Nestorianism in the East

The ideas put forth by Nestorius survived him and his condemnation as a heretic, mostly in the East. Those who disagreed with the Council of Ephesus adhered to the idea of Jesus having both a divine and a human nature with a connection between them, not that he was one or the other.

The Roman and Byzantine authorities saw Jesus as primarily divine, and when the Byzantine Emperor Zeno shut down a school in Mesopotamia for teaching Nestorian ideas, the school simply re-opened as the School of Nisibis in Persia. This brought many people to the area who believed in Nestorianism.

This Persian Nestorian Church began to expand, but not to the West where they would be opposed by the churches that followed Rome. The 6th century saw schisms started by clashes with Zoroastrianism, but the Nestorians came out even stronger.

Certain parts of the eastern church became known as the Nestorian Church. Nestorians were known in the Mongol court, and it was said that Nestorians provided the West with secrets of silk. 

Missions to the Arabian Peninsula and India created dioceses there. India already had Christianity presumably due to St. Thomas. The rumors of a large Christian population in far-off places gave rise to the myth of Prester John. A 6th-century manuscript mentions Persian Christins living in Sri Lanka, and a carved stone cross in a Sri Lankan column discovered in 1912 has been offered as proof of the presence of the Nestorian missions. In the Arabian Peninsula, Nestorians were declared dhimmi (protected persons) by the Rashidun Caliphate when it conquered that area.

The illustration above is of a Nestorian cross from a Beijing monastery dating to the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 CE), showing how far and how well-established the Nestorian Church became in the Far East.

Since this blog has never explained Zoroastrianism, I think that should be the next topic. See you tomorrow.

The Umma Document

Despite Muhammad's treatment of the Jewish tribe the Banu Qurayza, he was not opposed to tolerance of the Jewish religion. He felt the Qurayza had betrayed him during the Battle of the Trench, and so needed severe punishment.

The Constitution of Medina—more accurately called the Umma Document, since it was not organized as a real constitution—was a series of documents produced during Muhammad's time in Medina that formed the basis of a multi-religion state. Its earliest record is from a few generations after Muhammad's death, but Western and Islamic scholars consider it genuine.

Its supposed origin was this: while Muhammad was still in Mecca, a delegation from Medina approached him. Medina was home to a few large tribes and dozens of smaller tribes. Hostility between the Jewish and pagan Quraysh tribes had been going on for a few generations, and Medina needed a trusted outside arbitrator to come and end the "eye for an eye" style of dealing with disputes. The 12 strongest tribes of Medina offered to protect Muhammad if he came to Medina to help them resolve the ongoing feuds.

Here are some of the points of the document:

(1) This is a prescript of Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of God (to operate) between the faithful and the followers of Islam from among the Quraysh and the people of Medina and those who may be under them, may join them and take part in wars in their company.

(12) (a) And the believers shall not leave any one, hard-pressed with debts, without affording him some relief, in order that the dealings between the believers be in accordance with the principles of goodness and justice.

(13) And the hands of pious believers shall be raised against every such person as rises in rebellion or attempts to acquire anything by force or is guilty of any sin or excess or attempts to spread mischief among the believers ; their hands shall be raised all together against such a person, even if he be a son to any one of them.

(14) A Believer will not kill a Believer [in retaliation] for a non-Believer and will not aid a non-Believer against a Believer.

(15) The protection (dhimmah) of Allah is one, the least of them [i.e., the Believers] is entitled to grant protection that is binding for all of them. The Believers are each other’s allies to the exclusion of other people.

In that last point, the word dhimmah literally means "protected person" and was applied to Jews and Christians as well as Muslims—the "People of the Book." I have mentioned it before in its plural form (dhimmi) mostly here and here.

Sharia law allowed Jewish communities to have their own courts in place of some Islamic laws (unless there were a capital offense that violated #s 13 and 14). About 200 years after Muhammad and the Umma Document, one caliph decided tolerance of non-Muslims wasn't to his taste, and he made changes. I'll discuss him tomorrow.