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TheCouncil of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also called theCouncil of Mar Isaac, met in AD 410 inSeleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of thePersianSassanid Empire. Convoked by KingYazdegerd I (399–421), it organized the Christians of his empire into a single structured Church, which became known as theChurch of the East. It is often compared to Constantine'sEdict of Milan, approximately a century earlier.[1] The events of this council are documented in theSynodicon Orientale.
Previously, the Persian state persecuted those Christians, fearing that their loyalty lay with theRoman Empire, which underConstantine the Great had legalized Christianity and with which the Sassanid Empire was repeatedly at war. Persecution had been most severe underShapur II (309–379).[2]Shapur I (241–272), the secondShahan-shah (king of kings) of the Sasanian dynasty had advanced as far asAntioch in 260, and both he and Shapur II deported eastward much of the population of the invaded territories to strengthen the Persian economy.
Yazdegerd I adopted a policy of engagement with the Roman Emperor inConstantinople and with the Christian minority in his own empire. In 409, he allowed the Christians to worship openly and to have churches.Zoroastrianism continued to be the official religion, and apostasy from it was punishable by death.[3]
At the suggestion of a bishop from the Roman side of the frontier, a council of bishops was called to organize the Persian Christians as a single Church, with a single bishop in each diocese and with one bishop to act as their head collectively throughout his empire (SeeMaruthas of Martyropolis).
The Council, presided over byMar Isaac, archbishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, arranged the Persian Church inecclesiastical provinces, with the bishops in each province grouped around ametropolitan, the arrangement approved by theFirst Council of Nicaea (325) in the civil provinces of the Roman Empire.
The archbishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, thecapital city, who is referred to in the acts of the council as the Grand Metropolitan, was to hold authority throughout the Church and for that reason was called (probably only from a later date) theCatholicos.
The 410 council set up six provinces, which became known as the interior provinces, according as other provinces, referred to as exterior provinces, were recognized further afield within the empire and even beyond it.
In order of precedence, the six interior provinces were:
The council marked a major milestone in the history of theChurch of the East and ofChristianity in Asia in general.
The synod also declared its adherence to the decisions of theFirst Council of Nicaea and adopted a form of theNicene Creed.[8] The creed is found in two differentrecensions, each of which is recorded in much later manuscripts. The first recension is East Syriac and comes fromChurch of the East sources. The second is West Syriac and comes fromSyriac Orthodox sources.[9] The East Syriac recension contains: "And in the Holy Spirit"[10] while the West Syriac recension contains: "And we confess the living and Holy Spirit, the livingParaclete, who is from the Father and the Son".[11][10] There has long been controversy among scholars about the relation between the two texts. The development of the Persian creed is difficult to trace, since there were several recensions prior to 410.[12] The first recension is textually closer to the original Nicene Creed. On the other hand, some scholars claim that the second represents the original text of the Seleucia-Ctesiphon Council, and that the words "who is from the Father and the Son" in the second recension are the earliest example of theFilioque clause.[13]
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