Christianity in Asia

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Christianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of

.

After the

in the 13th century.

The

At the late 12th and 13th centuries, there was some effort to reunite Eastern and Western Christianity. There were also numerous missionary efforts from Europe to Asia, primarily by

. In the 18th century, Catholicism developed more or less independently in Korea.

At present, Christianity continues to be the majority religion in the

As of 2021, there are nearly 383 million Christians in Asia.^[3]

Early spread in Asia

Western Asia

Levant

Geramon

.

Christianity spread through the

, and Rome.

Caucasus

Armenia and Georgia were the first nations to adopt Christianity as a state religion, in 301 and 326 respectively.

Christianity had been preached in Armenia by two of Jesus' twelve apostles — Thaddaeus and Bartholomew — between 40–60 AD. Because of these two founding apostles, the Armenian Apostolic Church is considered to be the world's oldest national church. In Georgia, Christianity was first preached by the apostles

Parthian Empire

Christianity further spread eastward under the

Expansion to Central Asia

The spread of Christianity in Central Asia seems to have been facilitated by the great diffusion of Greek in the region (Seleucid Empire, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdom), as well as Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ. The spread of the Jews in Asia since the deportation from Babylon and the capture of Jerusalem by Titus also seems to have been a contributing factor.^[8]

The earliest known references to Christian communities in Central Asia is from a writing by

The

India (1st century AD)

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St Thomas

, who continued on to southern India, and possibly as far as Malaysia or China.

According to

An early third-century Syriac work known as the Acts of Thomas^[10] connects the apostle's Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. According to the Acts, Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission, but the Lord appeared to him in a night vision and compelled him to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes (or Habban), to his native place in northwest India. There, Thomas found himself in the service of the Indo-Parthian king, Gondophares. The Apostle's ministry resulted in many conversions throughout the kingdom, including the king and his brother.^[10]

Thomas thereafter went south to

Piecing together the various traditions, the story suggests that Thomas left northwest India when invasion threatened, and traveled by vessel to the

and its tributaries and along the coast. He preached to all classes of people and had about 170 converts, including members of the four principal castes. Later, stone crosses were erected at the places where churches were founded, and they became pilgrimage centres. In accordance with apostolic custom, Thomas ordained teachers and leaders or elders, who were reported to be the earliest ministry of the Malabar church.

Thomas next proceeded overland to the

Sri Lanka

Christianity was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 1st century (72 AD). Possibly after the apostle

Expansion of Nestorian Christianity (431–1360 AD)

In 410 the

the minority leader of the Christians in the Empire, and personally responsible for their good conduct throughout the Persian empire. The synod accepted the emperor's wish.

In 424 the bishops of Persia met in council under the leadership of Catholicos Dadiso and determined that there would be no reference of their disciplinary or theological problems to any other power, especially not to any church council in the Roman Empire. The formal separation from the See of Antioch and the western Syrian Church under the Roman (Byzantine) Emperors, occurred at this synod in 424.

Nestorianism

The eastern development of Christianity continued to separate from the west, pushed along by such events as 431's

despite the fact that many eastern Christians were not following the doctrine preached by Nestorius.

Expansion to Sogdiana and eastern Central Asia

Proselytism, combined with sporadic

persecutions and the exiling of Christian communities in their own area, caused the spread of Christianity to the east.

The

By 650, there were 20 Nestorian dioceses east of the

Abbassids

in 750.

From the 7th century onward, the nomadic

Early Christianity in China

中國

碑 "Stele of the propagation of the luminous Roman faith in China"

Christianity may have existed earlier in China, but the first documented introduction was during the

" was a Chinese term used to mean Rome and the Near East, though from the Western view, Nestorian Christianity was considered heretical by the Latin Christians.

Opposition arose to the Christians in 698–699 from the Buddhists, and then from the Daoists in 713, but Christianity continued to thrive, and in 781, a stone

Christianity among the Mongols

Overall, Mongols were highly tolerant of most religions, and typically sponsored several at the same time. They had been

The founder of the Mongol Empire,

Under the rule of Genghis's grandson Möngke Khan (1205–1259), son of Sorghaghtani, the main religious influence was that of the Christians, to whom Möngke showed special favour in memory of his mother.^[31]

East–West rapprochement

Following the East–West Schism of 1054, various efforts, over several centuries, were made at reuniting eastern and western Christianity, with the objective of putting both under the rule of the Pope.

Armenian Church

Hetoum II

, as a Franciscan friar

In 1198, a Union was proclaimed between Rome and the

Numerous Catholic missions were also sent to Cilician Armenia to help with rapprochement. The

, who was a member of the "Unitarian" movement advocating unification with the Latin Church.

Byzantine Church

Various efforts were also made by the Byzantine Church to unite with Rome. In 1272,

]

Catholic missions to the Mongols and China

Contacts between the Mongols and the West occurred in the 13th century, as the Mongol Empire expanded towards Europe and Palestine, coinciding with the latter part of the Crusades. Initial contacts showed that the Mongols had the impression that the Pope was the leader of the Europeans, and sent him messages insisting that he submit Europe to Mongol authority. In return, the Mongols stated that after they conquered Jerusalem, they would return it to the Crusaders. The various popes, for their part, seemed to be unaware that Christianity already existed in the East, and tended to respond with messages insisting that the Mongols convert to Christianity and accept baptism. Later communications between the Mongols and Europe saw attempts to form a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Muslims.

In 1253, King

In 1268,

Following the death of Monte Corvino, an embassy to the French

However, the Mongol-established Yuan dynasty in China was in decline, and in 1368 was overthrown by the Ming dynasty founded by the native Chinese. The last Catholic bishop of Quanzhou, Giacomo da Firenze, was killed by the Chinese in 1362. By 1369 all Christians, whether Catholic or Nestorian (Syriac Orthodox, or Syro-Oriental), were expelled.^[35]

European voyages of exploration

The European voyages of exploration in the 16th century would create new opportunities for Christian proselytism.

Christianity in the Philippines

had his men killed Magellan and routed the ill-fated Spanish expedition.

In 1564,

in the early 20th century.

Christianity in Indonesia

A 12th-century Christian Egyptian record of churches suggest that a church was established in Barus, on the west coast of North Sumatra, a trading post known to have been frequented by Indian traders, and therefore linked to the Indian Saint Thomas Christians.^[36]

The Portuguese arrived in the

itself, their evangelical influence in neighbouring territories was perhaps more negative than positive in promulgating Christianity.

The first missionaries were sent by Stamford Raffles in 1824, at which time Sumatra was under temporary British rule. They observed that the Batak seemed receptive to new religious thought, and were likely to fall to the first mission, either Islamic or Christian, to attempt conversion.^[37]

A second mission that in 1834 of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions met with a brutal end when its two missionaries were killed by Batak resistant to outside interference in their traditional adat.

The first Christian community in North Sumatra was established in Sipirok, a community of (Batak) Angkola people. Three missionaries from an independent church in Ermelo, Netherlands arrived in 1857, and on 7 October 1861 one of the Ermelo missionaries united with the Rhenish Missionary Society, which had been recently expelled from Kalimantan as a result of the Banjarmasin War.

The mission was immensely successful, being well supported financially from Germany, and adopted effective evangelistic strategies led by

.

Jesuits in China

Main article:

Jesuit China missions

The missionary efforts and other work of the

's most valued and trusted advisors, holding numerous prestigious posts in the imperial government. However, between the 18th and mid-19th century, nearly all Western missionaries in China were forced to conduct their teaching and other activities covertly.

Independently formed Catholic movements in Korea

The history of Catholicism in Korea began in 1784 when

During the 19th century, the Catholic Church suffered persecution by the government of the

, who was ordained in 1845 and martyred in 1846. Despite the persecution though, the Church in Korea expanded. The Apostolic Vicariate of Korea was formed in 1831, and after the expansion of Church structure for next century, the current structure of three Metropolitan Provinces each with an Archdiocese and several suffragan Dioceses was established in 1962.

Currently Deokwon (덕원) in North Korea is the See of the only territorial abbey outside Europe. The abbey was vacant for more than 50 years until Fr. Francis Ri was appointed as abbot in 2005. The abbey was never united with or changed into a diocese presumably due to the lack of effective church activity in the area since the division of Korea at the end of World War II.

Christianity in Asia today

Today, Christianity is the predominant faith in six Asian countries, the Philippines, East Timor, Cyprus, Russia, Armenia and Georgia. In both conservative (the UAE) and moderately liberal (Malaysia and Indonesia) Muslim states,^{[citation needed]} Christians continue to enjoy freedom of worship, despite limits on their ability to spread their faith.^{[citation needed]}

A 2015 study estimates 6,968,500 Christian believers from a Muslim background in Asia, while about 483,500 Christian believers from a Muslim background in the Middle East, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.^[39]

Percentage and number of Christians per Asian country or territory

Country or region	Percentage Christians	Total population	Christian population	Dominant religious affiliation, percentage of total population
Armenia	98.7%	3,299,000	3,256,113	Armenian Apostolic Church
Timor-Leste	98%	1,108,777	1,086,601	Catholicism , 97%
Philippines	85.3%[40]	108,667,043	92,746,021	Catholicism, 78.8%; Protestantism , 4.5%
Georgia	88.6%	4,636,400	4,107,850	Georgian Orthodox Church, 83.9%
Cyprus	79.3%	792,604	628,535	Cypriot Orthodox Church , 70%
Russia[a]	73.6%[41][42][43][44]	142,200,000	58,800,000–120,000,000[45][46][47]	Russian Orthodox Church, 70%
Lebanon	41%	4,200,000	1,800,000	Shia Islam and Sunni Islam, each 27%
Kazakhstan	25%	16,536,000	4,134,000	Sunni Islam, 69%–70%
South Korea	23%	51,709,098	14,375,990	Confucianism , 60%)
Singapore	19%	5,638,700	1,060,016	Buddhism (various sects), 31.1%[48]
Kuwait	17.9%[g]	4,621,638	837,87 (2020)[49] (incl. between 259 – 400 Christian Kuwaiti citizens)[50]	Sunni Islam, 70%
Kyrgyzstan	7%	5,587,443	949,865	Sunni Islam, 86.3%
Bahrain	14.5%[g]	718,306	180,000[51] (incl. 1,000 Christian Bahraini citizens)[52]	Shia Islam, 66–70%
Qatar	13.8%[g]	928,635	240,000[51]	Salafi Islam ), 72.5%
United Arab Emirates	12.6%[g]	4,621,399	940,000[51]	Sunni Islam, 65% of residents, 85% of citizens
Hong Kong[b]	11.7%	7,122,508	833,333	Irreligion, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, 57% – 80%
Indonesia	10.48%	280,725,428	29,403,015[53]	Sunni Islam, 83%
Brunei	10%	381,371	40,000[51]	Sunni Islam, 81%
Syria	10%	19,747,586	1,974,759	Sunni Islam, 74%
Malaysia	9.10%	33,938,222	3,091,000	Sunni Islam, 63%
Macau[b]	9%	460,823	41,474	Mahayana Buddhism or Chinese folk religion , more than 75%
Turkmenistan	9%	4,997,503	449,775	Islam (mainly Sunni Islam), 89%
Uzbekistan	3%	28,128,600	2,531,574	Islam 90%
Vietnam	8.3%	95,500,000	7,926,500	Irreligion, 70%[54]
Sri Lanka	8%	21,128,773	1,690,302	Theravada Buddhism , 70%
Oman	4.3% – 6.5%[g]	3,311,640	120,000[55][56] – 180,000[51]	Ibadi Islam , 75%
Jordan	6%	6,198,677	371,921	Sunni Islam, 90%
Azerbaijan	4.8%	8,845,127	424,566	Shia Islam, 81%
Taiwan[b]	4.5%	22,920,946	1,031,443	Buddhism (various sects), 35.1%
Myanmar (Burma)	6.2%	47,758,224	1,910,329	Theravada Buddhism , 89%
Iraq	4%	28,221,181	1,128,847	Shia Islam, 60%–65%
China[b]	3% – 5%	1,322,044,605	39,661,338 – 67,070,000[57]	Irreligion, 60% – 70%
Palestine	3% [c]	4,277,000	128,310	Sunni Islam, 98% [h]
India	2.3%	1,147,995,226	26,403,890	Hinduism, 79.8%
Mongolia	2.1%	2,996,082	62,918	Tibetan Buddhism, 53%
Israel	2%	7,112,359	161,000[58]	Jewish (various sects), 75.4%
Japan	2%	127,920,000	2,558,400	Folk Shinto, Buddhism/Irreligion , 70% – 84%
North Korea	1.7%	25,368,620	431,266	Irreligion, 64.3%
Laos	1.5%	6,677,534	100,163	Theravada Buddhism , 67%
Pakistan	1.5%	167,762,049	2,516,431	Sunni Islam, 80% – 95%
Nepal	1.4%	29,535,000	413,900	Hinduism, 80.6%
Cambodia	1%	13,388,910	133,889	Theravada Buddhism , 95%
Tajikistan	1% [d]	4,997,503	499,750	Sunni Islam, 93%
Bhutan	0.9%	682,321	12,255[59]	Vajrayana Buddhism , 67% – 76%
Thailand	1.17%	65,493,298	787,589	Theravada Buddhism , 94.5%
Iran	0.4%	70,472,846	300,000	Shia Islam, 90% – 95%
Bangladesh	0.3%	153,546,901	460,641	Sunni Islam, 89.7%
Turkey	0.2%	74,724,269	149,449 – 310,000[60]	Sunni Islam, 70–80%
Yemen	0.17%	23,013,376	3,000 – 41,000[55]	Sunni Islam, 53%
Afghanistan	0.02% – insignificant	32,738,775	500 – 8,000[61]	Sunni Islam, 80% – 85%
Maldives[e]	0% – insignificant	379,174	300 – 1,400[62]	Sunni Islam, 100%
Saudi Arabia[f]	0% – insignificant	23,513,330	expatriate Christians are around 1,200,000 (4.4%)[63]	Sunni Islam, 85% – 90%

Table notes

Nations mentioned in the above list follow the list of countries and territories mentioned in the

sect.

^ a: The provided data are for the whole of Russia as no separate data are known for Asian Russia (Siberia)

by the PRC. Figures given for China do not include these areas.
^ c: Estimate, see Palestinian Christians#Demographics and denominations
^ d: Estimate, see Tajikistan#Religion
^ e: Islam is the official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is forbidden and liable to prosecution. Article nine of the revised constitution says that "a non-Muslim may not become a citizen".
^ f: Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practice their faith openly.

expatriates

Freedom of religion in the Palestinian territories

^ i: As no reliable percentages were found in the Wikipedia article Religion in Russia, this percentage is derived from the CIA World Factbook by subtracting the percentage of believers mentioned there from 100%

See also

• Christianity in the Middle East
• Chronology of European exploration of Asia
• List of Catholic dioceses of Asia

Notes

1. ^ Meyendorff 1989.
2. ^ The Global Religious Landscape: Christians
3. ^ https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/12/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2021.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
4. ^ cf. Acts xi.
5. ^ Acts 11:26
6. ^ "Saint Nina Orthodox Christian Mission :: Vancouver, BC, Canada". Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
7. ISBN 978-0-230-62125-1
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Roux, L'Asie Centrale, p.216
9. ^ Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} A. E. Medlycott, India and The Apostle Thomas, pp. 18–71; M. R. James, Apocryphal New Testament, pp. 364–436; A. E. Medlycott, India and The Apostle Thomas, pp. 1–17, 213–97; Eusebius, History, chapter 4:30; J. N. Farquhar, The Apostle Thomas in North India, chapter 4:30; V. A. Smith, Early History of India, p. 235; L. W. Brown, The Indian Christians of St. Thomas, p. 49-59.
11. ^ "Thomas the Apostole". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
12. ^ ^{a b} James, M. R. (1966) "The Acts of Thomas" in The Apocryphal New Testament, pp. 365–77; 434–8. Oxford.
13. ^ Breviary of the Mar Thoma Church in Malabar
14. ^ "A Brief History Of Christianity In Sri Lanka". Colombo Telegraph. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
15. ^ "Features | Online edition of Daily News – Lakehouse Newspapers". archives.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
16. ^ "Mar Aprem Metropolitan Visits Ancient Anuradhapura Cross in Official Trip to Sri Lanka | Assyrian Church News". 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
17. ^ Roux, L'Asie Centrale, p. 217.
18. ^ Roux, L'Asie Centrale, p. 218.
19. ^ Foltz, p. 68.
20. ^ Foltz, p. 70.
21. ^ Roux, L'Asie Centrale, p. 242.
22. ^ ^{a b} Roux, p. 220.
23. ^ Uhalley, p. 14.
24. ^ The Silk Road, Frances Wood, p. 118.
25. ^ Runciman, p. 238.
26. ^ Grousset, Empire, p. 165
27. ^ Les Croisades, origines et conséquences, p. 74.
28. ^ ^{a b} Runciman, p. 246.
29. ^ "Sorghaqtani, a Kerait by birth and, like all her race, a devout Nestorian Christian", Runciman, p. 293.
30. ^ Runciman, p. 299.
31. ^ Runciman, p. 296.
32. ^ Mahé, p. 71-72.
33. ^ Luisetto, p. 98.
34. ^ Grousset, Empire, pp. 280–281.
35. ^ ^{a b c} Uhalley, pp. 14–16
36. ISBN 978-90-04-17026-1
37. ^ History of Christianity in Indonesia, p. 530.
38. ^ The Liturgy of the Hours Supplement (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1992), pp. 17–18.
39. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11: 14. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
40. ^ "Religious Affiliation in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing)". psa.gov.ph. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
41. ^ "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population". Pew Research Center. 19 December 2011.
42. ^ http://wciom.ru/index.php?id=268&uid=13365 Archived 29 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine VTSIOM
43. ^ http://www.fgi-tbff.org/sites/default/files/elfinder/FGIImages/Research/fromresearchtopolicy/ipsos_mori_briefing_pack.pdf#page=40 Archived 17 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine Ipsos MORI
44. ^ http://fom.ru/obshchestvo/10953 Public Opinion Foundation
45. ^ http://www.levada.ru/17-12-2012/v-rossii-74-pravoslavnykh-i-7-musulman Archived 31 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine Levada Center
46. ^ Members of the Russian Orthodox Church; 4% — 5,900,000 people identifying as Christians without belonging to any church; 1.5% — 2,100,000 people believing in Orthodox Christianity without belonging to any Orthodox church or belonging to non-Russian churches; 0.2% — 400,000 Old Believers 0.2% — 300,000 Protestants; 0.1% — 140,000 members of the Catholic Church
47. ^ "Главная страница проекта "Арена" : Некоммерческая Исследовательская Служба "Среда"". Арена Атлас религий и национальностей России.
48. ^ "20% of Singapore residents have no religion, an increase from the last population census". CNA. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
49. ^ "PACI Statistics". Kuwait Public Authority for Civil Information. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
50. ^ "Nationality By Religion and Nationality" (in Arabic). Government of Kuwait. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
51. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center.
52. ^ "2010 Census Results". Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
53. ^ "Map of the distribution of religions 2022". gis.dukcapil.kemendagri.go.id 21 June 2022: Muslim 231.069.932 (83.19), Christian 20.806.470 (7.41), Catholic 8.596.545 (3.06), Irreligion 10.931.988 (3,93%), Hindu 4.692.548 (1.74), Buddhist 1.693.833 (0.77), Confucianism 74.899 (0.03), Others/Traditional faiths 117.412 (0.04), Jewish 20.000 (0,0) Total 280.725.428. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
54. ^ "Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations" (PDF). 3 January 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
55. ^ ^{a b} Guide: Christians in the Middle East
56. ^ "Operation World". Archived from the original on 5 September 2005.
57. ^ ANALYSIS (19 December 2011). "Global Christianity". Pewforum.org. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
58. ^ CBS: 161,000 Christians live in Israel
59. ^ Bhoutan, Aide à l'Église en détresse, "Appartenance religieuse".
60. ^ "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center.
61. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2021". USSD Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 2009. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
62. ISBN 9780199329069
    .
63. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2008 – Saudi Arabia

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• Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• ISBN 978-2-213-59894-9
• Weatherford, Jack (2004). Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Three Rivers Press.
  ISBN 0-609-80964-4
  .
• Wilmshurst, David (2011). The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. London: East & West Publishing Limited.
  ISBN 9781907318047
  .
• Winkler, Dietmar W. (2013). "Christianity in the Middle East: Some historical remarks and preliminary demographic figures". Syriac Christianity in the Middle East and India: Contributions and Challenges. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 107–125.
  ISBN 9781463235864
  .
• Uhalley, Stephen; Wu, Xiaoxin (2001). China and Christianity: burdened past, hopeful future. M.E. Sharpe.
  ISBN 978-0-7656-0661-7
  .

External links

• European Centre for Law and Justice (2011): The Persecution of Oriental Christians, what answer from Europe?