A Light Shines East: A Christian Persia TL

[Merovingian]

From “A History of the Apostolic Church” by Afshin Khorami

While it was during the ministry of Jesus that Christianity was born, it was after His death that the young Christian community began to truly grow into something of its own. Simply due to its origins in Judea, most of the early converts were Jewish, although there were many pagans as well. Thus, one of the main questions that the young church had to answer was whether or not Christians should be required to follow the laws of the Torah. In the year 50 AD, the Council of Jerusalem was called amongst the Apostles to determine this issue, among many others. The council decided that gentile converts to Christianity would not have to follow the Jewish halakha[1], but would be forbidden to eat blood, meat containing blood, and meat that had been strangled, as well as prohibiting idolatry and fornication.

Another issue decided at the council, seemingly trivial at the time, was where to establish the young church. In Jerusalem, the Christian community was persecuted by both the Jewish Sanhedrin and Roman authorities. It was decided that the city of Ctesiphon, then capital of the Arsacid or Parthian Empire, would be the new center of the church, likely due to its location along caravan routes. It was Saint Peter who set off for Ctesiphon. He initially focused on converting the local Jewish population, but would be better received by the city’s Persian and Mesopotamian inhabitants[2]. Peter would eventually be martyred at the hands of a follower of Mesopotamian polytheism[3], but coincidentally, the Apostle Paul happened to be in the city at the time of Peter’s martyrdom. Paul, who had previously preached Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, succeeded Peter as Patriarch of Ctesiphon.

As Paul was already an old man at the time, his time as Patriarch only lasted ten years, with his earlier theological writings generally being considered more important. However, in a letter to the church in Antioch over a minor dispute, Paul wrote “the successorship of Saint Peter has passed onto me.” This is taken by the Apostolic Church as evidence of their direct descent from the early church. Paul would be succeeded as Patriarch by Saint Kaveh, a convert to Christianity from Zoroastrianism. Under Kaveh’s leadership, the church would take on a distinctly Persian character. While Christianity was persecuted in Rome, in Parthia Christians were allowed to freely practice their faith so long as they I’d not cause trouble with the authorities. Ctesiphon would grow into a center of the Church, which steadily grew among the people of Parthia. The day had not come yet, but the process in which a Christianized Persia could be born had begun.
* * *
This is a reboot of my first real timeline(which can be read here). After a long break, I have decided to return to the concept. TTL will see Christianity take hold not in Rome, but in the Parthian/Persian Empire[4], while a collapsing Rome stays pagan. Without further ado, let’s begin our foray into the world of a Christian Persia.






[1]Mosaic law

[2]The apathetic attitude towards Christianity by the Jews of Ctesiphon was due to a mixture of Jesus not fitting the traditional martial image of the Jewish Messiah, the Christians lack of commitment to following halakhic law, and conversion to Christianity meaning separating themselves from the pre-existing Jewish community

[3]At the time of the POD, Ancient Mesopotamian religion was still widely practiced in the Parthian Empire, although it had changed a lot since its Bronze Age heyday, heavily syncretism game with Greek and Persian religion

[4]There is a distinction between Parthia and Persia. While “Persia” and “Iran” are usually treated as synonymous, the Persians are a specific ethnic group whose language and culture happen to be dominant within Iran. You can sort of think of it as a king to the distinction between Han and Chinese, Han language and culture are dominant, but you wouldn’t call a Hui or a Manchu “Han.” The Arsacid Dynasty who ruled Iran at the time of the POD were not Persian, but belonged to a separate but related ethic group, the Parthians. While I will generally use the term “Persia“ ITTL, as non-Iranians didn’t start calling the country “Iran” until the Pahlavi era(which will be butterflies away), one should still keep this in mind.

 

[Merovingian]

The Parthian Empire during the time of the Apostles was a highly ethically and religiously diverse place. The Parthian Empire was ruled by the Arsacid dynasty, originally of Central Asian origin[1]. The Arsacids had conquered Persia from the Greek Seleucids, leading to a resurgence of Iranian culture. The Persians’ ancient Zoroastrian religion would receive patronage from the Arsacid kings, who sponsored the compilation of the Avesta, or the Zoroastrian holy text[2]. That said, the Parthian Empire was not without Hellenistic influences. Rather, Hellenistic culture permeated Parthian life. The Arsacid kings minted coins with Greek inscriptions on them, and when the Parthians captured the Roman general Crassus, they used his severed head as a prop in a production of Euripides’ play The Bacchae. Greek gods were widely worshipped throughout the empire, often syncretized with Iranian counterparts(for example, Zeus with Ahura Mazda, Aphrodite and Hera with Anahita, Apollo with Mithra, etc.). In addition to Greek and Persian influences, the culture of the Parthian Empire also had a strong Mesopotamian component. Mesopotamian gods such as Marduk, Ishtar, and Shamash were widely worshipped.

Aside from the empire’s Jewish and Christian minorities, most Parthians were polytheistic. A variety of Greek, Iranian, and Mesopotamian gods were worshiped, and each ethnic group and city also had its own gods who were worshipped. There was also an imperial cult around the ruling Arsacid dynasty who, like the Seleucids before them, seem to have portrayed themselves as gods or at least godlike. However, Zoroastrianism also had a strong influence on Parthian religion; the Arsacid kings took Avestan names and sponsored the Zoroastrian magi. The Zoroastrianism practiced in the Parthian Empire was not the Sasanian Zoroastrianism which most of you are probably more familiar with, which emerged as a reaction to the religious syncretism of the Parthian era and was codified by the Sasanian mobed[3] Kartir. Parthian Zoroastrianism was a decentralized, polytheistic, and highly syncretic religion. There was also a notable Buddhist presence in the empire’s eastern satrapies, but this had little effect on either the Parthian state religion or on the emerging Christian Church.

Politically, the Parthian Empire was a feudal monarchy. Numerous kingdoms and city-states existed within the Parthian Empire, swearing allegiance to the Arsacids. The Parthians maintained a threefold division in their provincial hierarchies of marzbān, xshatrap, and dizpat, inherited from the Seleucid system of satrapies, epharchies, and hyparchies. The nobility held considerable power in the Parthian Empire, even if the King of Kings held ultimate authority. There were three tiers of nobility; regional kings directly below the Arsacids were the highest, noble families related to the Arsacids by marriage were second, and the heads of local clans and territories were the lowest. Some of the nobility served as court advisers and priests. The Parthians had no standing army, but instead levied their military from local rulers. There was, however, a permanent armed guard meant to protect the King of Kings and border garrisons were maintained.

The empire was as diverse ethically as it was religiously. The Arsacids were Parthians, while most of the empire’s subjects were Persian and there were also large Syriac communities. Parthian and Greek were the empire’s official languages, while Aramaic was used as a lingua franca by the empire’s inhabitants and Middle Persian was widely spoken. The empire also had a rich literary scene; works of literature such as the love story Vis and Rāmin and the epic cycle of the Kayanian Dynasty are likely Parthian in origin. It is in this cultural context that TTL’s a Church will develop. The Church will adopt Zoroastrian influences much as it drew on Greek philosophy IOTL, while Aramaic will be used as a liturgical language in place of Greek or Latin.





[1]The Arsacids were rulers of the Parni, a Central Asian tribe of Iranic origin. The Parni conquered the Seleucid satrapy of Parthia, and over time the Parni and Parthians grew to be more or less the same people. The Parthians would gradually reconquer Iran from the declining Seleucid Empire.

[2]Originally, the Avesta was purely oral tradition. The decision to compile a written Avesta was likely at least partially influenced by Alexander’s conquests and the subsequent domination of Iran by Hellenistic culture.

[3]Zoroastrian priest

 

[Merovingian]

From “A History of the Apostolic Church” by Afshin Khorami

One of the more prominent early Christian heresies were the Gnostics. The Gnostics were a highly diverse group, but they all believed that the material world was the sinful creation of an inferior demiurge which could be escaped through the attainment of gnosis, or divine wisdom. In many places, the Gnostics were among the first to introduce Christianity, although in Parthia they were unable to compete with the Apostolic Church. One of the more prominent Gnostics was Marcion of Sinope, who taught that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament were two separate entities, with the former being a malevolent spirit inferior to the latter. Marcion is also notable for being among the first to codify the Bible, although Marcion’s Bible is considerably different from the one we know today. In accordance with his theology, the entirety of the Old Testament was removed from Marcion’s Bible, as was much of the New. Instead, he had only a few Pauline Epistles and his own Gospel of Marcion.

While Marcion himself is generally considered a footnote in the history of Christianity, he forced the early church to formally compile the Bible in response to Marcion’s codex[1]. It was around this time that the Apostolic Church came to fully develop its theology, and when the church began to definitively split in two. While the Apostolic Church based out of Ctesiphon was establishing itself in the Parthian Empire, elsewhere Christianity took a different turn. Roman Egypt was the largest stronghold of Christianity outside the Arsacid realm. The local church was based out of Alexandria, and used Coptic rather than Syriac as their liturgical language. However, while the Apostolic Church taught that Jesus was both God and man, in Egypt Gnosticism thrived[2]. Meanwhile, Marcionism established itself as the dominant form of Christianity in Asia Minor, although it never would gradually decline in the face of a resurgent Hellenism.

Back in Parthia, the Apostolic Church would gain a foothold in Mesopotamia over the course of the First and Second Centuries. The Church would gradually replace the region’s ancient pagan religion, becoming a majority in the Syriac-speaking parts of the Empire. In Persia-proper, the church would have comparably less success as the Zoroastrian magi held firm influence, although it managed to establish itself as a prominent minority in most major cities. Christianity would absorb certain Zoroastrian concepts. The Church took the position that the Ahura Mazda that Zarathustra spoke of had been the God of the Bible, but that his message was corrupted over time. The Jewish concept of the messiah was syncretized with the Zoroastrian concept of the saoshyant, with Christian missionaries in Persia referring to Jesus in Zoroastrian terms. By the dawn of the Third Century, Christianity had established itself throughout the Parthian Empire.




[1]The Apostolic Bible is similar to the OTL Catholic and Orthodox Bibles

[2]Gnosticism was very prominent in Egypt IOTL, but gradually declined as the proto-orthodox church consolidated itself. With TTL’s proto-orthodoxy based out of Ctesiphon and focused on Parthia, Gnostic inspired doctrines will be much more influential among Roman Christians.

 

[Merovingian]

From “A History of the Apostolic Church” by Afshin Khorami

When Christianity was introduced to the Arsacid Empire, the Persians already had an ancient and well-established religion; Zoroastrianism. Founded by the Prophet Zoroaster, Zoroastrianism taught that the world existed in a state of struggle between the benevolent creator god Ahura Mazda and the evil spirit Angra Mainyu. Humans, in this worldview, are free to choose between good, or asha, and evil, or druj. Zoroastrianism spread throughout what is today Persia after Zoroaster’s death, eventually becoming the state religion of the Achaemenid Empire. Following the Macedonian conquests, Zoroastrianism lost its status as state religion, with Hellenistic beliefs taking its place. Zoroastrianism would regain state support with the ascendency of the Arsacids, but by this point it had changed significantly. While Zoroastrians originally worshipped in outdoor locations, they now did so in fire temples. While the Avesta[1] had once been purely oral tradition, it was now beginning to be written down. And most significantly, the religion had absorbed numerous foreign deities and concepts. Syncretism between Zoroastrianism and Greek and Mesopotamian religions was encouraged by the Arsacid shahs, who also made an effort to deify themselves.

Despite the absorption of foreign concepts, Zoroastrianism remained strongly tied to the Persian identity. Indeed, most of the early converts to Christianity in the Arsacid Empire were not Persians, but Aramaic-speaking Mesopotamians. That said, Christianity would make inroads in Persia, especially in major urban centers. Most converts were from the urban poor and slaves, while the upper classes and countryside staid true to their ancestral Zoroastrian religion. However, once Christianity arrived in Persia, it was bound to converge with Zoroastrian ideas. At a basic level, the two religions had similar ideas; both believed in a benevolent, omnipotent creator god, both believed that the afterlife saw reward or punishment based on actions in life, and, crucially, they both believed in a savior figure. The idea of Jesus as the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament, sent to redeem mankind and die for their sins forms the basis of Christian belief. The Zoroastrians, meanwhile, told of a coming savior figure known as the Saoshyant. According to the Avesta, the Saoshyant would come at the end of time to bring about the Frashokereti, or the final victory of good against evil.

According Zoroastrian tradition[2], the Saoshyant would be born of a virgin, much like Jesus was. Likewise, many of the details of the Saoshyant’s coming life and accomplishments are similar to Jewish traditions about the Messiah. Furthermore, the magi who visited the baby Jesus were Zoroastrian priests. All of these facts meant that Christian missionaries presented Jesus as having been the Saoshyant foretold in the Avesta. If Jesus had been the Saoshyant, this logically meant that Zoroaster had been a legitimate prophet, and that Ahura Mazda was one and the same as the God of Abraham. Christians presented their religion as not only a realization of Judaism, but also a revival of the original principles of Zoroastrianism which had been practiced under the Achaemenids(praises in the Old Testament and held in high regard by both Christian and non-Christian Persians) but which had been forgotten over time. Christianity would likewise adopt other Zoroastrianism. For example, Nowruz was originally the Zoroastrian new year before it was was claimed as the day when Christ was born. Many of the archangels recognized by the Apostolic Church, meanwhile, were once the Zoroastrian Spenta Mainyu.

Many Christians sought to separate “philosophical Zoroastrianism”, which was seen as Zoroaster’s original teachings which were compatible with Christianity, and “religious Zoroastrianism”, which was a pagan corruption. Zoroaster’s core precepts of “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” were praised by Christian thinkers. Meanwhile, the worship of deities such as Mithra, Anahita, and so forth was condemned as entirely alien to Zoroaster’s teachings. For this reason, the Gathas(hymns written by Zoroaster himself) were and are recognized by the Church as having been divinely inspired, while the rest of the Avesta(which was compiled by the magi over time) is largely ignored in a Christian thought. Nevertheless, the syncretism between Christianity and Zoroastrianism greatly facilitated the spread of Christianity in Persia.





[1]Zoroastrian holy text

[2]Apocryphal tradition, not in the Avesta