History
The Syrian orthodox church in India functions as an integral part of the universal Syrian orthodox church. So, it is necessary to deal briefly about this universal church at first. When we study the preeminence of Antioch, which has been righly acknowledged as the capital of Syrian Church, we will know the crucial position accorded to the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church in the history of Christianity. Though the Christian Church was first established in Jerusalem, due to servere persecutions, those who gave leadership to the church ere forced to leave the they adopted as a place of refuge, but it turned out to be a fertile ground for the propagation of Gospel. Soon Antioch become the capital of the whole Christendom. The name Christian for believers was first pronounced at Antioch and that is an ample reason to establish the importance of Antioch (Act.11:26).St. Paul the greatest proponent of Gospel had adopted Antioch as the centre of his missionary activities. St. Paul along with Barnabas used Antioch as a center to spread the Gospel and established Churches at various places.
