Christology Of The Armenian Church

Introduction to the Christology of the Armenian Church by a leading scholar of Armenian Christianity and former Head of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library.

The book offers to the reader a deep and ample knowledge about the theological tradition of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in general and of the Armenian Apostolic Church in particular. Since this small family of Orthodox Churches is not very known to the public, the book provides exact, reliable and scholarly first-hand theological information which is of immense value and importance. The Family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches acknowledges only the first three Ecumenical Councils, those of Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381) and Ephesus (431), and thus maintains the pure theology of the early Church without addition or changes. The book contains theological studies which without exception were read at international Conferences or symposia and consequently and naturally are written in a spirit of tolerance and reconciliation. This ecumenical aspect is an important contribution to the rapprochement and reunion of the Churches. Tolerance and understanding of other theological positions and phrasings are remarkable throughout the book and in this sense an additional advantage in studying the theology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

Excerpt from The Key of Truth: A Manual of the Paulician Church of Armenia Opinion. Its antiquity evidenced by John of Otzun, and by (lxxxvn) Lazar of Pharp (e. The organic unity of beliefs with rites seen in the Key is a proof of age and primitiveness. - (lxxxviii) Coherence of Paulician Christology with baptismal usages and with rite of election. - (lxxxix) The Key a monument of the Adoptionist Church, of which T fie Skep/zera' of Hermas is also a monument. - (xc) The Christology of latter book examined and shown to agree with that of Theodotus. - (xci) Traces of Adoptionism in Justin Martyr. - (xcii) Its identity with ebionitechristology. Hippolytus' account of Theodotus. - (xciii) Proba bility that Theodotus, like the Paulicians, accepted John's Gospel; though the Alogi, his predecessors, rejected ir. - (xciv) Adoptionism in Melito. Condemnation of Paul of Samosata. - (cxv) The latter's teaching - (xcvi) Traces of Adoptionism in Lactantius. Evolution of Christian dogmas in the great centres of culture. - (xcvii) The Disputa tion of Archelaus with Mani is an Adoptionist monument, for it teaches that Jesus was merely man before his baptism - (xcviii) and that he was not God incarnate. It excludes the ordinary interpretation of the miraculous birth. - (xcix) Jesus was filz'us fier profeetzem. Parallel descent of Holy Spirit on the faithful. - (c) Jesus became Christ and Son of God at his baptism. - (ci) Karkhar the see of Archelaus was near Arabion Castellum on the Stranga, or - (cii) upper Zab - (ciii) and was therefore an Armenian see. Antiquity of Christianity in south east Armenia. - (civ) The early Christianity of the Taurus range was Adoptionist, and - (cv) the name Paulician originally meant a follower of Paul of Samosata. - (cvi) The Paulicians, therefore, the same as the Pauliani of the Nicene fathers and of Ephrem. The Paulianist heresy reappeared in the empire in eighth century as a characteristically Armenian heresy. - (cvii) Early conflict in Armenia of the Adoptionist Christology with the Nicene, which came in from Cappadocia. (cviii) The Adoptionists under name of Messa'lians condemned in Armenian council of Shahapivan (a. D. Lazar of Pharp's descrip tion (a. D. 480) of Armenian heresy. - (cix) The heresy condemned at Shahapivan was the primitive Syriac Christianity of south-east Armenia, which - (cx) the grecizing Armenian fathers ignored, though it provided them with their earliest version of New Testament. (cxi) Gregory the Illuminator was probably an Adoptionist believer, but his 'teaching' has been falsified. - (cxii) Evidence of St. Basil's letters as to the conflict in Armenia in fourth century of the rival schools of Christology. St. Nerses (died a. Basil's lieutenant, de posed by King Pap, who - (cxiii) effected the final rupture with Caesarea. - (cxiv) Basil's description of the popular heresy of Armenia proves that it was Adoptionist. - (cxv) It affirmed, like Eunomius' creed, that Jesus Christ was a created being. - (cxvi) The orthodox Armenians shifted their ecclesiastical centre to Valarshapat from Taron, because of the prevalence of Adoptionists in latter region. Constantine V a Paulician. - (cxv11) The role of Smbat. He did not create the heresy of the Thonraki, but only organized the old believers of Taron. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original edition published by the Clarendon Press in Oxford, 1898.