which he did, and was rewarded by finding a place where a man could stand concealed and utter "supernatural" messages. Severe punishment for the Magi followed, of course (though neither this nor the remembrance of ignominious failure prevented the repetition of the trick, with like result, on another occasion); and Marutha was emboldened to ask and obtain from the Shah-in-Shah the two great favours that he had been charged, if possible, to procure. These were, first, a firman of toleration for Christians; and second, the leave to assemble a council for the regulation of Church affairs.
There was no difficulty about the firman, which was issued some time in the year 409.[1] Permission was formally given to the Christians to worship openly, and to rebuild their churches. Confessors who were still in prison were set at liberty, and bishops were given free leave to travel in their dioceses. This decree was practically the Edict of Milan for the Assyrian Church. It was the formal recognition of the Christians as being in law what they had hitherto been in fact, viz. a melet with the right to exist and worship in the Persian Empire. Of course this toleration was something very far removed from liberty or equality, as we understand the words. First, the decree was Valid only durante beneplacito—till it was the pleasure of the Shah-in-Shah to withdraw it; and next, while in existence, the toleration that It gave was limited. A Christian might exist, but not proselytize. Apostasy from Magianism was as much a capital offence as ever; and the leave to rebuild old churches did not (and does not) imply the right to build new ones. Still the grant was a long step forward for the Church; and the simultaneous recognition of the right to
- ↑ For the rest of this chapter, see Synodicon Orientale: Council of Isaac.
