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The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, also known as the Mar Thoma Church, is a Christian denomination based in the state of Kerala in southwestern India. It is one of the Saint Thomas Christian churches tracing its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.〔(''The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5'' ) by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing - 2008. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.〕 Most Christian churches around the world are of either the Western or the Eastern tradition. In turn, Eastern churches are divided into many traditions, one of which is the Syriac tradition, divided into the West Syrian Rite and the East Syrian Rite. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church follows a variant of the West Syrian tradition and bases its teachings on fundamental Biblical teachings. The Mar Thoma Church is an autonomous Oriental church with Syriac High Church traditions and eclectic characteristics from the era of the Reformation. The church defines itself as "Apostolic in origin, Universal in nature, Biblical in faith, Evangelical in principle, Ecumenical in outlook, Oriental in worship, Democratic in function, and Episcopal in character". The church emerged from a cleansing movement, on scriptural principles within the Malankara Church .〔''Faith and Practice of the Marthoma Church'' (1993) by Rev. K.S. Mathew〕 The confluence movement of eastern traditions and western reformation begin in 1836; A Malankara Church clergyman Abraham Malpan abjured his traditional understandings through sharing of ideas with the missionaries and instituted changes independently at his parish in Maramon. He roughly translated the Holy Qurbana service into minimalist form, from the traditional Syriac to the local Malayalam language(ridiculed as ''Ara Kurbana'') . This led to a rift within the church's hierarchy. When Mar Thoma XII who was antagonist to reforms in malankara was reigning , malpan's nephew was sent by the reformation group, to be consecrated as a metropolitan bishop by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. In 1843, nephew returned as the leader of the Malankara Church which later led in establishing authoritatively an independent church in the order of apostolic succession with indigenous Christian heritage known as the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Kerala. Until the beginning of 20th century Marthomites lived in a few districts of Central Travancore and Kunnamkulam in Kerala. Since that time it has spread with the 20th-century Indian diaspora to North America, Europe, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and currently has around 500,000 members in Kerala, and another 50,000 throughout the diaspora.〔(Adherents.com ) (1999). Accessed 4 June 2012.〕 Their mother tongue is Malayalam, the language of Kerala. The members of the Church are known commonly as Nazaranis, Naveekarna Suriyani or as Marthomakkar. ==Definitions== ''Malankara'' is the ancient name derived from the name 'Maliankara', Maliankara Island on the south-western side of Indian Peninsula. It was between Gokarnam and Kanyakumari the southern point of India. Kerala, the present south-western state of India is only a part of Malankara. It is also thought to be a cognate of this name Maliankara, a place near Muziris, where Thomas the Apostle first landed in Kerala. ''Mar Thoma'' or Marthoma is Aramaic, means Saint Thomas. Members of this church are often referred to as Marthomites or Marthoma Syrians. ''Syrian Church''. The original liturgical language used in Malankara Church was Aramaic and Hebrew. Later it was changed to Syriac. In 1898 during the reign of Titus I Mar Thoma the church decided to extend its name as Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church to comprise its order and heritage.〔Canons of Synod of Diamper〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mar Thoma Syrian Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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