Armenian Apostolic Church

Armenian Apostolic Church

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Armenian Apostolic Church

Official standard of the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: ???????????? ?????????? ???????, Hayasdaneaytz Arakelagan Yegeghetzi) is the world's oldest national church^[1]^[2] and one of the most ancient Christian communities.^[3]

The official name of the church is the Armenian Orthodox and Apostolic Church. It is sometimes referred to as the Armenian Orthodox Church or the Gregorian Church, however the latter name is not preferred by the church, as it views the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus as the founders, and St. Gregory the Illuminator as merely the first official head of the church.

Origins and history
Monophosite label
Structure and leadership
Similarities to other churches
Today
See also
References
Notes
External links

Origins and history

Baptism of Tiridates III.

Various legends tie the origin of the Armenian church to the apostles. Apostolic succession is an important concept for many churches, especially those in the east. The legend of the healing of Abgar V of Edessa by the facecloth of Jesus has been appropriated by the Armenian church by claiming that Abgar was a prince of Armenia.^[4] The more common tradition claims that Thaddeus, one of the Seventy Apostles was sent to Armenia from nearby Edessa by Abgar (uncle of King Sanatrook of Armenia) to evangelize. The details of the story vary widely, but in all stories Thaddeus converted Sandookdht the king's daughter. In some versions Sanatrook was also converted, but later apostasized. In other versions, he was never converted, but was always hostile to Christianity. In any case, Sanatrook martyred both Thaddeus and Sandookdht. Some versions have the apostle Bartholomew arriving in Armenia about the same time to also be martyred.^[5] Though these stories are considered historically questionable by modern scholars, the church in Armenia had to have begun early as persecutions against Christians in 110, 230, and 287 were recorded by outside writers Eusebius and Tertullian.^[6]

The Kingdom of Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion ^[7] when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III and members of his court,^[8] an event traditionally dated to 301 A.D. (after Mikayel Chamchian 1784).^[9] Gregory, trained and ordained in Christianity at Caesarea returned to his native land to preach about 287, the same time that Tiridates III took the throne. Tiridates owed his position to the Roman Emperor Diocletian, a noted persecutor of Christianity. In addition, he became aware that Gregory was a son of Anak, the man who assassinated his father. Consequently Tiridates imprisoned Gregory in an underground pit, called Khor Virap, for 13 years. In 301, 37 Christian virgins, fleeing Roman persecution, came to Armenia. Tiridates desired one of them, Rhipsime, to be his wife, but she turned him down. In a rage, he martyred the whole group of them. Soon afterward, God struck him with an illness that left him crawling around like a beast. The story is reminiscent of Nebudchadnezzar in Daniel 4. Xosroviduxt, the king?s sister, had a dream in which she was told that the persecution of Christians must stop. She related this to Tiridates, who released Gregory from prison. Gregory then healed Tiridates and converted him to Christianity. Tiridates immediately declared Armenia to be a Christian nation, becoming the first official Christian state.

Tiridates declares Gregory to be the first Catholicos of the church and sent him to Caesarea to be consecrated. Upon his return, Gregory tore down idol centers, built churches and monasteries, and ordained hundreds of priests and bishops. While meditating in the old capital city of Vagharshapat, Gregory had a vision of Christ coming down to the earth to strike it with a hammer. From the spot rose a great Christian temple with a huge cross. He was convinced that God wanted him to build the main Armenian church there. With the king?s help, he did so, along the lines of what he saw in the vision at the spot he saw the hammer strike. He renamed the city Etchmiadzin which means ?the place of the descent of the only-begotten?.^[10]

Initially the Armenian church participated in the larger church world. Its Catholicos was represented at the First Council of Nicea and the First Council of Constantinople. Although he could not attend the Council of Ephesus, the Catholicos Isaac Parthiev sent a message agreeing with its decisions.^[11] The Armenian church began to retreat from the larger church world in 373 when King Pap appointed the Catholicos Yusik without first sending him to Caesarea for commissioning.^[12]

Christianity was strengthened in Armenia by the translation of the Bible into the Armenian language by the Armenian theologian, monk and scholar St. Mesrob Mashtots. Until the fifth century, Armenia had its own spoken language, but not written. The Bible and liturgy were in Greek. The Catholicos Sahak commissioned Mersob to create an Armenian alphabet, which he completed in 406. Subsequently the Bible and liturgy were translated into Armenian and written down in its new script. This began a cultural rennaisance with the production of a host of Armenian literature.^[13]

Unlike other eastern churches, the Armenian Bible originally had 39 books in the Old Testament. What are commonly called the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical books were not translated until the 8th century and not read in the churches until the 12th century.^[14]

Monophosite label

Historically, the Armenian church has been referred to as monophysite by both Catholic and Orthodox theologians because it (as well as the Coptic Orthodox Church) rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned monophysitism. The Armenian Church officially severed ties with Rome and Constantinople in 554, during the second Council of Dvin where the dyophysite formula of the Council of Chalcedon was rejected.

However, the Armenian Orthodox Church argues that this is an incorrect description of its position, as it considers Monophysitism, as taught by Eutyches and condemned at Chalcedon, a heresy and only disagrees with the formula defined by that council. The Armenian church instead adheres to the doctrine defined by Cyril of Alexandria, considered as a saint by the Chalcedonian churches as well, who described Christ as being of one incarnate nature, where both divine and human nature are united. To distinguish this from Eutychian and other versions of Monophysitism this position is called miaphysitism.

In recent times, both Chalcedonian and anti-Chalcedonian churches have developed a deeper understanding for each other's positions, recognizing their substantial agreement while maintaining their respective theological language. Hence, the Monophysite label is avoided when describing the Armenians' or Copts' belief regarding the Nature of Christ.

Structure and leadership

His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians

The Armenian Apostolic Church is headed by a Catholicos (the plural is Catholicoi). The Armenian Apostolic Church should not be confused, however, with the Armenian Catholic Church whose patriarch (governing bishop of the Armenian Rite) is Nerses Bedros XIX, which is an Eastern Catholic church in communion with the Holy See in Rome. At present, the Catholicos of All Armenians is his Holiness Karekin II (sometimes spelled as Garegin), who resides in the city of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan. A second Catholicos, His Holiness Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia, who resides in Antelias in Lebanon, leads churches belonging to the Holy See of Cilicia. The division stems from frequent relocations of the Church headquarters under Ottoman Rule and was further reinforced during the period in which Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. However, the Catholicos of All Armenians claims theoretical sovereignty over the Catholicos of Cilicia. The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of a few apostolic churches in the world to have a democratic system; the people decide if they want to keep priests in their churches and may ask for different ones, as do some other ecclesiastical constitutions, such as Baptists and other Congregational churches.

Similarities to other churches

Liturgically speaking, the Church has much more in common with the Latin rite in its externals, especially as it was at the time of separation, than the Eastern Orthodox Churches. For example, their bishops wear mitres almost identical to those of Western bishops. They usually do not use a full iconostasis, but rather a curtain (which was also used in the West at the time of separation). The liturgical music is Armenian chant.

Armenian priests below the rank of bishop are allowed to be married before ordination and their descendants' surnames are prepended with the prefix "Ter" (or "Der" in Western Armenian), meaning "Lord", to indicate their lineage.