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Christianity is the third-most practiced religion in Kerala, accounting for 18% of the population according to the Indian census.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Social_and_cultural/Religion.aspx?cki=MJPdz8hYMlF )〕 Although a minority, the Christian population of Kerala is proportionally much larger than that of India as a whole. A significant portion of the Indian Christian population resides in the state,. == History == (詳細はSaint Thomas Christians relates to the arrival of Saint Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus at the ancient seaport of Muziris (present day Kodungallur, Kerala) in AD 52. The Saint Thomas Christian tradition has historically been, as recorded by scholars, that Thomas converted 12, in some accounts 32, Brahmin families/clans including Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri, Kaliyankal, Kalli, Kalikay, Kottakali, Kayakkam, Madeipur, Muttal, Nedumpally, Panakkamattam and Thengummoottil from which many Saint Thomas Christians, particularly those from prominent families, have traditionally claimed descent. The four families Sankarapuri, Pakalomattam, Kalli, and Kaliyankal were considered particularly preeminent, and historically the most aristocratic Syrian Christian families tended to claim descent from these families. There is no contemporary evidence showing that Thomas had been in the subcontinent, but it was possible for a Roman Jew of the time to make such a trip. The Cochin Jews are known to have existed in India around that time. The earliest known source connecting the apostle to India is the Acts of Thomas, likely written in the early 3rd century, perhaps in Edessa. The text describes Thomas' adventures in bringing Christianity to India, a tradition later expanded upon in early Indian sources such as the "Thomma Parvam" ("Song of Thomas"). Generally he is described as arriving in or around Maliankara and founding Seven Churches, or Ezharapallikal: Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kokkamangalam, Kottakkavu, Palayoor and Thiruvithamcode Arappally (a "half church"). A number of 3rd- and 4th-century Roman writers also mention Thomas' trip to India, including Ambrose of Milan, Gregory of Nazianzus, Jerome, and Ephrem the Syrian, while Eusebius of Caesarea records that his teacher Pantaenus visited a Christian community in India in the 2nd century. While some historians have contended that there was no significant Brahmin presence in Kerala in the first century A.D. and have disputed the historicity of the Brahmin conversion tradition, there is evidence that some St Thomas Christians observed Brahmin customs and were granted privileges usually reserved for Brahmins in the Middle Ages, i.e. after the 9th century A.D., including the wearing of the sacred thread and having a kudumi. The medieval historian Pius Malekandathil believes these were customs adopted and privileges won during the beginning of the Brahmin dominance of medieval Kerala. He argues that the St Thomas Christians, integrated with Persian Christian migrant merchants in the 9th century, had become a powerful trading community by this time and were granted the privileges by the Brahmins and the Hindu rulers to promote revenue generation and to undermine Buddhist and Jain traders who rivaled the Hindus for religious and political hegemony in Kerala at the time. Some writers believe that the original converts would have included the Jews already present in Kerala at that time.() Indeed, a version of the Songs of Thomas or Thomma Parvam, written in 1601 believed to be a summary of a larger and older work, narrate the conversion of 40 Jews along with the Brahmins and the local King at Kodungallur by St Thomas, - the Hindus converted it claims numbered around 3000. The Thomma Parvam further narrates St Thomas's mission in South India and states that before his martyrdom at Mylapore in present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu, he had converted 6,850 Brahmans, 2,800 Kshatriyas, 3,750 Vaishiyas, and 4,250 Shudras. The tradition of the coming of a foreigner by the name 'Thoman' who debated with the Brahmins and converted many 'prominent people' including a King is part of Nambudiri Brahmin folklore and is found in the important Nambudiri Brahmin 17 century tract the Keralolpathi. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christianity in Kerala」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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