The Armenian Church Celebrates Its 1,700-Year Anniversary

By Fred Strickert

This year marks the 1,700th anniversary since the country of Armenia officially adopted Christianity.

More familiar to Western Christians is the story of the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. The date 313 CE—when the Edict of Milan offered toleration for Christians in the Roman Empire—is often cited as the turning point in church-state relations. After three centuries of persecution and minority status, the transformation into European Christendom was underway. Constantine was not the first ruler to adopt Christianity, however. In 301 CE, King Tiridates III declared Christianity as Armenia’s state religion.

In celebration of this watershed event in church history, Armenians have marked the year 2001 for special celebrations, commemorating a rich heritage and calling for renewal among Christians in Armenia and those in the Armenian diaspora, including over one million in the United States.

Legends of Christian Origins in Armenia

The story of Christian origins in Armenia is filled with colorful legends. Two of the early Apostles of Jesus, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, are said to have preached the gospel in this mountainous country already in the first century. Converts, however, were faced with persecution for several centuries, as in other countries where the church was expanding.

In 301 CE, King Tiridates III was converted through the intervention of Gregory the Illuminator. At the time, the Roman Empire was facing a severe wave of persecution under the Emperor Diocletian, causing a migration of Christians seeking refuge in Armenia. Among them was a young woman named Hripsime, who attracted the attention of the king and was sought after as his wife. Rebuffed because of his pagan beliefs, Tiridates then tortured and executed Hripsime along with 37 other Christian virgins.

When the king was afflicted with leprosy and madness, he envisioned himself as growing a pig snout, and a connection was made with his actions against the women and other Christians. One Christian who had escaped punishment was his own sister, Chosroviducht, who suggested that he make amends by releasing Gregory, a former employee of the king who had been sentenced to 13 years’ incarceration in a deep pit for refusing the king’s demand that he sacrifice to a pagan goddess.

Through the prayers of Gregory, King Tiridates was healed and then baptized with his whole royal household. This was followed by his declaration in 301 CE that Christianity would be the state religion of Armenia. Gregory then was consecrated as the first Catholicos of the Armenian church and of the cathedral in Etchmidzian, built in 303 CE on the site of a pre-Christian temple.

The name Etchmidzian means “the place where the Only-begotten One descended”—a reference to a vision of Gregory. On the site of the cathedral, Gregory saw the heavens opened and a parade of angels enveloped in light descending to the earth, culminating with the descent of the glorious figure of the resurrected Jesus. According to the legend, the Lord struck the ground three times with a golden hammer, resulting in the sudden appearance of a magnificent church built around a large golden column. Although the vision soon faded away, Gregory was impressed with the form and lines of the church and thus directed the construction on this spot of the cathedral, which still stands today.

The Armenian Church

The Armenian Church has long been isolated from the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although it was actively involved and accepted the fundamental doctrines from the first three ecumenical councils (Nicea, 325 CE; Constantinople, 381 CE; and Ephesus, 431 CE), it was not part of the Council of Chalcedon in 431 CE which defined the two natures of Christ. The Armenian Church is thus known as a monophysite (one nature of Christ) church and has close affinities to the Syrian Church of Antioch, the Coptic Church, and the Ethiopian Church.

In the 4th century, a monk named Mesrob developed the unique Armenian alphabet with 36 letters (two more were added in the 12th century) so that the Bible could be translated into a language understood throughout the country.

Likewise, the Armenian Church developed its own distinct liturgy. Along with Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Church administers seven sacraments. The head of the Armenian Church is the Catholicos of Etchmidzian, His Holiness Garegin II Nereseyan, who was elected in October 1999. He is known popularly as the Catholicos of all Armenians. The Catholicos of Cilicia is located in Antelias, Lebanon and oversees the two million Armenian Christians in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and other regional countries. His Holiness Aram I Keshishian thus plays a prominent role in the Middle East Council of Churches.

In addition, the Armenian patriarchates in Istanbul and Jerusalem play significant roles. The Armenian community in Jerusalem traces its roots to pre-Christian times. With the Roman expulsion of Jews following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE, the Armenian presence continued, eventually forming the nucleus of the Armenian Quarter of the Old City around the Church of St. James. Thus the Armenian Patriarch was established, along with Catholic and Orthodox churches, as guardian of the Christian holy places, with a special place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

20th Century Struggles

The Armenian Church has just undergone a century of intense struggle. During the First World War, the Ottoman Empire inflicted upon Armenians atrocities which led to the death of perhaps half of its people and exile for many others (see sidebar below). Shortly thereafter, Armenia came under the domination of the Soviet Empire, which led to conflict between historic Christian beliefs and political atheistic ideology. Just as this conflict was ending, Armenia on Dec. 7, 1988 suffered from a major earthquake which left an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 persons dead and half a million homeless. One-quarter of the country’s industrial base was destroyed.

A Revitalized Church for a New Millennium

Anniversary celebrations will symbolize the rebirth of the church and the revival of church life. Catholicos Garegin II notes that in the last decade the church has trained over a thousand new teachers in Christian education and is pushing forward in efforts to increase numbers for the priesthood. Already results are evident. “The anniversary has also brought unchurched people back to the church,” says Garegin.

June 17 has been declared International Armenian Church Day—the Feast of Holy Etchmidzian. To mark the occasion, beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 16, the church bells will ring at the refurbished Cathedral in Etchmidzian. Churches will be invited to join in the bell ringing at 2 p.m. in each time zone, going westward around the globe and culminating in the return to Etchmidzian at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 17.

To mark the central role of the Church in Armenia, a new cathedral—the largest sacred building in the country—is being built in the capital city of Yerevan.

The new cathedral, dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator, will be consecrated on the weekend of Sept. 21 to 23—the 10th anniversary of independence from Soviet rule.

A major part of the anniversary celebrations will be a renewal of pilgrimage. Historians note the important role that pilgrimage to various sacred sites has had for Armenians. In the 5th century, St. Cyril wrote of seeing 400 Armenian pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. A contemporary observed 800 Armenian pilgrims at Mount Sinai. By the 7th century numerous Armenian monasteries dotted the landscape of the Holy Land.

Already last July, Catholicos Aram I led one such pilgrimage to the church of the martyrdom of Thaddeus in Iran, to show solidarity with the 200,000 Armenian Christians there and to increase dialogue with political leaders. Church leaders are inviting residents of Armenia to embark on pilgrimages during this period and members of the Armenian diaspora to visit their homeland. Various activities, including a pan-Armenian youth festival, have been scheduled during July.

For further information on the anniversary celebrations see <www.etchmiadzin.com> or <www.cathcil.org>. For information on the American Armenian church see <www.armenianchurch.org>.

Dr. Fred Strickert is professor of religion at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

SIDEBAR 1

EMEU Lebanon Conference

Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding will hold its fall 2001 conference at the Lady of the Mountain Monastery, located atop a hill overlooking Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 31 to Nov. 4. The conference, offering a unique and in-depth ecumenical perspective on the challenge of being a Christian in the region today, will have as its theme, “The Church: Signs of Hope and Healing in the Middle East.”

A 4-day tour of Lebanon will precede and a 7-day tour of Syria will follow the conference. Land cost for the entire two-week package is $ 1,600. A discount is available for those who pay by July 15. For more information contact Marilyn Borst, executive director, EMEU, 1003 Barkdull, Houston, TX 77006, e-mail <marilynborst@aol.com>.

—F.S.

SIDEBAR 2

The Armenian Holocaust

April 24 is remembrance day of the 1915 genocide in which massacres in the Ottoman Empire left dead one and a half million Armenians as well as 750,000 Assyrians and 400,000 Greeks. Eighteen states, most recently Maryland and Pennsylvania, have passed resolutions honoring the victims. As recently as last year, however, the U.S. Congress has refrained from declaring these deaths as “genocide.” In a recent article in Via Dolorosa, Mary Cook notes a June 2, 2000 written campaign promise by then-candidate George W. Bush to characterize this atrocity as “genocide.” In a letter to the Armenian Assembly of America, he wrote, “Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies comprehension…”

This past April, President Bush followed through on his promise to commemorate this event with a signed statement, “Today marks the commemoration of one of the great tragedies of history: the forced exile and annihilation of approximately 1.5 million Armenians in the closing years of the Ottoman Empire. These infamous killings darkened the 20th century and continue to haunt us to this day.”

American-Armenian leaders were disappointed by the omission of the term “genocide” from the president’s declaration. Cook quotes Assembly Board chairman Van Krikorian as saying, “While Armenian Americans appreciate that President Bush has recognized the significance of the 1915 Genocide in such a thoughtful and heartfelt way, they are surprised and disturbed that he would break a campaign promise and give such weight to the pressure of Turkey’s denial campaign.”

Armenians in Jerusalem have likewise long sought recognition of the Armenian genocide in the Israeli school curriculum, yet to no avail. In fact, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was quoted April 10 in the Turkish Daily News as saying, “We reject attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust and the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred. It is a tragedy what the Armenians went through but not a genocide.”

—F.S.