The Assyrian Orthodox Church, https://news.assyrianchurch.org, (200,000 – 400,000 members) claims to be the original apostolic church and, therefore, has the proper understanding of biblical theology. Yet, it is not in communion with either the Eastern or Oriental Orthodox churches.
The AOC affirms the Trinity, the deity of Christ, His physical resurrection, and the inspiration of Scripture. But, there were problems finding out what they teach in detail on several topics.
Also, if anyone has any documentation to add or even correct regarding this article, please contact us at [email protected].
Avoid the Assyrian Orthodox Church
I do not recommend the Assyrian Orthodox Church. To the best of my knowledge, it denies justification by faith alone in Christ alone, promotes idolatry in its prayer and adoration of Mary, requires sacraments as a means of grace for the maintenance of salvation, and claims authority for itself to interpret Scripture and represent the truth.
Comments on research on the Assyrian Orthodox Church
It is pretty difficult to find definitive writings from the Assyrian Orthodox church regarding specific doctrines. I searched many resources (books and the internet), looking for a compilation of their doctrines. Though some sites listed out their beliefs, those lists were not very specific regarding justification by faith, baptism related to salvation, security of salvation, etc. So, I am not precisely sure about everything they teach in those areas. Wouldn’t such topics relating to salvation hold an important place in their theology and be prominently displayed? One would think so. But, apparently not in the Assyrian Orthodox Church.
You can search for various topics at this official Assyrian church website https://news.assyrianchurch.org. If you do so with the terms “Trinity,” “resurrection,” “incarnation,” “Holy Spirit,” “fasting,” etc., you get results. But, nothing shows up using the term “justification.” The word “salvation” brought a few results but was useless in defining their doctrines.
Summation of Assyrian Orthodox Church doctrines
The following summation is taken from the documentation below.
- Apostolic Tradition – Affirms apostolic tradition and authority in their church.
- Bible – They hold to the standard biblical books in both the Old and New Testaments. However, they appear to hold to additional apocryphal books, though I cannot verify this.
- Eucharist – The Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus taken for the absolution of their debts and sins. It is a participation in the suffering and death of Jesus and within it is “contained and sealed the total savings sufferings death and resurrection of our Lord.”
- God – It affirms the Trinity
- Jesus – It affirms Jesus’ deity, two natures, death on the cross, and His resurrection
- Mary – “The members of the Assyrian Orthodox Church can pray to Mary and ask for her intercession, adore her, and praise her. She is called Ever-Virgin, the New Eve, the Second Heaven, the Burning Bush, the New Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant. She takes away the shame of Eve. “
- Priesthood – the Assyrian Orthodox Church affirms a priesthood for today
- Sacraments – In the Assyrian Orthodox Church, the sacraments are a means of grace and when partaken, secure the position that a person might have in his relationship to Jesus and their church.
- Salvation – It would appear that the Syrian Orthodox Church affirms that salvation is “gained” by baptism and “maintained” by participation in the Eucharist.
Apostolic Tradition
The church holds to apostolic tradition and succession. It teaches that…
“…the fathers of the Church of the East, therefore firmly believe and teach that the Holy Leaven, known as the Malka (which literally means ‘King’) is a sacrament of apostolic origin.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, PDF, p. 364)
“but we the children of the land of the East have received the holy leaven and holy baptism from the hands of one of the Twelve apostles, and Addai handed down the divine mysteries to Mar Mari the apostle, and the same Mar Mari gave them to the limits of the East. And, behold they are preserved and administered unto the age of ages by the might of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
(https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, from the book, The Anaphoral Genesis of the Institution Narrative in Light of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, Acts of the International Liturgy Congress, Rom 26-26, October 2011, p. 371, underline added)
In my experience, any church that holds to apostolic tradition deviates from the biblical teaching on salvation. They rely heavily on selected church fathers that agree with their presuppositions, say that they have apostolic authority, and then teach from that perspective. Therefore, they deviate from the truth because they don’t hold the word of God as the final authority. Instead, their church, through apostolic succession, is the final authority.
Bible
I could not verify if the Assyrian Orthodox Church includes the Apocrypha in its scriptures, as does the Eastern Orthodoxy Church.
Christology: affirms the deity of Christ and His virgin birth
“The second Qnuma (person) of the most Holy Trinity, God the word, is called the Son of God. This same Son of God, God the Word, became man, and was called Jesus. It is written in the Holy Bible that He was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary and He was called Jesus… He is distinguished from the Qnuma of God the Father and from the Qnuma of God Holy Spirit” He is the only begotten (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/jesus-christ-the-son-of-god)
“…there are two natures of Jesus Christ, the divine nature of God and the human nature of man.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/typology-of-mary-in-the-writings-of-east-syriac-fathers, pdf, 6.)
It holds to Nestorianism, but not in the sense of two persons in Jesus (dyoprosopism). “Babai [d. 628]held that within Christ there exist two qnome (qnômâ, a complex term, equivalent for Greek term hypostasis), unmingled, but everlastingly united in the one prosopon (person) of Christ.” So, it appears to be closer to orthodoxy regarding the hypostatic union of Jesus, though I need more specific information.
Eucharist/Mass
Unlike Roman Catholicism which has a definitive systematic theological perspective found on their official website, not so with the Assyrian Orthodox. My research on their view of the Eucharist did not lead me to answers on such questions as 1) Do they affirm or deny that the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ? 2) Do they affirm or deny transubstantiation? 3) If they denied transubstantiation, then what exactly is their position? 4) Do they affirm or deny that the Eucharist is a propitiatory sacrifice? 5) Do they affirm or deny that participation in the Eucharist infuses grace into the soul of the recipient?
These questions are important, and I could find no answers to them in my many hours of research. Nevertheless, following their quotes from their sources on the Eucharist.
“Following the offering of the Holy Eucharist, the faithful all gathered in the church assembly hall for fellowship and took part in the dukhrana prepared by the committee of St. Mary’s mission…May Jesus Christ bless and keep them, and may the blessings of the Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, be with you all.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/st-mary%e2%80%99s-mission-celebrates-memorial-of-the-virgin-mary, underline added)
They called the Eucharist an “offering.” The word ‘dukhrana’ means remembrance.
“Rev. Genard’s sermon, which focused on the act of gift-giving, stressed the importance of Christ’s presence on earth as a gift to the world.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/california-celebrates-first-english-christmas-mass, underline added)
The Eucharist is a celebration of Christ’s presence on earth.
“and when each one of the Blessed apostles took of these divine mysteries of the Body and Blood of our Lord, the Holy Leaven from the fragment [literally, ‘coal’] of John the evangelist, and from the horn of the water which gushed forth from the side of our Lord, holy baptism which confirms onto true life.” These divine mysteries which were handed down for the absolution of our debts and sins, were [then] handed down by the very hands of the Blessed apostles unto the ends of the earth, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, PDF, p. 371, bracket original, underline added)’
The Eucharist is for the absolution of their debts and sins.
“We the faithful sons and daughters of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East believe and confess that we participate in the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ by an active faith; through the Holy Sacraments, in which is contained and sealed the total saving sufferings, death and Resurrection of our Lord, through the crucifixion of our human weaknesses with its affections and lusts.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-suffering-death-burial-and-resurrection-of-jesus-christ, underline added)
The Eucharist is a participation in the suffering and death of Jesus and within it is “contained and sealed the total savings sufferings death and resurrection of our Lord.”
Mary
Their Marian theology is similar to Catholicism. The members of the Assyrian Orthodox Church can pray to her, ask for her intercession, adore her, and praise her. To them, she was a perpetual virgin. Also, they exalt her with such titles as (underlines added). (Note, the following quotes are from https://news.assyrianchurch.org/typology-of-mary-in-the-writings-of-east-syriac-fathers, pdf)
- “In the liturgy, the Church venerates her as “Mother of Christ,” “Mother of the Son of God,” (p. 2) “Handmaid of the Divinity and Mother of Humanity,” “Temple of the Holy Spirit” (p. 2)
- “This is (Mary) the wonder Tree” (in reference to the Tree of Life), (ibid, p. 6).
- “The Temple of the Spirit, the Handmaid of Divinity and Mother of Humanity” (ibid. p. 6)
- “Mary is the Faithful Israel,” (ibid. p. 7)
- Since heaven is the dwelling place of God, “…she was given the extolled title of the “Second Heaven” by the Church of the East. Warda venerates her with these words: “Within her soul the Spirit brooded, and [Mary] became, all in all, a heaven.” (ibid. p. 8)
- “The Ever Virgin,” (ibid. p. 3, 8)
- “Mary is portrayed as the new tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.” (ibid. p. 9)
- “The temple of Jerusalem with the Holy of Holies was a place where God was pleased to dwell and where people commune with Him. Mary is now with the Christ child in her womb becoming the holy of holies, the divine temple.” (ibid.. p. 10)
- “The great majority of these biblical types: Ever-Virgin, the New Eve, the Second Heaven, the Burning Bush, the New Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant, etc. share the fact that they contain something holier than themselves. Through her virginity and acquiescence to God’s grace, she takes away the shame of Eve. ” (ibid. p. 11)
Obviously, the preceding quotes would disturb the Protestants who believe Scripture is above tradition and do not exalt Mary to such a degree. But, of course, there’s more.
“…how because of her complete faith in God, she was able to accept God’s will and be the vessel by which mankind’s salvation would be enacted and completed, as per the Almighty’s perfect plan.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/st-mary%e2%80%99s-mission-celebrates-memorial-of-the-virgin-mary)
I am disturbed by the elevation of the creature (no disrespect meant to Mary) to such a glorious level. There is one thing I want to know from those who hold to such an exalted opinion of Mary. Can she hear millions of prayers simultaneously from all over the world, spoken and thought, in different languages? If an Assyrian Orthodox person were to answer in the affirmative, then that would be idolatry.
Priesthood
“By the virtue of his apostolic rank of priesthood, he “the priest” is a mediator between the community of believers and God.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/worshiping-towards-the-east)
So the Assyrian Orthodox Church affirms a priesthood for today, the same as the Roman Catholic Church does. Unfortunately, they fail to recognize that Jesus is our only high priest and that we don’t need priests today on the earth.
Sacraments
The sacraments include Baptism, Eucharist, Holy Leaven, the Holy Cross, etc.
“…the sacramental list of the Church of the East, five of which are in agreement with the churches of both East and West. This list includes two sacraments that are not recognized as such by the rest of Christendom, namely, the Holy Leaven and the Holy Cross. the first of these is not recognized by any other church all, and the second sacrament is at best considered to be a ‘sacramental’ in the Roman Catholic Church.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, PDF, p. 385, underline added)
At the institution of the Lord’s Supper,
“… to each he gave a single ‘coal’ [i.e., particle of the Eucharist], but to John he gave two. He made John to eat one and to keep the other as leaven, which he preserved, and to be placed in the church for a memorial.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, brackets original, PDF, p. 369)
“And he [Jesus], commanded his apostles to place in the churches the leaven which they took from his body that it may be for the [Eucharistic] mysteries and for baptism.”(https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, as recorded by Yohannan bar Zo’bi, 2nd bracket original, PDF, p. 369)
“…through the Holy Sacraments, in which is contained and sealed the total saving sufferings, death and Resurrection of our Lord, through the crucifixion of our human weaknesses with its affections and lusts.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-suffering-death-burial-and-resurrection-of-jesus-christ)
“The sacraments are indeed foundational for our faith because it is through them and by our participation in these sacred Raze that we truly participate in the mysteries of our salvation, indeed in the very Paschal Mystery of Christ itself.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/interview-with-h-g-mar-awa-royel-bishop-of-california)
In the Assyrian Orthodox Church, the sacraments are a means of grace and, when partaken, secure the position that a person might have in his relationship to Jesus and their church.
Salvation is unclear in the Assyrian Orthodox Church
They affirm that salvation is found in Jesus alone for “all who follow Christ, by faith…” (https://slife.org/assyrian-church-of-the-east. But the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox say the same thing – and they both preach a false gospel when it is cross-examined. We have to ask what the Assyrian Orthodox Church means when it says that salvation is in Jesus alone. How many works are needed “with Jesus alone” in order to be saved?
Apparently, the Assyrian church has a similar practice to Roman Catholicism regarding the forgiveness of sins.
“Reverend Genard Lazar led the service, on 13 February, which attracted approximately 60 faithful mainly comprised of youth members. A number of families also gathered to worship, confess, offer thanksgiving to God Almighty and receive the Oblation for the pardon of debts and the remission of sins.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/first-english-mass-celebrated-in-san-jose, underline added)
So, without a clear definitive statement on how justification is obtained (by faith alone in Christ alone or not), I must conclude that the Assyrian Orthodox Church teaches that we are not justified by faith alone in Christ alone. This is supported by the following quote.
“and when each one of the Blessed apostles took of these divine mysteries of the Body and Blood of our Lord, the Holy Leaven from the fragment [literally, ‘coal’] of John the evangelist, and from the horn of the water which gushed forth from the side of our Lord, holy baptism which confirms onto true life.” These divine mysteries which were handed down for the absolution of our debts and sins, were [then] handed down by the very hands of the Blessed apostles unto the ends of the earth, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, PDF, p. 371, bracket original)’
It would appear that the Syrian Orthodox Church affirms that salvation is “gained” by baptism and “maintained” by participation in the Eucharist.
Tradition in the Assyrian Orthodox Church
“but we the children of the land of the East have received the holy leaven and holy baptism from the hands of one of the Twelve apostles, and Addai handed down the divine mysteries to Mar Mari the apostle, and the same Mar Mari gave them to the limits of the East. And, behold they are preserved and administered unto the age of ages by the might of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
(https://news.assyrianchurch.org/the-sacrament-of-the-holy-leaven-malka-in-the-assyrian-church-of-the-east, from the book, The Anaphoral Genesis of the Institution Narrative in Light of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, Acts of the International Litergy Congress, Rom 26-26, October 2011, p. 371, underline added)
They hold to apostolic succession, and the authority is passed down from those apostles into their Church. This is a problem. I’ve dealt heavily with people in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy regarding sacred tradition, and in every case, they submit the word of God to their Church’s tradition. When they do this, they always end up with unbiblical teachings. This also is a warning flag about the Assyrian Orthodox Church.
Other
- Angels – “The fathers of the Holy Church believed and taught that the angels in the very beginning did not know who their creator was.” (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/worshiping-towards-the-east
- “Fathers of the Church of the East believed, the angel Gabriel, on the day he announced to the blessed Mary the conception and the birth of the Son of God appeared to her from the East.” (ibid.)
- Prayer direction – They pray facing East (https://news.assyrianchurch.org/worshiping-towards-the-east)
- Church buildings – Their church buildings are built facing the east. (ibid.).
- Councils: It recognizes the Council of Nicaea (325), and the Council of Constantinople (381).
- Iconography: Does not use Icons, but permits crosses in their homes without the corpus of Christ upon them.
- Further Research: For more on Assyrian Orthodoxy, see
