EASTERN
233
EASTERN
persecution l>y the Mongols (Timur Leng), and then
through internal disputes and schisms. Two great
schisms as to the patriarchal succession in the six-
teenth century led to a reunion of part of the Nesto-
rian Church with Rome, forming tlie Uniat Chaldean
Church. At present there are about 150,000 Nesto-
rians living chiefly in highlands west of Lake Urumiah.
They speak a modern dialect of Syriac (JIaclean,
"Grammar of the Dialects of Vernacular Syriac",
Cambridge, 1895; Xoldeke, "Grammatik der neusy-
rischen Sprache", 1S6S). The patriarchate descends
from uncle to nephew, or to younger brothers, in the
family of Mama; each patriarch bears the name
Simon (Mar Shimun) as a title. Ignoring the Second
General Council, and of course strongly opposed to the
Third (Ephesus), they only acknowledge the First
Nicene (32.5). They have a Creed of their own (Hahn,
"Bibliothekder Symbole",p. 74), formed from an old
.•Vntiochene Creed, which does not contain any trace of
the particular heresy from which their Church is
named. Indeed it is difficult to say how far any Nes-
torians now are conscious of the particular teaching
condemned by the Council of Ephesus, though they
still honour Xestorius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and
other undoubted heretics as saints and doctors. The
patriarch rules over twelve other bishops (the list in
Silbernagl, " Verfassung", p. 267). Their hierarchy
consists of the patriarch, metropolitans, bishops,
chorepiscopi, archdeacons, priests, deacons, subdea-
cons, and readers. There are also many monasteries.
They use SjTiac liturgically written in their own (Xes-
torian) form of the alphabet. The patriarch, who
now generally calls himself "Patriarch of the East",
resides at Kochanes, a remote valley of the Kurdish
mountains by the Zab, on the frontier between Persia
and Turkey. He has an undefined political jurisdic-
tion over his people, though he does not receive a
berat from the Sultan. In many ways this most re-
mote Church stands alone; it has kept a number of
curious and archaic customs (such as the perpetual
abstinence of the patriarch, etc.) that separate it
from other Eastern Churches almost as much as from
those of the West. Lately the Archbishop of Canter-
bury's mi.ssion to the Xcstorians has aroused a certain
interest about them in England.
All the other separated Eastern Churches are formed by the other great heresy of the fourth century, Mono- physitism. There are first the national Churches of Egypt, Syria, and .•Armenia.
3. The Copls form the Church of Eg\'pt. Mono- physitism was in a special sense the national religion of Egypt. As an extreme opposition to Nestorianism, the Egyptians believed it to be the faith of their hero St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444). His succes- sor, Dioscurus (444-55), was deposed and excommu- nicated by the Council of Chalcedon (451). From his time the Monophysite party gained grountl very quickly among the native population, so that soon it became the expression of their national feeling against the Imperial (Melchite, or Melkite) garrison and gov- ernment officials. Afterwards, at the Moslem inva- sion (641), the opposition was so strong that the native Egyptians threw in their lot with the conquerors against theGreeks. Thetwosides arestillrepresented by the native Monophysites and the Orthodox mino- rity. The Monophysites are sometimes called Jacob- ites here as in Syria; but the old national name Copt (Gr. Ai-yiiTTLos) has become the regular one for their Church as well as for their nation. Their patriarch, with the title of .Mcxrindria, succeeds Dioscurus and Timothy the Cat, a fim.itical Monoiihysite. He lives at Cairo, ruling over thirteen fliocescs (Silbernagl, p. 289) and about 500.000 .suljjects. For him, too, the law is perpetual abstinence. There are many monas- teries. The Copts use their old language liturgically and have in it a numlier of liturgies all derived from the original Greek rite of Alexandria (St. Mark). But
Coptic is a dead language, so much so that even most
priests understand very httle of it. They all speak
Arabic, and their service books give an Arabic version
of the text in parallel columns. This Church is, on
the whole, in a poor state. The Copts are mostly
fellaheen who live by tilling the ground, in a state of
great poverty and ignorance. And the clergy share
the same conditions. Lately there has been some-
thing of a revival among them, and certain rich Coptic
merchants of Cairo have begun to found schools and
seminaries and generally to promote education and
such advantages among their nation. One of these,
M. Gabriel Labib, who is editing their service books,
promises to be a scholar of some distinction in ques-
tions of liturgy and archaeology.
4. The Church of Abyssinia, or Ethiopia, always de- pended on Egypt. It was founded by St. Frumentius, who was ordained and sent by St. Athanasius in 326. So Abyssinia has always acknowledged the supremacy of the Patriarch of Alexantlria and still considers its Church as a daughter-church of the See of St. Mark. The same causes that made Egypt Monophysite af- fected Abyssinia equally. She naturally, almost in- evitably, shared the schism of the mother Church. So Abyssinia is still Monophysite, and acknowledges the Coptic patriarch as her head. There is now only one bishop of Abyssinia (there were once two) who is called ^6M7!a (Our Father) and resides at Adeva (the old see was Axum). He is always a Coptic monk consecrated and sent by the Coptic patriarch. It does not seem, however, that there is now much communication be- tween Cairo and Adeva, though the patriarch still has the right of deposing the Abuna. Abyssinia has about three million inhabitants, nearly all members of the national Church. There are many monks and an enormous number of priests, whom the Abuna ordains practically without any previous preparation or exam- ination. The Abyssinians have Hturgies, again, de- rived from those of Alexandria in the old (classical) form of their language. The Abyssinian Church, being the religion of a more than half barbarous people, cut off by the schism from relations with any other Chris- tian body except the poor and backward Copts, is cer- tainly the lowest representative of the great Christian family. The people have gradually mixed up Chris- tianity with a number of pagan and magical elements, and are specially noted for strong Jewish tendencies (they circumcise and have on their altars a sort of Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments). Lately Russia has developed an interest in the Abys- sinians and has begun to undertake schemes for edu- cating them, and, of course, at the same time, convert- ing them to Orthodoxy.
5. The Jacobites are the Monophysites of Syria. Hers, too, chiefly out of political opposition to the imperial court, Monophysitism spread quickly among the native population, and here, too, there was the same opposition between the Syrian Monophysites in the country and the Greek Melkites in the cities. Severus of Antioch (512-18) was an ardent Monophy- site. After his death the Emperor Justinian (527-65) tried to cut off the succession by having all bishops suspect of heresy locked up in monasteries. But his wife Theodora was herself a Monophysite; she ar- ranged the ordination of two monks of that party, Theodore and James. It is from this James, called Zanzalos and Baradai (Jacob Barada-us), that they have their name {la'r/obaie, "Jacobite"); it is some- times used for any Monophysite anywhere, but haa lietter be kept for the national Syrian Church. James found two Coptic bishops, who with him ordained a whole hierarchy, including one Sergius of Telia as Patriarch of Antioch. From this Sergius the .Jacobite patriarchs descend. Historically, the Jacobites of Syria are the national Church of their country, as much as the Copts in Egypt; but they by no means form so exclusively the religion of the native popula-
