Origin and establishment of Christianity in Armenia - Essay Example

Origin and Establishment of Christianity in Armenia 2007 The conversion to Christianity became a turning point in the development of the country,causing deep political, social and cultural changes and providing the country with an opportunity to achieve three aims: to restore its dominance over Persia, to establish a distinct national identity and to align with developed Western countries. The origin of the Armenian Church is ascribed to evangelism. According to the Bible, on the fiftieth day of Christ’s resurrection, the apostles went to preach in the public turning thousands of people into Christianity and laying foundation for the Christian Church. Christianity quickly spread to all the countries and parts of the world where Jews lived. Armenia was one of them. The national tradition treats the Armenian Church as an apostolic one. However, it is not a strictly scientific fact, while in I – III centuries Armenian people still didn’t have an alphabet and literature of theirs. Whereas no authentic documents exist, scholars deny or doubt the apostolic origin of the Armenian Church. Yet, tradition is so strongly rooted in the mentality of Armenian people that, in the absence of other established versions, it is accepted as the true one1. The ancient tradition names St Thaddeus and St Bartholomew, who were Jesus’ disciples, as the first apostles of Armenia, designating them as The First Illuminators of Armenia. Their graves are preserved as sacred places in the ancient church of Artaz and Albac2. The Apostle Thaddeus is mentioned in several Gospels of the Bible: the Gospels of Mathew, of Mark, of Luke and of John and in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Little is told about his life, work and mission in the Bible. In the absence of any historical facts one can rely only on the oral traditions, the Assyrian and Armenian ones, which inform that he was the first evangelist in Armenia. According to the Assyrian tradition, the ill king of Edessa wrote a letter to Christ asking him for healing and offering shelter in his kingdom, but Jesus denied the request and propositions. After Christ’s ascension, Thaddeus came to preach in Edessa, and further moved on to Armenia. This story is told by Eusbiusa in his Historia Ecclesiastica3. The Armenian tradition states that Thaddeus first preached in Cappadocia and then journeyed to Armenia, where he managed to preach even to the royal family. King Sanatruk’s daughter, the Virgin Sandurkht accepted Christianity and was baptized. The enraged pagan king started the persecution of Christians. However, whatever he did, Thaddeus’ preaching inspired ever more people to accept Christianity. As a result, the king’s daughter, St. Thaddeus and many other Christians were martyredb. St. Thaddeus’ Monastery in the city of Ardaz was erected by the grateful Armenian people in order to commemorate the deed of the apostle4. The foundation of the Armenian Apostolic Church was continued by St. Bartholomew, another Christ’ disciple, who came to Armenia and preached mostly in the province of Siunik, where he martyred. He is probably mentioned in the gospels under the name of Nathanael. He started his preaching in Armenia in the Koghtan region where he founded a church. According to Ormanian (1912), he managed to convert King Sanadroug’s sister and the military commander, for which all the three were killed5. Two apostles started two lines of bishops, the Sees of Ardaz and Siunik. Notwithstanding the lack of written documents or objective evidences, as well as gaps in the lines, historians have to admit the succession of bishops basing on the tradition. According to different versions, the See of Ardaz is ascribed from seven to nine bishops, including Zaharia, Zementus, Atrnerseh, Mooshe, Sghahen, Shavarsh, Ghevondius6 (or Leotius) and Mehoroujan, with a name missing for the years 193-2307 and eight8 or five9 bishops, the successors of St. Bartholomew10. The two sees were not independent of each other but had the same centers in Edessa and Caesarea. The amount of Christian enlarged steadily, though the persecutions continued. The Armenian King Sanatruk was followed by Vaharsh, Khorsov I and Trdat III. However, it was during the reign of the latter that Christianity was established as an official church of the Armenia, which is said to be the first precedent in the world’s history. The adoption of Christianity by Trdat is surrounded with legends that much influenced the religious literature of Armenia created in the following centuries and shaped the religious outlook of the people. The conversion of Armenia was done by St. Grigor (or Krikor) Partev (Gregory of Pathian), called Loosavorich (the Illuminator), for his enlightening of the nation by the light of his gospel. The traditional version of the complete conversion was recorded a century later by an Armenian chronicle Agathangelos11. The chronicle tells us of the war between the dynasties of Arsacides and of Sissanids for the power in Persia. The Sissanids hired a traitor named Anak, who was a near relative of the Armenian King Khosrov II, to murder the king. Anak fulfilled his mission destroying the king and his sons, but it so occurred that he perished either. Two little boys survived: Grigor, the son of Anak, and Tiridate (or Trdat) the son of Khosrov. Grigor was brought up as a Christian at Caesarea in Cappadocia, while Trdat was a pagan. Once on his way to Rome, Tradt met Grigor and liked him for his bright mind and high spirit. Trdat took Grigor to Armenia as his chief advisor. During the Navasart holiday Grigor provoked Tradt’s wrath, and jealous people hurried to inform the King of Grigor’s origin. As a result, Grigor was thrown into Khor Virab (a deep pit) of Ardashad, where he spent thirteen or fifteen yearsc. Meanwhile severe persecution of Christians started in Rome in 301. A group of virgins, led by St. Kayane (Gayane), arrived to Armenia looking for a shelter. Trdat sought the virgins on the request of Roman Emperor Diocletian, whom he owed his thrown. When he found the fugitives, Trdat fell in love with one of them, Hripsime (Rhiphsime), who was very beautiful. He wanted to possess her, but the virgin refused him and was beheaded together with the rest of the virgins. Trdat was punished for his sin, falling ill with lycanthropy, a disease making him perceive himself as a wild boar. The Princess Khosrovitoukhd started seeing a dream, revealing to her that Grigor could heal her brother Trdat. Thus the preacher was released from the dungeon and brought to the palace, where the wonderful healing took place12. The news of the miracle spread over the country and many people were converted to Christianity. Grigor preached a bit in Armenia, moved to Caesarea, and then returned back to Armenia again. He baptized the king and his entire family in the Euphrates and started his evangelistic crusade in all the parts of the country, destroying the pagan temples and erecting Christian churches and shrines to the martyrs13. There are many debates as to the chronology of the conversion. Some of the scholars believe that the event took place in 28514. Others state that it is more probably happened much later, in 313-314, after the Edict of Milan was issued permitting to worship of any gods one pleases.15 Anyway, it is obvious that the conversion of Armenia was not merely a miracle. First of all, there was a strong opposition to the new religion in the face of the Armenian nobility and pagan priests. In the area of Daron (Moush) there was the biggest battle between the opposite sites. The pagan priest Artzan gathered an army of nearly 12 thousand soldiers and set out against the king. However, the resistance was suppressed16. Secondly, it is only in legends rulers convert to some religion only due to a miracle, in reality they need some impulse. In order to understand the real history of the Armenian conversion to Christianity one should turn to the political and economic situation in the county. Even the legend indicates to the reason: the thread from Persia. The Sissanids made Zoroastrism an official religion of the country. The broad missionary activity of the new adherents threatened the political and religious independence of Armenia. The country risked not only to lose its independence but also national identity. At the same time Rome, which was a strong ally of Armenia, was getting ready to accept Christianity as its official religion. Though Constantine proclaimed it as one of the official religions only in 324, and it was declared the only state religion in 380, the issue of the Edict of Milan demonstrated that this religion was in good graces among the Roman leaders17. Thus the decision was made. The conversion was initiated from the top of the country, and though paganism persisted for some time causing the martyrdom of some Armenian Christian leaders, eventually the pagan temples were replaced by Christian churches and monasteries. The pagan culture was being destroyed with such zeal that no architectural or literature remains survived by our days. The new faith was propagated not only in Armenia, but also in Georgia and Caucasian Albania, which provided a more reliable base for the religion. It is necessary to mention that the alphabet was still not introduced in Armenia. All the written materials were in Greek or Syrian, interpreted to people by the preachers. Grigor established a church organization that followed the feudal system. He and his family were proclaimed catholicos (the Supreme Patriarchs of the church), bishops were chosen from among the nakharar families, while the lower clergy was made of the azat class and received payment for its service. The higher priests accomplished the function of judges. The church acquired major power in the country, promoting a distinct Armenian identity and strengthening the state18. Endnotes: Read More