#Nasrani Christian

[pencopanko]

Antisemitism and Islamophobia are very similar (if not the same), actually

So I was scrolling down the #palestine tag for any updates and important information, and I came across this:

And I think we need to sit down and talk about this.

I am a Muslim. I live in Indonesia, a country that is predominantly Muslim and a lot of Muslims here also support the Palestinian cause. Hell, even our government supports it by not only allowing Palestinian goods enter the country without fee, but also by taking in Palestinian refugees and even acknowledging the status of Palestine as a state while not having any political ties with Israel. The topic of the Palestinian tragedy has been spoon-fed to us at schools, sermons, media, etc., so your average Indonesian Muslim would at the very least be aware of the conflict while non-Muslims would hear about it from their Muslim friends or through media.

However, there is a glaring problem. One that I keep seeing way too often for my liking.

A lot of them are antisemitic as hell. The sermons I would hear sometimes demonize Jewish people. Antisemitic statements are openly said out loud on social media. Some are even Nazi supporters who would literally go to anime cons and COSPLAY as members of the Nazi party. This is not just an Indonesian Muslim problem, no, but this is a glaring issue within the global Islamic community as a whole. Today, this sense of antisemitism is usually rooted in general hatred towards the Israeli government and its actions against the people of Palestine, but antisemitism amongst Muslims are also rooted in certain interpretations of verses from the Qur'an and Hadith mentioning Jewish people and Judaism (particularly the Bani Israil), but in a way that is more ridiculing instead of life-threatening when compared to how antisemitism looks like in the Western world.

As someone who prefers to become a "bridge" between two sides in most cases, I find this situation to be concerning, to say the least. While, yes, it is important for us Muslims to support Palestine and fight against injustice, we must not forget that not every Jewish people support the Israeli government. A lot of them are even anti-Zionists who actively condemn Israel and even disagree with the existence of Israel as a state as it goes against their teachings. A lot of them are also Holocaust survivors or their descendants, so it is harmful to think for one second that Hitler's actions and policies were justified. It's just like saying that Netanyahu is right for his decision to destroy Palestine and commit war crime after war crime towards the Palestinians.

As Muslims, we also need to remember that Jewish people (the Yahudi) are considered ahli kitab, i.e. People Of The Book along with Christians (the Nasrani). The Islam I have come to know and love has no mentions of Allah allowing us to persecute them or anyone collectively for the actions of a few. While, yes, there are disagreements with our respective teachings I do not see that as an excuse to even use antisemitic slurs against Jewish people during a pro-Palestine rally, let alone support a man who was known for his acts of cruelty toward the Jewish community in WW2. They are still our siblings/cousins in faith, after all. Unless they have done active harm like stealing homes from civilians or celebrating the destruction of Palestine or supporting the Israeli government and the IOF or are members of the IOF, no Jewish people (and Christians, for that matter) must be harmed in our fight against Zionism.

Contemporary antisemitism is similar to (if not straight up being the exact same thing as) contemporary Islamophobia, if you think about it; due to the actions of a select few that has caused severe harm towards innocent people, an entire community has been a target of hate. Even when you have tried to call out the ones supporting such cruelties, you are still getting bombarded by hate speech. It's doubly worse if you're also simultaneously part of a marginalized group like BIPOC, LGBTQ+, etc. as you also get attacked on multiple sides. This is where we all need to self-reflect, practice empathy, and unlearn all of the antisemitism and unjustified hatred that we were exposed to.

So, do call out Zionism and Nazism when you see it. Call out the US government for funding this atrocity and others before it that had ALSO triggered the rise of Islamophobia. Call your reps. Go to the streets. Punch a fascist if you feel so inclined. Support your local businesses instead of pro-Israel companies.

But not at the cost of our Jewish siblings. Not at the cost of innocent Jewish people who may also be your allies. If you do that, you are no different from a MAGA cap-wearing, gun-tooting, slur-yelling Islamophobe.

That is all for now, may your watermelons taste fresh and sweet.

🍉

Salam Semangka, Penco

[tamamita]

do you think usamerican christians will care that a church was bombed in gaza?

They don't give a crap about other Christians. If you don't align with the majority of evangelical views in the US, then you're a useless Christian to them. You're nothing more than hypocrite or a heretic because you don't adhere to their priniciples.

Remember when every Conservative Christian in the US spoke out against the persecution of Christians in Egypt, Armenia, Iraq, and other places around the Muslim world? The persecution of these Christians was instrumental because it would alienate Muslims and Arabs, which would significantly strengthen their voices in the home front. You've seen these people change their pfps to "noon" ن to display some sort of sympathy towards the Nasrani (=the Arabic word for Christians). But this was just a mere lie. They don't give a crap because this time, it's Israel. This is what they do the whole time, persecution of other Christians must serve their interests,

Israel is vital to the evangelical movement because Jewish people are instrumental in the second coming. This is why they're strong supporters of Israel and the reason the US maintain strong ties to it. The House of Congress, the Senate, the Supreme Court, all of these are influenced by Evangelicals. If you're a Christian who take the opposite side, then they'll shun your or disregard you. You're not a Christian. You're a heretic, if not a member of the church of the anti-christ. You're going to hell. The bombing of the Church in Gaza serves no function to the evangelical lobbyists because they're Palestinians, and Palestinians are not human. Genocide and ethnic cleansing must happen so that they can push for the Jewish people to settle there when they're gone. The Six-day war was so significant for the Evangelical lobby, because it helped reinforce their belief that Israel must be at war for Christ to return, it was not just a victory for Israel, but a victory for the Christian lobby in the US. Orthodox Christians, and by extension Catholics, don't believe in the dispensionalist theology assumed by these Evangelicals and are therefore useless and only serve to undermine their goals.

[infantisimo]

gauhar jaan, born in the north-western provinces and oudh and later moved to bengal presidency, was armenian. her name was angelina yeoward; she and her mum converted to islam and her mum was a tawaif in the court-in-exile of wajid ali shah in metiaburj, calcutta. she became a sensation, a herald of a new technology of the time and one of the first recording artists in the empire. this place is one where people have been coming to and residing in for centuries. examples are plenty, stretching back to the times of king solomon. the nasrani of this land have done the qurbana kramam (holy liturgy) on mawlada de maran (birth of jesus) centuries before a single englishman knew what christianity was. i am not saying this land is exceptional. just offering that the cultural fount of the subcontinent runs deep and is very difficult to fathom. to impose a common purely brahmanical identity on extremely diverse peoples is pure tyranny. india itself is the greatest fascist idea ever. now on its way to becoming a monocultural empire of morons.

[hyperdemona]

I saw your comment on women’s only restaurant post

I was curious how do South Asian families take care of family affairs?

Are men the ones who organise and meet people or is that considered women’s work?

Ya of course it's the men who do stuff. I can only speak of Nasrani Christian women ofc bcs that's my community but it's the same thing in all the other caste communities as well. What do women have to organise and meet people for lol, the church raffle sale? Lol. My mother just got back from one like that bcs it involves cooking so the women need to be there. I of course can never go to an event like that bcs I'll probably carry a knife.

Sorry for the rant hhhhhh

[quransurahverses]

2:120

وَلَن تَرْضَىٰ عَنكَ ٱلْيَهُودُ وَلَا ٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ هُوَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ ۗ وَلَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَآءَهُم بَعْدَ ٱلَّذِى جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ ۙ مَا لَكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِىٍّۢ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ ١٢٠

Never will the Jews or Christians be pleased with you, until you follow their faith. Say, “Allah’s guidance is the only ˹true˺ guidance.” And if you were to follow their desires after ˹all˺ the knowledge that has come to you, there would be none to protect or help you against Allah.

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran

Walan tarda AAanka alyahoodu walaannasara hatta tattabiAAamillatahum qul inna huda Allahi huwa alhudawala-ini ittabaAAta ahwaahum baAAda allathee jaakamina alAAilmi ma laka mina Allahi min waliyyin walanaseer

— Transliteration

Orang-orang Yahudi dan Nasrani tidak sekali-kali akan bersetuju atau suka kepadamu (wahai Muhammad) sehingga engkau menurut ugama mereka (yang telah terpesong itu). Katakanlah (kepada mereka): "Sesungguhnya petunjuk Allah (ugama Islam itulah petunjuk yang benar". Dan demi sesungguhnya jika engkau menurut kehendak hawa nafsu mereka sesudah datangnya (wahyu yang memberi) pengetahuan kepadamu (tentang kebenaran), maka tiadalah engkau akan peroleh dari Allah (sesuatupun) yang dapat mengawal dan memberi pertolongan kepada mu.

— Abdullah Muhammad Basmeih

2:121

ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَـٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يَتْلُونَهُۥ حَقَّ تِلَاوَتِهِۦٓ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِۦ ۗ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِۦ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ ١٢١

Those We have given the Book follow it as it should be followed. It is they who ˹truly˺ believe in it. As for those who reject it, it is they who are the losers.

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran

Allatheena ataynahumualkitaba yatloonahu haqqa tilawatihi ola-ikayu/minoona bihi waman yakfur bihi faola-ika humu alkhasiroon

— Transliteration

Orang-orang yang Kami berikan Kitab kepada mereka, sedang mereka membacanya dengan sebenar-benar bacaan (tidak mengubah dan memutarkan maksudnya), mereka itulah orang-orang yang beriman kepadanya; dan sesiapa yang mengingkarinya maka mereka itulah orang-orang yang rugi.

— Abdullah Muhammad Basmeih

[globalworship]

Old Statue of Child Jesus, India

+++

This fascinating small statue is mentioned briefly in a 2018 book by Dr. Istvan Perczel:

Here's the full page from the book (title not given):

+++

The other commentary in this post is summarized from a Reddit post (numerous writers) found at https://www.reddit.com/r/Kerala/comments/18nf0eh/native_statue_of_jesus_kerala_late_16thearly_17th/?rdt=54167

Recently saw this in a work published by Dr. Istvan Perczel, a leading scholar on the Kerala Syrian Christian community. This is an extremely rare find, as much of native Kerala Christian art was either altered/destroyed or later highly influenced by the arrival of the Portuguese. This work seems to date to a unique transitional period: The Portuguese had only been in Kerala for a few decades, so elements of Native Kerala Syrian Christian culture is still present.

Dr. Perczel noted that the work shows heavy influence from Buddhism and Hinduism, as Christ is modeled off of Buddha and is standing on a lotus flower similar to Hindu Gods and Goddesses. At the same time, he uniquely stated that the statue shows elements of Egyptian culture as well, as the belt of Jesus is tied like the hieroglyphic Ankh sign. According to Dr. Perczel, several local statues around this era or before show similar Egyptian influence, suggesting a relic from Kerala’s ancient trade with the Red Sea.

This Jesus is "child jesus" and hence no beard. Popularly known in malayalam as "unni eesho". The globe in hand denotes infant Jesus. A flaming nimbus is behind his head.

This was made during the late 16th/early 17th century. The Portuguese had began to Latinize the Nasrani Community but not fully so. For the first time the community began making statues (a Latin Catholic custom) as before this era, they did not believe in the creation of idols (due to being East Syriac Christians).

The artist who made this, is very clearly trying to recreate Infant Jesus (a historic and extremely common European statue of Jesus in his youth). The Syrian Christian artist or patrons, had no idea how to depict a Christian statue, because they had never done so up to this point. For that reason they mimicked the statues of Hindu Gods and traditional Kerala artistry while incorporating a very clear reference the famous “Infant Jesus” statue.

+++

Dr. Istvan Perczel is a renowned scholar from Hungary. Read about part of his research on Indian Syrian Christians at https://people.ceu.edu/istvan_perczel and https://www.mgu.ac.in/istvan-perczel-appointed-as-mar-chrysostom-chair-at-m-g-university/

[apenitentialprayer]

I’m a little late; I first heard about Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas in May of last year; I heard a little bit about his ministry and his dedication to the poor, and also that he was among those affected by the deadly wave of coronavirus that was spreading in India at that time; he was already on a ventilator at the time. For the next couple months after, I’d occasionally try to learn more about his situation, but I was coming up empty on English news sources. Well, I just looked again, and it seems his excellency had died back in August. Please keep him in your prayer, and remember his motto:

Vachanasya Sakshi Bhava Be a witness to the Word

[oru-pottante-yatra]

Lmao about naming conventions. Imagine deciding not to be catholic and then trying to choose a trans name while trying to do a throwback to your mallu heritage

[tansoncyriac]

#shoottime #canon📷 #photooftheday #photographylover #canon6dmarkii #nasranistories #nasrani #christianity #achayathi #achayathis #chattayummundum https://www.instagram.com/p/B-r2Zn2jW-j/?igshid=q34326ozjwho

[no-passaran]

Small correction:

In Arabic, Christians are called "masihiyyun". It's a term both Christians and Muslims use to refer to Christians. I'm not really sure if "nasrani" in Arabic is a neutral term, as I'm not an Arabic-speaker. I know that St Thomas Christians in India, a community of Indians that were converted in the first century, refer to themselves as "nasrani", which comes from the Syriac word for Christian.

+ While most Iraqi Christians are indeed ethnic Assyrians, not all of them are! There are Iraqi Christians who are ethnic Arabs, too, and there are even some small minorities of Iraqi Christians who are ethnic Turkmens. It's very important to use the term "Iraqi / Middle Eastern Christian" in this context, because ISIS did not persecute these people for their ethnicities, but for their Christian religion. Also, it just makes me so angry when Spanish Christians act as though they have anything in common with Christians in the Middle East when it comes to marginalisation and persecution! That's why I don't trust anyone with a ن in their bio when they belong to a Christian group that historically has always been privileged.

Both masīhīun (مسيحي) meaning "followers of the Messiah" and naṣrānīun (نصراني) meaning "Nazarene" mean Christian in Arabic and Persian (but the second one in Persian is nasrānī). It's true as you say that masīhī is how Christians who speak Arabic call themselves, but naṣrānī is still common and has a broader cultural meaning (not just strictly religious like masīhī). I don't know either if it's negative, I've heard that naṣrānī is a pejorative word for Christians but I didn't say that in the original post because personally I've heard it in specific contexts where it was pejorative but I don't know enough to say for sure how general that is, so I'd rather not make a statement I'm not sure of.

If any Arabic speaker wants to comment and solve our doubt, feel free to do so and I'll be thankful!

And about the Spanish Catholics, exactly my thoughts. It's not only that they've been and are privileged but that the Catholic power been extremely cruel in Spain until very very recently.

[hoursofreading]

reading about the goan inquisition and - 

The Inquisition was established by the colonial era Inquisition in Portuguese India to enforce Catholic orthodoxy in the Indian colonies of the Portuguese Empire,[1] and to counter the New Christians, who were accused of "crypto-Hinduism", and the Old Christian Nasranis, accused of "Judaising".[1] It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774 to 1778, continued thereafter until finally abolished in 1812.[2][3] The Inquisition punished those who had converted to Catholicism but were suspected by Jesuit clergy of practising their previous religion in secret. Predominantly, those targeted were accused of Crypto-Hinduism.[4][5][6] Many criminally-charged natives were imprisoned, publicly flogged and, dependent on the criminal charge, sentenced to death.[7][8] The Inquisitors also seized and burnt any books written in Sanskrit, Dutch, English, or Konkani, on the suspicions that they contain deviationist or Protestant material.[9]

New laws promulgated between 1566 and 1576 prohibited Hindus from repairing any damaged temples or constructing new ones.[70] Ceremonies including public Hindu weddings were banned.[61] Anyone who owned an image of a Hindu god or goddess was deemed a criminal.[70] Non-Hindus in Goa were encouraged to identify and report anyone who owned images of god or goddess to the Inquisition authorities. Those accused were searched and if any evidence was found, such "idol owning" Hindus were arrested and they lost their property. Half of the seized property went as reward to the accusers, the other half to the church.[70]

Hindus were forbidden from occupying any public office, and only a Christian could hold such an office;[47][48]

Hindus were forbidden from producing any Christian devotional objects or symbols;[47]

Hindu children whose father had died were required to be handed over to the Jesuits for conversion to Christianity;[47] This began under a 1559 royal order from Portugal, whereafter Hindu children alleged to be orphan were seized by the Jesuits and converted to Christianity.[48] This law was enforced on children even if mother was still alive, in some cases even if the father was alive. The parental property was also seized when the Hindu child was seized. In some cases, states Lauren Benton, the Portuguese authorities extorted money for the "return of the orphans".[48]

The Catholic missionaries aimed to eradicate indigenous languages such as Konkani and cultural practices such as ceremonies, fasts, growing of the tulsi plant in front of the house, the use of flowers and leaves for ceremony or ornament.[84]

[paccha-puccha]

reaffirming my ❤️ for മലയാളം

1. A Palindrome

Malayalam is perhaps the world’s only language that is a palindrome when written in English.

The word Malayalam is a combination of 2 words – ‘Mala’ meaning ‘mountain’ and ‘Alam’ meaning ‘region’. Thus the word literally means ‘the mountain region’.

The term originally refers to the land under the Chera dynasty. Later on, it became the name of the region’s language.

Until the 16th century, Malayalam,  referred to by several other closely related names, including Malayanma and Malayalama.

2. A classical language with origins in Tamil

The popularly held opinion is that the Malayalam language evolved from Middle Tamil between the 9th and 13th centuries. Until then it was a western coastal dialect of Tamil.

However, there is also a contrary view that Malayalam did not originate from Tamil. Rather, both Malayalam and Tamil evolved from a common ancestor known as ‘Proto Tamil-Malayalam’.

‘Manipravalam’ was a macaronic language used in certain Malayalam language texts before it established its modern form in the 16th century. It was a combination of Tamil and Sanskrit.

The Manipravalam language and its script influence the modern form of the language greatly, so much so that Malayalam continues to be the one Dravidian language with extensive Sanskrit influence.

In 2013 Malayalam accorded the status of classical language by the Government of India.

3. Malayalam has some of the most complicated alphabets

Written in the Brahmic script, Malayalam has 15 vowels, 42 consonants, and certain other symbols. In fact, the language has some of the most specific and complicated sounds represented in letters. Equivalent differences hardly exist in other Indian languages.

There are 2 separate alphabets to denote the sound ‘r’- one for ‘r’ (ര) as in Spanish tres and the other for ‘ṟ’ (റ)   as in Spanish Rojo. Equivalent pronunciation differences do not exist in English or Hindi.

Malayalam also has the alphabet ‘ഴ’(zha) which pronounced like the rhotic r as in ‘purse’ in English. This rhotic consonant is absent in almost all other Indian languages.

There are 2 separate consonants for the sound ‘l’ – one for ‘l’ (ല) as in ‘language’ and the other for ḷ  (ള ) as in ‘plumber’.

4. Distinct nasal tones

Nasal sounds form an indispensable part of the spoken form of the Malayalam language.

The most basic pronoun ‘me’ is a nasal tone, pronounced as ‘ñaan’, where the ‘ña’ sounds like the NY in ‘canyon’. So is the nasal sound ‘ng’ as in ‘sing’ used extensively.

Several words that may have equivalent forms in other Indian languages like Hindi, take on a nasal tone in pronunciation in Malayalam.

For example in the Hindi word ‘Sundar’, the d sound distinctly pronounced in the NDA cluster.

However, in the equivalent Malayalam word ‘Sundaram’, the d sound becomes silent in the NDA cluster and instead pronounced as ‘sunnaram’, producing a distinct nasal tone in its place.

5. The Malayalam script was literally and figuratively ‘moulded’ for the printing press

The original Malayalam script that began as what is called the Vattelettu, has undergone significant changes. These changes made so as to accommodate the needs of making moulds for the printing press.

Until Benjamin Bailey, a British missionary brought the printing press to Kerala, Malayalam was written and printed in the Grantha script with square type fonts.

In 1829, Bailey ushered in a momentous change in the history of Malayalam by replacing these with the round script that is used to date.

The script from Bailey underwent further changes as the needs of the press changed. Local newspapers like the Malayala Manorama have done significant changes in the script.  

6. The European hand in Malayalam

Not just Benjamin Bailey, several Europeans have had a decisive role in the development of the modern form of Malayalam language.

The first book to have Malayalam script printed in it was the Hortus Malabaricus, written in Latin by Henrik Van Rheede, the Governor of Dutch Malabar in 1678.

First Malayalam book Sampkshepa Vedartham which came out in 1772 didn’t publish anywhere in India but in Rome!

The first dictionary in Malayalam compiled by German scholar Herman Gundert. He has also extensively written about and codified Malayalam grammar.

7. Malayalam was written in multiple scripts by different communities

Before the evolution of the modern script, different communities in Kerala adopted Malayalam into the script of their liturgical languages.

Arabi-Malayalam is a script still in limited use among the Muslim community of Kerala. It is a variant form of the Arabic script used to write Malayalam.

Suriyani Malayalam or Syriac Malayalam was a script in popular use among the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, also known as the Nasranis. Malayalam, adopted into the Syriac alphabet with certain additional orthographic changes.

8. Distinct Dialects

Though not as many dialects as other Dravidian languages like Tamil, significant variations exist in spoken Malayalam.

The Dravidian encyclopedia enlists regional dialects of Malayalam into 13 dialect areas.

Caste and communal dialects are visible in Malayalam. The spoken form of Malayalam among the Mappila Muslims of Kerala has considerable influence on Arabic and Persian. Portuguese, Greek, and Syriac words find their way into certain dialects spoken by Christian communities.

While Hebrew, Syriac, and Ladino were dominant in Judeo Malayalam- a dialect spoken by the Cochin Jews who are virtually non-existent now in Kerala.

Jeseri and Byaare are 2 dialects of Malayalam that are extremely divergent from the Malayalam spoken in mainland Kerala.

While Jeseri is spoken in Lakshadweep, Byaare is spoken in Northern Kerala and Southern Karnataka.

9. A plethora of Loan Words

Malayalam is heavily influenced by several other languages that it consists of too many loan words.

These loan words that have come from languages like Portuguese, Dutch, and Arabichave become so ingrained into the everyday usage of Malayalam.

Common words in Malayalam for chair (kasera), table (mesha), pen (pena), paper (kadalas) and window (janala) all come from the Portuguese words cadeira, mesa, pena, cartez, and Janela respectively.

Malayalam has also given loanwords to Portuguese. The Portuguese words for jackfruit (jaca), teak (teca), and jaggery (jagra) have its origins in the Malayalam words chakka, thekku, and chakkara respectively.

In fact, the very word for toilet in Malayalam, ‘kakkoos’ comes from the Dutch ‘kakhuis’!

Arabic and Persian influences also abound in the language.

10. ‘New Gen’ slang words

Thanks to Malayali youngsters, the language now has a repository of ‘new gen’ words. These are existing Malayalam words that have taken on completely new meanings and connotations according to the changing times.

Social media and movies have boosted the popularity of these new words.

‘Thallu’ which originally means ‘to push’ is one of the most popular ‘new-gen’ slang. Thallu now refers to any statement that comes off as boasting.

‘Theppu’ is another latest addition which means ‘to ditch’ a lover. However, the word originally means ‘to iron something’.

‘Pani Kitti’ is a phrase that popularly meant ‘got a job’ until a few years back. But now it means that you’ve landed up in trouble!

The Malayalam language is as interesting and versatile as Kerala. Cultural transactions with a plethora of communities from across the world have shaped the language.

In a constant state of evolution, the next time you explore the language, Malayalam will have added a whole new set of quirky facts to itself!

[foggynightdonut]

Etymology

Hebrew

Netzer

One view holds that "Nazareth" is derived from one of the Hebrew words for 'branch', namely ne·ṣer, ‏נֵ֫צֶר‎,[8] and alludes to the prophetic, messianic words in Book of Isaiah 11:1, 'from (Jesse's) roots a Branch (netzer) will bear fruit'. One view suggests this toponym might be an example of a tribal name used by resettling groups on their return from exile.[9] Alternatively, the name may derive from the verb na·ṣar, נָצַר, "watch, guard, keep,"[10] and understood either in the sense of "watchtower" or "guard place", implying the early town was perched on or near the brow of the hill, or, in the passive sense as 'preserved, protected' in reference to its secluded position.[11] The negative references to Nazareth in the Gospel of John suggest that ancient Jews did not connect the town's name to prophecy.[12]

Another theory holds that the Greek form Ναζαρά (Nazará), used in Matthew and Luke, may derive from an earlier Aramaic form of the name, or from another Semitic language form.[13] If there were a tsade (צ) in the original Semitic form, as in the later Hebrew forms, it would normally have been transcribed in Greek with a sigma (σ) instead of a zeta (ζ).[14] This has led some scholars to question whether "Nazareth" and its cognates in the New Testament actually refer to the settlement known traditionally as Nazareth in Lower Galilee.[15] Such linguistic discrepancies may be explained, however, by "a peculiarity of the 'Palestinian' Aramaic dialect wherein a sade (ṣ) between two voiced (sonant) consonants tended to be partially assimilated by taking on a zayin (z) sound".[14]

Arabic

an-Nāṣira

The Arabic name for Nazareth is an-Nāṣira, and Jesus (Arabic: يَسُوع‎, Yasū`) is also called an-Nāṣirī, reflecting the Arab tradition of according people an attribution, a name denoting whence a person comes in either geographical or tribal terms. In the Qur'an, Christians are referred to as naṣārā, meaning "followers of an-Nāṣirī", or "those who follow Jesus of Nazareth".[16]

New Testament references

In Luke's Gospel, Nazareth is first described as 'a town of Galilee' and home of Mary (Luke 1:26). Following the birth and early epiphanial events of chapter 2 of Luke's Gospel, Mary, Joseph and Jesus "returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth".[17]

In English translations of the New Testament, the phrase "Jesus of Nazareth" appears seventeen times whereas the Greek has the form "Jesus the Nazarēnos" or "Jesus the Nazōraios."[18] One plausible view is that Nazōraean (Ναζωραῖος) is a normal Greek adaptation of a reconstructed, hypothetical term in Jewish Aramaic for the word later used in Rabbinical sources to refer to Jesus.[19] "Nazaréth" is named twelve times in surviving Greek manuscript versions of the New Testament, 10 times as Nazaréth or Nazarét,[20] and twice as Nazará.[14] The former two may retain the 'feminine' endings common in Galilean toponyms.[14] The minor variants, Nazarat and Nazarath are also attested.[21]Nazara (Ναζαρά) might be the earliest form of the name in Greek, going back to the putative Q document. It is found in Matthew 4:13 and Luke 4:16.[14][dubious – discuss] However, the Textus Receptus clearly translates all passages as Nazara leaving little room for debate there.[22]

Many scholars have questioned a link between "Nazareth" and the terms "Nazarene" and "Nazoraean" on linguistic grounds,[23] while some affirm the possibility of etymological relation "given the idiosyncrasies of Galilean Aramaic."[24]

Extrabiblical references

Nazareth as depicted on a

Byzantine

mosaic (

Chora Church

,

Constantinople

)

The form Nazara is also found in the earliest non-scriptural reference to the town, a citation by Sextus Julius Africanus dated about 221 AD[25] (see "Middle Roman to Byzantine Periods" below). The Church Father Origen (c. 185 to 254 AD) knows the forms Nazará and Nazarét.[26] Later, Eusebius in his Onomasticon (translated by St. Jerome) also refers to the settlement as Nazara.[27] The nașirutha of the scriptures of the Mandeans refers to "priestly craft", not to Nazareth, which they identified with Qom.[28]

The first non-Christian reference to Nazareth is an inscription on a marble fragment from a synagogue found in Caesarea Maritima in 1962.[29] This fragment gives the town's name in Hebrew as נצרת (n-ṣ-r-t). The inscription dates to c. AD 300 and chronicles the assignment of priests that took place at some time after the Bar Kokhba revolt, AD 132–35.[30] (See "Middle Roman to Byzantine Periods" below.) An 8th-century AD Hebrew inscription, which was the earliest known Hebrew reference to Nazareth prior to the discovery of the inscription above, uses the same form.[14]

Nazarenes, Nasranis,

Notzrim,

ChristiansMain article:

Nazarene (title)

Around 331, Eusebius records that from the name Nazareth Christ was called a Nazoraean, and that in earlier centuries Christians, were once called Nazarenes.[31]Tertullian (Against Marcion 4:8) records that "for this reason the Jews call us 'Nazarenes'." In the New Testament Christians are called "Christians" three times by Paul in Romans, and "Nazarenes" once by Tertullus, a Jewish lawyer. The Rabbinic and modern Hebrew name for Christians, notzrim, is also thought to derive from Nazareth, and be connected with Tertullus' charge against Paul of being a member of the sect of the Nazarenes, Nazoraioi, "men of Nazareth" in Acts. Against this some medieval Jewish polemical texts connect notzrim with the netsarim "watchmen" of Ephraim in Jeremiah 31:6. In Syriac Aramaic Nasrath (ܢܨܪܬ) is used for Nazareth, while "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5) and "of Nazareth" are both Nasrani or Nasraya (ܕܢܨܪܝܐ) an adjectival form.[32][33][34]Nasrani is used in the Quran for Christians, and in Modern Standard Arabic may refer more widely to Western people.[35]Saint Thomas Christians, an ancient community of Jewish Christians in India who trace their origins to evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century, are sometimes known by the name "Nasrani" even today.[36][37]

History

Stone Age

Archaeological researchers[who?] have revealed that a funerary and cult center at Kfar HaHoresh, about two miles (3.2 km) from current Nazareth, dates back roughly 9000 years to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B era.[38] The remains of some 65 individuals were found, buried under huge horizontal headstone structures, some of which consisted of up to 3 tons of locally produced white plaster. Decorated human skulls uncovered there have led archaeologists to identify Kfar HaHoresh as a major cult centre in that era.[39]

Bronze and Iron Age

The Franciscan priest Bellarmino Bagatti, "Director of Christian Archaeology", carried out extensive excavation of this "Venerated Area" from 1955 to 1965. Fr. Bagatti uncovered pottery dating from the Middle Bronze Age (2200 to 1500 BC) and ceramics, silos and grinding mills from the Iron Age (1500 to 586 BC) which indicated substantial settlement in the Nazareth basin at that time.

Roman period

Historic photo of

Mary's Well

Archaeological evidence shows the Nazareth was occupied during the late Hellenistic period, through the Roman period and into the Byzantine period.[40]

According to the Gospel of Luke, Nazareth was the home village of Mary as well as the site of the Annunciation (when the angel Gabriel informed Mary that she would give birth to Jesus). According to the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph and Mary resettled in Nazareth after returning from the flight from Bethlehem to Egypt. According to the Bible, Jesus grew up in Nazareth from some point in his childhood. However, some modern scholars also regard Nazareth as the birthplace of Jesus.[41]

A Hebrew inscription found in Caesarea dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century mentions Nazareth as the home of the priestly Hapizzez/Hafizaz family after the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 AD).[42][43] From the three fragments that have been found, the inscription seems to be a list of the twenty-four priestly courses (cf. Books of Chronicles - 1 Chronicles 24:7–19 and Book of Nehemiah - Nehemiah 11;12), with each course (or family) assigned its proper order and the name of each town or village in Galilee where it settled. Nazareth is not spelled with the "z" sound but with the Hebrew tsade (thus "Nasareth" or "Natsareth").[44]Eleazar Kalir (a Hebrew Galilean poet variously dated from the 6th to 10th century) mentions a locality clearly in the Nazareth region bearing the name Nazareth נצרת (in this case vocalized "Nitzrat"), which was home to the descendants of the 18th Kohen family Happitzetz (הפצץ), for at least several centuries after the Bar Kochva revolt.[citation needed]

Although it is mentioned in the New Testament gospels, there are no extant non-biblical references to Nazareth until around 200 CE, when Sextus Julius Africanus, cited by Eusebius (Church History 1.7.14), speaks of Nazara as a village in Judea and locates it near an as-yet unidentified "Cochaba".[45] In the same passage Africanus writes of desposunoi – relatives of Jesus – who he claims kept the records of their descent with great care. Ken Dark describes the view that Nazareth did not exist in Jesus's time as "archaeologically unsupportable".[46]

The

Basilica of the Annunciation

James F. Strange, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Southern Florida,[47] notes: "Nazareth is not mentioned in ancient Jewish sources earlier than the third century CE. This likely reflects its lack of prominence both in Galilee and in Judaea."[48] Strange originally calculated the population of Nazareth at the time of Christ as "roughly 1,600 to 2,000 people" but, in a subsequent publication that followed more than a decade of additional research, revised this figure down to "a maximum of about 480."[49] In 2009, Israeli archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre excavated archaeological remains in Nazareth that date to the time of Jesus in the early Roman period. Alexandre told reporters, "The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth."[50][51][40]

Other sources state that during Jesus' time, Nazareth had a population of 400 and one public bath, which was important for civic and religious purposes, as a mikva.[52]

Crusader-era carving in Nazareth

A tablet at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, dating to 50 CE, was sent from Nazareth to Paris in 1878. It contains an inscription known as the "Ordinance of Caesar" that outlines the penalty of death for those who violate tombs or graves. However, it is suspected that this inscription came to Nazareth from somewhere else (possibly Sepphoris). Bagatti writes: "we are not certain that it was found in Nazareth, even though it came from Nazareth to Paris. At Nazareth there lived various vendors of antiquities who got ancient material from several places."[53] C. Kopp is more definite: "It must be accepted with certainty that [the Ordinance of Caesar]… was brought to the Nazareth market by outside merchants."[54]Princeton University archaeologist Jack Finnegan describes additional archaeological evidence related to settlement in the Nazareth basin during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and states that "Nazareth was a strongly Jewish settlement in the Roman period."[55]

[bebeati]

In faith there’s always hope✨

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• Nasrani Necklace

• Nuestra Senora Necklace

• Stack rings

Available at BEBEATI.com

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[jamesbeanblog]

I should do a program featuring/exploring selections from all the Saint Thomas scriptures: Gospel of Thomas, Thomas the Spiritual Athlete (Contender), Psalms of Thomas, Acts of Thomas and the Hymn of the Pearl (from the complete Syriac edition), the Apocalypse of Thomas, and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. The "School of Saint Thomas" historically has been been located in Mesopotamia/Syria/Qatar/Persia, also India (Saint Thomas Christians or Nasrani) associated with the Churches of the East: Syriac, Assyrian, Nestorian, Manichaean Gnostic, and in China: The Church of the Light (Daqin - Jingjiao group). 

[militant-holy-knight]

I once saw a Muslim historian claim that “separation of church and state is a Christian invention”. His argument is that early proponents of these ideas like John Locke were Christians and that the “freedom of religion” part in the American Constitution because their ancestors were subjected to persecution by the Church of England, so they made the United States without a state religion to ensure no denomination would have dominion over the other.

While he is technically not wrong, it’s more correct to assert these ideas were proposed by people that just happened to be Christians rather than it being a product of Christianity itself. Not that I blame him or anything since he comes from a society where it’s very hard to take religion out from politics. There is a good reason jihadists refer to all Westerners (including non-religious) as “Crusaders” and the term “Nasrani” which is alternatively a slur for Christians happens to be synonymous with “Westerner”.