1. ASIAFrom the origin outward
By
Justin Beatty, Katharina Beeler, Jun Jung, Olivia Kim, David Lee, Andy Oquinn

2. A brief overview of early and
medieval history
• ca. 47 - Paul begins first mission to Turkey via Cypress
• ca. 50 - Apostolic conference
• ca. 51 - Paul begins second mission to Greece via Turkey
• ca. 51 - Thomas arrives in India
• ca. 54 - Paul begins third mission to Macedonia
• ca. 80 - Missionaries arrive in France and Tunisia
• 100 - Sri Lanka and Algeria reached
• 198 - Missionaries land in China and Japan
• .....

3. The importance of Asia
• Christianity started in Asia
• Majority of earth’s population is in Asia
• Extreme diversity
• Continued religious change
• ....

4. Russia
The slavonic bear
The slavonic bear
• One of the later peoples in Europe and
Asia to be reached
• Earliest outreach effected all of Slavic
history
• Converted into Christian nation
• Presently a place of religious turbulence

5. Russia
Late medieval background
Late medieval background
• Kievan Rus is the first eastern Slavic
state established in greater Moravia
• Slavs introduced to Eastern Orthodoxy
by Cyril and Methodius
• Paganism still flourished
• Church operated under direction of
Constantinople

6. Russia
High medieval background
High medieval background
• Invasion by Mongolia in 1240 isolated Kiev
politically and religiously
• Mongolian rule shifted Russia’s path eastward
• Mongolia, generally tolerant, allowed the
Orthodox Church to grow
• Missionaries from the Orthodox Church
journeyed through Finland, toward Central
Asia, converting from paganism.

7. Russia
Late medieval background
Late medieval background
• Rus was divided by Mongols into a number of
principalities throughout the 13th and 14th centuries
• 1453 - Constantinople fell, leaving the Orthodox Church
in Moscow as a metropolitan center
• 1462 - Ivan III (the Great) became Grand Prince of
Moscow
• Ivan united other Russian principalities under the
authority of Moscow tripling his domain in size, reaching
farther into Asia
• Ivan ended the Mongols’ dominance over the Rus people

8. Russia
Early modern agenda
Early modern agenda
• 1547 - Ivan IV (the Terrible) marks the beginning
of modern Russia upon coronation as Tsar
• 1589 - Orthodox Church granted autocephalous
status
• In spite of state control Orthodox Church
flourished in monasticism, scholasticism, and
missions
• Russia’s growth geographically and politically
mirrored the church’s growth in its outreach
eastward

9. Russia
Great schism
Great schism
• Patriarch Nikon undertakes reforms to
bring Russian Orthodoxy in line with
Greek
• Schism sent Old Ritual Believers
throughout Siberia and other remote
areas of Russia

10. Russia
Period of the Most Holy Synod
Period of the Most Holy Synod
• Tsar Peter I (the great) sought the westernization
of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Move from patriarch to hybrid
ecclesiastic/presbyterian structure under the
Tsar’s authority
• Church land ceded to government
• Despite political control of the Church there was
internal growth, academic growth, and vast
missions within all of Russia.
• Synodic period lasted until 1917

11. Russia
Revolution
Revolution
• The end of Tsarist rule ended official
state status of the Orthodox Church
• Church supported the White Army in
the civil war, furthering the distrust by
Bolsheviks
• Lenin sought mercilessness towards the
church in order to have classless
peoples

12. Russia
Soviet years
Soviet years
• Soviet Russia officially atheist and unofficially anti-
religious
• Orthodox clergy, members, churches, etc. closed, killed,
or banned
• More schisms occurred within the Orthodox Church as a
result of Patriarchal decrees
• The church throughout all of the Soviet Union sought
survival rather than expansion
• WWII brought some rehabilitation to the Orthodox
Church’s official status, but still largely antagonized

13. Russia
New federation
• Church officially recognized after the creation
of the Russian Federation
• Within Russia and former Soviet states the
Orthodox Church acts as semi-national religion
• Under Patriarch Kirill there is missions work
anew, and ecumenicism
• Greater toleration of native and “known”
religions within Russia and other formerly
Soviet nations, particularly in Central Asia.

14. The Philippines

15. The Philippines
“Christians in the Philippines, who comprise 94 percent of
its 76 million inhabitants, account for nearly half of the
total Christian population of Asia from Korea and Japan to
Lebanon and Jordan. How this came about must be
attributed to the particular way that the Filipinos
responded to the Christian faith since it was first preached
to them in the 16th
century.”
– T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr.,
A Dictionary of Asian Christianity (2001): 654.

16. The Philippines
Medieval background
Medieval background
• Prior to the 16th
Century, most Filipinos
practiced some form of animism
• Islam arrived in the late 14th
Century, but was
mostly confined to the southern islands, most
significantly Mindanao
• Islam would reach as far north as Manila Bay
by 1565, but would be pushed back south by
Christianity’s arrival

17. The Philippines
Expansion and expedition
Expansion and expedition
• 1521: the first
Europeans arrive when
Ferdinand Magellan’s
expedition lands in
Cebu
• By 1539, the faith
spreads to the coasts of
Mindanao, though at a
slow pace

18. The Philippines
Expansion and establishment
Expansion and establishment
• 1565: Miguel López
de Legazpi arrives,
the first permanent
conversions begin
• 1572: Legazpi moves
his capital to Manila,
the rate of
conversions increases

19. The Philippines
Native understanding
Native understanding
• Spanish missionaries focused on converting
chiefs, based on experience in the Americas
• The faith began to spread rapidly; many
Filipinos perceived that Christianity could
naturally fit in with local animistic practices
• Baptism was seen to have healing powers,
saints took on the role of ancestors in worship,
rosaries replaced animistic talismans, etc.

20. The Philippines
Politics of faith
Politics of faith
• When Spaniards first arrives, some revolts
broke out among locals – these were anti-
Christian, pro-Muslim or pro-native beliefs.
• By 1650, some anti-Spanish revolts still happen,
but Filipinos hold onto the Christian faith in
spite of demonstrations.
• By 1745, some Filipinos use Christianity as a
force to protest against Spanish rule and
policies.

21. The Philippines
Industrial era
Industrial era
• By the 1800s, the Philippines is the only Asian
country largely converted to Christianity.
• Some local rebellions occur in the 1800s, often
led by Filipino clergy who feel discriminated
against.
• “The afflictions of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
who assumed in his person the role of the
Suffering Servant of the Lord (Isa 53:1-12),
tended to give meaning to the Filipinos’ own
tribulations and misery.” (Sitoy 2001: 655)

22. The Philippines
Modern events
Modern events
• 1898 – The Philippines comes under rule of
the USA, which allows Protestant missions to
occur for the first time.
• As under Spain, anti-Filipino struggles
against American rule are strongly
influenced by local expressions of
Christianity.
• 1946 – The Philippines becomes an
independent country.

23. Japan
Anjiro
Anjiro
• Japanese interpreter
• Met Francis Xavier while staying in
Malacca to escape a murder chargea
• Xavier became intrigued by Anjiro's
stories of Japan, and decided to go to
Japan.
• Mediated Anjiro's return so that the
native could come to Japan with him.

24. Japan
Aspects of missions
Aspects of missions
• Political instability allowed Xavier to
proselytize around the country without
much government interference.
• There was a religious aspect to that
instability, with Buddhist interests
attacking the Japanese military.

25. Japan
Troubles
Troubles
• The Japanese proved to be difficult converts.
• Most were already devout followers of Buddhism or
Shinto faiths.
• Catholicism was actually confused for a new form of
Buddhism.
• There was some difficulty with some Christiain doctrines.
• Belief that a God who created everything (including evil)
could not be good.
• Difficulty with the idea that their ancestors might be in
hell.

26. Japan
Methods of missions
Methods of missions
• Xavier believed in the idea that accommodation to
indigenous sensibilities was the best way to win
converts.
• Influence of Alessandro Valignano
• Il Cerimoniale per i Missionari del Giappone
• His successors thought the best way to evangelize a
nation was to start at the top.
• That's how the Catholics conquered Europe.
• Became focused on Japan's cultural heartland.
• Some feudal lords started converting.

27. Japan
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• Reunified and became the ruler of Japan.
• Was concerned about the expansion of European
power and influence in Asia.
• Suspicious of the "European religion".
• Concern Europeans were using
Christianity to disseminate their laws.
• Fear that this would make his rule less
stable.
• Promulgated a ban on the Catholic faith.

28. Japan
Tokougawa Iwyasu
Tokougawa Iwyasu
• Toyotomi's successor
• Also disliked Christianity, but was more willing to
tolerate it due to the trading benefits of maintaining a
cordial relationship with the West.
• There was still some concern amongst Christians that
Tokugawa would turn on them.
• At some point, Mendicant missionaries discussed
military intervention in Tokugawa's government.
• Eventually made Christianity illegal (1614).
• Started a systematic persecution.

29. Japan
Kajure Kirishitans
Kajure Kirishitans
• Catholic remnant who survived
Tokugawa's round of persecution.
• Settled in Nagasaki.
• Continued to practice Christianity in
secret.
• Eventually discovered by future
missionaries, after the Harris Treaty in
1858 let Europeans back in to Japan.