Who is a Knanaite?
It is quite surprising that we seem to have forgotten the path we took to reach here over the last 2000 years since the ascension of our Savior and Messiah Jesus. The Bible tells us that the word Christian was coined in Antioch during the period of the disciples' apostolic missions in Asia much after the ascension of Jesus. [read Acts 11:19-26] This term was used to denote those pagans (Hellenists) who converted from other religions into the faith in Jesus. But this does not take into consideration the status of those followers of Jesus who accepted His teachings during His Mission in this world. The Jewish followers were called Nazarenes and hence they did not have to be known by a new identity called Christian. This difference is evident when one compares verse 19 with verse 26 of Chap 21 in ACTS and the difference is sealed in Chap 21 verse 20-25 when James, the Just, tells Paul to convince the Jewish Nazarenes who are zealous for the Law (or Knanaites) that he walks orderly according to the Jewish customs keeping the Laws of Moses while for the Gentile Christians, they need not observe these practices except refrain from things offered to idols, from blood, and from sexual impurity.
So, I would like to put things into proper perspective which anyone could cross-check with historical records. Jesus never preached about a new religion divorced from Judaism, so his disciples continued to pray at Jewish synagogues and we even have Paul visiting the Holy Temple during a Jewish Festival. Hence, all those gentiles who wished to be a follower of Jesus was originally prescribed the Jewish conversion procedure consisting of circumcision and accepting the laws of Moses. This practice was followed until Paul, the Pharisee who
became an apostle after the miraculous intervention of the Lord, on the road to Damascus, objected vehemently and demanded a Synod to debate this issue. Paul criticized this practice and demanded that it was too vexatious to impose the Jewish Law upon converts and that they were liberated from the burden of following the archaic laws by following merely the teachings of the Savior. This matter was then brought up and discussed before the Jerusalem Council headed by James the Just, who is also called the brother of the Lord by Paul. These
matters are well codified in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles [read Chap 15 & 21 of ACTS, specially verse 20-25 of Chap 21]. The first Holy Synod attended by the Apostles, the first witnesses of the Lord, took a very important decision - to create two branches of the following. This decision of the HOLY SYNOD of JERUSALEM should never be questioned by any follower of JESUS. This Synod is much holier than the Synod of Nicea and no decision of this Synod can ever be overruled by any later Synods either. At the Synod, the two branches created were for the Nazarenes and the Christians. To the Nazarenes, the original practice of Judaism was prescribed and to the gentile Christians, only two laws were prescribed. [Acts21:24-25]
It was at the Council of Nicea in AD 325, that it was decided to excommunicate the Nazarenes by the Christian bishops. This Synod was headed by Emperor Constantine who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. It was here that both the streams of followers were united into a single stream under the denomination of Christians and this was achieved by excommunicating the Nazarene stream. It was against this decision that the 72 Knanaites led by Mar Joseph and Knai Thoma left the Roman Empire and sought refuge in
India. Also, it is remarkable to note that the word Christian was never used in Kerala before the advent of the Portuguese missionaries more than 1000 years after the mission of the Knanaites. This too, despite the knowledge that usage of the expression Nazarene or Nasrani was banned by the Synod of Nicea just 20 years before the migration. Why was the word Christian not used in Kerala then? Another practice banned by the Synod of Nicea was the celebration of Passover by preparing Indri appam. An Imperial Order was passed to confiscate and sell under public auction the properties of those Christians who celebrated Passover which is a Jewish Festival. It was perhaps because of this Order that the Knanaites celebrate Passover in a very private manner without inviting any Christian friend for sharing the Holy Meal.
The Nazarene followers of the Jerusalem Church of James the Just is today represented by the Knanaya community. The Church may not be existent anymore in the form of a physical structure, but it is still very much alive in the form of the Knanaya Community and hence this community should be preserved until the Second Coming of the Messiah. We may also remember that it is not by our merit that we survive even to this day, but it is by the grace of God that we exist despite all odds against us and the threat of many diseases because of
intramarriage practices. It brings to my mind another parable used in the Bible - that of the wise and foolish virgins with burning oil lamps awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom. Recall, that those who saved oil were not entitled to share it with those who ran out of oil. [Mathew 25: 1-13]
Hence, I merely state here that we have a duty to preserve whatever heritage we have been bestowed with from the time of our ancestors who were possibly the first hand witnesses of our Savior and we have a duty to preserve these customs through our descendants until the arrival of the Messiah in spite of all the odds that we face in our lifetime. We are put through many tests like the test of Job, and as in his case, we must pass the critical tests and hurdles for which we will be rewarded. If we fail, then the result is in the Lord's hands...
We are not creating any new dogma, only preserving traditions that has been handed over to us by our forefathers. I am merely trying to explore the origins of these traditions. I may be wrong, but there is nothing wrong in trying to search for the origin of these traditions so long as we cause no harm to its continuity...
regards,
Sundeep