Jewish names among Syrian Christians.

Last month when I was at Olavipe, a British travel agent who had come to see the place asked me, “You are Christians. How is it that you have Jewish names?” She had a point there. My name is Abraham. Among the brothers we also have Mathew, Joseph, and Jacob. Biblical names are common among the Syrian Christians of Kerala.

I explained to the lady that the reason was that Christianity came to Kerala even before the Apostles started converting gentiles. The word ‘Christian’ was coined in Antioch during the seventh decade after Christ. Till then a follower of Jesus Christ was known as ‘Nazrani’, a label that is still actively used by the Arabs and in Kerala.

The Church and many historians accept that St. Thomas the Apostle landed in Muzuris near Cochin in Kerala in 52 A.D. and spread the Word although no unquestionable evidence of this is available. From the beginning the Syrian Christians of Kerala have been called Nazrani. Some historians see this as a proof of the antiquity of Christianity in Kerala.

There is another interesting question that is raised sometimes. Why is one community among the Christians of Kerala called Syrian Christians? It is not because they originally came from Syria.

The belief is that St. Thomas converted Jews and, perhaps later, Brahmins (if this priestly class existed in Kerala in that era) to the new religion during his sojourn in Kerala. The descendants of these early converts are known as Nazranis. Of late they are referred to as St. Thomas Christians as well. They had a social position that was almost equivalent to that of the Brahmins.

Then, in the 16^th century, during the Portuguese ascendancy in Kerala, St. Francis Xavier converted a great number of locals, mostly in the coastal areas, to the Roman Church in which Latin was the language of liturgy.

The Dutch ousted the Portuguese from Cochin in 1663. A century later, Adriaan Moens, Dutch Governor of Cochin from 1771 to 1782, decided to call those who were converted by St. Xavier ‘Latin Christians’ and the ancient Christians who followed Syriac Liturgy, ‘Syrian Christians’ to avoid confusion.

No doubt, the Syrian Christians belong to an Eastern Church of Apostolic origin. But the Jews have been in Kerala perhaps from the time of King Solomon.

The hotter it gets...

Read what global warming is leading us to. See EARTH SAVE - ABRAHAM THARAKAN'S BLOG.