Even Chaldean sources state that we are all ethnically, culturally, and linguistically the same people divided along political and religious allegiances Source: chaldeansonline.org/chald.html ----------------------------------------------- Today, there are still thousands among the Assyrians who are Christians but not Roman Catholics. Those who are Catholics belong to what is commonly known as the Chaldean Church. In Iraq, a turning point in Christianity took place in 431 A.D., when the patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, differed with the rest of the Roman Catholic Church over specific dogmas concerning Christs personhood. (As a Western parallel, the reader may refer to the example of Martin Luther versus Catholicism.) The Eastern sector was divided as a result of this split over church principles. Some continued to follow the Nestorian thought, while others elected, in 1552 (more than eleven centuries later), to abide by the teachings of Rome. Let us consider the historical perspective to better understand the use of the designation Chaldean for the Catholics of Iraq. In Babylon, and the Babylonian Empire, different tribes ruled at various times. Regardless of who ascended the throne, Babylon always remained the capital, also, as an empire, the term Babylonian remained intact. The Assyrian Empire, especially under Sennacherib, stood indestructible for centuries. Sennacherib won every single battle he engaged in; a veritable military genius whom no one could destroy -- except Babylon. He was killed there in one of the Babylonian temples. As history would have it, this Chaldean regime was the last to rule in Babylon. The last name of this empire was not eternally attached to the Chaldeans, therefore whoever spoke of the final state of Babylon found himself simultaneously speaking of the Chaldeans. The name Chaldean, in this final stage, included both Babylon and Ninevah (Assyria). It is not unusual, therefore, to think of the last vestiges of the two fallen empires as Chaldeans collectively, since at the final collapse, Babylon included both the lower valley and upper Mesopotamia. The Chaldeans and Assyrians of the old were ethnically, culturally, and linguistically the same people divided along political and religious allegiances. Those tribes lived together under the last Mesopotamian national regime, that of the Chaldeans. They were now, perforce, all Chaldeans in the sense that the Chaldean Empire was their final name under one nation.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 00:07:30 +0000
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