Brilliant! For historical context I recommend the chapter by Professor Samuel Lieu, ‘Nestorian Christians and Manichaeans as Links between China and Rome’ in Kim, Lieu & McLaughlin, ‘Rome and China: points of Contact’ (2021).
Thank you very much. I am currently reading Devotional Classics edited by Richard J Foster and James Bryan Smith. It is a collection of the early writings (and some modern mystics) going back to the 4th Century and St. Augustine. I am a "renewed Christian" and focusing on learning from the Early Church and early saints and mystics whose lives were steeped in Holiness for instruction and guidance. I will look up that book you mentioned. I already learned so much from this wonderful video!
"三一淨風無言之新教，陶良用於正信" this is the original Chinese text of the tablet. The term "new religion" describes the new church founded by Jesus. The reason this sounds strange is because nestorian missionaries used a lot of Chinese Taoist terms to describe the concept of Christianity.
I also quite like the idea that the the cross is modeled on the four points of the compass, and that baptism isn’t to wash away “sin” but rather “ostentation”. Viewing these Christian principles through very Chinese visions of nature and the individual.
@@MadHatter42 South is the longest point? "And Jesus said, go and clean not all of the sin, but all of the ostentation/show-off from yourselves and become Submissive to the Poor, who are ME by any other name!" ~ Said no conservative Christians and neofundamentalists ever.
I’m honestly amazed at how the Tang were impressed by Christianity. I’m also perplexed that they keep mentioning Syria as if it’s independent, when it was likely still a part of Eastern Rome by the time the missionary left for China.
All but China is barbarian .China never cared for what the Barbarians called themselves, when the British came in the 1700s, they greeted them in Latin, the language of the far western barbarians as far as they were concerned.
“It’s principals will survive when the framework is forgotten” Now that is brilliant. Not always the case, but we have seen a shift in this direction 1500 years later
I was about to say the same thing. While Christianity is Changing/decreasing places like America, people still hold the lessons that Christianity have made with high regard.
@@jwilson544 yes. For instance, I’m not a Christian, but I find the core values very beautiful and compelling. I hope that Christians see that as a commendation- that those outside of their belief system find wisdom in its teachings.
It's also true, although many people aren't religious anymore we should always see Jesus as a great philosopher and use some Christian principles going forward as a society
@@nocomment2468 eh, it’s a compliment. I learned not to believe what non Christians say about what Christ taught because more often than not, they don’t seriously study it anyway.
"Without holy men, principles can not be expanded. Without principles, holy men can not become magnified. But with holy men and right principles united as the two parts of a signet, the world becomes civilized, and enlightened." This wisdom from my brethren in Christ in China gives me an amazing joy.
"... Its principles will survive when the framework is forgotten. It is beneficial to all creatures. It is advnatageous to mankind .." These words speak volumes!!
And the same is true of all the great religions. It is speaking to the wisdom of the religion, not the belief system. That's the point. So get rid of your belief in Jesus as God and go be a good person.
@@daithiocinnsealach1982 It is not true of all great 'religions'. The endless cycle of suffering is not true, nor is it universal. Get rid of your belief in Jesus as God? If you do that, then you forgo the entire point. You can't be a good person unless you acknowledge that the words of Jesus and his acts were from God, otherwise you might as well take them like the opinion of some random bloke.
@@daithiocinnsealach1982 Islam went on to kill 80-100 million Hindus in the world's largest still-standing genocide. This is more than the sum total if all Christian-caused deaths in (roughly ballpark estimate) +The Crusades 100% forgiving anything Islam did during them +The Hugenot Rebellion between Catholics and Protestants +The Inquisition +Recoquista +The 80 years war (not actually religious but we don't care we're adding the number in to get competitive with Islam) +Sum total of all Habsburg wars.
Yes Hitler certainly benefitted from the full support of catholic church and Pope Pius XII in the Final Solution (read the unimpeachably researched book titled "Hitler's Pope" by John Cornwell). Children all over catholic world are benefitting from the "loving pastoral care" when 70 year old virgins are forced to repress innate mammal sexual desires and are forced to perversely enacted them out by child abuse and rape. The other half of christianity can't wait for the death cult of Rapture and Armageddon. Religion infects the minds of otherwise sane persons and commit them to real evil. Evil comes from religion.
Interesting. As a Christian, that sounded like quite the eloquent and epic description of Jesus and Christianity. And it was surprising to hear them have such favor towards Christianity at the time.
Considering how hostile the communist government is towards Christianity nowadays, it´s wonderful to hear how they first embaced Christians as equals in such a courteus manner.
@@GermanFreakvb21 Christianity is growing faster in China right now than it did in Rome in the past. I don't think they're being targeted specifically because they're Christians right now. It's more of a general suspicion towards any religion.
@@GermanFreakvb21 Its a very fast growing religion, Government officials try to control it as they see it as subversive. Besides outright censoring they set up churches and denominations approved and controlled by the state that are severed from outside influence but many faithful in China see it for what it is and worship and gather in communion in their homes instead. Many pastors in my church's community network go to China to preach and learn. They don't preach subversive or anti-government ideas but a couple started to be tailed by local police who kept tabs on them. As it generally wasn't in urban areas they were easy to lose.
The Tang basically did the missionaries' job. They were like "Cool book, tell you what, you build a temple or whatever you guys call it right down the street there and get like 20 of your priests to man it. Ohh and we'll be making copies and spread it across our territories. Have a nice day"
Well, yes, but everything comes with a catch. Because the Tang essentially were so welcoming at that time, later on under the reign of Emporer Wuzong they were like: "This Buddhism thing has gotten really out of control, we need to persecute them, including the Buddhist sect that is Christianity." Of course people said, "Hold up, Christianity isn't Buddhist", but to this it was replied: "Yeah right. Our ancestors established that Christianity is compatible with Buddhism, which makes it Buddhist in nature."
The original ancient Chinese text is even more epic. Ancient Chinese is elegant, succinct and during this period, highly highly stylized (the verbal rhythmic, the pairing of words etc). Just glorious glorious writing.
Messiach in Hebrew, Messias in Latin, Messiah in English all sounds almost alike. So who added christ/ Christianity/ Christian unless you starting a new religion Rome beliefs with bible beliefs you get a new religion Christianity.
@@hugoramirez7510 Hopefully this answers your question. Christ means "the anointed one" in Greek, and "Christ" was a title given to Jesus. The term "Christians" was coined by the non-Christian people living Antioch (a Greek speaking city). It specified the group of people who were "the Christ-followers" or "little Christs": the people who followed the teachings of Jesus the Christ.
The Nestorian Stele is my favorite archeological artifact. It is simply fascinating, it contains information about the Church of the East, one of the most interesting Christian sects, and shows the vast geographical distance that Christianity crossed. Christianity is generally seen as a Western religion, one propagated mainly by the colonial empires of the 19th century, which prior to that period it was only popular in Europe. This Stele stands in contrast to that, it’s from the 600s, almost a millennium before the Jesuits arrived, and the missionaries weren’t sent by the Catholic pope or even the Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople but by the Asian Church of the East, a Christian sect unknown nowadays that has sadly declined over the centuries, but at its height it’s metropolitans and dioceses stretched from China to Alexandria and its Catholicos was even having theological discussions with Sultans. Oh yeah, the Church of the East became so geographically extensive largely during centuries of Islamic rule. Which during the first 6 centuries of was relatively peaceful.
@@sunnyboy4553 Yes I can! The Lost History of Christianity by Phillip Jenkins was a very comprehensive read. For a book only tangentially related but still focuses on the Church of the East a bit is The Realm of Prester John by Robert Silverberg.
I have a history degree from a public university and I am often dissappointed in the modern "historical" works we were given to study. The authors rarely present the historical texts in a straightforward way. They seem more interested in presenting their thesis to you than allowing their readers to simply view the original source material themselves. Modern historians are taught to quilt together fragments of history in order to construct whatever narrative, thesis, or hot take they are interested in. But this channel offers no commentary, they simply let these documents speak for themselves. Thank you for your work.
Very true. I also have a history degree, so have had the same observations sometimes. I've also found that it depends what particular historical area one looks at, as some areas seems to be worse for this than others. My specialism was medieval, specifically crusades and most leasing scholarship there is solid with little influence of trendy critical theories. Depends where the historiography is and influential scholarship. Once the more fragmented and ideological influences sets in, that's when you see this problem.
VERY fascinating to me that at the event of Christ's birth, the Chinese reconstruction is correct. The wise men were from the area that constitutes Persia at the time, currently Iran. The Bible also never mentions just 3 wise men, only 3 gifts. For the Chinese to record that there were 24 and more accurately narrate the tradition based on Syrian telling better than how we interpret it today is astounding.
@@SamGarcia Don't think of Syria as the modern country but as a region. Syria as a region encompasses the Northern levant and greater Syria the southern as well.
@@SamGarcia Judaea would be renamed "Syria Palaestina" in the second century following the Bar Kokhba revolt. Some today would claim that Palestine is part of Greater Syria.
There was no man named Jesus The wise men were mentioned as Magi, Where the word Magic comes from. Christianity comes from the Levant and is Semitic Persians were predominantly Aryans
This is so fascinating, honestly. Some people may sigh with minor disappointment at how the Chinese got a few things wrong about Christianity, but it's truly far more accurate than I would have imagined considering the great distance, both culturally and geographically, that China was from Israel. It really does make one wonder just how much history of the church in China is lost and will never be known when we only know all this from ONE inscription.
You never know. For all we know there may be hidden sects of Christianity unknown to us in some backwoods villages in China. It’s not that far fetched, Japan had a few. They even kept the sacraments of baptism and confirmation alive IIRC.
As a Christian this struck me very deeply, these men crossed into the unknown where they could easily lose their lives for the sake of telling others the good news...where do we see such faith now? we must be humble and seek to re-establish God at the centre of our lives at all times so His goodness and redemption will shine in our hearts for the world to see and believe. The peace and belonging God manifests in the hearts of those who truly believe is undeniable. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
It must have been both frightening and exciting to travel to such unknown and exotic lands back then. The world is very small by comparison now. There are no unknown horizons.
With purity of intention they had no real danger as our Lord and Savior no doubt was there preparing the way. In truth you probably aren’t much different. If you moved to another nation of a different language and wanted to teach the Gospel, you would. So you have what is needed to do your part regardless of the size of its scale.
In case anyone is wondering; the non-Chinese script and language written on the stele and the transcripts is Syriac-Aramaic, written using the classical Estrangela Syriac script (one of 3 used Syriac-Aramaic scripts)… Syriac-Aramaic is still spoken to this day among Syriac Christians in the Middle East and their subdivisions; Syriacs (Arameans), Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Maronites. There are currently 3 mainly surviving forms of the language; 1. Classical Syriac-Aramaic (kthobonoyo), 2. west-Syriac-Aramaic dialect (Turoyo) [Syria, south-west Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine], 3. east-Syriac-Aramaic dialect (Sureth / madinkhaya) [Iraq, Iran, south-east Turkey]…
They neglect primary sources, the class definitely gave you a watered down and probably half-true depiction of what actually happened and what early Christians believed and did. Best way to learn is by going to the primary source of the ante-nicene writings.
I'm guessing because it might actually hint of positive elements towards Christianity which in most university classrooms is going to be either avoided, twisted, or downplayed.
@@kevinwahl5610 actually Jesus aramaic was Galilean Aramaic. Written in jewish alphabets. Also an extict dialect of aramaic. Different from classical or modern aramic dialects.
@@user-vx8mh4iy9c In other words, when the religion is dying/dead, it's values and doctrines will persist through the culture, even if there are no practitioners. Most things you know as "moral" (if you are a Westerner) stem from Christian doctrine, even if you are an atheist/agnostic.
@Mullerornis You assume too much, I'm not Christian. And yes, of course many Western morals and legal concepts have their origins and Greece and Rome, as do they in places in Europe, but outside those regions (i.e. the Germans and such), but you have to be delusional to deny that the relatively unified code Europe had by the time the world was being explored came from the adoption of Christianity and practicing it's doctrine. The moral code you have seen from the past many centuries was not the same moral code the Romans, or Germans, or Celts, etc. used ~2000 years ago. For _better or worse_ Christianity shaped European moral code, and to suggest it had no impact is delusional. Or are you one of those people who just hates Christcuckery and tries everything in their power to diminish the role it's played?
@@DrewPicklesTheDark I'm pretty sure Romans/Greeks/Celts and cultures outside of Europe had laws against stealing or murdering. Or do you have more examples of morals the Christians 'invented'? Sure, stories like 'The Good Samaritan' amplified feelings of compassion, but it's not unique to Christians to feel empathy.
You should learn classical Chinese. You'll love it. Classical Chinese literature either sounds epic... Or it gets forgotten... Literally... (Ha!) Because emperors commission literati to compose anthologies (like an ancient Chinese "curriculum") against which all aspiring Imperial Employees are to be graded for their familiarity and their application of this highly poetic tongue. The result was that the Chinese bureaucracy was filled to the brim with highly eloquent, but not necessarily very practical men. Just imagine if all government ministers were academics. The results might not be ideal, actually. Plato's theory that a utopia can be created the day philosophers become kings and kings become philosophers kinda break down with Communist history. It's still a very interesting rabbit hole to explore. But it's a bit of a hellish rabbit hole to be stuck down. The Queen in "Through the Looking Glass", for example, wasn't necessarily the most beneficial ruler for her Kingdom (Queendom?), in spite of her wide ranging knowledge and profuse use of language. The other issue is that the poetic licence Chinese in high positions employ can make comprehension difficult. This can make them hard to work with. It can also make them unapproachable if your language skills is not up to scratch, which, let's face it, in an agrarian society like China, would be pretty much the majority of the population. To leave so much of the population in the dark about political discourse is... Probably a mistake. Democracy is hard work, but the necessity of engaging with the public means the PR skills of politicians from democratic countries can run circles around the far more crude propaganda of authoritarian regimes. But I digress...
@@TeeComedian Nestorian theology and christology is pretty much only found in the Assyrian Church of the East. From the churches you mention, Maronites are Catholics, the Chaldean Catholic Church split from the Assyrian Church to join the Catholics, and the Syro-Malabar tradition is also Catholic. All of these use Syriac liturgy though.
@@theokra wait so do the East Syriac Catholics both: reject his arguments, and condem him as a heretic; but still use his Qurbana rubric? (I've seen a Mar Nestorius Qurbana section in a service guide book before and have wondered since) Any thoughts on the claim that he was misunderstood?
@@TeeComedian Sorry I've never heard of the Qurbana rubric, and I can't find much from a quick google search. However I can say that the Oriental Catholics (Maronites, Chaldeans, Syro-Malabari, etc) do condemn the teachings of Nestorius as they have to adhere to Catholic doctrine. Pretty much the only thing they have in common with the Nestorian Assyrian Church of the East is the use of Syriac and the Peshitta (Syriac version of the Bible)
The Chinese-style breakdown of Christianity and its workings is so eloquent that, even as I watched, I was trying in my mind to compose my own, more elaborate exposition in the same tone.
Pascal Baryamo oppression of women as a class isn't so humane, but the rest is good. Everyone was doing the enslaving women thing after the Bronze Age though.
@@joshg8053 yes u right, it's up to the creativity of the translator to make the sentence appear so eloquently, I was studying Japanese and need to translate one long sentence full of kanji without even single one kana letter, I need to even add some new words to make the translated sentence making sense
I’m a Syriac Christian and I can read parts of the Syriac script presented ( probably not understand it because of the dialect differences ). There’s a Syriac presence in a lot of churches including the Celtic orthodox, Indian orthodox, Maronite Catholics, and in this context Chinese Christian’s.
This missionary certainly doesn't seem Nestorian in his theology. People often forget that the Church of Syria had a problem with nestorianism, but it wasn't fully Nestorian. St. Isaac the Syrian is an example of a properly Orthodox Syrian of his time. Regarding this stele, the writer states that God became man, and that the Virgin Mary gave birth to God, however, Nestorianism is distinguished because it actually REJECTED these two basic tenets. Nestorius disapproved of calling Mary the "Mother of God" and claimed that the human person, Jesus, was a seperate mortal, human person from The Logos, which merely inhabited him.
@@myaccount4699 Yes, they were condemned at the council of Ephesus and then Chalcedon. They then fled to Persia wherein the Persian government patronized the Nestorian heretics within the Persian Church. The goal was political for the Persian government, because when the Persian Church embraced Nestorianism (due to the Persian government) they declared themselves completely independent from the rest of the Church, which supported the Romans: the enemy of Persia. The goal was to ensure that Persian Christians wouldn't be Roman Sympathizers.
The Logos and human nature of Christ isn't separate however. Jesus didn't have 2 different personalities but one personality and one soul. It's God voluntarily limiting his divinity by allowing himself to experience human nature.
Not all Christians of the Church of the East were Nestorian, that's a misnomer. Even the conception of Nestorius being heretical might be a misnomer as well.
Part of Nestorian Church reestablished communion with Rome in 1500s, it's now known as Chaldean Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The main Nestorian Church though, is now known as Assyrian Church of the East.
As I understand it, both those churches, while descended from the Nestorian Church of the East, to Nestorius, condemn Nestorianism and would scoff at being called Nestorian
@@folofus4815 No. There was no Nestorianism to condemn as this church existed and showed distinctness before Nestorius and merely sided with him. The non-Roman Catholic group recognizes Nestorius as a father. The Roman Catholics replaced his name in places and removed other things, thought correctly or incorrectly to have been taught by him, which is Nestorianism. But since the church predates Nestorius, they still have much in common.
@@folofus4815 The Church was never Nestorian in theology, it is just called nestorian because that is where the Nestorian a famous heretic ran to. It was always the Church of the East.
@@lyrisio I think both can have a similar effect on the viewer; particularly in instilling a sense of mortality and transience. Western Medieval art tends to be much more explicit though.
@@esotericulmanist8331 Do vulgar and decadent go together like peas and carrots? Its all religion then. The rulers use religion to steal : A- Your perceptions B- Your identity C- Your authority Religion "IS" the problem
It is important to note that although *Syria* is often mentioned in the inscriptions, it is only describing the *origins of the Nestorians* . What we can't ignore is the Chinese characters on the title of this stone tablet"大秦景教流行中國碑"( *A monument to the spread of Roman Christian Nestorianism in Middle Kingdom* ) Because 大秦/ *Da Chin* refers to *Rome* in ancient China.
Not really accurate to call them Nestorians, Nestorian isn't synonymous with the Syrian Church. The Nestorians were a group of heretics who believed that the human of Jesus was separate from the spirit of the Logos, which merely inhabited Christ's body. The Nestorians became prominent in Mesopotamia because they were promoted by the Persians so that Christians in their Empire wouldn't have sympathies to the Church in Rome(a case against the Chinese Church being Nestorian can be made from the Monks who founded it claiming to be from Syria, which wasn't Nestorian). The Christians in China seem to have held to the original doctrine of Christ being truly both God and man, and also referred to Mary as the Mother of God, which is something Nestorians didn't do, since they believed Jesus was just a man inhabited by God, and was not himself Divine.
All roads lead to Rome The Roman Empire never fell They converted everyone and today, every government is Roman That is the big Scam They Marginalize people and steal their identity
@@jackwalters5506 it’s entirely possible that the Chinese flavor of Christianity was simply the best that eastern missionaries could do to adapt the Nestorian theology to the Chinese framework.
Also, for quite a while, they were commonly referred to as the Persian Religion because many of the Nestorian priests were Persians. It took awhile for them to get their correct name Da Chin across to indicate that the origin of their faith came from within the Roman Empire, not Persia.
@@jackwalters5506 @Jack Walters I'm sorry I have to disagree with you. I'm assyrian and belong to that church that you're referring to it as Nestorian as this video is doing so... the people of this church do not refer to themselves as nestorians...It's called the church of the east and we believe that jesus is both God and human and is son of God and not just a human inhibited by divine.
@Read Father Seraphim Rose There have been some delays, they’re looking at sometime in 2022. No exact date given in my email correspondence with the brotherhood
Dao= "the divine principal through which all things came into existence" So the Bible translators translated "logos" from the Greek into the word "Dao" in John 1 "In the beginning was the Dao and the Dao was with God and the Dao was God."
This is so amazing! As both a lover of history and cultures and a devout religious Roman Catholic, hearing things like these encounters and crossovers of cultures, faiths, peoples and traditions and the Tang dynasty Chinese warmly accepting our faith is such an awesome and wholesome moment. If only history across the ages and civilizations was something like this.
Messiach in Hebrew, Messias in Latin, Messiah in English all sounds almost alike. So who added christ/ Christianity/ Christian unless you starting a new religion Rome beliefs with bible beliefs you get a new religion Christianity.
@@hugoramirez7510 they were first called Christians at Antioch. Christos is Greek for “Anointed One”, therefor Christ. The early Church wrote in Greek in the East.
Hi there, If you do not mind me sharing, the Sabbath, "..from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Lev 23:32 (KJV) which is sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, was "sanctified" or "קָדַשׁ" which means to 'set apart for holy use' Gen 2:3 "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it..." (KJV), and thus Adam and Eve kept it holy. Sin is defined as transgressing or breaking any of the 10 commandments as per 1 Jo 3:4 "..sin is the transgression of the law." (KJV). So, when Satan had sinned, he actually broke the 10 commandments for indeed angels also have to keep them in heaven Psa 103:20 "Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments..."(KJV). Infact, the saints, described as those that "..keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Rev 14:12, KJV), will keep the 10 Commandments when the new heavens and a new earth are created including keeping the Sabbath holy by e.g gathering to worship the LORD as per: Isa 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make...it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." (KJV). Heb 4:9 "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (KJV); The word 'rest' is translated from the Greek word 'σαββατισμός' (Sabbatismos) - A Sabbath, Rest. The 7th day Sabbath still stands active today for all GOD'S people to observe. I highly encourage to do a study on this, if in disagreement, so as not to 'end up coming short in the end' (if above the age of accountability) as per: Heb 4:1 "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." (KJV). Exo 20:8 "Remember..." (KJV). Please have a look at this video (GOD'S Law vs Moses' law) ruclips.net/video/BULfeo9xjU4/видео.html Soon Fulfilled Prophecy : 1. Food shortage will lead to a civil war in America. 2. Climate change will lead to Sun-day laws. Helpful websites: 1. www.remnantofGOD.org 2. www.pluckedout.co.uk GOD Bless 💙💙💙
They are the Nestorian who are the Anna Baptism vladwas , waldengons , hugannot , etc. Which your evil Roman Catholic Cult brutally kill through Dark age Inquisition.
The late Christopher Dawson wrote a book Journey to Asia about the Franciscans in the 12th century and were greeted by different groups, making their route to China was written in the 1955 I believe from original documents and a Abi in England I believe is called Stanford Abbey by a sister, fascinating reading, and from what I do recall mind you I read this book 10 years ago. One of the monks came back with them and celebrated a mass in a chapel, I don’t know if it was the Vatican that I don’t recall, but they were Nestorian. I found it quite interesting myself and I am traditional Catholic. God bless. And without these Franciscans, or anyone else, we would not have this information that would’ve disappeared into oblivion.
Fast forward 1400 years later, Assyrians are still spreading Christianity and still facing genocide and prosecution. Thank you God for giving me the honour of being Assyrian ❤️
As a man who has found Christianity very recently, I have found myself watching Assyrians almost everyday. PBD podcast, Mar Mari Emmanuel, Sam Shamoun, and one other I can't think of his name. They were genocided in the East but luckily they have found a good home in the West. Unfortunately they have also seen how far their brothers in the West have fallen in our faith, but they are on RUclips and in churches fighting for Christ in the West.
Classical Chinese just did everything the best, including summaries Christianity. Emperor Taizong also had Mosks built. He welcomed a Buddhist Monk back from India with the Sutras which were translated into Chinese. Taizong saw himself as a descendant of Lao Zi (founder of Taoism.) He is regarded as the greatest Emperor in Chinese history.
I feel like it would be incredibly useful to use a Daoist perspective when creating governmental doctrine even today. The government should only focus on things it needs to: The wellbeing of the nation’s infrastructure, military, political institutions and education. It has no right to get involved with personal livelihood; unless a crime is committed.
"Classical Chinese just did everything the best..." Listen here, China and chinese people have to stop with this OBSESSION about being "The Best" on everything... it's impossible for anyone to be PERFECT on all areas, it's humanly impossible. I'm learning a lot of new stuff from the Bible and I'm currently studying this relationship between "3 peoples of earth" which are the Shemites, the Hamites and the Jephites (China would be classified as Hamites, the "technically and phisically proficient" of the world, let's put it this way) This new modern obsession with China being "the best" on all fronts is what is going to bring ruin to China, no culture in the world is supposed to be dominating over others like that. So yeah, it's pretty impressive that China did all this, it's one of their many feats, but try stopping with this mentality of competition, it's useless and brings nothing of actual value to the world. Cooperation is a must.
Yes, T Hamil, but they didn't believe what your evil, disgusting religion preaches. Thank god! I can't wait until the pope and the Vatican are destroyed.
@@timothymatthews6458 Are you talking about the child-rapes and native-massacres and cover-ups committed by Catholic Churches taking money from various Colonial States and following Paul's cultic advice about keeping secretes to paint your religious associations in a better light to the often more unaware outsiders? Or some neofundamentalist King James of England bibliolatry garbage?
Their interpretation is very interesting, a lot of commenters have pointed out the bit about "it's principles will be remembered long after it's framework is forgotten" as the best section, and very predictive too.
Oh no. This is only the good side of religious history in China. Whilst I can’t find much regarding Christian (or any abrahamic religion)‘s persecution other than during the modern age. Buddhism has been subject to several attacks, same with other religions like Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by the same emperor (Wuzong of Tang).
I wonder if they had any idea that Syria was in the midst of being conquered by the first caliphate. The Tang would fight the Abbasids about over a 100 years later.
@@giacomosimonin212 The war had little impact. After that, several local wars were won in Central Asia, mainly because of the an Shi rebellion, which seriously affected the national order and population
You don't know Chinese people, allowing missionary work does not mean you have converted to Christianity. The state religion of the Tang Dynasty was Taoism. Although many people embraced Buddhism, in China, the emperor always had more power than religion. For example, the CPC now controls Tibetan Buddhism. This is a Chinese tradition. The Qing Dynasty emperor used Tibetan Buddhism to control Mongolia and Tibet.
early and middle christian spread is fascinating, especially some the eastern branches, it's interesting to see how their approach to evangelisation difered from most western branches due to mostly lacking the sponsorship of a large and powerful state, nestorian missionaries especially, they put in quite the ammount of legwork
It’s not another man’s religion. It’s the way home for all humankind. Salvation for all. It’s not a religion but Truth, which is why it resonates in every humble heart and inspires true worship to the One True God. A pattern of holistic healing that man enters into and becomes by grace, what God is by nature.
@@EOShorts Well that man doesn't believe in....whatever wishy-washy nonsense you're saying. And it is a religion. Because religion is Latin for religio for the worship of divinity.
@@MontChevalier Yes religio, meaning to bind together, to re-member, to bind together the scattered members into unity within the Body of Christ. I mean it is not a religion in the sense that it’s an option amongst many. I mean that it’s the perfect Union of Heaven and Earth which manifests as a pattern of living, a liturgical lifestyle that a person enters into. It’s not a subjective reality but literally Thee Reality. In that sense it is not “one man’s religion”, but mankinds purpose. That is why the Chinese didn’t simply adopt a teaching, but understood it as ultimate meaning, and therefor worshipped Christ as the way. It sounds wishy washy but it’s not. It’s just beautiful
@@EOShorts I'd call Confucianism more of a culture than a religion. And you seem to have a very narrow definition of religion. It's great that you're enthusiastic about your religion, but not everyone shares that notion. And even if someone does join the body of Christ, how do you know if it's following the correct christological approach when there's already so many Christian groups that have either excommunicated each other, considered heretical or even deemed unfit as part of the body of Christ, like the Arrians and Gnostics?
@@MontChevalier I confess the creed of the One Holy and Catholic Apostolic Church. I am certainly careful to point a damning finger. Referring to Christianity (Orthodox Christianity) as Reality isn’t really narrow, since it necessarily includes the entire cosmos. But I see what you are saying. I am not good at debating these kinds of things, I’m better at staying a little removed and keeping more quiet. I always regret leaving comments! I never really know what I am saying! 😂
How amazing! I had no idea that China was touched by Christianity this early. It is powerful to hear the praises of the Chinese emperor toward Jesus and his recognition of the truth and beauty of the Christian faith. I hope that many modern Chinese will learn about this and be drawn to Christ.
There's a lot of Christian Churches in China even a big Catholic Church somewhere in Southern part of China and a Black priest was the one presiding there...Even Western Media said that Chrianity in China was becoming bigger and I would say the Western Churches was on the decline...The Chrianity in China was SOLELY on the teachings of God IN WESTERN CHURCHES they mixed with Politics even here in my country they do that it's Disheartening...
You do not understand Chinese people, allowing missionary work does not mean that you have converted to Christianity. The national religion of the Tang Dynasty was Taoism. Although many people believe in Buddhism, in China, the emperor always has more power than religion. For example, the CPC now controls Tibetan Buddhism. This is a Chinese tradition. The Qing emperors used Tibetan Buddhism to control Mongolia and Tibet. Chinese emperors generally remain curious and knowledgeable about foreign religions, but they do not truly believe in them and only use them. The Huihe people once believed in Christian Nestorianism, and the Tang Dynasty had a good relationship with the Huihe people, so they favored Christian Nestorianism. However, after the downfall of the Huihe people, Christian Nestorianism was completely eliminated.
As a Chinese Christian, I think Christianity's teachings is very similar to Confucianism and Daoism, it holds similar value and does not contradict one another. Even in my country Indonesia where 90% of the population is Islam, the Chinese minority mostly convert to Christianity instead of Islam. It is much easier for Chinese to accept Christianity and Judasim compared to Islam or Hindu.
The priest were actually from Assyria not Syria. They were from Sassanian controlled Assyria/Mesopotamia not Byzantine as the Nestorian churches were seen as heretical in Constantinople and which in turn meant that they weren’t oppressed by the Persians the enemies of Rome who became suspicious of Christianity after the Romans adopted it
I'm pretty sure there are writings from these Christians who refered to Christ as God and Mary as the Mother of God, both things which explicitly violate Nestorian teachings
@@jackwalters5506 Exactly. The first several centuries of Christianity were crowded with different claims. It is doubtful that anyone was purely one thing or another.
@@jackwalters5506 The non-theological part of this monument, which was not read, explicitly shows the Nestorian origin. As for those teachings being contrary to theirs, that is an obsolete/propagandized view. Nestorian writings clearly do refer to Christ as "our God". Nestorians believed that referring to Mary as the mother of God was a post-Biblical innovation, not a heresy per se.
Technically, the Romans did not adopt Christianity, they created it, then forced people to follow it. There were other proto christian cultures that were also Polytheistic. Early Norse culture was Proto-Christian also
@Lucas De Araújo Marques you have to remember the Chinese Nestorians seem to of misunderstood alot about the religion, it wasnt Catholic. I stand by it more likely being a reference to Father , Son and Holy spirit. Then again i may be wrong.
@@Hail_Full_of_Grace Faith, hope, and love are mentioned in that order as the three "things that remain" in 1 Corinthians 13. The chapter is often quoted at weddings. That may be why it sounds modern to you.
@@aspektx The Catholic Church and I believe some other translations used by the Orthodox Church read that verse as "Faith, hope, and charity." Replacing "charity" with "love" is in translations used predominantly by American Protestants.
" it's principles will survive even when.the framework is forgotten " There's a lot of atheist writers that recognise.this . Historian Tom Holland and author Duglass.murray for example ..both say things like " we are all Christians we still think Christian thoughts.and dream Christiam.dreams." Some atheists have even adopted labels.such as " Atheist Christian.".
Very true. I do find it a little weird how some militant atheists want to do away with everything Christian in the west due to it being immoral to them. But then use a predominantly Christian based morality system to criticize it.
In one of my classes on Catholicism in University, we talked about how some people leave Catholicism (or Christianity all together) but continue to think like Christians. I noted that it's similar to Atheist Jews. Part of the faith remains in them.
Preserving this history, all history, and not letting it be colored by modern beliefs and preconceptions is incredibly important work. How many people who watched this, for example, would know without this, that China had a deep connection to early Christianity? Mostly, you think of Buddhism, when thinking of ancient China, right? I know I did, at least. Not exactly a scholar of Chinese history am I, though. I only became interested in Chinese history and culture a few years ago and really enjoy learning about it. I love history in general, though. There's just not enough time in the day to study it. Point is, thanks for simply letting the voices of history itself, speak for themselves once again in this form.
I agree. I have a history degree and I am often dissappinted in modern historical works. The authors rarely present the historical texts in a straightforward way. Modern historians are taught to quilt together fragments of history in order to construct whatever narrative, thesis, or hot take they are interested in. But this channel offers no commentary, they simply let these documents speak for themselves.
@@nichy7734 There is no Irony Unless you consider that Iron is highly magnetic. lol Satan is the Father of religion. Some call it the deceiver. El, Allah and Jehovah are names for the God of Many Names, who is Satan Nobody ever even checks if it's their god and it is.
This is very interesting, especially since the use of sacrifices mentioned right next to the use of the cross as a symbol seems to indicate it as a symbol in use by pre-Passion Christians, showing it has even deeper meaning than just being a symbol of Christ's sacrifice.
@@DanteD84 not really. Still abunch of other really good documentaries. I’ve got my $6.99 a month worth for sure. Regular Tv and movies are a nightmare these days..
It's true, Christianity spread far and wide in ancient times, not just to the West, but also to the East. The religion thrived in China until the great religious persecution of 845 (when the Nestorian stele was buried, and remained hidden for centuries). From then on, Christianity would wax and wane, gaining more influence in the medieval era, then being suppressed again during the Ming. By the Early Modern period, Christianity in China largely came from the influence of Jesuit missionaries (as opposed to the ancient Church of the East, which had lost influence by then). It began to thrive again, until the Chinese Rites controversy, one of the most underrated events in history. Christianity exists in China today, but it hasn't really made a comeback.
@@郭龙飞-d4cit is, communism isnt china. Those scum destroyed their own history and they are traitors to their own people. Like all communists are, stalin and mao killed 50+ million people. They hated their own, and destroyed Chinese history like this..
I found it very interesting that the chinese understood that the principles christianity are universal to all of mankind something that saddly often at times was forgotten in history leading to persecution of other cultures. I have always considered myself more of a deist but I can still see some Value in this type of practice
The Tang dynasty was exceptionally open-minded towards foreign cultures, religion and goods. One also needs to remember that Buddhism was already known in China a then and certainly to the scholars advising the emperor on all things religious. At first glance basic principles of Christianity and Buddhism look fairly similar. And keep in mind that this is the Nestorian church, NOT catholic orthodoxy or evangelism as you know it today. Nestorianism had a bit of gnostic influence left, which made it more similar to Buddhism than todays Christianity.
Not quite. These principals you speak of are innate in homosapiens. If we are lucky, the popular religions will borrow some of these and not twist them into something vile. If we are not lucky, you get Christianity and Islam. Between these two, you are permitted to commit slavery, genocide and ethnic cleansing (amalekites, catholic church support of Hitler, genocide in Central African Republic, Joseph Kony, genocide of Aztec and Mayan natives and erasing of their culture, etc.), you are allowed to defraud people (sale of indulgences, propserity gospel televangelist), you are allowed human sacrifice and scapegoating to wash away your sins (Jesus), you are allowed chain all females and treat them as property not unlike chattle (welcome to Islamic theocracy), you are allowed to be antisemitic, anti-islamic, anti-insert-religion-here (catholic church, crusades, jihad, stealing land for the chosen people). I'll stop here but I can name many others and don't be so sure I can't. All these things a sane secular person will abhor.
@@LaplacianFourier lol. Just because someone who says they are Christian does something bad doesnt mean the religion itself is bad. Eg. Conquistadors. The catholic church alone did save like 700,000 Jews it is estimated. Christianity is not anti semitic nor is it anti islamic, islam didnt even exist during the time of Christ. Saying human sacrifice is encouraged because of Jesus is actually hilarious in how wrong it is. Your only point that made any sense is regarding slavery. All i can say is that if Jesus told slaves to rise up, it would only have led to a lot of death, especially of the slaves most likely.
@@LaplacianFourier you’re taking the actions of people who claim to be Christian and writing off the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. That’s very Irresponsible of a student of history. Read what the founder of the faiths said not what “followers” did hundreds of years later.
I was told the Celtic cross represents the four cardinal points, as I'm Scots. I wonder if they didn't tell the Chinese what the Christian cross represents, as he says it represents the four cardinal points?
@@HAYAOLEONE - I know, I just stated we have Celtic crosses in Scotland that predate Christianity and many other cultures use them also. The point is that he says Christians told him they use the cross as it represents the four cardinal points; north, south, east and west. He doesn't mention Christians told him Jesus was nailed to a cross. It sounds to me like he wasn't told this and I can see why they might not tell him. If you are explaining the philosophy to another culture and then tell him you tortured and murdered the guy in your culture it would probably be a little shocking.
@@HAYAOLEONE - I was simply suggesting a reason why the Chinese fella said they used the cross as a symbol to represent north, south, east and west and doesn't say it represents the way Jesus died. So I suggested that perhaps they did not tell him this when first explaining Christianity. If they did tell him why didn't he mention it and said the cross represents north, south, east and west? At first, Christians used a fish and replaced it with the cross perhaps because there were already crosses in the pagan religions of Europe and they used lots of pagan traditions in Christianity. Most of the Christian dates are actually pagan holidays. Romans were trying to replace pagan religions with Christianity by the sword and so it helped to incorporate pagan beliefs in the new state religion. The Romans murdered all the priests to enforce Christianity in Britain and so we don't know much about our pre-Roman religions. Christianity was spread through torture and murder across the world of course.
@@AnyoneCanSee where do you get your info? I want to read up on your sources... You should consider that people have always hated the truth. Christianity is the truth... So, you claim that torture and murder spread Christianity to the world. Problem is, the people who murder and torture were not Christians, they were doing bad things to try to ruin Christianity. Lets take the recent truth to come out of Canada lately. Fake nuns and priests, who were actually secret agents for a nazi regime. They had a goal. Take possession of the land to exploit its resources. Establish a system of control. Their goal from the start was to simultaneously eliminate all the indigenous people, and by using Christianity as an excuse, they expected to destroy Christianity. Like, we are supposed to be mad, today. And burn down all the churches and abandon religion and give all out money and worship to governments and science... Too bad for them, Truth is stronger. Even after all of it, the indigens just embrace Christianity and already believe in the one Creator God in Heaven. The cross does not have an exact meaning to Christians. Jesus said we should take up our cross and follow him. This is why Christians started to carry a cross, or wear a cross pendant. It also points to the four directions that the Gospel is spread, as well as the direction that people are coming to the cross. There are more mysterious things the cross represents too but I dont want to spoil it for the children. About Christianity taking things from the pagans, like symbols, festivals... IF you understand the Truth, you know God did all of this. God scattered and confused us, and put gods, lesser gods, in charge of the divided nations. As temporary caretakers. Until one day God would start to reunite us all... This is why all religions and all corners of the world already have similar things. Because we were originally all together.... and everyone had bits and pieces of the same puzzle.
In the earliest examples of Christian art, the cross is not used. The divinity of Christ and his ascension were stressed more. Obviously, the fact of His sacrificial death was important, it just wasn't presented in art. The cross was not even an important Christian symbol for a few centuries. Instead there were epigrams of Christ's name and iconic images of Christ Himself. Contemplation of the suffering and torturous death of Christ didn't become popular until later and took off to rather extreme degrees during the Middle Ages. I only point this out to say by way of example that, just because the Crucifixion isn't mentioned, doesn't mean he was unaware of it. It was likely that the early Chinese Christians simply stressed a different symbolism, as the early Western church had before them. Of course, it's not impossible that the cruel death of Jesus was so far outside what the culture expected of its sages, that it was actually suppressed, but that is not necessarily the case. The description of the ministry of Jesus as put forward here might give credence to the notion, however, as it seems to portray His mission more as one of knowledge and enlightenment or restoring lost wisdom than one of self-sacrifice. We will probably never know this side of eternity.
@@voidremoved - Firstly, “Take up your cross and follow Me” meant being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. 2000 years ago a cross meant one thing. The modern interpretation of "having a cross to bear," is not what he meant. You can easily Google this fact. The cross in Christianity represents that Jesus died on a cross for people's sins. Any other meaning has been given to it over the years or, as I said, taken from pagan beliefs like many things in Christianity concluding the birthdate of Jesus. Secondly, stop saying "truth". There is ZERO evidence that your beliefs are "truth" and substantial evidence they are not. You sound like a child when you just declare your magical beliefs to be proven fact. The Bible claims we were created 6000 years ago from clay and a rib, is that "truth?" No it is not, we know for a fact we evolved. So the Bible is wrong about when and how humans came into being. That's a pretty big thing as you claim your god created us when he didn't. There is no evidence for heaven or hell. So stop saying "truth." Next, you need to learn about the history of Christianity. The Romans killed the Pagans and destroyed their religions by the sword and this is how Christianity was spread across Europe. Then the Holy Roman Empire and conquistadors spread it throughout the world. They murder and enslaved everyone they came across in the new world forcing them into Christianity. The African slaves were forced into Christianity. Have you never heard of the Spanish inquisition? Saying they were not real Christians is utter nonsense as they were in league with the Catholic Church. South America was given half to Portugal and half to Spain by the Roman Catholic Church. This is why the countries ad shaped like that stand Portuguese and Spanish languages and one either side. You can Google the last stand of the Druids on the island of Anglesey in Britain where they were all murdered. This was how Christianity came to Britain, by the sword. In Spain, you were tortured and murdered if you followed a different religion by the inquisition. As far as the Philippines, named after Philip of Spain by the conquistadors Christianity was spread by conquest as they murdered and enslaved the indigenous people. Saying "they are not true Christians" is the "no true Scotsman fallacy" - google it if you don't know it. Christians are Christians and you can't claim they were not Christians as they were the ones that spread Christianity and without them, it would not by the main religion on earth. As for your last point. Don't be ridiculous. The religions of South America and many others had human sacrifice, are you claiming your god did that? There were religions for thousands of years before Christianity with many different gods and rituals, worshipping the sun etc. Christianity took on part of Pagan religions as it made it easier for the Roman to force locals to become Christian. They knew they could control people better if they were all under one religion and that religion was based in Rome. If I wanted to force you to be Muslim I probably wouldn't take away Christmas but add it to Islam as the celebration of the prophet Jesus. This is why Muslims call Jesus a prophet because they were conquering Christian lands. It is just a means of enforcing your will onto local people. You have a very shallow understanding of the history of Christianity and saying "truth" doesn't make something true. I'd also point out that Islam is clearly overtaking Christianity now. If you counted those that actively participate in their religion Islam is the world's number one religion now. Even in the UK, more Muslims go to a mosque than those that are called Christian go to church.
Yes, the Assyrian Church of the East (my Church) went as far as China and everywhere between Iraq (our homeland) and China. We still have Churches in India.
You do not understand Chinese people, allowing missionary work does not mean that you have converted to Christianity. The national religion of the Tang Dynasty was Taoism. Although many people believe in Buddhism, in China, the emperor always has more power than religion. For example, the CPC now controls Tibetan Buddhism. This is a Chinese tradition. The Qing emperors used Tibetan Buddhism to control Mongolia and Tibet. Chinese emperors generally remain curious and knowledgeable about foreign religions, but they do not truly believe in them and only use them. The Huihe people once believed in Christian Nestorianism, and the Tang Dynasty had a good relationship with the Huihe people, so they favored Christian Nestorianism. However, after the downfall of the Huihe people, Christian Nestorianism was completely eliminated.
The emperor seems like a wise man. "Right principles have no invariable name. Holy men have no invariable station. Instruction is the object of benefitting the people at large." What he's saying is that there is no one universal religion. He's saying chinese religion is not the real truth, and christianity is not the real truth, but the parts of them that matter are the parts that benefit people in their daily lives, so there is room for multiple religions at once. Instead of choosing to fight over whose way is right, he saw the value in embracing all ways.
the initial method of analyzing nestorian doctrine was absolutely excelent, it must be noted that ancient china was filosofically advanced to a level which rivalled the ancient greeks and highest roman thinkers, i believe they actually surpassed them in many ways
Where's the map at 0:34 from? I'd love to see it in full, looks pretty nice and shows the mountain ranges etc pretty well. Much, much easier to read geography wise for me than a more scientific map. Didn't find it in the image credits etc(though I may just be poor at searching).
Its interesting how open the Tang Dynasty was to accepting new religions and how beautifully they understood Christianity compared to how difficult it proved in Europe (to this day even).
So...times kinda change don't they lol. The feeling I get from these Chinese philosophers is that they feel the same way as Kubli Khan felt, that Christianity was a byproduct of civilization but, the Chinese felt it was more unifying for the people than the Khan did.
philosophers? I thought they were barely historians, but modern standards. At least their accounts are 1st person as far as perspective, if not primary sources themselves.
Brilliant! For historical context I recommend the chapter by Professor Samuel Lieu, ‘Nestorian Christians and Manichaeans as Links between China and Rome’ in Kim, Lieu & McLaughlin, ‘Rome and China: points of Contact’ (2021).
Thank you very much. I am currently reading Devotional Classics edited by Richard J Foster and James Bryan Smith. It is a collection of the early writings (and some modern mystics) going back to the 4th Century and St. Augustine.
I am a "renewed Christian" and focusing on learning from the Early Church and early saints and mystics whose lives were steeped in Holiness for instruction and guidance. I will look up that book you mentioned. I already learned so much from this wonderful video!
I also enjoyed the Oera Linda....
God loves that we seek him.. God bless
Always nice to see a citation around here
The link is the Iranosphere
"The new religion of the silent operation of the pure spirit of the triune" has got to be the Chinesest possible way to describe Christianity.
And it sounds really cool
it sounds strange in english, in reality it would be more similar to german stacking words
"三一淨風無言之新教，陶良用於正信" this is the original Chinese text of the tablet. The term "new religion" describes the new church founded by Jesus.
The reason this sounds strange is because nestorian missionaries used a lot of Chinese Taoist terms to describe the concept of Christianity.
I also quite like the idea that the the cross is modeled on the four points of the compass, and that baptism isn’t to wash away “sin” but rather “ostentation”. Viewing these Christian principles through very Chinese visions of nature and the individual.
@@MadHatter42 South is the longest point? "And Jesus said, go and clean not all of the sin, but all of the ostentation/show-off from yourselves and become Submissive to the Poor, who are ME by any other name!" ~ Said no conservative Christians and neofundamentalists ever.
I’m honestly amazed at how the Tang were impressed by Christianity. I’m also perplexed that they keep mentioning Syria as if it’s independent, when it was likely still a part of Eastern Rome by the time the missionary left for China.
All but China is barbarian .China never cared for what the Barbarians called themselves, when the British came in the 1700s, they greeted them in Latin, the language of the far western barbarians as far as they were concerned.
@@LiteralCrimeRave Desperate words spoken by the sick man of Asia.
@@Baron_Wurst They we're doing pretty well at the time. Relatively speaking. Definitely had a hard fall pretty soon after.
Syria was often used synonymously with the western Levant. Like how they sometimes called all of Africa Libya
@@LiteralCrimeRave The Han Wudi would disagree; China considered the Romans their equal, which doesn’t happen often.
“It’s principals will survive when the framework is forgotten”
Now that is brilliant. Not always the case, but we have seen a shift in this direction 1500 years later
I was about to say the same thing. While Christianity is Changing/decreasing places like America, people still hold the lessons that Christianity have made with high regard.
@@jwilson544 yes. For instance, I’m not a Christian, but I find the core values very beautiful and compelling. I hope that Christians see that as a commendation- that those outside of their belief system find wisdom in its teachings.
It's also true, although many people aren't religious anymore we should always see Jesus as a great philosopher and use some Christian principles going forward as a society
@@nocomment2468 eh, it’s a compliment. I learned not to believe what non Christians say about what Christ taught because more often than not, they don’t seriously study it anyway.
@@jacklaurentius6130 Your pfp is cancer
"Without holy men, principles can not be expanded. Without principles, holy men can not become magnified. But with holy men and right principles united as the two parts of a signet, the world becomes civilized, and enlightened."
This wisdom from my brethren in Christ in China gives me an amazing joy.
Oh is that what this is. Christianity is EVIL! It is universal weakly trash!
A very Chinese way of expressing the point. Reminds of Confucius and the Daoists. ‘The principles will remain when the framework is forgotten.’
"... Its principles will survive when the framework is forgotten. It is beneficial to all creatures. It is advnatageous to mankind .." These words speak volumes!!
And the same is true of all the great religions. It is speaking to the wisdom of the religion, not the belief system. That's the point. So get rid of your belief in Jesus as God and go be a good person.
@@daithiocinnsealach1982 It is not true of all great 'religions'. The endless cycle of suffering is not true, nor is it universal. Get rid of your belief in Jesus as God? If you do that, then you forgo the entire point. You can't be a good person unless you acknowledge that the words of Jesus and his acts were from God, otherwise you might as well take them like the opinion of some random bloke.
@@daithiocinnsealach1982 this tilted me tbh. Do you even know God's capabilities ..
@@daithiocinnsealach1982
Islam went on to kill 80-100 million Hindus in the world's largest still-standing genocide. This is more than the sum total if all Christian-caused deaths in (roughly ballpark estimate)
+The Crusades 100% forgiving anything Islam did during them
+The Hugenot Rebellion between Catholics and Protestants
+The Inquisition
+Recoquista
+The 80 years war (not actually religious but we don't care we're adding the number in to get competitive with Islam)
+Sum total of all Habsburg wars.
Yes Hitler certainly benefitted from the full support of catholic church and Pope Pius XII in the Final Solution (read the unimpeachably researched book titled "Hitler's Pope" by John Cornwell). Children all over catholic world are benefitting from the "loving pastoral care" when 70 year old virgins are forced to repress innate mammal sexual desires and are forced to perversely enacted them out by child abuse and rape. The other half of christianity can't wait for the death cult of Rapture and Armageddon. Religion infects the minds of otherwise sane persons and commit them to real evil. Evil comes from religion.
Interesting.
As a Christian, that sounded like quite the eloquent and epic description of Jesus and Christianity.
And it was surprising to hear them have such favor towards Christianity at the time.
Against their better judgment. Spreading lies and BS since the beginning of this whole cockup.
Considering how hostile the communist government is towards Christianity nowadays, it´s wonderful to hear how they first embaced Christians as equals in such a courteus manner.
@@GermanFreakvb21 Christianity is growing faster in China right now than it did in Rome in the past. I don't think they're being targeted specifically because they're Christians right now. It's more of a general suspicion towards any religion.
CCP isn't against Christianity, they are against all religions. There are approximately 100 million Christians currently in china
@@GermanFreakvb21 Its a very fast growing religion, Government officials try to control it as they see it as subversive. Besides outright censoring they set up churches and denominations approved and controlled by the state that are severed from outside influence but many faithful in China see it for what it is and worship and gather in communion in their homes instead. Many pastors in my church's community network go to China to preach and learn. They don't preach subversive or anti-government ideas but a couple started to be tailed by local police who kept tabs on them. As it generally wasn't in urban areas they were easy to lose.
The Tang basically did the missionaries' job. They were like "Cool book, tell you what, you build a temple or whatever you guys call it right down the street there and get like 20 of your priests to man it. Ohh and we'll be making copies and spread it across our territories. Have a nice day"
Well, yes, but everything comes with a catch.
Because the Tang essentially were so welcoming at that time, later on under the reign of Emporer Wuzong they were like:
"This Buddhism thing has gotten really out of control, we need to persecute them, including the Buddhist sect that is Christianity."
Of course people said, "Hold up, Christianity isn't Buddhist", but to this it was replied:
"Yeah right. Our ancestors established that Christianity is compatible with Buddhism, which makes it Buddhist in nature."
Christ grows His church and cares for it.
True love = the love of God!
*God himself went to the cross for you out of love for you as a human being*
Philippians 2:5-8
Christ is good. He loves you.
@@kurteisner67 😮
The original ancient Chinese text is even more epic. Ancient Chinese is elegant, succinct and during this period, highly highly stylized (the verbal rhythmic, the pairing of words etc). Just glorious glorious writing.
where can i learn more about it?
i always loved how poetic chinese texts were
@@Purwapada same, i also wanna know
Messiach in Hebrew, Messias in Latin, Messiah in English all sounds almost alike. So who added christ/ Christianity/ Christian unless you starting a new religion Rome beliefs with bible beliefs you get a new religion Christianity.
*The ETERNAL GOD would do anything for you!!*
Even out of love for you he went to the cross as a human!!
Philippians 2:5-8
@@hugoramirez7510 Hopefully this answers your question. Christ means "the anointed one" in Greek, and "Christ" was a title given to Jesus. The term "Christians" was coined by the non-Christian people living Antioch (a Greek speaking city). It specified the group of people who were "the Christ-followers" or "little Christs": the people who followed the teachings of Jesus the Christ.
The Nestorian Stele is my favorite archeological artifact. It is simply fascinating, it contains information about the Church of the East, one of the most interesting Christian sects, and shows the vast geographical distance that Christianity crossed. Christianity is generally seen as a Western religion, one propagated mainly by the colonial empires of the 19th century, which prior to that period it was only popular in Europe. This Stele stands in contrast to that, it’s from the 600s, almost a millennium before the Jesuits arrived, and the missionaries weren’t sent by the Catholic pope or even the Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople but by the Asian Church of the East, a Christian sect unknown nowadays that has sadly declined over the centuries, but at its height it’s metropolitans and dioceses stretched from China to Alexandria and its Catholicos was even having theological discussions with Sultans. Oh yeah, the Church of the East became so geographically extensive largely during centuries of Islamic rule. Which during the first 6 centuries of was relatively peaceful.
This is fascinating. Can you recommend any books about the Asian Church of the East??? Thank you for your comment.
@@sunnyboy4553 Yes I can! The Lost History of Christianity by Phillip Jenkins was a very comprehensive read. For a book only tangentially related but still focuses on the Church of the East a bit is The Realm of Prester John by Robert Silverberg.
Wow!
👍🤔🙏
*sigh* Fuck Timur the Lame
As a Christian Chinese my mind is blown. I’ve known about the stele for some time but never expected the text to be so otherworldly and beautiful…
文章精妙绝伦，彻底弄懂绝非易事。
@OSULLIVAN101 Elementary dear O'Sullivan ! Do continue,or is that your final opus?🙄
@OSULLIVAN101oh, how enlightened you must be…
@OSULLIVAN101you seem to be a highly educated person, so I will definitely consider your opinion
It's absolutely great. I'm going to try and commit it to memory (at least some of it) so I can recite it to other Christians.
I have a history degree from a public university and I am often dissappointed in the modern "historical" works we were given to study. The authors rarely present the historical texts in a straightforward way. They seem more interested in presenting their thesis to you than allowing their readers to simply view the original source material themselves. Modern historians are taught to quilt together fragments of history in order to construct whatever narrative, thesis, or hot take they are interested in. But this channel offers no commentary, they simply let these documents speak for themselves. Thank you for your work.
Very true. I also have a history degree, so have had the same observations sometimes. I've also found that it depends what particular historical area one looks at, as some areas seems to be worse for this than others. My specialism was medieval, specifically crusades and most leasing scholarship there is solid with little influence of trendy critical theories. Depends where the historiography is and influential scholarship. Once the more fragmented and ideological influences sets in, that's when you see this problem.
@@MidnightIsolde That’s true. My emphasis was on post Industrial America and urbanization.
@@AdrienneJung.Mwell ur a nice looking woman if u don't mind me saying lol
@@KD400_ thank you Muhammad Ali
@@AdrienneJung.M lol well thanks.
VERY fascinating to me that at the event of Christ's birth, the Chinese reconstruction is correct. The wise men were from the area that constitutes Persia at the time, currently Iran. The Bible also never mentions just 3 wise men, only 3 gifts. For the Chinese to record that there were 24 and more accurately narrate the tradition based on Syrian telling better than how we interpret it today is astounding.
Well, it said that Christ was born in Syria, soooooooo... that's a glaring mistake.
@@SamGarcia Don't think of Syria as the modern country but as a region. Syria as a region encompasses the Northern levant and greater Syria the southern as well.
@@SamGarcia Syrian and Canaanite history were one and the same for many centuries.
@@SamGarcia Judaea would be renamed "Syria Palaestina" in the second century following the Bar Kokhba revolt. Some today would claim that Palestine is part of Greater Syria.
There was no man named Jesus
The wise men were mentioned as Magi,
Where the word Magic comes from.
Christianity comes from the Levant and is Semitic
Persians were predominantly Aryans
This is so fascinating, honestly. Some people may sigh with minor disappointment at how the Chinese got a few things wrong about Christianity, but it's truly far more accurate than I would have imagined considering the great distance, both culturally and geographically, that China was from Israel.
It really does make one wonder just how much history of the church in China is lost and will never be known when we only know all this from ONE inscription.
That's the sad thing with history, when it is lost I can never be found.
You never know. For all we know there may be hidden sects of Christianity unknown to us in some backwoods villages in China. It’s not that far fetched, Japan had a few. They even kept the sacraments of baptism and confirmation alive IIRC.
They finaly came to their senses and gave up on this whole BS. Good for them.
The Guangzhou massacre by Huang Chao wiped out most Nestorian Christians in China.
Qwppww
As a Christian this struck me very deeply, these men crossed into the unknown where they could easily lose their lives for the sake of telling others the good news...where do we see such faith now? we must be humble and seek to re-establish God at the centre of our lives at all times so His goodness and redemption will shine in our hearts for the world to see and believe. The peace and belonging God manifests in the hearts of those who truly believe is undeniable. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
It must have been both frightening and exciting to travel to such unknown and exotic lands back then. The world is very small by comparison now. There are no unknown horizons.
The silk road was pretty safe.
With purity of intention they had no real danger as our Lord and Savior no doubt was there preparing the way. In truth you probably aren’t much different. If you moved to another nation of a different language and wanted to teach the Gospel, you would. So you have what is needed to do your part regardless of the size of its scale.
@@nakedsushi2009first the send the holy men… then comes the government to control
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. On my best day I have never done anything approaching what these Nestorians did.
In case anyone is wondering; the non-Chinese script and language written on the stele and the transcripts is Syriac-Aramaic, written using the classical Estrangela Syriac script (one of 3 used Syriac-Aramaic scripts)… Syriac-Aramaic is still spoken to this day among Syriac Christians in the Middle East and their subdivisions; Syriacs (Arameans), Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Maronites. There are currently 3 mainly surviving forms of the language; 1. Classical Syriac-Aramaic (kthobonoyo), 2. west-Syriac-Aramaic dialect (Turoyo) [Syria, south-west Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine], 3. east-Syriac-Aramaic dialect (Sureth / madinkhaya) [Iraq, Iran, south-east Turkey]…
They’re all ethnic Assyrian. Those other that you mentioned is within a difference church denomination within the Assyrian community.
@@mryonan5865 Nope. Not even a bit. That's just modern nationalistic assyrian claim.
Christians in Kerala as well
@philregaz599 So what is the truth, in your view?
I just took a history of Christianity class at university and I’m upset that these kind of accounts weren’t presented
I wouldn't trust the political bent of any non STEM university class in the West
Because Assyrian people aren’t in the picture. I’m so sick of tired of explaining this to people. Nestorians are Assyrian people.
They neglect primary sources, the class definitely gave you a watered down and probably half-true depiction of what actually happened and what early Christians believed and did. Best way to learn is by going to the primary source of the ante-nicene writings.
In what picture? @@mryonan5865
I'm guessing because it might actually hint of positive elements towards Christianity which in most university classrooms is going to be either avoided, twisted, or downplayed.
The Nestorian Monks from Syria were Assyrians. Their Church, the Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE) still exist to this day
This script is in Aramaic, the script of the language Jesus spoke
@@kevinwahl5610 Wow.
@@sunnyboy4553 we mostly live in diaspora in the west but many are perserving the language and traditions.
@@kevinwahl5610 actually Jesus aramaic was Galilean Aramaic. Written in jewish alphabets. Also an extict dialect of aramaic. Different from classical or modern aramic dialects.
@@melissalisaandrean6803 k
"It’s principals will survive when the framework is forgotten"
Dude was prophetic.
I don’t get this quote can someone explain? 🙏🏻
@@user-vx8mh4iy9c In other words, when the religion is dying/dead, it's values and doctrines will persist through the culture, even if there are no practitioners. Most things you know as "moral" (if you are a Westerner) stem from Christian doctrine, even if you are an atheist/agnostic.
@Mullerornis You assume too much, I'm not Christian. And yes, of course many Western morals and legal concepts have their origins and Greece and Rome, as do they in places in Europe, but outside those regions (i.e. the Germans and such), but you have to be delusional to deny that the relatively unified code Europe had by the time the world was being explored came from the adoption of Christianity and practicing it's doctrine. The moral code you have seen from the past many centuries was not the same moral code the Romans, or Germans, or Celts, etc. used ~2000 years ago.
For _better or worse_ Christianity shaped European moral code, and to suggest it had no impact is delusional. Or are you one of those people who just hates Christcuckery and tries everything in their power to diminish the role it's played?
Except that those words were incorrect.
@@DrewPicklesTheDark I'm pretty sure Romans/Greeks/Celts and cultures outside of Europe had laws against stealing or murdering. Or do you have more examples of morals the Christians 'invented'?
Sure, stories like 'The Good Samaritan' amplified feelings of compassion, but it's not unique to Christians to feel empathy.
Love this description. It sounds impossibly epic.
Ancient chinese literature is always so grand in nature. I love it
You should learn classical Chinese. You'll love it. Classical Chinese literature either sounds epic... Or it gets forgotten...
Literally... (Ha!)
Because emperors commission literati to compose anthologies (like an ancient Chinese "curriculum") against which all aspiring Imperial Employees are to be graded for their familiarity and their application of this highly poetic tongue.
The result was that the Chinese bureaucracy was filled to the brim with highly eloquent, but not necessarily very practical men. Just imagine if all government ministers were academics. The results might not be ideal, actually.
Plato's theory that a utopia can be created the day philosophers become kings and kings become philosophers kinda break down with Communist history.
It's still a very interesting rabbit hole to explore. But it's a bit of a hellish rabbit hole to be stuck down. The Queen in "Through the Looking Glass", for example, wasn't necessarily the most beneficial ruler for her Kingdom (Queendom?), in spite of her wide ranging knowledge and profuse use of language.
The other issue is that the poetic licence Chinese in high positions employ can make comprehension difficult. This can make them hard to work with. It can also make them unapproachable if your language skills is not up to scratch, which, let's face it, in an agrarian society like China, would be pretty much the majority of the population.
To leave so much of the population in the dark about political discourse is... Probably a mistake. Democracy is hard work, but the necessity of engaging with the public means the PR skills of politicians from democratic countries can run circles around the far more crude propaganda of authoritarian regimes.
But I digress...
The Nestorians still exist as The Assyrian Church of the East
Aren't they also found among the: Chaldean, Maronite, and Syro-Malabar; traditions?
I think they have a Qurbana rubric that they claim he wrote.
@@TeeComedian Nestorian theology and christology is pretty much only found in the Assyrian Church of the East. From the churches you mention, Maronites are Catholics, the Chaldean Catholic Church split from the Assyrian Church to join the Catholics, and the Syro-Malabar tradition is also Catholic. All of these use Syriac liturgy though.
@@theokra wait so do the East Syriac Catholics both: reject his arguments, and condem him as a heretic; but still use his Qurbana rubric? (I've seen a Mar Nestorius Qurbana section in a service guide book before and have wondered since)
Any thoughts on the claim that he was misunderstood?
@@TeeComedian Sorry I've never heard of the Qurbana rubric, and I can't find much from a quick google search.
However I can say that the Oriental Catholics (Maronites, Chaldeans, Syro-Malabari, etc) do condemn the teachings of Nestorius as they have to adhere to Catholic doctrine. Pretty much the only thing they have in common with the Nestorian Assyrian Church of the East is the use of Syriac and the Peshitta (Syriac version of the Bible)
@@theokra understood, thank you for what you've given me.
This is something I'll look into a little deeper.
To understand our future we must know our past. My 10 year old daughter listens to your videos. Your passion shall be passed on. Thank-you 👍
The Chinese-style breakdown of Christianity and its workings is so eloquent that, even as I watched, I was trying in my mind to compose my own, more elaborate exposition in the same tone.
It’s not only about the wording, Confucianism is such a calming and humane principle that is too often overlooked
It's probably because Chinese is a language of stringing ideas shaped in the form of characters.
Pascal Baryamo oppression of women as a class isn't so humane, but the rest is good. Everyone was doing the enslaving women thing after the Bronze Age though.
@@mistressofstones right, I guess men didn’t think about that at all back then. But the idea itself can be adjusted
@@joshg8053 yes u right, it's up to the creativity of the translator to make the sentence appear so eloquently, I was studying Japanese and need to translate one long sentence full of kanji without even single one kana letter, I need to even add some new words to make the translated sentence making sense
I’m a Syriac Christian and I can read parts of the Syriac script presented ( probably not understand it because of the dialect differences ). There’s a Syriac presence in a lot of churches including the Celtic orthodox, Indian orthodox, Maronite Catholics, and in this context Chinese Christian’s.
Syriac Christians are super cool.
Too bad not prone to proselytizing and evangelizing in the modern day. ( Feel free to Prove me wrong if I'm wrong)
This missionary certainly doesn't seem Nestorian in his theology. People often forget that the Church of Syria had a problem with nestorianism, but it wasn't fully Nestorian. St. Isaac the Syrian is an example of a properly Orthodox Syrian of his time. Regarding this stele, the writer states that God became man, and that the Virgin Mary gave birth to God, however, Nestorianism is distinguished because it actually REJECTED these two basic tenets. Nestorius disapproved of calling Mary the "Mother of God" and claimed that the human person, Jesus, was a seperate mortal, human person from The Logos, which merely inhabited him.
So, Nestorians were heretics?
@@myaccount4699 Yes, they were condemned at the council of Ephesus and then Chalcedon.
They then fled to Persia wherein the Persian government patronized the Nestorian heretics within the Persian Church. The goal was political for the Persian government, because when the Persian Church embraced Nestorianism (due to the Persian government) they declared themselves completely independent from the rest of the Church, which supported the Romans: the enemy of Persia.
The goal was to ensure that Persian Christians wouldn't be Roman Sympathizers.
Interesting....
The Logos and human nature of Christ isn't separate however. Jesus didn't have 2 different personalities but one personality and one soul. It's God voluntarily limiting his divinity by allowing himself to experience human nature.
Not all Christians of the Church of the East were Nestorian, that's a misnomer.
Even the conception of Nestorius being heretical might be a misnomer as well.
Part of Nestorian Church reestablished communion with Rome in 1500s, it's now known as Chaldean Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The main Nestorian Church though, is now known as Assyrian Church of the East.
As I understand it, both those churches, while descended from the Nestorian Church of the East, to Nestorius, condemn Nestorianism and would scoff at being called Nestorian
@@folofus4815 No. There was no Nestorianism to condemn as this church existed and showed distinctness before Nestorius and merely sided with him. The non-Roman Catholic group recognizes Nestorius as a father. The Roman Catholics replaced his name in places and removed other things, thought correctly or incorrectly to have been taught by him, which is Nestorianism. But since the church predates Nestorius, they still have much in common.
@@folofus4815 The Church was never Nestorian in theology, it is just called nestorian because that is where the Nestorian a famous heretic ran to.
It was always the Church of the East.
It is very sad they accepted communion with the idolaters of Rome.
@@ikengaspirit3063 He didn't run to the Church of the East. He resigned himself to exile.
About six hundred years later, some of Gengis Khan's conquering generals who were part of his inner circle were Nestorian Christian.
Hulagu Khan and Batu Khan would wage crusades and jihads against each other after the fall of the Mongol Empire. Quite sad.
Nothiing like Christianity pairing up with the butcher of humanity , Jesus would have wanted it that way. .
@@onlygknows7793 Seethe.
Kublai's mother was a Nestorian Christian.
And many of their physicians, and wives were Chinese Nestorians too.
Classical Chinese art is quite comfy.
It has always fascinated me
While medieval art is... interesting
I liked to play with snails as a child
@@lyrisio I think both can have a similar effect on the viewer; particularly in instilling a sense of mortality and transience. Western Medieval art tends to be much more explicit though.
@@copperlemon1 tbh I don't know what's the meaning behind the big snail
@@lyrisio Yeah, that stuff is a real headscratcher.
"He rendered virtue subservient to direct faith." The revolutionary principle of the Gospel so easily forgotten.
Fascinating! The style of this text is definitely something else.
Other than what? What you are used to?
@@je-freenorman7787 everything is so vulgar and decadent these days
@@esotericulmanist8331 Do vulgar and decadent go together like peas and carrots?
Its all religion then.
The rulers use religion to steal :
A- Your perceptions
B- Your identity
C- Your authority
Religion "IS" the problem
@@esotericulmanist8331 We always ask:
Who are we
What are we
Where are we
@@esotericulmanist8331 I need a Government to take care of some people that are offending me and trying to make me sick
It is important to note that although *Syria* is often mentioned in the inscriptions, it is only describing the *origins of the Nestorians* .
What we can't ignore is the Chinese characters on the title of this stone tablet"大秦景教流行中國碑"( *A monument to the spread of Roman Christian Nestorianism in Middle Kingdom* )
Because 大秦/ *Da Chin* refers to *Rome* in ancient China.
Not really accurate to call them Nestorians, Nestorian isn't synonymous with the Syrian Church. The Nestorians were a group of heretics who believed that the human of Jesus was separate from the spirit of the Logos, which merely inhabited Christ's body. The Nestorians became prominent in Mesopotamia because they were promoted by the Persians so that Christians in their Empire wouldn't have sympathies to the Church in Rome(a case against the Chinese Church being Nestorian can be made from the Monks who founded it claiming to be from Syria, which wasn't Nestorian). The Christians in China seem to have held to the original doctrine of Christ being truly both God and man, and also referred to Mary as the Mother of God, which is something Nestorians didn't do, since they believed Jesus was just a man inhabited by God, and was not himself Divine.
All roads lead to Rome
The Roman Empire never fell
They converted everyone and today, every government is Roman
That is the big Scam
They Marginalize people and steal their identity
@@jackwalters5506 it’s entirely possible that the Chinese flavor of Christianity was simply the best that eastern missionaries could do to adapt the Nestorian theology to the Chinese framework.
Also, for quite a while, they were commonly referred to as the Persian Religion because many of the Nestorian priests were Persians. It took awhile for them to get their correct name Da Chin across to indicate that the origin of their faith came from within the Roman Empire, not Persia.
@@jackwalters5506 @Jack Walters I'm sorry I have to disagree with you. I'm assyrian and belong to that church that you're referring to it as Nestorian as this video is doing so... the people of this church do not refer to themselves as nestorians...It's called the church of the east and we believe that jesus is both God and human and is son of God and not just a human inhibited by divine.
This reminds me of the book “Christ: The Eternal Dao”
Very interesting book if anyone wanted to read
I finally met Abbott Damascene last week.
@Read Father Seraphim Rose There have been some delays, they’re looking at sometime in 2022. No exact date given in my email correspondence with the brotherhood
What means Dao?
Jesus is the Eternal God and Life.😏✝
Dao= "the divine principal through which all things came into existence" So the Bible translators translated "logos" from the Greek into the word "Dao" in John 1 "In the beginning was the Dao and the Dao was with God and the Dao was God."
@@skymanblank6243 🤗 Thank you so much for the info.
God the LORD Jesus the CHRIST bless you and your loved ones, Amen.🤝✝
This is so amazing! As both a lover of history and cultures and a devout religious Roman Catholic, hearing things like these encounters and crossovers of cultures, faiths, peoples and traditions and the Tang dynasty Chinese warmly accepting our faith is such an awesome and wholesome moment. If only history across the ages and civilizations was something like this.
Messiach in Hebrew, Messias in Latin, Messiah in English all sounds almost alike. So who added christ/ Christianity/ Christian unless you starting a new religion Rome beliefs with bible beliefs you get a new religion Christianity.
@@hugoramirez7510 they were first called Christians at Antioch. Christos is Greek for “Anointed One”, therefor Christ. The early Church wrote in Greek in the East.
Hi there,
If you do not mind me sharing, the Sabbath, "..from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Lev 23:32 (KJV) which is sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, was "sanctified" or "קָדַשׁ" which means to 'set apart for holy use' Gen 2:3 "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it..." (KJV), and thus Adam and Eve kept it holy. Sin is defined as transgressing or breaking any of the 10 commandments as per 1 Jo 3:4 "..sin is the transgression of the law." (KJV). So, when Satan had sinned, he actually broke the 10 commandments for indeed angels also have to keep them in heaven Psa 103:20 "Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments..."(KJV). Infact, the saints, described as those that "..keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Rev 14:12, KJV), will keep the 10 Commandments when the new heavens and a new earth are created including keeping the Sabbath holy by e.g gathering to worship the LORD as per:
Isa 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make...it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." (KJV).
Heb 4:9 "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (KJV); The word 'rest' is translated from the Greek word 'σαββατισμός'
(Sabbatismos) - A Sabbath, Rest. The 7th day Sabbath still stands active today for all GOD'S people to observe.
I highly encourage to do a study on this, if in disagreement, so as not to 'end up coming short in the end' (if above the age of accountability) as per:
Heb 4:1 "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." (KJV).
Exo 20:8 "Remember..." (KJV).
Please have a look at this video (GOD'S Law vs Moses' law) ruclips.net/video/BULfeo9xjU4/видео.html
Soon Fulfilled Prophecy :
1. Food shortage will lead to a civil war in America.
2. Climate change will lead to Sun-day laws.
Helpful websites:
1. www.remnantofGOD.org
2. www.pluckedout.co.uk
GOD Bless
💙💙💙
They are the Nestorian who are the Anna Baptism vladwas , waldengons , hugannot , etc. Which your evil Roman Catholic Cult brutally kill through Dark age Inquisition.
The late Christopher Dawson wrote a book Journey to Asia about the Franciscans in the 12th century and were greeted by different groups, making their route to China was written in the 1955 I believe from original documents and a Abi in England I believe is called Stanford Abbey by a sister, fascinating reading, and from what I do recall mind you I read this book 10 years ago. One of the monks came back with them and celebrated a mass in a chapel, I don’t know if it was the Vatican that I don’t recall, but they were Nestorian. I found it quite interesting myself and I am traditional Catholic. God bless. And without these Franciscans, or anyone else, we would not have this information that would’ve disappeared into oblivion.
It’s so cool to hear these concepts translated in a different way.
Fast forward 1400 years later, Assyrians are still spreading Christianity and still facing genocide and prosecution. Thank you God for giving me the honour of being Assyrian ❤️
As a man who has found Christianity very recently, I have found myself watching Assyrians almost everyday. PBD podcast, Mar Mari Emmanuel, Sam Shamoun, and one other I can't think of his name. They were genocided in the East but luckily they have found a good home in the West. Unfortunately they have also seen how far their brothers in the West have fallen in our faith, but they are on RUclips and in churches fighting for Christ in the West.
Classical Chinese just did everything the best, including summaries Christianity. Emperor Taizong also had Mosks built. He welcomed a Buddhist Monk back from India with the Sutras which were translated into Chinese. Taizong saw himself as a descendant of Lao Zi (founder of Taoism.) He is regarded as the greatest Emperor in Chinese history.
I feel like it would be incredibly useful to use a Daoist perspective when creating governmental doctrine even today.
The government should only focus on things it needs to: The wellbeing of the nation’s infrastructure, military, political institutions and education. It has no right to get involved with personal livelihood; unless a crime is committed.
"Classical Chinese just did everything the best..." Listen here, China and chinese people have to stop with this OBSESSION about being "The Best" on everything... it's impossible for anyone to be PERFECT on all areas, it's humanly impossible. I'm learning a lot of new stuff from the Bible and I'm currently studying this relationship between "3 peoples of earth" which are the Shemites, the Hamites and the Jephites (China would be classified as Hamites, the "technically and phisically proficient" of the world, let's put it this way) This new modern obsession with China being "the best" on all fronts is what is going to bring ruin to China, no culture in the world is supposed to be dominating over others like that. So yeah, it's pretty impressive that China did all this, it's one of their many feats, but try stopping with this mentality of competition, it's useless and brings nothing of actual value to the world. Cooperation is a must.
As a Catholic this is a beautiful description of Christianity
So amazingly described, I scarcely recognize it!!!
Yes, T Hamil, but they didn't believe what your evil, disgusting religion preaches. Thank god! I can't wait until the pope and the Vatican are destroyed.
@@timothymatthews6458 I will pray for you
@@timothymatthews6458 Thank God I don't believe what you preach either
@@timothymatthews6458 Are you talking about the child-rapes and native-massacres and cover-ups committed by Catholic Churches taking money from various Colonial States and following Paul's cultic advice about keeping secretes to paint your religious associations in a better light to the often more unaware outsiders? Or some neofundamentalist King James of England bibliolatry garbage?
Their interpretation is very interesting, a lot of commenters have pointed out the bit about "it's principles will be remembered long after it's framework is forgotten" as the best section, and very predictive too.
I love the peaceful, educated, in-depth, professional, respectful, good, documentary feeling and atmosphere of this video and its narrator 🐇
''...introducing life and destroying death.'' Chills. 8:59 - 9:02.
5:20
Interesting the Christian refusal of slavery was witnessed by the Han as early as the 7th CE
Then in the 15th century, Europeans who believed in Christianity frantically sold slaves from Africa to America
@@mrpickle9118 And then in the 21st century Africa is the most increasingly Christian continent on the planet, go figure
“It’s principles will survive when the framework is forgotten” Spot on
Very well done. Love the translation and the reading voice.
Thanks!
This is now one of my favorite RUclips videos. Thank you.
Garbage
Its not real
@@je-freenorman7787 You’re not real!
It's actually pretty nice how being so far prior to globalisation that civilisations would be open to ideas from faraway lands
Christianity was the first globalisation.
I feel like globalization makes us more isolated.
Oh no. This is only the good side of religious history in China.
Whilst I can’t find much regarding Christian (or any abrahamic religion)‘s persecution other than during the modern age. Buddhism has been subject to several attacks, same with other religions like Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by the same emperor (Wuzong of Tang).
I wonder if they had any idea that Syria was in the midst of being conquered by the first caliphate. The Tang would fight the Abbasids about over a 100 years later.
And that event blocked Tang dinasty expansion westward and entrusted much of central Asia to the Abbasids!
@@giacomosimonin212 yeahp, the deserts were too much
They actually fought the Umayyads once as well.
@@giacomosimonin212 The war had little impact. After that, several local wars were won in Central Asia, mainly because of the an Shi rebellion, which seriously affected the national order and population
as Assyria Christian of the same church, loved the video about the less know history of Christianity in china
they must have been really good missionaires back then because the emperor seemed really impressed right away
Some of the wise men came from China
Many Chinese emperors are very entertained by novelties such as foreign religions. Later emperors were also fascinated by Islam.
You don't know Chinese people, allowing missionary work does not mean you have converted to Christianity. The state religion of the Tang Dynasty was Taoism. Although many people embraced Buddhism, in China, the emperor always had more power than religion. For example, the CPC now controls Tibetan Buddhism. This is a Chinese tradition. The Qing Dynasty emperor used Tibetan Buddhism to control Mongolia and Tibet.
@@郭龙飞-d4cI don't think he said they had converted. Just that they were impressed.
These videos are great. Keep it up
Always fun coming across you in the comments, Reyna! 👋 You should do a cross-over 😎
early and middle christian spread is fascinating, especially some the eastern branches, it's interesting to see how their approach to evangelisation difered from most western branches due to mostly lacking the sponsorship of a large and powerful state, nestorian missionaries especially, they put in quite the ammount of legwork
I never thought that the Chinese could write such a beautiful description of another man's religion. I must say I'm quite touched by such insight.
It’s not another man’s religion. It’s the way home for all humankind. Salvation for all. It’s not a religion but Truth, which is why it resonates in every humble heart and inspires true worship to the One True God. A pattern of holistic healing that man enters into and becomes by grace, what God is by nature.
@@EOShorts Well that man doesn't believe in....whatever wishy-washy nonsense you're saying. And it is a religion. Because religion is Latin for religio for the worship of divinity.
@@MontChevalier Yes religio, meaning to bind together, to re-member, to bind together the scattered members into unity within the Body of Christ. I mean it is not a religion in the sense that it’s an option amongst many. I mean that it’s the perfect Union of Heaven and Earth which manifests as a pattern of living, a liturgical lifestyle that a person enters into. It’s not a subjective reality but literally Thee Reality. In that sense it is not “one man’s religion”, but mankinds purpose. That is why the Chinese didn’t simply adopt a teaching, but understood it as ultimate meaning, and therefor worshipped Christ as the way. It sounds wishy washy but it’s not. It’s just beautiful
@@EOShorts I'd call Confucianism more of a culture than a religion. And you seem to have a very narrow definition of religion.
It's great that you're enthusiastic about your religion, but not everyone shares that notion. And even if someone does join the body of Christ, how do you know if it's following the correct christological approach when there's already so many Christian groups that have either excommunicated each other, considered heretical or even deemed unfit as part of the body of Christ, like the Arrians and Gnostics?
@@MontChevalier I confess the creed of the One Holy and Catholic Apostolic Church. I am certainly careful to point a damning finger. Referring to Christianity (Orthodox Christianity) as Reality isn’t really narrow, since it necessarily includes the entire cosmos. But I see what you are saying. I am not good at debating these kinds of things, I’m better at staying a little removed and keeping more quiet. I always regret leaving comments! I never really know what I am saying! 😂
This was super touching and informative thanks so much.
This is beautiful. Thank you for posting this piece of religious history. Fills important gaps.
How amazing! I had no idea that China was touched by Christianity this early. It is powerful to hear the praises of the Chinese
emperor toward Jesus and his recognition of the truth and beauty of the Christian faith. I hope that many modern Chinese
will learn about this and be drawn to Christ.
There's a lot of Christian Churches in China even a big Catholic Church somewhere in Southern part of China and a Black priest was the one presiding there...Even Western Media said that Chrianity in China was becoming bigger and I would say the Western Churches was on the decline...The Chrianity in China was SOLELY on the teachings of God IN WESTERN CHURCHES they mixed with Politics even here in my country they do that it's Disheartening...
@methodius--9405dao shi not God
You do not understand Chinese people, allowing missionary work does not mean that you have converted to Christianity. The national religion of the Tang Dynasty was Taoism. Although many people believe in Buddhism, in China, the emperor always has more power than religion. For example, the CPC now controls Tibetan Buddhism. This is a Chinese tradition. The Qing emperors used Tibetan Buddhism to control Mongolia and Tibet. Chinese emperors generally remain curious and knowledgeable about foreign religions, but they do not truly believe in them and only use them. The Huihe people once believed in Christian Nestorianism, and the Tang Dynasty had a good relationship with the Huihe people, so they favored Christian Nestorianism. However, after the downfall of the Huihe people, Christian Nestorianism was completely eliminated.
As a Chinese Christian, I think Christianity's teachings is very similar to Confucianism and Daoism, it holds similar value and does not contradict one another.
Even in my country Indonesia where 90% of the population is Islam, the Chinese minority mostly convert to Christianity instead of Islam. It is much easier for Chinese to accept Christianity and Judasim compared to Islam or Hindu.
Its principles will survive when the framework is forgotten! How true! How utterly beautiful!
It is interesting to see Jesus like a cross between a Buddha and a guy with a goatee.
The priest were actually from Assyria not Syria. They were from Sassanian controlled Assyria/Mesopotamia not Byzantine as the Nestorian churches were seen as heretical in Constantinople and which in turn meant that they weren’t oppressed by the Persians the enemies of Rome who became suspicious of Christianity after the Romans adopted it
Syria was a generic term for the Levant.
I'm pretty sure there are writings from these Christians who refered to Christ as God and Mary as the Mother of God, both things which explicitly violate Nestorian teachings
@@jackwalters5506
Exactly. The first several centuries of Christianity were crowded with different claims. It is doubtful that anyone was purely one thing or another.
@@jackwalters5506 The non-theological part of this monument, which was not read, explicitly shows the Nestorian origin. As for those teachings being contrary to theirs, that is an obsolete/propagandized view. Nestorian writings clearly do refer to Christ as "our God". Nestorians believed that referring to Mary as the mother of God was a post-Biblical innovation, not a heresy per se.
Technically, the Romans did not adopt Christianity, they created it, then forced people to follow it.
There were other proto christian cultures that were also Polytheistic. Early Norse culture was Proto-Christian also
That may have been the single most Beautiful recounting of the creation story that I ever heard.
The "three constant principles" may perhaps mean faith, hope, and charity.
More likely a reference to father , son and the holy spirit. Faith hope and charity sounds more modern although i may be wrong.
@Lucas De Araújo Marques you have to remember the Chinese Nestorians seem to of misunderstood alot about the religion, it wasnt Catholic. I stand by it more likely being a reference to Father , Son and Holy spirit. Then again i may be wrong.
@@Hail_Full_of_Grace
Faith, hope, and love are mentioned in that order as the three "things that remain" in 1 Corinthians 13.
The chapter is often quoted at weddings. That may be why it sounds modern to you.
@@aspektx The Catholic Church and I believe some other translations used by the Orthodox Church read that verse as "Faith, hope, and charity." Replacing "charity" with "love" is in translations used predominantly by American Protestants.
1 Corinthians 13:13?
" it's principles will survive even when.the framework is forgotten "
There's a lot of atheist writers that recognise.this . Historian Tom Holland and author Duglass.murray for example ..both say things like " we are all Christians we still think Christian thoughts.and dream Christiam.dreams."
Some atheists have even adopted labels.such as " Atheist Christian.".
Very true. I do find it a little weird how some militant atheists want to do away with everything Christian in the west due to it being immoral to them. But then use a predominantly Christian based morality system to criticize it.
In one of my classes on Catholicism in University, we talked about how some people leave Catholicism (or Christianity all together) but continue to think like Christians. I noted that it's similar to Atheist Jews. Part of the faith remains in them.
Preserving this history, all history, and not letting it be colored by modern beliefs and preconceptions is incredibly important work. How many people who watched this, for example, would know without this, that China had a deep connection to early Christianity? Mostly, you think of Buddhism, when thinking of ancient China, right? I know I did, at least. Not exactly a scholar of Chinese history am I, though. I only became interested in Chinese history and culture a few years ago and really enjoy learning about it. I love history in general, though. There's just not enough time in the day to study it.
Point is, thanks for simply letting the voices of history itself, speak for themselves once again in this form.
Jesus loves you.
I agree. I have a history degree and I am often dissappinted in modern historical works. The authors rarely present the historical texts in a straightforward way. Modern historians are taught to quilt together fragments of history in order to construct whatever narrative, thesis, or hot take they are interested in. But this channel offers no commentary, they simply let these documents speak for themselves.
wow, this is amazing, thank you so much for sharing.
Amazing, I love how much noble is their presentation
Syriac and Chaldean/Assyrian churches exist to this day in Kerala,South India.
As a Christian I found this extremely interesting.
“Its principles will survive when the framework is forgotten”
Beautiful text, good choice IMHO, thank you for making video.
I actually really like hearing how the Ancient Chinese interpreted the bible.
Praise Jesus!
Jesus was not real
Christianity is Satanic
@@je-freenorman7787 the irony of you calling Christianity Satanic
@@nichy7734 There is no Irony
Unless you consider that Iron is highly magnetic. lol
Satan is the Father of religion.
Some call it the deceiver.
El, Allah and Jehovah are names for the God of Many Names, who is Satan
Nobody ever even checks if it's their god and it is.
@@nichy7734 I am bound to the Truth and I always let go of beliefs
Believers are the target of the religious Satanic Magic in the Bible
@@nichy7734 The word Satanic means Diabolical and Evil. In English.
In spanish, Diabolo means the Devil
This was so meditative just to listen to.
This is very interesting, especially since the use of sacrifices mentioned right next to the use of the cross as a symbol seems to indicate it as a symbol in use by pre-Passion Christians, showing it has even deeper meaning than just being a symbol of Christ's sacrifice.
Magnificent presentation! Beautifully crafted.
"He rendered virtue subservient to direct faith."
That was amazing and perhaps the most beautiful thing i have ever heard!:-) Thank you. 🙏🖖
and wrong
Another Informative and expertly crafted video with beautiful images and background music. Thank you.
Thank you you just helped me so much.
Great video. Thank you. 😍🙏
Very cool, thanks for the video.
I wish we could learn the truth
This is wonderful. I have never heard of this great rich history before. Many thanks ✨❤️🔥🙏🏼
True Real Christianity is a beautiful thing.
Magellan TV is legit btw
Is it respectful of the faith ? I hesitate because I don’t want to pay for a service that talks about a religion like it’s Aesop’s fables
@@DanteD84 not really. Still abunch of other really good documentaries. I’ve got my $6.99 a month worth for sure.
Regular Tv and movies are a nightmare these days..
@@risinglogosbear1208 I appreciate you yelling me, I don’t think I’ll get it but it’s cool you have it
Amazing video as usual. Thanks for posting it.
Wow! Never heard of this till today. Thanks for sharing :D
man, I love the auto-captions. "when the Joe dynasty declined..."
haha
whos joe
Cue Joe Biden dozing off during the climate summit.
“Its principles will survive even when the framework is forgotten.”
Really describes post-Enlightenment western society quite well.
It's true, Christianity spread far and wide in ancient times, not just to the West, but also to the East. The religion thrived in China until the great religious persecution of 845 (when the Nestorian stele was buried, and remained hidden for centuries). From then on, Christianity would wax and wane, gaining more influence in the medieval era, then being suppressed again during the Ming. By the Early Modern period, Christianity in China largely came from the influence of Jesuit missionaries (as opposed to the ancient Church of the East, which had lost influence by then). It began to thrive again, until the Chinese Rites controversy, one of the most underrated events in history. Christianity exists in China today, but it hasn't really made a comeback.
It has made a comeback because Christianity is on the rise in China.
christianity not china
@@郭龙飞-d4cit is, communism isnt china. Those scum destroyed their own history and they are traitors to their own people. Like all communists are, stalin and mao killed 50+ million people. They hated their own, and destroyed Chinese history like this..
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful video.
I found it very interesting that the chinese understood that the principles christianity are universal to all of mankind something that saddly often at times was forgotten in history leading to
persecution of other cultures. I have always considered myself more of a deist but I can still see some Value in this type of practice
Religious persecution occurred in China just as anywhere else.
The Tang dynasty was exceptionally open-minded towards foreign cultures, religion and goods. One also needs to remember that Buddhism was already known in China a then and certainly to the scholars advising the emperor on all things religious. At first glance basic principles of Christianity and Buddhism look fairly similar. And keep in mind that this is the Nestorian church, NOT catholic orthodoxy or evangelism as you know it today. Nestorianism had a bit of gnostic influence left, which made it more similar to Buddhism than todays Christianity.
Not quite. These principals you speak of are innate in homosapiens. If we are lucky, the popular religions will borrow some of these and not twist them into something vile. If we are not lucky, you get Christianity and Islam. Between these two, you are permitted to commit slavery, genocide and ethnic cleansing (amalekites, catholic church support of Hitler, genocide in Central African Republic, Joseph Kony, genocide of Aztec and Mayan natives and erasing of their culture, etc.), you are allowed to defraud people (sale of indulgences, propserity gospel televangelist), you are allowed human sacrifice and scapegoating to wash away your sins (Jesus), you are allowed chain all females and treat them as property not unlike chattle (welcome to Islamic theocracy), you are allowed to be antisemitic, anti-islamic, anti-insert-religion-here (catholic church, crusades, jihad, stealing land for the chosen people). I'll stop here but I can name many others and don't be so sure I can't. All these things a sane secular person will abhor.
@@LaplacianFourier lol. Just because someone who says they are Christian does something bad doesnt mean the religion itself is bad. Eg. Conquistadors.
The catholic church alone did save like 700,000 Jews it is estimated. Christianity is not anti semitic nor is it anti islamic, islam didnt even exist during the time of Christ.
Saying human sacrifice is encouraged because of Jesus is actually hilarious in how wrong it is. Your only point that made any sense is regarding slavery. All i can say is that if Jesus told slaves to rise up, it would only have led to a lot of death, especially of the slaves most likely.
@@LaplacianFourier you’re taking the actions of people who claim to be Christian and writing off the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. That’s very Irresponsible of a student of history. Read what the founder of the faiths said not what “followers” did hundreds of years later.
I was told the Celtic cross represents the four cardinal points, as I'm Scots. I wonder if they didn't tell the Chinese what the Christian cross represents, as he says it represents the four cardinal points?
@@HAYAOLEONE - I know, I just stated we have Celtic crosses in Scotland that predate Christianity and many other cultures use them also. The point is that he says Christians told him they use the cross as it represents the four cardinal points; north, south, east and west. He doesn't mention Christians told him Jesus was nailed to a cross. It sounds to me like he wasn't told this and I can see why they might not tell him. If you are explaining the philosophy to another culture and then tell him you tortured and murdered the guy in your culture it would probably be a little shocking.
@@HAYAOLEONE - I was simply suggesting a reason why the Chinese fella said they used the cross as a symbol to represent north, south, east and west and doesn't say it represents the way Jesus died. So I suggested that perhaps they did not tell him this when first explaining Christianity. If they did tell him why didn't he mention it and said the cross represents north, south, east and west?
At first, Christians used a fish and replaced it with the cross perhaps because there were already crosses in the pagan religions of Europe and they used lots of pagan traditions in Christianity. Most of the Christian dates are actually pagan holidays. Romans were trying to replace pagan religions with Christianity by the sword and so it helped to incorporate pagan beliefs in the new state religion.
The Romans murdered all the priests to enforce Christianity in Britain and so we don't know much about our pre-Roman religions. Christianity was spread through torture and murder across the world of course.
@@AnyoneCanSee where do you get your info? I want to read up on your sources...
You should consider that people have always hated the truth. Christianity is the truth... So, you claim that torture and murder spread Christianity to the world.
Problem is, the people who murder and torture were not Christians, they were doing bad things to try to ruin Christianity. Lets take the recent truth to come out of Canada lately.
Fake nuns and priests, who were actually secret agents for a nazi regime. They had a goal. Take possession of the land to exploit its resources. Establish a system of control.
Their goal from the start was to simultaneously eliminate all the indigenous people, and by using Christianity as an excuse, they expected to destroy Christianity.
Like, we are supposed to be mad, today. And burn down all the churches and abandon religion and give all out money and worship to governments and science...
Too bad for them, Truth is stronger. Even after all of it, the indigens just embrace Christianity and already believe in the one Creator God in Heaven.
The cross does not have an exact meaning to Christians. Jesus said we should take up our cross and follow him. This is why Christians started to carry a cross, or wear a cross pendant. It also points to the four directions that the Gospel is spread, as well as the direction that people are coming to the cross. There are more mysterious things the cross represents too but I dont want to spoil it for the children.
About Christianity taking things from the pagans, like symbols, festivals... IF you understand the Truth, you know God did all of this. God scattered and confused us, and put gods, lesser gods, in charge of the divided nations. As temporary caretakers. Until one day God would start to reunite us all... This is why all religions and all corners of the world already have similar things. Because we were originally all together.... and everyone had bits and pieces of the same puzzle.
In the earliest examples of Christian art, the cross is not used. The divinity of Christ and his ascension were stressed more. Obviously, the fact of His sacrificial death was important, it just wasn't presented in art. The cross was not even an important Christian symbol for a few centuries. Instead there were epigrams of Christ's name and iconic images of Christ Himself. Contemplation of the suffering and torturous death of Christ didn't become popular until later and took off to rather extreme degrees during the Middle Ages.
I only point this out to say by way of example that, just because the Crucifixion isn't mentioned, doesn't mean he was unaware of it. It was likely that the early Chinese Christians simply stressed a different symbolism, as the early Western church had before them. Of course, it's not impossible that the cruel death of Jesus was so far outside what the culture expected of its sages, that it was actually suppressed, but that is not necessarily the case. The description of the ministry of Jesus as put forward here might give credence to the notion, however, as it seems to portray His mission more as one of knowledge and enlightenment or restoring lost wisdom than one of self-sacrifice. We will probably never know this side of eternity.
@@voidremoved - Firstly, “Take up your cross and follow Me” meant being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. 2000 years ago a cross meant one thing. The modern interpretation of "having a cross to bear," is not what he meant. You can easily Google this fact. The cross in Christianity represents that Jesus died on a cross for people's sins. Any other meaning has been given to it over the years or, as I said, taken from pagan beliefs like many things in Christianity concluding the birthdate of Jesus.
Secondly, stop saying "truth". There is ZERO evidence that your beliefs are "truth" and substantial evidence they are not. You sound like a child when you just declare your magical beliefs to be proven fact. The Bible claims we were created 6000 years ago from clay and a rib, is that "truth?" No it is not, we know for a fact we evolved. So the Bible is wrong about when and how humans came into being. That's a pretty big thing as you claim your god created us when he didn't. There is no evidence for heaven or hell. So stop saying "truth."
Next, you need to learn about the history of Christianity. The Romans killed the Pagans and destroyed their religions by the sword and this is how Christianity was spread across Europe. Then the Holy Roman Empire and conquistadors spread it throughout the world. They murder and enslaved everyone they came across in the new world forcing them into Christianity. The African slaves were forced into Christianity. Have you never heard of the Spanish inquisition? Saying they were not real Christians is utter nonsense as they were in league with the Catholic Church. South America was given half to Portugal and half to Spain by the Roman Catholic Church. This is why the countries ad shaped like that stand Portuguese and Spanish languages and one either side.
You can Google the last stand of the Druids on the island of Anglesey in Britain where they were all murdered. This was how Christianity came to Britain, by the sword. In Spain, you were tortured and murdered if you followed a different religion by the inquisition. As far as the Philippines, named after Philip of Spain by the conquistadors Christianity was spread by conquest as they murdered and enslaved the indigenous people.
Saying "they are not true Christians" is the "no true Scotsman fallacy" - google it if you don't know it. Christians are Christians and you can't claim they were not Christians as they were the ones that spread Christianity and without them, it would not by the main religion on earth.
As for your last point. Don't be ridiculous. The religions of South America and many others had human sacrifice, are you claiming your god did that? There were religions for thousands of years before Christianity with many different gods and rituals, worshipping the sun etc. Christianity took on part of Pagan religions as it made it easier for the Roman to force locals to become Christian. They knew they could control people better if they were all under one religion and that religion was based in Rome. If I wanted to force you to be Muslim I probably wouldn't take away Christmas but add it to Islam as the celebration of the prophet Jesus. This is why Muslims call Jesus a prophet because they were conquering Christian lands. It is just a means of enforcing your will onto local people.
You have a very shallow understanding of the history of Christianity and saying "truth" doesn't make something true. I'd also point out that Islam is clearly overtaking Christianity now. If you counted those that actively participate in their religion Islam is the world's number one religion now. Even in the UK, more Muslims go to a mosque than those that are called Christian go to church.
I didn't know that the early missionaries were in China back then. This is so cool!!!!
Yes, the Assyrian Church of the East (my Church) went as far as China and everywhere between Iraq (our homeland) and China. We still have Churches in India.
@@PaulinesCorner Are there any nestorians left in iraq and i'm not counting chaldean catholics.
You do not understand Chinese people, allowing missionary work does not mean that you have converted to Christianity. The national religion of the Tang Dynasty was Taoism. Although many people believe in Buddhism, in China, the emperor always has more power than religion. For example, the CPC now controls Tibetan Buddhism. This is a Chinese tradition. The Qing emperors used Tibetan Buddhism to control Mongolia and Tibet. Chinese emperors generally remain curious and knowledgeable about foreign religions, but they do not truly believe in them and only use them. The Huihe people once believed in Christian Nestorianism, and the Tang Dynasty had a good relationship with the Huihe people, so they favored Christian Nestorianism. However, after the downfall of the Huihe people, Christian Nestorianism was completely eliminated.
“Its principles will survive when its frame work is forgotten” very side man understood cultural rules vs eternal truths
The emperor seems like a wise man. "Right principles have no invariable name. Holy men have no invariable station. Instruction is the object of benefitting the people at large."
What he's saying is that there is no one universal religion. He's saying chinese religion is not the real truth, and christianity is not the real truth, but the parts of them that matter are the parts that benefit people in their daily lives, so there is room for multiple religions at once. Instead of choosing to fight over whose way is right, he saw the value in embracing all ways.
the initial method of analyzing nestorian doctrine was absolutely excelent, it must be noted that ancient china was filosofically advanced to a level which rivalled the ancient greeks and highest roman thinkers, i believe they actually surpassed them in many ways
Where's the map at 0:34 from? I'd love to see it in full, looks pretty nice and shows the mountain ranges etc pretty well. Much, much easier to read geography wise for me than a more scientific map.
Didn't find it in the image credits etc(though I may just be poor at searching).
Its interesting how open the Tang Dynasty was to accepting new religions and how beautifully they understood Christianity compared to how difficult it proved in Europe (to this day even).
"It's principles will survive when the framework is forgotten"
This quote is so deceptively wise, it's hard to believe it was written 2000 years ago.
This is absolutely fascinating.
So...times kinda change don't they lol. The feeling I get from these Chinese philosophers is that they feel the same way as Kubli Khan felt, that Christianity was a byproduct of civilization but, the Chinese felt it was more unifying for the people than the Khan did.
philosophers? I thought they were barely historians, but modern standards. At least their accounts are 1st person as far as perspective, if not primary sources themselves.