Biblical Magi their authenticity. In the Eastern churches, Ethiopian Christianity, for instance, has "Hor", "Karsudan", and "Basanater", while the Armenian Catholics have "Kagpha", "Badadakharida" and "Badadilma". Many Chinese Christians believe that one of the magi came from China. The phrase "from the east" (ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν), more literally "from the rising [of the sun]", is the only information Matthew provides about the region from which they came. The Parthian Empire, centered in Persia, occupied virtually all of the land east of Judea and Syria (except for the deserts of Arabia to the southeast). Though the empire was tolerant of other religions, its dominant
Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition same years, under the influence of the medium Yang Mingji, phoenix halls in northern Taiwan began to unify under the name "Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition" (儒宗神教 "Rúzōng Shénjiào") and the liturgical manual "Rúmén kēfàn" (儒门科范 "Liturgical Regulations of the Confucian Way") published in 1937. Effective unification came after the retrocession of Taiwan in 1945; the "Republic of China Assembly of the Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition" (中华民国儒宗神教会 "Zhōnghuá Mínguó Rúzōng Shénjiào Huì") was created in 1978 incorporating over five hundred phoenix halls. A new ritual book, the "Sacred Code of the