The Assyrian Church of the East

Denomination·Founded 431 CE·est. 323,300 by the World Council of Churches figure; other estimates run to 400,000, and war and emigration have made counting harder since 2014.

Judaism → Christianity → The Church of the East → The Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East — Diocese of Western EuropeAssyrian Church of the East — Diocese of California

Branch
Overview Belief 3How to Live 1Practice 1Stories & Scripture 1Community 1 You × The Assyrian Church of the East Discussion
Precept of The Assyrian Church of the East

We do not curse our teachers.

Reunion talks with Rome and with the Eastern Orthodox have repeatedly stalled on the same point: the Church of the East will not anathematise Nestorius, Theodore and Diodore, and will not remove the first from its liturgical diptychs. It has been willing to say it does not hold what its critics mean by Nestorianism. It has not been willing to condemn men it regards as having been condemned unheard.

Add to My Beliefs →
What it asksDo not curse the teachers who taught you
Who it bindsThe synod, which has refused for sixteen centuries to anathematise Nestorius
Where it bitesIn every ecumenical negotiation, where dropping the names would cost nothing and is still not done
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

This is the sticking point in every ecumenical file involving this church, and it has cost it a great deal. Dropping three names from the diptychs would remove the largest obstacle to formal reunion with both Rome and the Chaldean church, and the synod has consistently declined. The refusal is stated in terms of due process rather than doctrine: the men were condemned after death, in absentia, and by councils this church was not part of. The 1994 declaration with Rome and the 2001 Eucharist guidelines were both drafted so as not to require the anathemas, which is why they succeeded where earlier attempts failed.

The same ground, other faiths

claims that share this one's ideas
The past gets a vote, not a veto. Reconstructionist Judaism · core tenet Go deeper →
There is nothing to join. The Christian Churches and Churches of Christ · core tenet Go deeper →
Honest to God — thirty-nine pages that took the movement apart. The International Churches of Christ · story Read it in full →
Nothing supernatural is claimed, by anyone, at any point. The Satanic Temple · core tenet Go deeper →
Satsang — the singing evening. Hinduism · rite Go deeper →
The fourfold sangha. Buddhism · community Go deeper →

The conversation

argument stays attached to the claim it is about All discussion →

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Where next

The Assyrian Church of the East's How to Live roomback up one layer Propose a change to this passageone button — it routes to the review pool

Numbers count Panfaith activity only — never real-world adherence.

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