The effects of Near Eastern churches on Lycia Christianity in Late Antiquity

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the churches of Alexandria, Antiocheia, Hierosolyma and Constantinopolis in the roots and development of Christianity in Lycia, in the Late Ancient Period, within the historical records. The data concerning Christians between the 1st – 5th centuries, which forms the scope of the thesis, have been studied in three principal sections. In the first part of section one a new argument has been put forward by dating the roots of Lycian Christianity to the 1st century, contrary to the general belief, by comparing the Works of the Ambassadors, the Works of Barnabas, the Works of Paulus and Thecla, the passion tales of the martyr Nicandrus and Hermaeus with the geopolitical location of the region and the Jewish population it housed. The passion tales of the Lycian Christians and the critiques of these within the scope of the relationships between Roma and the Christians, in the second part of the same section. In this way, both the argument put forward in the first part has been supported and it has been pointed out that the attribution of certain Christians, who were subjected to massacre by Rome, to Lycia, is an incorrect interpretation and that some need to be assessed within a new historical process. The spiritual reasons lying underneath the rise of Myra to metropolitan status has been dealt with first of all, in the second section of the thesis. This has been followed by a focus on Lycian monks, who led a secluded life in Lycia (and the cities of the Near East) and the religious functionaries who were present in Lycia for various reasons, from the 5th century. Eleven religious functionaries and one bureaucrat were assessed within this framework. The data belonging to Lycian Christians increased systematically from the year 311 onwards, and it became possible to monitor the theological understanding of the Lycian Churches, through the council records of 325. Therefore, the attitudes of all councils (of any degree of importance) and Lycian bishops and clergy, as well as the Councils of Nicaea, Seleucia, Constantinopolis, Ephesus I, Ephesus II and Chalcedon, which met between the years 325-341, have been relayed. Key Words: Lycia, Christianity, Church, Orthodox, Heterodox