Christianity: Details about 'Church Of The East Abroad'
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home
|
Church of the East & Abroad is a Christian denomination claiming its origin during the Second Temple era of Judaism. It describes itself as a Nestorian Orthodox Church, and claims a common history with the Assyrian Church of the East, which is denied by the latter. This church has used many other aliases, such as Malakara Iberian Orthodox Church, Nazaraean Church of Jerusalem, Universal Bible Church - St. Thomas Christian Church, Universal Bible Society, Mar Thoma Nasrani Church of the East & Abroad, Hebrew Catholic Church, and now The Nestorian Orthodox Church - Church of the East & Abroad. They presently have several small communities in Syria, Israel, India, Burma, Portugal, Brazil, Turkey and in the USA. In the USA they are not registered as non-profit religious organization, but they do take donations and sell various products. Their membership numbers have never been given, so it can be assumed that they are a very small association of small communities world-wide. As with many other Christian denominations, the Church of the East & Abroad claims an Apostolic Succession. They believe that its patriarchs are descendents of Desposyni, inheritants of the true belief from direct teaching, lining up to the first Church of Jerusalem and the See of Babylon (said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle). They also believe that its line of patriarchs originates from James the Just and the relatives of the Virgin Mary, making it a blood line directly from Jesus Christ. Other links with the bloodline and teaching of Christ were are claimed by asserting that it shared Patriarchs with Assyrian Church of the East. The church claimed that the Desposyni were leaders of a Jewish community which has moved to Mesopotamia during the second century, while keeping a formal obedience to the Patriarch of Antioch. In the sixteenth century the center of the church became a Burmese community. In the last century, the church sources claim that their see moved to India, then to Portugal, and later to the USA. Currently its leader, +Mar Michai, who lives at Mishqana, a private property in Camden, Tennessee. Believers held that he is above all human judgement and they have to sign a Loyalty Oath to him and his family, under the punishment of excommunication. The believers state that they depend upon their scriptures, traditions, revelations and the magisterium of the Church for their faith, morals, practices and customs. They assume the Essene belief of the duty to guard over the original faith of Jerusalem, e.g., they observe both Sunday and the Sabbath, the Kosher food and Torah observance. They claim to be the only true church, and call all other churches Klal Kristiani (i.e. all of Pauline Christianity), which is vehemently condemned as corrupted, westernized, paganized and anti-Semitic. It is said that in 2003 some 1000 Burmese christians joined the Church of the East & Abroad, and were granted the name Burmese Orthodox Church of the East. Subsequently, on 22 May 2004, the church's patriarch declared himself king on an area in Burma, "along the border of Thailand extending from Laos to the Adaman Sea", which he calls Nettara and which is under rebel control. The church claims that the area hosts about 25,000 Christian refugees. It is also said that on 9 November, 2005 the church formed a Sanhedrin of 70 secret rabbis, whose location is not declared. There is no independent confirmation about any of the previuos statements, and the church seems to be small and to have been established in the 20th century. See also
External links apparently related to the church
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||