NESTORIANS (ante) claim to have existed as a sect prior to Nestorius. and date their conversion to the preaching of the apostle Thomas. They have also is tradition that they are descended from the patriarch Abraham, and hence are sometime called Chaldcans. It is admitted that they are the oldest of the oriental Christian sects. And though they have some superstitions and doctrinal errors. vet they retain many of the doctrines and authorized usages of the early church of Christ. Notwithstanding the deposition of Nestorius, his writings and those of Theodore of Mopsuestia were translated into Syriac, wore circulated in Assyria and Persia; and made many converts. emperor Theodosius II. expelled from his dominions all who refused to accept the Ephesian decision, Nestorianism was transferred to those countries where it has held its ground to the present day. In 425 was established the famous school of Edessa; and from it went many disciples of the new doctrine. Of these the most celebrated was Barsnmas, bishop of N'isibis, who did much to propagate Nestorian views in Persia. Ile and Maanes, bishop of Ardaschir, prevailed upon the Persian king Feroze to expel those Christians who favored the decision of Ephesus, and establish the Nestorians as the national church for the Christians in Persia. Thus patronized by the state, they made Sclencia the seat of their patriarchate, which from that time to the present has been held by the patriarch of the Nestorians. They also established a theological seminary at Nisibis. So g,reat were the zeal and success of Barsumas that the Nestorians now in Chaldea, Persia. Assyria, and the adjacent countries, regard him as their founder. Moshcim says, "It appears from nnquestjonable documents still existing that there were numerous societies in all parts of Persia, in India, in Armenia, in Arabia, in Syria, and in other countries under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Seleucia during the 6th century." Of the 7th c., he says, "The Christian religion was in this century diffused beyond its former hounds, both in the eastern and western countries. In the east the Nestorians, with incredible industry and perseverance, labored to propagate it from Persia, Syria, and India, among the barbarous and savage nations inhabiting the deserts and the remotest shores of Asia. In particular the vast empire of China was enlightened by their zeal and industry with the light of Christianity." Considering it necessary to express fully their views, a system of doctrine was adopted at a synod convened by the patriarch Badrens in 496 at Selencia. The characteristics of this were that in Christ there were two persons, the divine Logos, and the man Jesus; that these two hypostases had only one outward appearance; that the nmon between the Son of God and the Son of man took place at the moment of the Virgin's conception, and is never to be dissolved; that these two persons are moiled by no other connection than that of will and affection; that Christ on that account ought to he clearly distinguished from God; that Mary is to be called the mother of Christ. Ctristi'okare, and not the mother of God, 1 heotokos, They asserted also that these tenets had not been derived from. Nestorius, but had been held by the -church from the beginning. Another peculiat ophtion was that it was lawful for bishops and presbyters to marry. At the end of Cavndes's reign in the Gth c., a schism occured among the
Nestorians, which lasted 12 years, when two patriarchs, Nerses and Elisteus, were dueled Ity the opposing factions,. each of whom appointed bishops from his own toliowera. After the death of Nerses in prison and the deposition of Elistens, the bishops elected Mar Aba I., or tize great, a Magian convert, 530-552. He translated the liturry of the Nestorians from the Greek into Syriac, making the version now in use among the Nes torians: He was very active in restoring discipline in the ellurOli, and held a synod in 544 which declared that the patriarchs and bishops should thenceforth not be allowed to marry, a regulation ever since observed. He also ordered that while conforming to the Nicene creed, the system of Theodore of Mopsuestia should form the basis of biblical interpretation. Nestorianism was regarded with favor, or at least with toleration under the Saracens, Arabs, and Tartars, the successive masters of Persia. The Nestorians spread not only in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, but under Mar Aba 11., 742-75°, a bishop was appointed for them in Egypt. He was subject 1.0 the see of Damascus: in later times they had a metropolitan of Egypt. After Bagdad became the abode of the caliphs the patriarch also resided there in A.D. 702. The patriarch was called yatelich, i.e. cathoticos, and in the 13th c., he had 25 metropolitans under his supervision. A Ids torian says: "The Nestorians had now become widely extended. They occupied almost to the exclusion of other Christian sects the region which forms the modern kingdom of Persia, in all parts of which they had churches. They were numerous in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Arabia. They had churches in Syria and in the island of Cyprus. They had churches among the mountains of Malabar in India. They had numerous churches in the vast region of Tartary from the Caspian sea to mount Imaus, and beyond, through the greater part of what is now known as Chinese Tartary, and even in China itself." Early in the 11th c. Unkh Khan, a Tartar prince on the northern bor ders of China, invited Nestorian missionaries among his people, and himself became the famous Prester John. Genghis Khan and several of his sons and grandsons, who con quered China and almost all Asia and a part of Europe, were connected with Prester John by marriage. Several of them had Christian wives, •and one of them professed himself a Christian. Under some of this dynasty central Asia was comparatively civ ilized and enlightened; and Christian travelers passed with safety from the banks of the Euphrates to Samarcand and Pekin. Some of the Chinese emperors favored Christianity and ordered the erection of numerous churches. Meanwhile the sword of Moslem fanaticism advancing eastward Bagdad fell before it, and all the country on the Euphrates, then Persia and the regions to the north. The Nestorian church was crushed, and its missions languished; and about the year 1400 Tamerlane swept like a whirlwind over the remains of Nestorian Christianity. The missions in China lan guished for want of support, and were weakened by controversies with missionaries from Rome; but some of the churches still existed, and in 1502 four bishops were sent to Ch i na..