Editing Christianity (section)

=== Church of the East ===
{{Further|Assyrian Church of the East|Ancient Church of the East}}
[[File:Church of Saint John the Arab.jpg|thumb|A 6th-century [[Nestorian church]], St. John the Arab, in the [[Assyrian tribes|Assyrian village]] of [[Andac|Geramon]] in [[Hakkari (historical region)|Hakkari]], southeastern Turkey.]]
The [[Church of the East]], which was part of the [[Great Church]],<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q-vhwjamOioC&q=anagignoskomena&pg=PA23 |title=Orthodox and Wesleyan Scriptural understanding and practice |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-88141-301-4 |editor-last=S. T. Kimbrough}}</ref> shared [[communion (Christian)|communion]] with those in the [[Roman Empire]] until the [[Council of Ephesus]] [[Nestorian schism|condemned Nestorius]] in 431. Continuing as a ''[[dhimmi]]'' community under the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] after the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] (633–654), the [[Church of the East]] played a major role in the history of [[Christianity in Asia]]. Between the 9th and 14th centuries, it represented the world's largest [[Christian denomination]] in terms of geographical extent. It established [[Dioceses of the Church of the East to 1318|dioceses]] and communities stretching from the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and today's Iraq and [[Iran]], to [[India (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)|India]] (the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Saint Thomas Syrian Christians]] of [[Kerala]]), the [[Christianity among the Mongols|Mongol kingdoms]] in Central Asia, and [[Church of the East in China|China]] during the [[Tang dynasty]] (7th–9th centuries). In the 13th and 14th centuries, the church experienced a final period of expansion under the [[Mongol Empire]], where influential Church of the East clergy sat in the Mongol court.

The [[Assyrian Church of the East]], with an unbroken patriarchate established in the 17th century, is an independent [[Eastern Christian]] denomination which claims continuity from the [[Church of the East]]—in parallel to the Catholic patriarchate established in the 16th century that evolved into the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], an [[Eastern Catholic]] church in [[full communion]] with the [[Pope]]. It is an Eastern Christian [[Christian denomination|church]] that follows the traditional [[christology]] and [[ecclesiology]] of the historical Church of the East. Largely [[Aniconism in Christianity|aniconic]] and not in [[communion (Christianity)|communion]] with any other church, it belongs to the eastern branch of [[Syriac Christianity]], and uses the [[East Syriac Rite]] in its [[liturgy]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Baumer|first=Christoph|title=The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity|year=2006|location=London & New York|publisher=Tauris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQ7ZAAAAMAAJ|isbn=978-1-84511-115-1}}</ref>
[[File:Church of Saint Mary - Urmia - Iran - کلیسای ننه مریم، ارومیه - ایران.jpg|thumb|[[St. Mary Church, Urmia|Saint Mary Church]]; an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of [[Urmia]], Iran]]
Its main spoken language is [[Syriac language|Syriac]], a dialect of [[Eastern Aramaic]], and the majority of its adherents are ethnic [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], mostly living in [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]], [[India]] ([[Chaldean Syrian Church]]), and in the [[Assyrian diaspora]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Islam| first=Juan |last=Eduardo Campo |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4381-2696-8| page=142 |publisher=Infobase |quote=the Assyrian Church of the East (found mainly in northern Iraq, southern Turkey, Iran, southwest India, and now the United States).}}</ref> It is officially headquartered in the city of [[Erbil]] in northern [[Iraqi Kurdistan]], and its original area also spreads into south-eastern Turkey and north-western Iran, corresponding to ancient [[Assyria]]. Its hierarchy is composed of [[metropolitan bishop]]s and [[diocesan bishop]]s, while lower clergy consists of [[priest]]s and [[deacon]]s, who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout the Middle East, India, North America, Oceania, and Europe (including the [[Caucasus]] and Russia).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hunter|first=Erica C.D.|chapter=The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East|editor-last=Leustean|editor-first=Lucian N.|title=Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century|year=2014|location=London & New York|publisher=Routledge|pages=601–620|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zt2vAwAAQBAJ|isbn=978-1-317-81866-3}}</ref>

The [[Ancient Church of the East]] distinguished itself from the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] in 1964. It is one of the [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] churches that claim continuity with the historical Church of the East, one of the oldest Christian churches in Mesopotamia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnewa.us/default.aspx?ID=1&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 |title=CNEWA: Ronald G. Roberson, C.S.P. – The Assyrian Church of the East |access-date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316110009/http://www.cnewa.us/default.aspx?ID=1&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It is officially headquartered in the city of [[Baghdad]], Iraq.<ref name="blackwell1" /> The majority of its adherents are ethnic [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]].<ref name="blackwell1">{{Cite book|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|year=2017|publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford|pages=122–123|chapter=Church of the East|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|orig-year=1999|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.}}</ref>