Church; meanwhile, by an astonishing revulsion, they had dealings with Monophysites. Now (apart, of course, from the Uniates) they are mostly Monophysites. So it seems best to leave them to the last, as a kind of cross between both groups. But in origin they are Nestorian.
We come to the second group, which contains all the others. All lesser Eastern Churches except the Nestorians and (originally) the Malabar people[1] are Monophysites. The Monophysite heresy was a much greater and more disastrous thing than that of Nestorius. It became the national religion of Egypt and Syria, and was then, apparently rather by accident, adopted by the Armenians. So we have three great Monophysite Churches, in Egypt, Syria and Armenia. To these we must add a fourth, the Church of Abyssinia, always the disciple and daughter of Egypt. These four complete our list of minor schismatical Eastern Churches. In Egypt we have the Copts. They come first because Egypt was the original and always the chief home of the heresy. Next we place the daughter Church of Egypt in Abyssinia or Ethiopia. Then follows the Syrian national Church, commonly called Jacobite, closely allied to the Copts. To them we must now add the Malabar Christians. Lastly, the Armenians, whose history stands rather apart. A table of the Churches described in this book will make their position and mutual relation clear:
| Nestorian: | The Nestorian Church. Originally the Church of Malabar. |
| Monophysite: | The Coptic Church in Egypt. The Abyssinian or Ethiopic Church. The Jacobite Church in Syria. Most of the modern Church of Malabar. The Armenian Church. |
The next point to justify is the use of the names we use for these sects. In some cases, at any rate, the body in question is called by various names; it is well to be clear as to what we mean by the ones we use and why we prefer them to others. Now, the
- ↑ Except also, obviously, the Uniates.
