Jesus' brother in India

[Agnideva]

Namaste All,

I believe the Portuguese did have influence on the West coast of India, including Kerala, and Sri Lanka in the 15th and 16th centuries. A lot maybe said about the bloody history of the Portuguese rule of Goa, but that's a whole new thread. As for the influence of the Portuguese in Kerala, I found the following:

Vasco de Gama's second foray into Kerala was tainted with such acts of barbarity that it was said that "…his deeds were blots in the annals of a Christian nation, and a disgrace to the name of humanity.." A succession of Governors, soldiers and priests set about expanding the territories and plundering the lands they conquered.

There was some organised resistance to the Portuguese expansionism, particularly at sea from the Samuthiris of Kozhikode. Notable among the Samuthiri's Admirals is Kunjali Marakkar, still a revered hero in Kerala. He achieved some sort of victory in checking the Portuguese expansionism, but against better weapons, technology and cunning, it was a losing battle.

An interesting sidelight is the Portuguese behaviour towards the thriving community of Christians in Kerala. Tradition has it that these Christians were converted by St.Thomas the Apostle in the 1st Century AD . The Portuguese were a little annoyed that the local Christians were more Hindus in their outlook, culture and traditions and never heard of the Pope in Rome. The famous Synod of Diamper (present day Udayamperoor near 14 Kms from Kochi) in 1599, decreed that all Christians henceforth revert to the Pope in Rome as the Supreme Spiritual head and not the Pontiff at Antioch.

This is the course of time led to a revolt by a section of the Syrian Christians. Legend has it that they took an oath - by tying themselves to a Cross at Kochi on 15 January 1653. This is known as the "Koonan Cross Oath" and is still revered as a turning point among the Syrian Christians who constitute about 23 percent of the population of Kerala. But the Portuguese had some success in proselytising and did manage to convert some communities along the coast to Christianity. They are the Latin Catholics and have become an influential section in Kerala.

Source: http://www.kerala.com/ke_historyeuropean.htm

OM Shanti,
A.

[Silverbackman]

Originally Posted by Agnideva

Namaste All,

I believe the Portuguese did have influence on the West coast of India, including Kerala, and Sri Lanka in the 15th and 16th centuries. A lot maybe said about the bloody history of the Portuguese rule of Goa, but that's a whole new thread. As for the influence of the Portuguese in Kerala, I found the following:



OM Shanti,
A.

Interesting article. I was suprised to see that the local Christians before the Portuguese had a more "Hindu" outlook. I assume they mean that the Christians were more tolerent and believed that all religions are valid. It is no wonder they practiced their faith with probably no bloodshed. My parents have the idea that their way is the only way and many of their beliefs do come from the West and not from what pre-15th century Christians believed (especiaclly considering my mother is Roman Catholic, obviously from Portuguese influence). Unless the whole "Hindu" outlook means something different, does it?

Also does anyone know the original Bible the Syrian Christians used before the Portuguese arrived?

[Agnideva]

Originally Posted by Silver

I was suprised to see that the local Christians before the Portuguese had a more "Hindu" outlook.

I too wonder what this really means. I wonder if the Indian Christians at the time practiced Christianity and elements of Hinduism simultaneously, much like the later converted Goan Christians did, and (some) still do.

Also does anyone know the original Bible the Syrian Christians used before the Portuguese arrived?

I thought it was the Syriac Bible (Peshitta). If I'm not mistaken, it is believed that there were some families that had migrated from Syria in the 4th century to Kerala (that is what makes it Syrian Christianity). Perhaps they had brought with them the Syriac Bible (?). Clearly though, there was no local language bible at the time. Malayalam didn't even exist as a distinct language from Tamil until well into the 13th century, or so I've heard, and the first Malayalam Bible dates to 1841.

Here's something I found:
"The Indian Church had ties with the Persian Churches right from early period. It is assumed that Indian Churches invited Persian priests to teach the Bible. The earliest bibles translated from Greek are found in Syriac. Malayalam did not have bible until recently. So it was necessary to have priests from Syria to reach and explain to the believers. The church administrations were completely controlled by the local elders while the clergy who were brought into the country provided the ecclesiastical services and doctrinal teachings."
Source: http://www.indianchristianity.org/malankara.htm

Somehow I find it hard to believe that the Indian Syrian Christians for so many centuries had continuous contacts with Syria and Persia, but had no contact or knowledge of the Church in Rome until the Portuguese.

[Käthe]

There's an interesting article on this subject on one of the Mar Thoma Church sites:

http://www.marthomasyrianchurch.org/heritage.htm

A dear friend of mine is an ArchBishop in the Mar Thoma Church (Malabar rite), here in California. He tells me that the Portuguese traders who regularly visited the pertinent regions along the coast of India didn't show much interest in what they considered to be the "inferior" and "unelightened' religious practices of the people living there, and basicaly stumbled upon the Mar Thoma Church by accident. Of course, after that happened, they took word back to Rome, and subsequently a batch of Jesuits wer sent to India to bring the Church there into alignment with Rome's decrees and dogma; to "catholicize" the Mar Thoma Church.

Hope that helps.

[inhumility]

Originally Posted by Vajradhara

regarding Jesus in India...

I suggest a thought provoking book, having exactly the title “Jesus in India" that could be accessed at: (moderator edit
There is another interesting website(moderator edit)
Thanks
inhumility
E-mailaarsurrey@yahoo.com

[Vajradhara]

Originally Posted by inhumility

I suggest a thought provoking book, having exactly the title “Jesus in India" that could be accessed at: (moderator edit)
There is another interesting website(moderator edit)
Thanks
inhumility
E-mailaarsurrey@yahoo.com

Namaste inhumility,

thank you for the post.

perhaps you could exerpt a relevant portion of the text for conversation purposes on this forum?

metta,

~v

[cyberpi]

Matthew 12:49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

I submit there is family in every part of the world, in many religions.

[flowperson]

Go to my 6-04 post under Taoism. This link will take you to a text that will tell you everything that you ever wanted to know about Thomas' trip to the Asian subcontinent.

flow....

[bodhi_mindisfree]

This might not relate here too much, but the Buddha was also made a saint. Josephat and Barlaam. do a search on it. Its rather interesting...