History of the Chaldean Church (Iraqi Christians since the time of Christ)

By all accounts the Chaldean church came into existence in 1551 because of a dispute in the Assyrian "Church of the East", the dissidents formed a separate church under the leadership of Yohanna (John) Sulaga, a monk of Rabban Hormizd located 30 miles north of Nineveh. This church was recognized by the Roman Catholic church and was later called Chaldean...

The name Chaldean had became fashionable among the Christians since the 12th century AD when some syriac writers such as Basil Bar Shumana came to believe that the city of Urfa known as Urhay in northern Mesopotamia was the ancient sumerian city called Ur of Chaldee of the Old Testament from which Abraham migrated..

On July 5, 1830 John Hormizd the last patriarch of the old branch of the Assyrian "Church of the East", (so called Nestorian) and its followers in northern Mesopotamia and low lands of Turkey united with the Chaldean Church and became its patriarch under the name "John IX Hormizd, Chaldean patriarch of Babylon". "Patriarch of Babylon" had been the title of the "Church of the East Patriarchs" since the early centuries of Christianity. In other word the old "Church of the East" and its wayward dissidents had once again become one.

You might check the archives of the Indianapolis Star (before its current ownership came on the scene). A large number of Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Catholic people left the Ottoman Empire as it was winding down in the early 1900s (before WWI ~ even more left after WWI).

They escaped to Gary, Indiana to work in the steel mill then being built there. Thanks to the existence of the Interurban system they were free to travel around the Midwestern core territory and find other places to live where they could open stores and such.

Indianapolis became a major focus for them. In fact, I believe they were the first Orthodox Christians to make a major imprint on life in the Hoosier State.

The Star (way back when) would run feature articles on them from time to time. That information would still be useful for catching a snapshot of these people in a very important time of their history.

One memory pops up ~ they were mostly from Homs and Aleppo ~ both really ancient Christian cities in the good old days.

Thank you!

Posting this from wikipedia

Christians were already forming communities in Mesopotamia as early as the first century, when it was part of the Parthian Empire. By the third century, the area had been conquered by the Persian Sassanid Empire (becoming the province of Asuristan), and there were significant Christian communities in northern Mesopotamia, Elam, and Fars.[12] The Church of the East traced its origins ultimately to the evangelical activity of the apostles Addai, Mari and Thomas, but leadership and structure was disorganized until the establishment of the diocese of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the bishop of which came to be recognized as Catholicos, or universal leader, of the church. This position received an additional title later, Patriarch of the East
These early Christian communities were reinforced in the fourth and fifth centuries by large-scale deportations of Christians from the eastern Roman Empire
It is an Apostolic church, established by the apostles St Thomas (Mar Toma), St Thaddeus (Mar Addai), and St Bartholomew (Mar Bar Tulmay). St Peter (Mar Shimun Keepa), the chief of the apostles added his blessing to the Church of the East at the time of his visit to the see at Babylon, in the earliest days of the church when stating, "The elect church which is in Babylon, salutes you; and Mark, my son (1 Peter 5:13)
Official recognition was first granted to the Christian faith in the 4th century with the accession of Yazdegerd I to the throne of the Sassanid Empire. In 410, the Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, held at the Sassanid capital, allowed the Church's leading bishops to elect a formal Catholicos, or leader. The Catholicos, Mar Isaac, was required both to lead the Christian community, and to answer on its behalf to the Sassanid Emperor.
Under pressure from the Sassanid Emperor, the Assyrian Church sought increasingly to distance itself from the Catholic Church. In 424, the bishops of the Sassanid Empire met in council under the leadership of Catholicos Mar Dadisho I (421-456) and determined that they would not, henceforth, refer disciplinary or theological problems to any external power, and especially not to any bishop or Church Council in the Roman Empire
As such, the Mesopotamian and Persian Churches were not represented at the various Church Councils attended by representatives of the Western Church. Accordingly, the leaders of the Persian Church did not feel bound by any decisions of what came to be regarded as Roman Imperial Councils. Despite this, the Creed and Canons of the first Council of Nicea (325); affirming the full divinity of Christ; were formally accepted at the Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.

Thank you!

Posting this from wikipedia on Naimans

Like the Khitan and the Uyghurs, many of them were Nestorian Christians and Buddhists. When last Tayan Khan was killed after a battle with Genghis Khan in 1203, his son Kuchlug with his remaining Naiman troops fled to the Kara-Khitai. Kuchlug was well received there and the Khitan King gave him his daughter in marriage. Kuchlug soon began plotting against his new father-in-law, and after executing him and taking his place, he began to persecute Muslims in the Hami Oases. But his action was opposed by local people and he was later defeated by the Mongols under Jebe.
More than 400,000 of the Kazakh population are Naimans (see Modern Kazakh tribes or Middle Juz). They originate from eastern Kazakhstan. Some Naimans dissimilated with the Kyrgyz and Uzbek ethnicities and are still found among them. There is a small population of Naimans in Afghanistan. They belong to the Hazara tribe and reside in Shaikh Ali valley . They are Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims. The clan Naiman is rarely found in Northern Mongolia

Or, as many know, ALL OF THAT and then some. There's a model temple you can purchase in many Afghan stores (around here it's "many" ~ most anywhere else but Afghanistan they just don't have them). The temple has four minarets and a main mosque with a large metal plate on top.

If you flip the tops off the minarets you find they are candle holders. The intended use of the metal plate becomes obvious ~ you burn incense there.

Some of your Afghan neighbors have a Mezuzah on the door lintel.

I frequently encounter stone or brick circles around young trees planted in the lawn of an Afghan family.

OK, so what is going on?

My take is that Afghans are officially and publicly Muslim but they maintain their own ancient Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu and Jewish traditions within the home ~ and have even come up with a model temple for use in meeting their obligations.

This is where the Silk Road went ~ the whole world traveled there.

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