Development of Nestorian Christianity in Persia

Name: Development of Nestorian Christianity in Persia
Start: 424
End: 450

Type Event Region West Asia Time 424–450

Between 424 and 450 CE, the Eastern Church centered on Mesopotamia gained a relatively independent church system in Sasanian Persia, electing its own…

Timeline

424Seleucia · MesopotamiaUnder the relatively tolerant policies of Sasanian king Yazdegerd I, Christians in Mesopotamia convened a church council, declaring they would no longer accept the authority of Western churches (Antioch, Rome) to appoint patriarchs of the Persian Church, and for the first time independently elected a patriarch, marking the organizational independence of the Eastern Church.
431–450Mesopotamia · PersiaAfter the Council of Ephesus in 431 condemned Nestorian Christology, a group of clergy and scholars holding related theological positions migrated into Sasanian Persia. They established schools in places such as Nisibis, preaching and writing in Syriac, making Mesopotamia a center of Eastern Christian scholarship and preaching, laying the foundation for later spread to Central Asia, India, and even China.

Sources

The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity — Christoph Baumer (2006)
Nestorians and the Legend of Prester John — John Foster (1939)