Archdeacons
Part - 1
There is no proper document to show a continuous history of primitive church of St Thomas in Malabar. This is because Archbishop Menezis and later CMS missionaries destroyed all our historical records.
In the year 189 A.D. Pantaenus who was a missionary sent by Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria arrived in Malabar. He found a Christian group with an Aramaic version of the Gospel of St. Mathew. The visit of Pantaenus has been mentioned in the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea, and St. Jerome.
There is mentioned in the records of the Council of Nicea, of the presence of a Bishop John of India (A D 325, may not be from Malankara but possible that from Churches in Coromandel and in North India or Afghanistan - of Gondaphorus).
More clear evidence is found in the writings of Cosmas who was a merchant from Alexandria and sailed in the Indian seas in 522 A.D. He records that he had seen Christians in the Island of Taprobani (Ceylon or Srilanka) with clergy and a congregation of believers, and also in the land called Male (Malabar) where pepper grows. He has written that there the clergy are ordained by a Bishop sent from Persia. From the mention of Malabar as the place where pepper grows it is quite clear that he mentions the presence of a strong Christian community in this area in the early years of the sixth century with strong connections with the church in Persia.
All these shows, there was connection with the Church in the Middle East & Persia from where Bishops came and rendered spiritual ministrations and ordained priests.
By the end of 2 nd century due to factors mentioned earlier the Church of St Thomas gradually withered and almost reached a stage of extinction. Churches in Coromandel and in North India or Afghanistan (of Gondaphorus) lost vigor and fervor in due course of time and amalgamated in Hindu culture.
But the sorry plight was being informed to Antioch, the center of Christianity. Followers of Christ were first called Christians in Antioch, Acts 11. St Peter, the Head of all Apostles, established on February 22, AD 37 an ecclesiastical center for administration in Antioch, we call it Holy See, for whole Christendom. All other apostles preached Gospel, converted people and ordained presbyters (Presbyter means and includes priest and bishop) but they never established a center for administration as Peter did in Antioch. Obviously, all apostles joined Peter to establish the Holy See in Antioch. Until recently none, neither apostles nor their successors ever claimed similar or parallel arrangement. Holy Mooron was consecrated only in Jerusalem and Antioch until 4 th centuries. So it is fair to hold that the faithful in India though handful yet devout and strong made all possible efforts to inform their hapless state of affairs to the Christians in Antioch. In response to such requests from the shepherd-less Malabar Christians, Demitrius, the bishop of Alexandria, advised Pantones, according to certain sources, from school of Alexandria to visit India and he visited India in AD 190. If Dimitrius so advised it was not because he had any spiritual authority over the east but because he was requested to do so by Antioch. Antioch and Alexandria always maintained cordial relations. There were Indian students in Alexandrian school of theology. Bishop of Antioch enjoyed preeminent status all over Persia and entire east right up to China and Korea, but due to local persecutions and other restraints it was not easy to send bishops frequently to Malabar to administer Holy Mooron and sacraments.
Emperor Constantine’s conversion became a turning point in the history of Christendom and it opened new opportunities. Not only that persecution ended and religious freedom restored but also Christianity gained royal status. The Church was however riddled with heresies and schisms most catastrophic being the Arian heresy. Constantine convened a synod to set the heresy at rest. 318 fathers from whole Christendom met at Nicea in AD 325. After many deliberations the Arian heresy was condemned and Arius was excommunicated. The first ecumenical Nicene synod is very conspicuous that it also formulated and provided an administrative framework as the basis for the future Church.
The Nicene council created four Patriarchs according to four corners of earth and defined areas of authority for the first time. They were, Patriarch of Rome, also recognized as the first among the equals solely because of the preeminent status of Roman Empire, Patriarch of Alexandria, Patriarch of Constantinople and the Patriarch of Antioch who had authority over all the east. Jerusalem bishop was conferred honorary rank as the fifth Patriarch recognizing the preeminent status of Jerusalem as the place of redemptive activities of our Lord.
The practical aspect of this creation was also to break tie situations in case of disputes when the council was in progress. Subsequent synods ratified the decisions of the Nicene council and decided that no one shall alter decisions of the Nicene council. Thus obedience to the Nicene council is mandatory and basis for all future doctrines. Historians agree that creating the Patriarchates was not altogether a new invention of the Nicene council but ratification and authentication of the practices and privileges locally existed until then at various places.
Within twenty years from then the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, he took prompt action to stabilize and improve downtrodden conditions of Malabar Christians which itself is sufficient proof that he was legitimately concerned about the welfare of the Indian flock under his care (Click here).
As a commercial community the Christians were not very much concerned about the theological nuances of the Bishops who came from the Middle East, some “Jacobite (Orthodox)” doctrine regarding the person of Jesus Christ and some of whom were Nestorian. Faithful received the Nestorians due to mistaken identity namely, they wore same attire, spoke similar language, were conversant with Nicene Creed, were against idolatry and had semblance in the way they conducted worship. Faithful were not illuminated to distinguish the theological intricacies of complicated Christology.
The Persian connection of the Indian Churches has to be seen also in the context of the internal dissension and state persecution of Christians in Persia from the 5th century. A synod of the Persian Church (410 AD) affirmed the faith of Nicea and acknowledged the Metropolitan of Selucia-Ctesphion as the Catholicose of the East. Not long after, the christological controversies of Chalcedon, fuelled by the strains between the Persian and Byzantine empires, swayed the Persian Church to declare itself 'Nestorian' and its head to assume the title of Patriarch of the East (Babylon). From their base in the then flourishing theological school of Nisibis, Nestorian missionaries began moving to India, Central Asia, China and Ethiopia to teach their doctrines - probably associating with the work of St. Thomas the apostle, whom the Persians must have venerated as the founder of their own church.
