The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> Marco Polo and the Nestorians

Marco Polo and the Nestorians
Posted by pancho (Moderator) - Saturday, March 14 2009, 19:26:15 (CET)
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Fascinating account of Marco Polo, his father and uncle’s travels from Venice to Peking in 1275, where they lived for several years among the court of Kublai Khan, Mongol, or Tartar, Great Khan, Emperor and King of Kings. They discovered a far more civilized and grand realm than any in Europe. Marco writes of his visits to Mosul in the region of Irak, then subject to the Tartars. He also saw Maredin and Bauda, or Baghdad. He sees Nestorians in many cities both in Irak and in China....he also finds them living among Muslims and pagan idol worshippers...all dwelling side by side...and of course Jews too. Apparently the dominant Muslims allowed idol worshippers to live in peace and practice their faiths...and why not, Christianity also prays at the feet of idols.

On a previous trip his father and uncle were sent back by Kublai with instructions to return with 100 priests or monks to instruct his people in Christianity. Alas the pope sent back only two, who accompany the two brothers and Marco, but quit after only a few days journey...so much for evangelism and taking the True Word to all peoples. Kublai steadily refused to convert to Christianity and saying that only fools believe there is one God when, clearly, there are many being worshipped.

It’s interesting that while Marco meets with many Nestorian communities he never mentions the name Assyria or Assyrians, or any of them claiming to be Assyrians...not even in Mosul/Nineveh. He meets Kurds living in southern Persia....and travels through Kurdistan....so, where were the Assyrians? The answer is that they had already forgotten themselves...so it isn’t true that “we always remembered”.

Hear him tell it...

“Mosul is a large province inhabited by various descriptions of people, one class of whom pay reverence to Mahomet, and are called Arabians. The others profess the Christian faith, but not according to the Canons of the Church, which they depart from in many instances, and are denominated Nestorians, Jacobites, and Armenians. They have a patriarch whom they call Jacolit, and by him Archbishops, Bishops, and Abbots are consecrated and sent to all parts of India, to Baudas (Baghdad, mine) or to Cathay (China, mine) just as the Pope of Rome does in the Latin countries.”

No mention of Assyrians or Assyria. It’s interesting too that the Christians are allowed to consecrate church officials and send them out to preach...hardly the image of Muslims “murdering” Christians for their faith alone...or trying to kill the religion off. So, Marco meets Arabs, Kurds and idol worshippers and various sorts of Christians...but no “Assyrians”.

They travel through Kashgar, which is the most westerly city of China...

“Besides the Mahometans there are amongst the inhabitants several Nestorian Christians, who are permitted to live under their own laws, and to have churches.”

Again...not the picture Aprim paints for us. It would seem that Christianity had every opportunity to spread itself along a vast area, with no opposition...and yet attracted hardly anyone. That is most likely because there was no army at its back to force the issue. Most of the Christian communities “grew”, not through converts, but by intermarrying among themselves and by rescuing abandoned babies who could be brainwashed early and easily. In all these centuries Christianity never took hold in India, China or Japan, despite being left to preach and sell its wares.

Had priests, alone, arrived in the New World, with no armies of Cortez and other Conquistadors to support them, I doubt many in Latin America would have converted to Christianity...same is true for Africa...the same also holds for Europe, where Roman armies forced conversion.

At one point Marco tells how once a Muslim ruler ordered all Christians to convert on pain of death. My heart sank at this for if I was going to believe one part of his story I would have to believe the rest. Then I realized Marco was relaying what the priests told him...something they thought proved the superiority of their religion while at the same time slandering Islam. In other words; propaganda or, plainly speaking; bullshit.

Supposedly the Khan said that if a priest could not cause a mountain to move itself to another point it meant Christianity had no power and therefore the Christians would have to convert to Islam or all be killed. Naturally the right priest was found and with all the Khan’s armies and household in attendance, ready to slay all Christians, and the Christians too, anxiously awaiting a miracle that would save them and their religion...the magical priest prayed hard and lo and behold the mountain picked itself up and moved...yes it did. At which the Khan and his Muslims were greatly surprised and deeply moved...but, incidentally, not enough to convert.

This is exactly the miraculous fluff and feathers Christians like to spread while at the same time slandering other religions and people. No Muslim ever expected such a ridiculous thing, threatening to kill an entire populace if it couldn’t perform a miracle...and it’s to Islam’s credit that Muhammad is not a god who can levitate, like any hack magician, but a man bringing a good word.

Consider the ingratitude of the Christians spreading this slander....although a minority, they are allowed full freedom to practice their religion...but that is not enough for them. They must also insult the very people allowing them this freedom by concocting such a silly story that insults the tolerance extended to them. Not only did no one threaten to kill them all for their religion, but they were allowed to evangelize all they wanted to. Instead of being grateful, they got pissed off because people refused to join...so they invented a “miracle” whereby they could “prove” that their religion was superior. No wonder few wanted to join.



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