Is Christianity at Home in Iran? Norman A. Horner ran celebrated the 2500th anniversary of its monarchy in During the early years of Mongol ascendancy, bothArmenian I 1971. At that time the Christian churches of the country and Assyrian Christians had considerable influence in the courts organized the Interchurch Centenary Committee to coordinate of the Khans. Some held positions in the government and many their participation in the events, and to publicize the fact that others were recognized for their professional and scientific skills. "More than 200,000 citizens of present-day Iran are Christians. Christianity seems to have been rather widespread among the Just as their forefathers shared the historic events that brought this women of the royal families in particular, and at least two of the land to its present position in the family of nations, so the Chris­ II-Khans themselves are said to have been baptized in infancy. tians of today make their loyal contribution to its modern life." At In the days of Shah Abbas the Great, who ascended the Per­ the committee's invitation, this writer contributed several brief ar­ sian throne in 1587, the Armenians brought their thrift, enterprise, ticles summarizing the history and modern situation of the various and trading ability to Isfahan. There they introduced the art of churches. The articles were printed as leaflets for distribution to printing to Persia in 1638, hand-fashioning their own press, type, the churches involved and to English-speaking visitors to the paper, and ink. Since the early nineteenth century, some of the country during that year, and the descriptive sections of the pres­ newer Christian churches such as the Episcopal diocese and the ent essay are based upon them. The key leaflet we distributed in Evangelical Church of Iran have played a major role in the study of 1971 was entitled "Christianity Is at Home in Iran." I am here the Persian language and the translation of books into Persian. phrasing that title interrogatively-not to question its historic va­ Throughout all this long period to the present time, Christians lidity, which remains unquestionable, but in order to raise the is­ have had a continuous role in the life of Iran. At times they have sue of what effect the very recent emergence of an Islamic republic faced persecution, as in the period following A.D. 340 and in the in Iran may have on the situation of the Christian minorities. latter years of Mongol rule, but especially in recent centuries the Iran, known to the West for many centuries as Persia, figures Muslim majority has been tolerant of the religious minorities. prominently in the Bible. Isaiah speaks of King Cyrus as a deliv­ Such toleration was particularly notable during the last few dec­ erer of the Jewish people. Ezra and Nehemiah report the help of ades when the larger Christian communities, as recognized ethnic the early Achaemenians in rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem. The minorities, have even had their own elected representatives in the prophetic visions of Daniel occurred near Shush. Hamadan is the Iranian parliament. locale of events described in the book of Esther. Traditions var­ iously identify Urumia (Rezaiyeh) or Kashan or Saveh or Isfahan as the native city of magi who journeyed to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Christ. Parthians, Medes, and Elamites-people from "Iran, known to the West for many centur­ three of the ethnic/political regions of the Persian realm-were ies as Persia, figures prominently in the present at Pentecost according to Acts 2:9. By the second century A.D. there was almost certainly a well­ Bible. " organized Christian church in Mesopotamia, then part of the Per­ sian empire. At that time the Arsacid dynasty assumed a tolerant and often sympathetic attitude toward Christianity. Even under In the spring of 1979, following a revolution of unpre­ the Sassanid dynasty (beginning A.D. 226) when Zoroastrianism cedented rapidity and the overthrow of the monarchy, Iran was the state religion, Christians continued their development. By became an Islamic republic. It is yet too early to know with any the end of the sixth century there were more than forty bishoprics precision what long-term effect this will have on the Christian mi­ east of the Euphrates. Thousands of Christians driven from the norities in the country-but perhaps not too early to venture a few Roman empire by fellow Christians had found refuge in the towns predictions. First, however, let us examine the Christian scene on and villages of Persia, and this new home became their base for a the eve of the revolution itself. great eastward expansion of the church into China and beyond. Although they constitute less than 1 percent of the country's The Christian contribution to Persia through education and population as a whole, the Christians of all the churches together medicine also began early. Schools of higher learning established number more than 200,000. As of the end of 1978 numerous educa­ by the Church of the East in the Mesopotamian cities of Urhai tional institutions were under Christian auspices: forty-five ele­ (Edessa) and Nisibin in the third and fifth centuries respectively mentary schools throughout Iran, enrolling more than 18,000 pu­ had no rivals in their time, and their intellectual influence spread pils; sixteen secondary schools with a total enrollment of nearly rapidly eastward. After the Arab conquest in 637, it was these As­ 7000; fourteen other schools and classes for specialized training syrian (Nestorian) Christians among others who introduced the and for the education of the handicapped; a women's college, and Arab rulers to a study of philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and several university-related programs. There were Christian medicine. bookstores, correspondence courses, and training centers for the clergy. The churches maintained five hospitals, five other clinics and dispensaries, two schools for nurses' aides, mobile clinics for Norman A. Horner, Associate Editor of the Occasional Bulletin, was consultant on the poor, andrpopular-instruction programs in hygiene and public interchurch relationships in theMiddleEast until 1976, when he became Associate Di­ health. They also managed six orphanages and seven homes for el­ rector of the Ooerseas Ministries Study Center. derly people. Most of these 200,000 Christians have Iranian citizenship.* In Gradually the twin cities of Seleucia-Ctesiphon on the banks fact, however, those who belong to all the historic churches are by of the Tigris became the most important ecclesiastical center out­ and large people of ethnic minorities that have a long Christian side the Roman empire. There the catholicos of the East had his history in the land, predating Islam. They continue to use non­ see. By the end of the eighth century, missionaries of that vigorous Persian languages such as classical Armenian and Syriac in their church had taken the Christian gospel as far as China and Japan, liturgies and, for that reason among others, the Muslim majority and southward into India and Ceylon. Their response to the perse­ tends to regard them with a somewhat jaundiced eye. cutions they had faced in previous centuries (and which they en­ countered many times later) is living evidence that "the blood of The Churches of Iran in Historical Perspective the martyrs is the seed of the church." In Iran, more than half the members of the Assyrian Church of the East now live in and around Teheran, another third are still A. The Oldest Eastern Churches in the Urumia (Rezaiyeh) area to the north, and smaller groups are The Armenian Apostolic Church, with about 158,000 members in Iran, found in the districts of Khuzestan, Kermanshah, and Hamadan. is by far the largest Christian community in the country, account­ They continue to celebrate their ancient liturgy in an eastern dia­ ing for approximately three-fourths of the Christian total. Accord­ lect of classical Syriac, very close to the Aramaic language spoken ing to tradition, Armenian history in the northern part of the land by Jesus. Their elementary school and a proposed theological sem­ dates to apostolic times. An ancient monastery in that area is be­ inary in Teheran are among the ways they are seeking to recapture lieved to mark the grave of St. Thaddeus, one of the earliest Chris­ the vitality of the past and serve creatively in the present. tian disciples, and St. Stephen's Monastery near the Soviet border Khenenya Mar Denkha, the bishop of Iran, was named patriarch is said to have been founded by the apostle Barnabas. in 1976. Thus the patriarchal see of this ancient church is now in Teheran, and Iran has become an increasingly important focal This church spread into the southern part of Iran much later, point for its small but indomitable constituency scattered through­ at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Shah Abbas the out the world. Great forcibly moved thousands of Armenians from the area around [ulfa in the north to help build his new capital at Isfahan. B. The Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches They named their settlement New [ulfa, and twelve of the two dozen church buildings they erected there are still in existence. The Chaldean Catholic Church was founded in 1552. In that year part The three archdioceses (Azerbaijan, Teheran, and [ulfa-Isfa­ of the Assyrian community refused to accept the election of Simon han), are all related administratively to the Catholicosate of Cilicia VIII Denha as patriarch of the Church of the East. They sent a in Antelias, Lebanon, rather than to the catholicos in Soviet Arme­ monk, Youhannan Soulaka, to Rome where he was consecrated nia immediately to their north. This reflects the anti-Soviet politi­ patriarch of Babylon and head of the first uniate church to emerge cal orientation of Iran up to the present time.