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yes. But what I find important is for us westerners to read about the ancient Church of the East.

This Church was separated BEFORE the Council of Nicaea yet it has the same rituals, similar beliefs etc. as the Catholic-Orthodox-Orientals with the True presence in the Eucharist etc.

Also it refutes leftists who think Christianity is a European religion

THis is an excellent point, Cronos.

It also refutes a certain stripe of post-Reformation Christian --- not all or most, but some --- who think the distinctives of Catholicism/Orthodoxy which are rooted in Apostolic Tradition supposedly were established via Nicaea and were imposed on Bible Christians by imperial power.

So they completely miss the Apostolic provenance of such universal and ancient beliefs/practices as the Eucharistic Real Presence, Liturgy as a Sacrifice, Sacraments, hierarchy and apostolic succession, veneration for Mary and the intercessory role of the Saints (both one earth and in heaven), prayer for the dead, the real, vital necessity of the Church as Communion of Saints / Mystical Body of Christ, and more---

All these holy truths were observed in churches from Gaul to Gibraltar to North Africa to Syria, to Armenia to Iraq and Iran (Persia) and beyond, in Europe, Asia and Africa, in churches which were associated with Rome or Constantinople or Ctesiphon OR none of the above! --- and who claim it from their Apostolic founders.

It was fractured early, vast swathes of it was crushed by the late Tang Empire or Genghis Khan and Tamerlane and all the bloody sons of Muhammad --- and we see the fragments disappearing before our eyes.

Shamoun Al-Safa (St. Peter), pray for us.

True.

What many don’t realize is that Judeo-Christianity is a eastern religion with a western patina.

western religions (Greek, Roman, Norse and the like) had a much different set of rules and organization.

Does it matter? It may to some folks. To others, glorifying God is glorifying God. No one is perfect, so, it’s hard to criticize.

Christianity was established in India in the first century AD by the Apostle Thomas who died there. In the 1600s there were tow types of Christians in India, the indigenous Thomas Christians and the Catholics introduced by the Portuguese. Now there are three Thomas Christian varieties. Some have become Orthodox, others Catholic and others retain their singularity.