Citizendia
Your Ad Here


Christianity in Iran has had a long history, dating back to the very early years of the faith. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. It has always been a minority religion, overshadowed by the majority state religions—Zoroastrianism in the past, and Shia Islam today. A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Christians of Iran have played a significant part in the history of Christian mission. See also Evangelism, Christianization A Christian mission has been widely defined since the Lausanne Congress of 1974 as that which

Contents

Main denominations

The Armenian orthodox Vank cathedral of Isfahan is a relic of the Safavid era.
The Armenian orthodox Vank cathedral of Isfahan is a relic of the Safavid era. The Safavids ( صفوی) were an Iranian ref>Helen Chapin Metz

A number of Christian denominations are represented in Iran. Denominationalism|List of Christian denominations|Church (disambiguation A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name structure and doctrine within For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Many members of the larger, older churches belong to ethnic groups with their own distinctive culture and language. The members of the newer, smaller churches are drawn both from the traditionally Christian ethnic minorities and to an increasingly larger degree converts from non-Christian background.

The main Christian churches are:

All statistical information is from church-based sources [1] and reflects the situation in the year 2000 (Christians formed 0. 2% of the total Iranian population in 2000).

According to the same sources there are between 7,000 and 15,000 members and adherents of the various Protestant and Evangelical churches in Iran, though these numbers are particularly difficult to verify under the current political circumstances. Evangelicalism is a theological movement tradition and system of beliefs most closely associated with Protestant Christianity, which identifies with the Gospel

The International Religious Freedom Report 2004 by the U.S. State Department [2] quotes a somewhat higher total number of 300,000 Christians in Iran, without giving separate numbers for the different denominations.

Iranian government sources are sometimes quoted as giving a total of as many as 300,000 Christians in Iran. But numbers are declining. At present there are 73 registered churches in Iran. [1]

History

See also: Sassanid Church
Qara Kelissa, West Azarbaijan. Believed by some to have been first built in 66 AD by Saint Jude. Local Armenians believe that he and Simon were both buried here. In 1329, the church was reconstructed to its present form after an earthquake destroyed the structure in 1319.
Qara Kelissa, West Azarbaijan. The Sassanid Church or Sassanian Church was established in 422 under Yezdegird I shah of Sassanid Persia ( Iran) to satisfy Persia's relatively large The Saint Thaddeus Monastery (Սուրբ Թադէոս վանք - Sourb Tadeos Vank; Azerbaijani: قره کیلسه - Qara kilsə; قره‌کلیسا This article is about the Iranian province for similar uses see Azerbaijan (disambiguation. Believed by some to have been first built in 66 AD by Saint Jude. Year 66 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. Saint Jude was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is generally identified with Thaddeus, and is also variously called Jude of James Local Armenians believe that he and Simon were both buried here. The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large In 1329, the church was reconstructed to its present form after an earthquake destroyed the structure in 1319.

According to the reports of the Acts of the Apostles there were Persians, Parthians and Medes among the very first new Christian converts at Pentecost. The Acts of the Apostles is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. Pentecost (πεντηκοστή, pentekostē, "the fiftieth day" is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian Liturgical year, celebrated the Since then, there had been a continuous presence of Christians and churches in Persia/Iran.

During the apostolic age, Christianity began to establish itself throughout the Mediterranean. However, a quite different Christian culture developed on the eastern borders of the Roman Empire and in Persia. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Syriac Christianity owed much to Judaism and the Aramaic language. Syriac Christianity is a culturally and linguistically distinctive community within Eastern Christianity. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Aramaic is a Semitic language with This language was most probably spoken by Jesus, and in various modern forms is still spoken by some Christians in Iran today (see Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Senaya language). Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. The Senaya language is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. From Persia, missionary activity established the Saint Thomas Christians of India and the Nestorian Stele and Daqin Pagoda in China. A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. This article addresses the Saint Thomas Christians and the various churches and denominations that form the Nasrani people. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Nestorian Stele or Nestorian Stone, formally the Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin (大秦景教流行中國碑 Pinyin Daqin Pagoda (大秦塔 in Chang'an, Shaanxi Province located by Louguan temple China, is the remnant of the earliest surviving Christian China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National

The early Christian community, straddling the Roman-Persian border, were often caught up in the midst of conflict. In 313, when Constantine I proclaimed Christianity to be a tolerated religion in the Roman Empire, the Sassanid rulers of Persia adopted a policy of persecution against Christians, including the double-tax of Shapur II in the 340s. Events By Place Roman Empire February — Conference at Milan Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, ending all persecution Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire Shapur II was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379 Events and Trends Ulfilas missionary to the Goths Significant people Constans, Roman Christians were feared as a subversive and potentially disloyal minority. In the early 5th century, official persecution increased once more. The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in Anno Domini / Common Era. However, from the reign of Hormizd III (457-459) serious persecutions grew less frequent and the church began to have recognised status. Hormizd III, sixteenth Sassanid King of Persia son of Yazdegerd II (438&ndash457 succeeded his father in 457 Events By Place Western Roman Empire Majorian is declared emperor by Ricimer. Events By Place Asia Dathusena becomes king of Sri Lanka. By Topic Economics What Political pressure within Persia and cultural differences with western Christianity were mostly to blame for the Nestorian schism, in which the Persian church was labelled as heretical. The Nestorian Schism was the split between the Byzantine church of the West and the Assyrian church of the East in the 5th century. Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief The bishop of the Persian capital, Ctesiphon, acquired the title first of catholicos, and then patriarch completely independent of any western hierarchy. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight For the Spanish saint see Ctesiphon of Vergium. Ctesiphon (قطسيفون تیسفون was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire Catholicos (plural Catholicoi) is a title used by the Patriarch (head/regional head Bishop) of any of certain Eastern churches Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a Pater familias over an extended family

Yet many old churches remain in Iran from the early days of Christianity. The Church of St. Mary in northwestern Iran for example, is considered by some historians to be the second oldest church after the Church of Bethlehem in Palestine. A Chinese princess, who contributed to its reconstruction in 642 AD, has her name engraved on a stone on the church wall. Events By Place Europe August 5 — In the Battle of Maserfield, Penda, king of Mercia defeats and The famous Italian traveller Marco Polo, also described the church in his itinerary during his visit. Marco Polo ( September 15 1254 – January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325 was a Venetian trader and explorer

The Islamic conquest of Persia, in the 7th century, was originally good for Christians as they were a protected minority. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. However, from about the 10th century religious tension led to persecution once more. The influence of European Christians once more placed Asian Christians in peril with the onslaught of the Crusades. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents From the mid 13th century, Mongol rule was a relief to Persian Christians until the Mongols adopted Islam. Christianity gradually gave way to Islam, and Persian Christianity shrank into a small minority. Christians withdrew into ethnic ghettos (mostly Aramaic and Armenian speaking) and disengaged largely from mainstream society. A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social legal or economic pressure Aramaic is a Semitic language with The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian

In 1445, a part of the Aramaic-speaking church (mostly in the Ottoman Empire, but also in Persia) entered into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish This group had a faltering start, but has existed as a separate church since the consecration of Yohanan Sulaqa as Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon in 1551 by the pope. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Most Catholics in Iran today are members of the Chaldean Catholic Church. The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon (الكنيسة الكلدانية) is an Eastern particular church of the The Aramaic-speaking community that remains independent is the Assyrian Church of the East. The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi Both of these churches now have smaller representation in Iran than the ethnic Armenian Apostolic Church. The Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի Hayasdaneaytz Arakelagan

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Protestant missionaries began to minister in Persia. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. A lot of their work was directed towards supporting the extant churches of the country, and improving education and health care. Unlike the older, ethnic churches, they began to engage with the Persian Muslim community also. Their printing presses produced much religious material in various languages. Some converted to Protestantism, and churches using the Persian language still thrive within Iran and beyond.

Current situation

The Russian Church of Qazvin.
The Russian Church of Qazvin. Qazvin ( also spelled as Ghazvin) is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran with an estimated population of 331409 in 2005

Due to the socio-economic and political pressures in the years following the Iranian Revolution, periods of outright persecution and times of more latent discrimination, many Iranian Christians, both as part of the general exodus of Iranians and as response to the specific pressures, have emigrated, mostly to the USA, Canada and Western Europe. The Iranian Revolution' (mostly known as the Islamic Revolution, Persian: انقلاب اسلامی Enghelābe Eslāmi was the Revolution that transformed The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' In 2000, about 0. 4% of Iran's population were Christians. In 1975, Christians numbered about 1. 5% of the total population. Statistically, a much larger percentage of non-Muslims have emigrated out of Iran.

Despite its long history in Iran, Christianity has often been seen by Islamic Republic as sympathetic to western ideals. The persecution of the Protestant churches has perhaps been more severe for this very reason. While the government guarantees the recognised Christian minorities a number of rights (production and sale of non-halal foods), guaranteed representation in parliament, special family law etc. Halal (حلال ḥalāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. There are several major religious minorities in Iran, while the majority and State religion is Shi'a Islam. , government intrusion, expropriation of property, forced closure and persecution, particularly in the initial years after the Iranian Revolution, have all been documented. Most prominent has been the death of Haik Hovsepian Mehr, bishop of the Jamiat-e Rabbani, in 1994. Haik Hovsepian Mehr ( January 6, 1945, Tehran, killed January 1994 was an Iranian bishop and Christian martyr Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Recently the continuing imprisonment of Hamid Pourmand a lay pastor of Jammiat-e Rabboni and the murder of Ghorban Tourani, the pastor of an independent evangelical church have created international concern

The Jamiat-e Rabbani churches and the Anglican Church are both readily accepting converts from Islam and are subsequently growing in membership. Hamid Pourmand (born 1958) is a former army colonel in the Iranian army and a lay leader of the Jama'at-e Rabbani, the Iranian branch of the Ghorban Dordi Tourani ( 1952 - 22 November 2005) also called Ghorban Tori (قربان دردى تورانى in Persian) was an Iranian Jama'at-e Rabbani is the Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God, one of the largest evangelical Pentecostal Christian churches. See also Anglicanism The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches About 80% of Jamiat-e Rabbani's members are currently converts from Islam. The majority of other Christian denominations continues to shrink due to emigration.

The Bible in Iranian languages

Armenian and Assyrian Christians use Bibles in their own languages. The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.

There are several contemporary translations of the Bible available in Persian. The first Bible translation of modern times was conducted by Henry Martyn in the 18th century. Henry Martyn ( 18 February, 1781 - 16 October 1812) was an Anglican priest and Missionary to the peoples of India The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Current commonly used translations are the Tarjumeh-ye Tafsiri (explained translation) and the older Standard Version.

Portions of the Bible are translated into Azeri (New Testament), Mazanderani (several gospels) and Kurdish (gospels). The Kurdish language (Kurdish Kurdî or کوردی is a term used for the language spoken by Kurds.

See also

Further Literature

External links

References

  1. ^ یافته های طرح آمارگیری جامع فرهنگی کشور، فضاهای فرهنگی ایران، آمارنامه اماکن مذهبی، 2003، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی، ص 344
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic