亚述与亚兰之争:叙利亚语基督徒的民族认同问题

“Assyrian” or “Aramean”: The Ethnic Identity of Syriac Christians

今日叙利亚、土耳其、伊拉克、伊朗,皆为穆斯林人口占主体的国家。但在这一地区,却存在着历史最悠久的基督徒群体。在教会礼仪中,他们使用的是叙利亚语(Syriac),即亚兰语的埃德萨(Edessa)方言,也称为新亚兰语(Neo Aramaic)。至今还有一些人仍然在日常生活中使用叙利亚语。这个群体分属不同的教派,包括叙利亚正教教会(Syriac Orthodox Church)、亚述东方教会(Assyrian Church of the East)、古老东方教会(Ancient Church of the East)、迦勒底天主教会(Chaldean Catholic Church)、马龙派天主教会(Maronite Church)、叙利亚天主教会(Syriac Catholic Church)、东正教、新教。叙利亚语基督徒不仅在教派归属上不一致,在民族认同上也不一致。在美国的人口普查登记中。

Syriac Christians have a unique history.They use Syriac,a dialect of Aramaic,as their liturgical language.Although divided into different denominations,such as the Assyrian Church of the East,the Syriac Orthodox Church,and the Chaldean Catholic Church,they still share the same linguistic,cultural and spiritual heritage.In modern times,however,Syriac Christians have encountered an identity crisis.Their primary identity historically had been religious rather than ethnic.However,starting from the nineteenth century,the Anglican Mission has identified the Church of the East as Assyrians.The Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church accepted this nomenclature.The Syriac Orthodox Church followed suit,only to renounce it in the middle of the twentieth century,embracing an Aramean identity.This article will touch upon the history of the ancient Assyrians,ancient Arameans,Church of the East,the Chaldean Catholic Church,and the Syriac Orthodox Church,arguing that the formation and acceptance of ethnic identity in the recent past may not purely be a result of shared custom or language,but a religiously motivated and intentionally designed social construct.