Apostle Letters, Early Reference, Indian Tradition, Thomas the Apostle

Another note: Before George and others succeed in introducing …

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to consider the subscription options.

Follow us on Facebook, or Twitter, or Google +.

Comment posted Letters of St. Thomas the Apostle to Edessa from India by John Mathew.

Another note:

Before George and others succeed in introducing yet another faulty meme into the general discourse, I want to stress that the historical usage of the terms “Nasrani” and “Syriac Christian” are identical.

“Nasrani” was a term given to Christians in the Middle East — and the only form of Christianity east of Palestine was Syriac Christianity, whether West Syriac or East Syriac. Jewish Christianity died very early, with many adherent merging with the Syriac Christians, and the same with Gnostic Christianity.

George seems to be implying (through his citation of Debbie Katz, who, if we can take Nathan Katz as an example, does not have much deep knowledge of Syriac Christianity — go and read Nathan Katz’s journal papers for evidence of this) that Nasranis and Syriac Christians are different animals. This has no evidence to support it.

Finally, Jackson seems to be claiming that Syriac Christianity did not exist in the earliest days. Perhaps not in the form it is current in now. But Syriac Christianity had a very long evolution that started from the earliest days. Some of the earliest Christians were Syriac peoples, and the oldest Syriac fathers lived in the first few centuries.

Tatian (compiler of the first Syriac BIble, the Diatesseron): 120-180AD

Bardaisan (despite his heresy, he is a father of the tradition since he was largely responsible for the poetic devices employed by Ephrem and others): 154 AD-222 AD

Aphrahat: 270AD-345AD

Ephrem: 306-373AD

Syriac Christianity was certainly developed by the 3rd century, with monasteries by the fourth century (e.g., Mar Mattai). The only dating that George can provide is the “less than 2000 y” figure; the era of Syriac Christianity is certainly within that.