Acts of Apostle Thomas

VIII CHINA EVANGELIZATON : M. M. NINAN
are believed to have brought the gospel on to Japan by the year 70 AD.
The Church had lost contact with the rest of the world through the cutting off of the Silk Road by the people
of Turkestan and the restoration of the links brought great joy and strength to the Church in China, Japan
and the rest of Asia as contact was once more restored with the rest of the Church.
In 630, however the Silk Road was restored and travel between the East and the West resumed. The Tang
Dynasty was a very special period in Chinese history where there was a broad policy of tolerance and interest
in fostering foreign religions., In 638 Alopen completed the first Christian book in Chinese The Sutra of
Jesus the Messiah.
In this book it was carefully argued that Christianity was part of China's ancient tradition. In appreciation
for the good of the Eastern Christians an Imperial Degree was proclaimed that provided for the first building
of a Church. Later on The Church of the East was favored by another Imperial degree and Alopen was
promoted to be Great Spiritual Lord, Protector of the Empire, Metropolitan of Chang An.
The Church encountered ups and downs but following a period of persecution falling the fall of the Tang
Dynasty grew again in the 13th and 14 th Centuries and were again so respected by the Emperor that according
to the ancient Chinese document the Yuan Shi, Chapter 89, the Governor appointed a special officer to
take charge of the affairs of the Church of the East with the second high-test rank in China.
This office was solely to manage the affairs of the many bishops, priests, monks and to see that all the sacraments
were carefully observed. According to the Yuan Shi there were 72 Church of the East monasteries
during the period 1289 to 1320 not to mention the multitude of churches and believers.
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