As Far as the East is from the West

Early in the twentieth century an Englishman, Ulric Vernon Herford (1866-1938) living in Oxford, received episcopal consecration from an Indian bishop of the Syro-Chaldean succession. Although the ministry of ‘Mar Jacobus’, the religious name by which he was known, was relatively small, his impact on the local religious scene was significant. This study, subtitled “Sidelights on Assyrian Church History” attempts to explain the historical context in which these events took place as well as the dynamics of the ancient Assyrian Church of the East, from which Mar Jacobus derived his mission. On the death of his consecrator, he inherited the oversight of the communities in southern India, which others who came after him claimed to inherit.