PERSIA
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PERSIA
and how successful the early Christian propaganda
must have been in those distant regions.
Owing to the toleration of the Parthian Kings, Christianity liept slowly but steadily advancing in various parts of the emi^ire. With the advent of the Sassanian dynasty, however (a. d. 226-641), Chris- tianity was often subjected to very severe trials. Its chief opponents were the Zoroastrian Magi and priestly schools, as well as the numerous Jews scat- tered through the empire. The Sassanian kings in general espoused the cause of Zoroastrianism, which under them became once more the official reli- gion; and, though some of this dynasty favoured Christianity, the national feeling always clung to the ancient creed. Many thousands of Persians embraced Christianity, but Persia remained the stronghold of Zoroastrianism, and there never arose an indigenous Persian Church, worshipping in the Persian language and leavening the whole nation. The Persian Church was of Syrian origin, traditions, and tendencies, and, for about three centuries, regarded Antioch as the centre of its faith and the seat of authority. When the Christian religion was accepted by Constantine (a. d. 312), it was naturally regarded by the Persian em- perors as the religion of their rivals, the Romans. Religious and national feeling thus united against it, and bitter persecutions continued in Persia for a century after they had ceased in the Roman Empire. Some of these persecutions — notably that under Sapor II — were as terrible as any which the Chris- tians of the West had experienced under the Emperor Diocletian.
Notwithstanding these obstacles, the Christian reli- gion kept steadily growing. Towards the beginning of the fourth centin-y the head of the Persian Church selected the city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the empire, for his metropolitan see. Under his juris- diction were several bishops, one of whom, John by name, was present at the Council of Nicjea (32.5). In 410, a synod of Christians was held at the Persian capital. In 420 there were metropolitans at Merv and Herat. King Yezdegerd himself sent the Patriarch of the Persian Church on a mission to the Roman emperor. Between 450 and 500 the Ncstorians, per- secuted in the Roman Empire, fled to Persia for pro- tection, and in 49S the whole Persian Church declared in favour of Nestorianism. Henceforth the history of Christianity in Persia is their history. In the next two centuries the Persian Church kept steadily in- creasing till it rivalled, and perhaps surpassed, in extent, power, and wealth any other national Chris- tian Church; having a hierarchy of two hundred and thirty bishops, scattered over Assyria, Baby- lonia, Chaldea, Arabia, Media, Khorasan, Persia proper, the very deserts of Turkestan, the Oasis of Merv, both shores of the Persian Gulf, and even beyond it, in the Islands of Socotra, and Ceylon, through the coasts of Malabar, and at last China and Tatary. Mgr Duchesne rightly observes that "the dominion of the 'Catholicos' of Seleucia was of no mean dimen.sions, and by the extension of his juris- diction this high ecclesiastical dignitary figures in the same light as the greatest of the Byzantine patri- archs. We might almost go further and say that, inasmuch as we can compare the Persian Empire to the Roman, the Persian Church may be compared to the Church of the great western Power" ("The Churches Separated from Rome", tr. Mathew, New York, 1007, p. 16).
The history of Christianity in the Sassanian empire shows that there has been a very active and successful propaganda among the Iranians. We read of Chris- tians among the landlord class about Mosul and in the mountain region east of that city. Some of the Chris- tians were of high rank. The last Chosroes was killed in an insurrection headed by a Christian who.se father had been the chief financial officer of the realm. Some XL— 46
of the patriarchs of the Nestorian Church were con-
verts, or sons of converts, from Magianism. While
numerous, however, the Persian Christians were not
organized into a national Church. There were certain
differences between them and the Nestorians farther
west, and these differences were the beginnings of
ecclesiastical independence, but the patriarchs as-
serted their authority in the end. Syriac was the
ecclesiastical and theological language and even in
Persia proper there was at most a very scanty Chris-
tian literature; even the Scriptures had not been
translated into the vernacular.
It is clear that Christianity was widely diffused in Persia, that in some localities the Christians were very numerous, and that the Christian religion con- tinued to spread after the rise of Mohammedanism. The two forces which had most to do with this spread of Christianity were commerce and monasticism. Christian merchants had a share in the wholesale trade of Asia: trade with India opened the way for the early introduction of Christianity there, and the hold which Christianity acquired on the shores of the Persian Gulf was probably due to the Indian and Arabian trade routes. The strong rule of the early Ab- basid caliphs gave opportunity for the development of commerce. The position of the Christians at the capital as bankers and merchants would give them a share in this trade. Christian artisans, including goldsmiths and jewellers, would find employment in the large cities. In his account of the mission of the Nestorian monks, Thomas of Marga relates that the Patriarch Timothy sent his missionary with a company of merchants who were journeying together to Mugan (the plain of Mugan?) on the River Aras (Araxes).
Monasticism was imported into Mesopotamia in the fourth century by monks from Egypt. The legendary account of Mar Awgin, or St. Eugenius, relates that his monastery near Nisibis contained three hundred and fifty monks, while seventy-two of his disciples established each a monastery. The number of monas- teries increased rapidly in the fourth and fifth cen- turies. In the sixth century there was a movement in the Nestorian Church against the enforced celibacy of the higher clergy and against celibate monks, but celibacy won the day, and monasticism was firmly established. The monks must have been numbered by hundreds, if not thousands, for, in addition to the numerous monasteries in Mesopotamia and the re- gions north of the Tigris, there were scattered monas- teries in Persia and Armenia. Besides the cenobites, living in large communities, there were numerous solitaries living in caves or rude huts. These were influential enough among the Qatrayi, on the Persian Gulf, to call for a separate letter from the Patriarch Ishuyabh I. Some of these monks must have been full of real missionary zeal, although of course the prevailing and distinctive spirit of their institute was contemplative rather than missionary.
Yet, in spite of all, Chrifstianity failed, and Islam succeeded in gaining the Iranian race. This failure of Christianity was not wholly due to the success of Islam: internal dissensions, ambition, dishonesty, and corruption among the clergy greatly contributed to the gradual dissolution of this wonderful Church. Under the Arabs, the Christians of Persia were not in wholly unfavourable circumstances. Indeed, the first two centuries of Mohammedan domination, especially under the Abbassids, were the most glorious period in the history of the Persian Church. It is true that at times the Christians were liable to excessive exac- tions and to persecutions, but they were recognized as the People of the Book; and the Nestorians were especially privileged, and held many offices of trust. The missionary work was carried on and extended. It could not take much root in Persian soil after the Persians became Moslerag, but it gained more and
