, in his study, says the word ‘Thouma’ occurs twice in this drama. ‘Thouma’ is none other than St. Thomas mentioned in the worship part of the drama.
Have you ever heard of Thomas Ramaban Pattu? It is believed to be a follow-up from the oral traditions in the first or second century. Here is the composition:
Thomas propagated Christianity to the Jews on the Malabar coast and for hundreds of years, they were all known as Nazranis or Malankara Christians (which could be a term used much later) and continued to remain so for almost 1500 years with ecclesiastical assistance from the nearest area in the east — now Syria.
Remember St. Thomas also undertook evangelization in Ethiopia, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Parthia (Now Iran) apart from the Malabar coast. You know well that Christ spoke a Galilean dialect of the Jewish Palestinian Western Aramaic, which was widely prevalent in areas from Palestine and Iran to the middle of what is now India. Aramaic was never prevalent in any part of present-day India. So spiritual leadership of Christianity came from Syria and the Aramaic language they spoke came to be known as Syriac.
A reason Kerala Christians are called Syrian Christians is because of this.
You can read the entire thread on this lineage in my previous piece here which confirms that the mixing of Jewish and Dravidian stock formed the genealogy of the Malankara Nazranis.
So why Syria? And why not Rome where the pope lives today and presides over millions of Christians?
Remember, Christianity in Kerala is Pre-Nestorian, Pre-Latin, and as old as Christianity in Judea . This technically assumes that there was a Christ disciple in this part of the world much before the Assyrians got Christianized in the first to third centuries in Roman Syria and Roman Assyria. The entire region came under Roman rule in the second century after a Parthian-inspired Assyrian rebellion, which obviously means it is older than Rome too. As we go further, answers will pop up to this question.
Liturgy and Language
Did the Christians in the first one thousand years have any liturgical texts or a proper Mass? What was it like?
There is no concrete evidence to prove this other than circumstantial. Let me put it the other way. Did the apostles who went to various parts of the globe preached based on what they could memorize or did they carry written words? 1 John 1:1–2 says, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.” What is it that they touched and looked at?
There is enough evidence to believe that there was the Church of Edessa and the Church of Mesopotamia under influence of St. Thomas.
The Edessa Church was started by Mar Addai, a direct disciple of St. Thomas, and Mesopotamia was started by Mar Mari, a disciple of Mar Addai. The liturgy used in these churches was the one believed to be used by the Nazranis. But they were heavily influenced by Jewish celebrations which you can read in detail here.
Apart from this, there was only one liturgical theory outside Roman, which was East Syriac or Chaldean liturgy.
The Rome-based Church started its rule all over the world resulting in the ex-communication of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, on July 16, 1054. This was the breaking point for the creation of two factions — the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. This split is of course known as the Great Schism.
Now the question is whether the liturgy was in Malayalam. No, it was not.
Malayalam, it is believed, made it to Kerala from the fifth century onward and became widespread around the 12th century, or much later, a time when Aryans started coming to the southern coast.
So, what were the Dravidians spoken languages? The Tamil language is as old as the civilization. So, was it Tamil? It is not noticeably clear. But some records show that the Persian language became the court language of some parts of what is India today sometime around this era and continued to be used till the British arrived. This was mainly because of the old trade relations with Persia.
But then, was the liturgy in Persian? No, it wasn’t.
Before the Arabic traders, there was a flurry of Jewish traders who spoke Aramaic, the only lingua franca (commercial language) in the Middle East with whom trade relations were in place.
One must consider the fact that Jesus spoke Aramaic and the easiest way for his disciple, who too spoke Aramaic, to preach the Gospel was in the language they were familiar with. Most of the clergy who arrived from Syria spoke Syriac. They were too old to learn any new language.
So, were the prayers in Syriac? Until at least about the fourth century there was no codified liturgy. The liturgy as we see it today developed much later. This question is open to many interpretations. But until the 20th century, the liturgical language was mostly Syriac for all Syrians and Latin for all Latins, even in Kerala.
This is the end of Part I. In the next part, we will get to know about different Partriarchates and why Nazranis were guided by the Syrian leadership. Click here to read Part II, and here for Part III.
Christopher Joseph helped weave the chronology and Anosh Malekar edited the story. References are taken from several articles and research papers in public domain. Thanks for their contribution.
