Saint Thomas Christians

This article deals with Saint Thomas Christians and the various churches and denominations that form the Nasrani people

The Nasrani Menorah or Syrian Cross also known as the Mar Thoma cross

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The Saint Thomas Christians are a group of Christians from the Malabar coast (now Kerala) in South India, who follow Syriac Christianity. The different groups and denominations within the St Thomas Christians together form the Nasrani people. Their tradition goes back to the very beginnings of first century Christian thought, and the seven churches that are believed to have been established by St. Thomas the Apostle.

Nasrani and Saint Thomas Christian tradition

The Nasranis are an ethnic people and in that sense a single community. However the Nasranis have various denominations as a result of Portuguese persecution. As an ethnic community they refer to themselves as Nasranis referring to the common cultural heritage and cultural tradition. However as a religious group they refer to themselves as the Mar Thoma Khristianis or in English as Saint Thomas Christians referring to their religious tradition, despite a common ancestry of being the descendants of the early Mar Thoma church or Saint Thomas tradition of Christianity.

These first century churches, according to tradition, were, from north to south: Palayoor near Guruvayoor/Kunnankulam, Cranganore (believed to be the ancient Muziris of Pliny, and the Periplus, on the north bank of Periyar River today), Paravur on the south side of Periyar, Gokkamangalam or Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal or Nilakkal (the only inland church) and the Lakes or Kaayals, and finally Kollam. The visit of the Apostle Thomas to these places and to Mylapore on the East coast of India can be read in the Ramban Song of Thomas Ramban, set into 'moc', 1500.

History of Saint Thomas Christian tradition

Modern developments in archaeology, anthropology, numismatics, place-name studies, geography and trade route investigations have revealed evidence of the trading which forms the background to the St. Thomas tradition of Kerala.

The lure of spices attracted traders from the Middle East and Europe to the many trading ports — Calicut, Cranganore, Cochin, Alleppey and Quilon — long before the time of Christ. According to tradition, it was on a trading vessel plying between Alexandria and the Malabar coast that St. Thomas the Apostle arrived in Cranganore in AD 52.

According to the first century annals of Pliny the Elder and the author of Periplus of the Erythraean sea, Muziris in Kerala could be reached in 40 days' time from the Egyptian coast purely depending on the South West Monsoon winds. The Sangam works Puranaooru and Akananooru have many lines which speak of the Roman vessels and the Roman gold that used to come to the Kerala ports of the great Chera kings in search of pepper and other spices, which had an enormous demand in the West.

There St. Thomas the apostle is said to have begun preaching the gospel to the already existing Jewish settlers in the Malabar coast and other local people . According to the Acts of Thomas, the first converts made by Thomas in India were Jewish people. The teachings eventually got integrated into the beliefs and traditions of the local communities, into their family history, into their songs and dances. St. Thomas established seven Christian communities or churches in Kerala. They are in Cranganore, Paravur (Kottakavu), Palayoor, Kokkamangalam, Malayattoor, Niranam, Chayal (Nilackal) and Kollam (Quilon).legend is that the Apostolate of St.Thomas arrived in Kerala in the 1st century, and contact with some Brahmins in Palayur and converted them to Christian faith in the first Century. These Nambudiri Brahmins were India's first St.Thomas Christians. The Brahmin converts include Kalli, Kallarakal, Kalliankal, Manki, Madathalan, Plavunkal, Mattamuk, Manavasri, Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri, Thayil etc.

Place in Indian culture

Throughout Kerala, one can find Christian families that claim their descent from Brahmin ancestors who were baptized by Apostle Thomas. St. Thomas Christians were classified into the caste system according to their professions, in accordance with the Hindu tradition, with special privileges for trade granted by the benevolent kings who ruled the area. After the eighth century when Hindu Kingdoms came to sway, Christians were expected to strictly abide by stringent rules pertaining to caste and religion. This became a matter of survival. This is why St. Thomas Christians had such a strong sense of caste and tradition, being the oldest order of Christianity in India. The archdeacon was the head of the Church, and Palliyogams (Parish Councils) were in charge of temporal affairs. They had a liturgy-centered life with days of fasting and abstinence. Their devotion to the Mar Thoma Cross was absolute. Their churches were modelled after Jewish synagogues.

In short, the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala had blended well with the ecclesiastical world of the Eastern Churches and with the changing socio-cultural environment of their homeland. Thus, the Malabar Church was Hindu in culture, Christian in religion, and Judeo-Syro-Oriental in worship.

Colonialism and St Thomas Christians

Portuguese started a Latin diocese in Goa (1534) and another at Cochin (1558) in the hope of bringing the Thomas Christians under their jurisdiction. In a Goan Synod held in 1585 it was decided to introduce the Latin liturgy and practices among the Thomas Christians.

The Portuguese refused to accept the legitimate authority of the Indian hierarchy and its relation with the East Syrians and at a synod held in Diamper ( Synod of Diamper )in 1599, the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa imposed a large number of Latinizations. The Portuguese succeeded in appointing a Latin bishop to govern the Thomas Christians. The Portuguese padroado was extended over them. From 1599 up to 1896 these Christians were under the Latin Bishops who were appointed either by the Portuguese Padroado or by the Roman Congregation of Propaganda Fide. Every attempt to resist the latinization process was branded by them heretical. Under the indigenous leader, archdeacon, the Thomas Christians resisted, but the result was disastrous.

The first solemn protest place in 1653 with the Koonan Cross Oath. Under the leadership of archdeacon Thoma a section of the Thomas Christians publicly took an oath that they would not obey the Portuguese bishops and the Jesuit fathers. In 1665 an Antiochean bishop called Mar Gregorios arrived in India and the dissident group under the leadership of the archdeacon welcomed him.

This was the starting point of division among the Syrian Christiansin Kerala who till then were one Church. Though most of the Thomas Christians gradually relented in their strong opposition to the Western control, the arrival of the Bishop Mar Gregory of the Syriac Orthodox Church in 1665 marked the beginning of a formal schism among the Thomas Christians. Those who accepted the West Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of Mar Gregory became known as Jacobites (Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church (Syriac Orthodox Church). Those who continued with East Syrian theological and liturgical tradition are known as Syro Malabar Church in communion with the Catholic Church.

St Thomas Christians by this process got divided in to East Syrians and West Syrians.

Further Divisions

However, in 1912 there was a split in the West Syrian community when a section declared itself an autocephalous church and announced the re-establishment of the ancient Catholicosate of the East in India. This was not accepted by those who remained loyal to the Syrian Patriarch. The two sides were reconciled in 1958 but again differences developed in 1975.

Today the community is divided in to Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (in Oriental Orthodox Communion), Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church (in Oriental Orthodox Communion),

In 1845, exposure to the doctrines of the Church of England inspired a reform movement led by Abraham Malpan in the West Syrian community. This led to the formation of the Mar Thoma Church.

In 1926 a section of West Syrians in the leadership of Mar Ivanios came in to communion with Catholic Church retaining all of the Church's rites, Liturgy, and autonomy. They are known as Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

In 1814 a section of St Thomas Christians from Thrissur came in to communion with Catholicos Patriarch of the Church of the East in Qochanis. They follow the East Syrian tradition and are known as Chaldean Syrian Church.

In 1772 West Syrian’s under the leadership of Kattumangattu Abraham Mar Koorilose, Metropolitan of Malankara formed the Malabar Independent Syrian Church (Thozhiyur Sabha).

St. Thomas Christian Groups

West Syriac (Antiochian)					East Syriac (Chaldean)
Protestant Oriental	Independent Orthodox	Oriental Orthodox		Eastern Catholic		Assyrian Church of the East
Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church (Mar Thoma Church)	Malabar Independent Syrian Church (Thozhiyoor Church)	Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church (Syriac Orthodox Church)	Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Indian Orthodox Church)	Syro-Malankara Catholic Church	Syro-Malabar Catholic Church	Chaldean Syrian Church
N.B. The Malabar Independent Syrian Church, while Oriental Orthodox in tradition, is not in communion with the rest of Oriental Orthodoxy.This church is in communion however with the Mar Thoma Church and both churches have assisted each other in the consecration of bishops.The Mar Thoma Church itself, while continuing to maintain a Syrian idenitity, has moved closer to the Anglican Communion and maintains communion with both the Anglican groupings in India - The CNI(Church of North India) and CSI(Church of South India)

Nasrani religious jurisdictions

(in alphabetical order by Communion)

• Catholic
  • Syro-Malabar Church
    • Archdiocese of Kottayam (Knanaya)
  • Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
• Oriental Orthodox Communion
  • Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church
    • Knanaya Diocese
  • Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church or the Indian Orthodox Church (Autocephalous Church)
• Oriental Orthodox tradition but autonomous
  • Malabar Independent Syrian Church (In communion with the Mar Thoma Church)
  • Mar Thoma Orthodox Church
• Assyrian Church of the East
  • Chaldean Syrian Church in India
• Reformed Oriental Orthodox
  • Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church or the Mar Thoma Church (in communion with Anglican member churches but not a member of the Anglican Communion)
• Evangelical Protestant
  • St. Thomas Evangelical Church
  • St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India (broke away from St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India)
• Anglican/ Protestant
  • Church of South India (in communion with the Mar Thoma Church)

See also

• Christianity in India
• Suriyani Christians of Kerala
• Cochin Jews
• Syrian Malabar Nasrani
• Goa Inquisition
• Knanaya
• Thomas (Apostle)
• Syro Malabar Mission of San Francisco

References and bibliography

• Menachery G (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, ISBN 81-87132-06-X, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568 ; B.N.K. Press —(has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs).

• Mundadan, A. Mathias. (1984) History of Christianity in India, vol.1, Bangalore, India: Church History Association of India.

• Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)

• Podipara, Placid J. (1970) "The Thomas Christians". London: Darton, Longman and Tidd, 1970. (is a readable and exhaustive study of the St. Thomas Christians.)

• Menachery G (ed); (1998) "The Indian Church History Classics", Vol.I, The Nazranies, Ollur, 1998. [ISBN 81-87133-05-8].

• Medlycott, A E. (1905) "India and the Apostle Thomas"; Gorgias Press LLC; ISBN 1-59333-180-0
• Menachery, George (2005) Glimpses of Nazraney Heritage", Ollur, [ISBN 81-87133-08-2].

• David de Beth Hillel (1832) "travels"; madras publication;

• Menachery G (ed) (1982) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, B.N.K. Press, vol. 1;

• Lord, James Henry (1977) "The Jews in India and the Far East"; Greenwood Press Reprint; ISBN 0-8371-2615-0).

• Acts of St. Thomas (Syriac) MA. Bevan, London, 1897

• Poomangalam C.A (1998) The Antiquities of the Knanaya Syrian Christians; Kottayam, Kerala.

• Tisserant, E. (1957) Eastern Christianity in India: A History of the Syro-Malabar Church from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Trans. and ed. by E. R. Hambye. Westminster, MD: Newman Press.

• James Hough (1893) "The History of Christianity in India".

• Michael Geddes, (1694) A Short History of the Church of Malabar together with the Synod of Diamper, London.

• K.V. Krishna Iyer (1971) Kerala’s Relations with the Outside World, pp. 70, 71 in "The Cochin Synagogue Quatercentenary Celebrations Commemoration Volume" , Kerala History Association, Cochin.

• Periplus Maris Erythraei "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea", (trans). Wilfred Schoff (1912), reprinted South Asia Books 1995 ISBN 81-215-0699-9

• Miller, J. Innes. (1969). The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C.E. to A.D. 641. Oxford University Press. Special edition for Sandpiper Books. 1998. ISBN 0-19-814264-1.

• Thomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.

• Koder S. 'History of the Jews of Kerala".The St.Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India,Ed. G. Menachery,1973.

• Vellian Jacob (2001) Knanite community: History and culture; Syrian church series; vol.XVII; Jyothi Book House, Kottayam

• Weil,S. (1982) "Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: The Cananite Christians and Cochin Jews in Kerala. in Contributions to Indian Sociology,16.

• Claudius Buchanan, (1811) "Christian Researches in Asia" (With Notices of the Translation of the Scriptures into the Oriental Languages). 2nd ed. Boston: Armstron, Cornhill

• Bjorn Landstrom (1964) "The Quest for India", Double day English Edition, Stockholm.
• Menachery G (1987) (Chs. I & II)"Kodungallur City of St. Thomas," Mar Thoma Shrine Azhikode. Reprinted 2000 as "Kodungallur Cradle of Christianity in India".
• T.K Velu Pillai, (1940) "The Travancore State Manual"; 4 volumes; Trivandrum

External links

• Saint Thomas the Apostlethe,Bartholomew mission,Thomas of cana,Mar Sapir Iso and the ornamental umbrella

• Eastern Christian Churches - The St. Thomas Christians
• Eastern Christian Churches - The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
• Eastern Christian Churches - The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
• Eastern Christian Churches - The Syro-Malabar Church
• The website for Synod of Diamper
• The Apostolic Foundation of the Assyrian Church and the Christians of St. Thomas in India
• History of the St. Thomas Churches
• History of the Malankara Syrian Churches
• www.SyroMalabar.com — Syro-Malabar Church, Dioceses, Matrimonial: Brides & Grooms
• Syrian Orthodox Church, History, Dioceses, churches, Monastries
• Syro-Malabar Dioceses — All 26 dioceses of the Syro-Malabar Church with photographs
• St Thomas Christians
• History of Kerala Christians (link appears to be defunct)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: St Thomas Christians
• India Christian Encyclopaedia
• Christians of Kerala
• The Mar Thoma Orthodox Church(link appears to be defunct)
• MarThoma Syrian Church
• Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church

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de:Thomaschristen fr:Chrétiens de saint Thomas ja:トマス派 pl:Kościół malabarski fi:Tuomaskristityt

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