HISTORY OF THE SYRIAC ORTHODOX CHURCH Lesson 1

History


Few Christian denominations can claim the antiquity of the Syriac Orthodox Church of
Antioch, whose foundations can be traced back to the very dawn of Christianity. The
Church justifiably prides itself as being one of the earliest established apostolic
churches. It was in Antioch, after all, that the followers of Jesus were called Christians
as we are told in the New Testament, “The disciples were first called Christians in
Antioch.” (Acts 11:26).

According to ecclesiastical tradition, the Church of Antioch is the second established
church in Christendom after Jerusalem, and the prominence of its Apostolic See is well
documented. Church believes that Jesus Christ founded his church on earth. In his
Chronicon (I, 2), the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea tells us that St. Peter the
Apostle established a bishopric in Antioch and became its first bishop. He also tells us
that St. Peter was succeeded by Evodius. In another historical work, Historia
Ecclesiastica, Eusebius tells us that Ignatius the Illuminator, “a name of note to most
men, [was] the second after Peter to the bishopric of Antioch” (III, 36). The present
Patriarch, .H.H. Ignatius Zakha Iwas I is the 122nd Patriarch to the throne of Antioch
and is celebrating the silver jubilee of his enthronement on September 14th, 2005.

Antioch, the third most important city after Rome and Alexandria, in the Roman
Empire, was made one of the church's first three Patriarchates, along with Rome and
Alexandria at the Council of Nicea, regarded as the first ecumenical council, in AD
325. Other than the importance of the cities in the order of Rome being the first,
Alexandria being the second and Antioch being the third in the Roman Empire, there
was no supremacy given to any of these Patriarchates. They were all regarded as equal
and remained in full communion with each other. The Patriarch of Antioch ruled over
the entire East including Asia and part of the modern Middle East. Where as Rome
ruled over the entire West and Alexandria ruled over the entire Africa.

The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch used to be known by his own name;
however, since 1293 the patriarchs of Antioch adopted the name Ignatius, after the
Illuminator. The See of Antioch continues to flourish till our day, with His Holiness
Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I, being the 122nd in the line of legitimate patriarchs.
The patriarchate was forced to move from Antioch in A.D. 518, after a period of
turbulent history, to various locations in the Near East until it settled in the monastery
Dayro d-Mor Hananya (also known as Kurkmo Dayro, Deir az-Za'faran--Syriac and
Arabic respectively for Saffron Monastery) in Mardin, Turkey, during the 13th
century. After another period of heinous violence during and after World War I, which
took the lives of a quarter million Syriac Orthodox faithful, the patriarchate was
transferred to Homs, Syria, in 1933, and later to Damascus, Syria in 1957 and it
continues there till to date.

The Syriac Orthodox Church is quite unique for many reasons. Firstly, it presents a
form of Christianity, which is Semitic in nature, with a culture not far from the one
Christ himself experienced. Secondly, it employs in its liturgy the Syriac language, an
Aramaic dialect akin to the Aramaic spoken by Christ and the Apostles. Thirdly, its
liturgy is one of the most ancient, and has been handed from one generation to another.

Fourthly, and most importantly, it demonstrates the unity of the body of Christ by the
multiethnic nature of its faithful: A visit to your local Syriac Orthodox Church in
Europe or the Americas would demonstrate, for example, the blend of Near Eastern
and Indian cultures in the motifs and vestments of clergy. The Syriac Orthodox faithful
today live primarily in Middle Eastern countries and the Indian State of Kerala, with
many communities in the diaspora.

The Syriac Orthodox Church has been a member of the World Council of Churches
since 1960, and is one of the founding members of the Middle East Council of
Churches. The Church takes part in ecumenical and theological dialogues with other
churches. As a result of these dialogues, the Church has issued two joint declarations
with the Roman Catholic Church and another with the Eastern Orthodox churches.

In Syriac, the proper name of the Church is `idto suryoyto treeysath shubho. In the
past, the name of the Church had been translated to English as “Syrian Orthodox
Church”. The Holy Synod of the Church approved the translation “Syriac Orthodox
Church” in its session of March 28-April 3, 2000.

Throughout Syria and Mesopotamia, Aramaic, in its many dialectical forms, was the
language of the land, and Syriac, originally the Aramaic dialect of Edessa in Northern
Mesopotamia, must have been the most influential literary form of Aramaic. When we
speak of Syriac Christianity, we refer to Christians whose native tongue was Syriac
and those who employed Syriac as their liturgical language.

Syriac Christianity was not centered just in Antioch, the Roman capital of Syria. In
fact, Syriac Christianity can be traced further East in Mesopotamia. As local tradition
tells us, Christianity was received in Edessa during the time of the Apostles. This is
reported in a number of documents including Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History.

Historical literary sources tell us that by the second half of the second century there
was an established church in Edessa, though probably most of the inhabitants remained
pagan. The Chronicle of Edessa tells us that in the year 201, a disastrous flood
destroyed the church of the Christians in the city. However, it took only about a
century until most of the city was under the umbrella of Christianity. Edessa, home of
the Syriac form of Aramaic, indeed prides itself as the first kingdom that officially
accepted the new faith.

Syriac Christianity has had a long history in India. According to tradition, Christianity
in India was established by St. Thomas who arrived in Malankara (Kerala) from
Edessa in A.D. 52. The close ties between the Church in Malankara and the Near East
go back to at least the fourth century when a certain Joseph of Edessa traveled to India
and met Christians there. The church in Malankara today is an integral part of the
Syriac Orthodox Church with the Patriarch of Antioch as its supreme spiritual head.

The local head of the church in Malankara is the Catholicos of the East, consecrated by
and accountable to the Patriarch of Antioch.
Syriac Christianity spread rapidly in the East. The Bible was translated into Syriac to
serve as the main source of teaching as early as the second century. Till our day, the
antiquity of the Syriac biblical versions is upheld with high esteem by modern
scholars. In the words of Dr. Arthur Vööbus, “In our search for the oldest translation of
the Greek original [of the New Testament] we must go back to the Syriac idiom”
(Studies in the History of the Gospel Text in Syriac, p. 1). The Syriac Church Fathers
made no less than six translations and revisions of the New Testament and at least two
of the Old Testament. Their scholarship in this domain has no equal in Church history.

The Church of Antioch was thriving under the Byzantine Empire until the fifth century
when Christological controversies split the Church. After the Council of Chalcedon in
A.D. 451, two camps of the one Church emerged: The Greek Church of Byzantium
and the Latin Church of Rome accepted Chalcedon, but the Syriac and Coptic (later
Armenian as well) Churches rejected the council. The former group professed that
Christ is in two natures, human and divine, whilst the latter adopted the doctrine that
Christ has one incarnate nature from two natures. It is worth noting that the drafts of
the Council were according to the position of the Syriac and Coptic Churches. The
final resolution, however, was according to the doctrine of the Western Churches and
was rejected by the Syriac Church. This schism had sad consequences on the Syriac
Church during the next few centuries.

As the Emperor supported the Chalcedonian camp, the Syriac Church came under
much persecution. Many bishops were sent to exile, most notably Patriarch Mor
Severius, who was later given the epithet togho d-suryoye, ‘Crown of the Syriacs’. Mor
Severius died in exile in 538. By the year 544, the Syriac Church was in an abysmal
situation with only three bishops remaining. It was at this time that Mor Yacqub
Burd`ono (Jacob Baradeus) emerged to rejuvenate the Church. Mor Yacqub traveled to
Constantinople for an audience with Empress Theodora, the daughter of a Syriac
Orthodox priest from Mabbug according to Syriac Orthodox sources, and wife of
Emperor Justinian. Theodora used her influence to get Jacob ordained as bishop in
544. Later, Mor Yacqub would travel across the entire land reviving the Church. He
managed to consecrate 27 bishops and hundreds of priests and deacons. For this, the
Syriac Orthodox Church honors this saint on July 30 of every year, the day of his death
in 578. A few centuries later, adversaries labeled the Syriac Orthodox Church
‘Jacobite’ after St. Jacob. The Syriac Orthodox Church rejects this belittling label
which wrongly suggests that the Church was founded by Mor Yacqub. However, the
Syriac Orthodox Church in India is still known as Jacobite Church and the name was
whole heartedly accepted by the church, even though the name was given originally by
the Chalcedonians with sarcasm in the early 6th century.

Aside from their ecclesiastical role, Syriac Churchmen have contributed to world
civilization. As early as the fourth century, academies and schools were set up in
monasteries throughout Syria and Mesopotamia. Monks and scholars where busy
studying the sciences of the Greeks, commenting on and adding to them. It is no
surprise that when the Arabs, who conquered the Near East at the end of the seventh
century, wanted to acquire Greek knowledge, they turned to Syriac scholars and
churchmen. Arab caliphs commissioned Syriac scholars to translate the sciences of the
Greeks into Arabic. In his film Forgotten Christians, Christopher Wenner describes
the impact of Syriac scholars and Churchmen when he describes the school at Deir az-
Za'faran monastery, “It was through the monks here that the Arabs received Greek
learning, and it was the Arabs of course who passed it back to Europe. Had it not been
for the Syriac monks, we in Europe might never have had a renaissance.”

The Syriac Orthodox Church survived under the dominion of many empires in the
centuries that followed. Under the Arabs, Mongols, Crusades, Mamluks and Ottomans,
the Syriac Orthodox Church continued its survival. Neither intimidation nor oppression
could suppress the faithful, but the Church diminished in size to a fraction of what it
was.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Syriac Orthodox Christianity was confined
mostly to mountainous rural areas, such as Tur Abdin, and various towns in the
Ottoman Empire. The worst of the persecutions was yet to come. During World War I
massacres and ethnic cleansing befell the Syriac Orthodox Christians at the hands of
the Ottoman Turks and the neighboring Kurds. The year 1915 is known in Syriac by
sayfo, or ‘[the year of the] sword’. It is estimated that a quarter of a million perished;
villages were emptied; monasteries and Churches were destroyed. This resulted in
what the Syriacs call (in Turkish) sefer berlik ‘the collective exodus’, a migration to
the newly established countries of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. Some left the
Middle East all-together, forming new communities in the Americas.

As a result of further immigration that ensued, the Syriac Orthodox Church today has
faithful not only in the Middle East and India, but in Europe, the Americas and
Australia as well.

Quiz to test your knowledge

1. According to the ecclesiastical tradition, which Church was the first established

church in whole Christendom?

2. According to the ecclesiastical tradition, which Church was the second established

church in whole Christendom?

3. Which is the city were disciples were first called ‘Christians’?

4. Who founded Syriac Orthodox Church?

5. Who was the first bishop (Patriarch) of the Syriac Orthodox Church?

6. Who was the second bishop (Patriarch) of Antioch?

7. When was the bishop of Antioch named as Patriarch?

8. Which were the three Patriarchates established in A.D. 325?

9. Which Patriarchate was in charge of ruling the entire East?

10. Which Patriarchate was superior to other Patriarchates?

11. What is the name of the Patriarch of Antioch adopted in the 13th century?

12. Who is the canonical Patriarch of Antioch at present?

13. Where is the head office of the Patriarchate of the Syriac Orthodox Church at

present?

14. Provide at least four unique characters of SOC in your opinion?

15. What is meant by Syriac Christians?

16. What language was Jesus spoke?

17. Which city had the Syriac dialect of Aramaic?

18. Which city was rich in Syriac Christians in 2nd century AD?

19. Who preached Christianity in India for the first time?

20. According to History when was the Christians in India came into contact with

Antioch?

21. When the SOC was closed ties with the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox

Church?

22. What was the reason for the persecution experienced from the Byzantine Empire in

the fifth century?

23. Who rejuvenated the SOC and Coptic Church during the Byzantine persecution?

24. Why are SOC and Coptic Church some times called Jacobites?

25. Name at least a four different regimes/dominion under which SOC was persecuted

further?

26. Name an ancient school of Syriac and monastery under SOC?

27. What forced massive immigration of the SOC members to other countries?