The history of the Church of the East, historically often known as the Nestorian Church, is a fascinating and often overlooked element of both the history of Christianity, and of religion in Asia.
The “Nestorian Stele” in Xi’an, erected in AD 781, records Christian missionary efforts, monasteries, bishops, and other figures in Tang dynasty China.1
This map illustrates the extent of the Church of the East during the Middle Ages. For a time, it was geographically the largest branch of Christianity.2
Mar Gewargis III was enthroned as Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in 2015.3
1 Wilhelm Baum and Dietmar W. Winkler, The Church of the East: A Concise History, trans. Miranda G. Henry (New York, NY: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), 47–48.
2Baum and Winkler, The Church of the East, 1.
3Christoph Baumer, The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity, new ed. (New York, NY: I.B. Tauris, 2016), 288.
Featured Image credit: Adobe Spark (Original image: Anuradhapura cross)
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I like how you have the map as the middle artifact, which gives some context to the 2 other artifacts. If you provided more of a narrative explaining the connections or more artifacts that would allow the viewer to make those connections on their own, this would be a stronger mini lesson. But, it did leave me feeling intrigued and wanting to know more!
I think I would like greater emphasis on the importance or effects this had in Asia or in Asian culture. It might be helpful to focus on one specific area, like China. I would focus on the map for this lecture and create an assignment using that.