Crypto-Christianity
Encyclopedia
Crypto-Christianity commonly refers to the secret practice of the Christian
religion
, usually while attempting to camouflage it as another faith or observing the rituals of another religion publicly. In places and time periods where Christians were persecuted or Christianity was outlawed, instances of crypto-Christianity have surfaced.
under the Roman Empire
followers often had to practice in secret. Official policy under Trajan was to provide Christians with the choice between recanting and execution. The term crypto-Christianity can be applied to that era because the Christians were, from time to time, required to publicly declare adherence to the state religion.
during its feudal era by Saint Francis Xavier in 1550. From the beginning, Christianity was seen as a threat to the power of the Shogun
.
In 1643, Christianity was banned, all churches were destroyed, all known Christians tortured and demanded to convert to Buddhism or face execution, and all signs of Christian influence were systematically eliminated. The ban was not lifted until 1858.
During this period, faithful converts moved underground into a crypto-Christian group called kakure Kirishitan
or "hidden Christians". Crypto-Christian crosses and graves, cleverly styled during these two centuries to resemble Buddhist imagery, can still be seen in the Shimabara Peninsula, Amakusa islands and far south in Kagoshima.
Shusaku Endo
's acclaimed novel Silence
draws from the oral history of Japanese Catholic communities pertaining to the time of the suppression of the Church.
, instances of crypto-Christian behavior are reported to this day in Muslim-dominated areas of the former Yugoslavia
, Albania
, and Turkey
. With the threat of retribution for the religious and ethnic conflicts, many Christian minority groups keep their religion private to protect themselves. Crypto-Christianity was mostly practiced following the Ottoman Turkish
conquests of the Balkans, but the earliest scholarly record of the phenomenon dates to 1829. Linobamvaki
in Cyprus
trace their ancestry to both Catholics, Maronites and Greek Orthodox Christians who converted under Ottoman opression.
Crypto-Armenians are believed to represent at least two groups of Armenians living in modern Turkey. One has been Islamized under the threat of physical extermination particularly during Armenian pogroms in 1896 and the Armenian Genocide
of 1915. Representatives of a different, much smaller crypto-Armenian group live in separate villages inhabited by Turks and Kurds in Eastern Turkey (on the territories of traditional Armenian homeland). This group differs from the above mentioned "Islamized" type by the process and depth of Islamization.
See also Armenians in Turkey#Crypto-Christian Armenian Turks.
es are unregistered Christian churches in the People's Republic of China
which operate independently of the official government-run religious institutions: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement
(TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC) for Protestants, and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
for Roman Catholics.
consisted of German Christians who were opposed to the unified Protestant Reich Church
that was consolidated under Adolf Hitler
. While many of their leaders actively opposed Hitler's anti-Semitic policies, the Confessing Church itself only opposed state manipulation of religious affairs.
in Protestant territories where Catholicism was banned and heavily persecuted (such as England
from 1558), and the reverse in Catholic territories.
can be seen as crypto-Christian, with its concepts of a returning king and a virtuous martyr. Some small Muslim sects have rituals and feasts whose meaning is crypto-Christian, some sociologists
contend.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, usually while attempting to camouflage it as another faith or observing the rituals of another religion publicly. In places and time periods where Christians were persecuted or Christianity was outlawed, instances of crypto-Christianity have surfaced.
History
Various time periods and places have seen large crypto-Christian cults and underground movements. This was usually the reaction to either threats of violence or legal action.The Roman Empire
During the initial development of the Christian ChurchChristian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
under the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
followers often had to practice in secret. Official policy under Trajan was to provide Christians with the choice between recanting and execution. The term crypto-Christianity can be applied to that era because the Christians were, from time to time, required to publicly declare adherence to the state religion.
Japan
Christianity was introduced to JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
during its feudal era by Saint Francis Xavier in 1550. From the beginning, Christianity was seen as a threat to the power of the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
.
In 1643, Christianity was banned, all churches were destroyed, all known Christians tortured and demanded to convert to Buddhism or face execution, and all signs of Christian influence were systematically eliminated. The ban was not lifted until 1858.
During this period, faithful converts moved underground into a crypto-Christian group called kakure Kirishitan
Kakure Kirishitan
is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s.-History:Kakure Kirishitans are called the "hidden" Christians because they continued to practice Christianity in secret. They worshipped in secret rooms in private homes...
or "hidden Christians". Crypto-Christian crosses and graves, cleverly styled during these two centuries to resemble Buddhist imagery, can still be seen in the Shimabara Peninsula, Amakusa islands and far south in Kagoshima.
Shusaku Endo
Shusaku Endo
Shūsaku Endō was a 20th-century Japanese author who wrote from the unusual perspective of being both Japanese and Catholic...
's acclaimed novel Silence
Silence (novel)
is a 1966 novel of historical fiction by Japanese author Shusaku Endo. It is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion...
draws from the oral history of Japanese Catholic communities pertaining to the time of the suppression of the Church.
The Balkans and Asia Minor
Due to the religious strife that has marked the Balkan Peninsula and AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, instances of crypto-Christian behavior are reported to this day in Muslim-dominated areas of the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. With the threat of retribution for the religious and ethnic conflicts, many Christian minority groups keep their religion private to protect themselves. Crypto-Christianity was mostly practiced following the Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
conquests of the Balkans, but the earliest scholarly record of the phenomenon dates to 1829. Linobamvaki
Linobamvaki
The Linobamvaki also known as the Linobambaki were a Crypto-Christian community that lived in Cyprus throughout Ottoman rule. Linobambaki outwardly professed Islam but secretly practised Christianity, in particular Catholicism. Linobambaki can be divided into two groups...
in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
trace their ancestry to both Catholics, Maronites and Greek Orthodox Christians who converted under Ottoman opression.
Crypto-Armenians are believed to represent at least two groups of Armenians living in modern Turkey. One has been Islamized under the threat of physical extermination particularly during Armenian pogroms in 1896 and the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
of 1915. Representatives of a different, much smaller crypto-Armenian group live in separate villages inhabited by Turks and Kurds in Eastern Turkey (on the territories of traditional Armenian homeland). This group differs from the above mentioned "Islamized" type by the process and depth of Islamization.
Turkey
Crypto-Greek Orthodox are reported to many parts of Asia Minor and in Ottoman occupied Balkans. A good account of the Cryptochristians of Pontos and bibliography regarding other places are given by F. W. Hasluck .Middle East
Crypto-Christians, as well as Crypto-Jews, appear in Egypt (as a result of oppression by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim) as early as in 11th c. and in Morocco in the 12th c. under the Almohads rule. Many Crypto-christian communities existed in Middle-East till 19th century, as muslim authorities were satisfied with some minimal requirements of obedience by converts. From late 19th c. onwards most of crypto-religious groups disappear as a result of the rise of nationalism in the new Middle-Eastern states .See also Armenians in Turkey#Crypto-Christian Armenian Turks.
Soviet Russia and the Warsaw Pact
Many Christian communities in the Soviet sphere of influence during the Cold War had to go underground in so-called Catacomb Churches. After the break-up of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Soviet era in the 1990s, some of these groups re-joined the official above-ground churches, but others continued their independent existence, believing the official churches had been irreconcilably tainted by their cooperation with the previous Soviet-supported regimes.People's Republic of China
Chinese house churchChinese house church
Chinese house churches are a religious movement of unregistered assemblies of Christians in the People's Republic of China, which operate independently of the government-run Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council for Protestant groups and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic...
es are unregistered Christian churches in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
which operate independently of the official government-run religious institutions: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement
Three-Self Patriotic Movement
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement or TSPM is a state-controlled Protestant church in the People's Republic of China...
(TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC) for Protestants, and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association , abbreviated CPA, CPCA, or CCPA, is an association of people, established in 1957 by the People's Republic of China's Religious Affairs Bureau to exercise state supervision over mainland China's Catholics...
for Roman Catholics.
Nazi Germany
In a unique instance of crypto-Christianity occurring in a majority Christian nation, the underground Confessing ChurchConfessing Church
The Confessing Church was a Protestant schismatic church in Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to nazify the German Protestant church.-Demographics:...
consisted of German Christians who were opposed to the unified Protestant Reich Church
Protestant Reich Church
The Protestant Reich Church, officially German Evangelical Church and colloquially Reichskirche, was formed in 1936 to merge the 28 regional churches into a unified state church that espoused a single doctrine compatible with National Socialism...
that was consolidated under Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. While many of their leaders actively opposed Hitler's anti-Semitic policies, the Confessing Church itself only opposed state manipulation of religious affairs.
Intra-Christian cases
In addition to crypto-Christianity, where Christians practiced their faith secretly in an anti-Christian society, there have been instances of crypto-CatholicsRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in Protestant territories where Catholicism was banned and heavily persecuted (such as England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1558), and the reverse in Catholic territories.
Other meanings
The term crypto-Christianity has been applied to other phenomena as well.Christian-derived practices
The term can be used to describe practices, stories and celebrations that are derived from Christian beliefs but have been modified, corrupted or their meaning lost. For instance, the legend of King ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
can be seen as crypto-Christian, with its concepts of a returning king and a virtuous martyr. Some small Muslim sects have rituals and feasts whose meaning is crypto-Christian, some sociologists
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
contend.
See also
- TaqiyyaTaqiyyaTaqiyya , meaning religious dissimulation, is a practice emphasized in Shi'a Islam whereby adherents may conceal their religion when they are under threat, persecution, or compulsion...
- Crypto-JudaismCrypto-JudaismCrypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"...
- Crypto-Muslims
- Crypto-PaganismCrypto-PaganismCrypto-Pagans are pagan and neoplatonic groups that have had to pretend to be members of a mandated or mainstream religion while secretly practicing their true religion.-Neopaganism:...
- Crypto-fascismCrypto-fascismCrypto-fascism is a pejorative term implying a secret support for, or admiration of, fascism. The term is used to imply that an individual or group keeps this support or admiration hidden to avoid political persecution or political suicide....
- Doctrine of mental reservationDoctrine of mental reservationThe doctrine of mental reservation, or the doctrine of mental equivocation, was a special branch of casuistry developed in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and most often associated with the Jesuits.- Secular use :...
External links
- Centre for the Study of South Eastern Europe
- The Turkish-Cypriot Community and the Cryptochristians
- Proselytism and Crypto-Christians in Cyprus By Alkan Chaglar
- The Catacomb Church
- Russia's Catacomb Saints
- Gizli Hristiyanlık - Crypto Chritianity at Pontus region (Turkish)
- Crypto-Christians of the Trabzon Region of Pontos - Full article