Asia

Christianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of Christianity, which originated with Jesus Christ, and then spread through the missionary work of his apostles. Christianity first expanded in the Levant, taking roots in the major cities such as Jerusalem and Antioch. According to tradition, further eastward expansion occurred via the preaching of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who established Christianity in the Parthian Empire (Iran) and India. The first Asian nations to adopt Christianity as a state religion were Armenia, in 301, and Georgia, in 327. After the First Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Nestorian Schism, Christianity split into the Western (Roman) versions, and the Eastern or Nestorian Christianity, though the term Nestorian was sometimes used as a catchall phrase to refer to several different Eastern doctrines. Nestorians began converting Mongols around the 7th century, and Nestorian Christianity was probably introduced into China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Mongols tended to be tolerant of multiple religions, with several Mongol tribes being primarily Christian, and under the leadership of Genghis Khan’s grandson, the great khan Mongke, Christianity was a small religious influence of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Around that same time, there was some effort to reunite Eastern and Western Christianity. There were also numerous missionary efforts from Europe to Asia, primarily by Franciscan, Dominican, or Jesuit missionaries. In the 16th century, Spain began to convert Filipinos. In the 18th century, Catholicism developed more or less independently in Korea.

In modern times, Christianity continues to be the predominant faith in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, the Philippines, and East Timor, with significant minorities in Lebanon, South Korea, Syria, Kazakhstan and several other countries in Asia.

Source: Wikipedia