The Nestorians and Their Rituals with the Narrative of a Mission to Mesopotamia and Coordistan in 1842 to 1844 Part One

Written in 1852, this book is Volume One of Two. And of a late visit to those countries in 1850; also, researches into the present condition of the Syrian Jacobites, Papal Syrians and Chaldeans and an inquiry into the religious tenets of the Yezeedees. The Nestorian church began when the patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, was declared a heretic by the Council of Ephesus. A large group of supporters of Nestorius’s theology flees the areas under control of the Roman Empire (and hence the Catholic Church), and comes to Persia. From this time on, they develop into their own church. Later, many Nestorian congregations rejoin with the Roman Catholic Church, and are called Chaldean, or Chaldean Catholic, or East Syriac (referring to Nestor would not have been acceptable for the Catholic Church). The congregations not joining with the Catholic Church became known as Assyrian Christians or Nestorians. The Reverend Badger has written a unique and detailed account of the rituals and practices of the Nestorian church and other significant religious groups in that region.