Page 11 - Christianity among the Arabs

(310-379) who persecuted the Christians severely from AD 339 onwards. These
immigrants must have mostly gone either by land through the semi independent Arab
state of Hira or across the Persian Gulf to the coast of Oman, and from there
southwards to Yemen. The Chronicle Seert mentions that one Abdisho built a
monastery on the island of Baharin, perhaps about AD 390. However, one should
consider the possibility of Christianity being present in Arabia even before the
persecution of Shapur II. As we mentioned earlier, there were Arab Christians
throughout the eastern part of the Roman empire as well as in Persia, and a church
with a great missionary spirit might have taken the Gospel to Arabia at an earlier date,
probably by the end of the second or early third century.

The main centre of Christianity in Arabia proper was in Yemen and in Najran in South
Arabia. The Book of Himyarites, (A. Moberg, The Book of Himyarites, London: Oxford
University Press, 1924.) fragments of a Syriac work written in AD 932, gives us some
information about Christianity in South Arabia. There is a tradition which says that
during the reign of Yazdegerd I (399-420) in Persia, a merchant named Hayyan, from
Yemen of the Himyarites kingdom, went to Constantinople. On his return he stopped at
the Arab tributary kingdom of Hirta on the Persian border east of Euphrates. While
there he frequented the company of Nestorian Christians and was converted to
Christian faith. On his return to Yemen, he proclaimed the Gospel in Yemen as well as in
the neighbouring places. In Yemen, the Jews were numerous and they persecuted the
Christians.

There is another tradition about the introduction of Christianity to this area. About AD
354, the Roman emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, sent Theophilus
"the Indian" to lead an embassy to southern Asia. On his way, the embassy visited the
southwest corner of Arabia. There Theophilus, who was a deacon in the church
preached the Gospel. As a result the Himyarite king was converted and three or four
churches were built — in Zafar, the capital of the Himyarite kingdom, in Aden, in Sana (a
place half way between Nairam and Aden) and at Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. By about
AD 500, Nairam was a great centre of Christians, Christians being numerous in that
region. In the list of bishops consecrated by Catholicos Timothy I (780-820), there is
the mention of bishops of Yemen and Sana.

Christianity in Central Asia

From its very beginning, the East Syrian church expressed its faith through missionary
efforts. When the western church was busily engaged in theological controversies, the
East Syrian church was busy preaching the Gospel to the Persians, the Arabs, the
Indians, the Turks and the Chinese. The existence of trade routes connecting Syria with
China, India and Tibet offered great opportunities. Marco Polo tells us that in his day
the trade route from Baghdad to Peking was lined with Nestorian churches.

By the end of the fifth century, Persian missionaries were making converts among the
Huns and the Turks in Central Asia." (Huns and Turks occupied the steppes in central
Asia. They were a nomadic people. Sometimes the word ‘Turks’ is used to designate a
group of people all of whom used one form or other of a Turkish family of languages.
The Turks of Central Asia in the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries occupied a
strategic situation. Economically they were important because of their control of the
land routes from east to west. Politically they held a key position in a power struggle
involving China, Turks in Mongolia, Tibetans and the Muslim Caliphate. They felt the
cultural influences of all these groups.) When the Persian king Kavadh I had to flee his
country to Central Asia in AD 499, he met on the way a group of Christian missionaries
— a bishop, four presbyters and four laymen - going to Central Asia to preach to the
Turks. Their mission was successful and many Turks became Christians. In addition to
the work of Christian missionaries, Christian influence was making its way through the
agency of Christian doctors, scribes and artisans who were readily able to find