What kind of christians are armenians

Despite the war, there are even some Muslims. There are areas where Muslims are Armenians who've converted to Islam, and the rest of them are business people who come up from Iran. Ironically, many of them are ethnic Azeris cause there's a large Azeri minority in Northern Iran. Is there a renewal movement that is happening within the Armenian Apostolic church? Felix Corley: Yes, there is, and it's been a quite long-standing movement. In the Ottoman Empire, there was an Armenian Protestant millet or community that was separate from the Armenian apostolic millet.

And in the Middle East, especially Armenian evangelical churches were quite prominent and well organized. The evangelical community almost divides into those who regard the apostolic church with respect and will work alongside it, and those that perhaps regard it as too traditional, too high-bound, too full of idolatry, or whatever.

And the leaders would have home meetings and things which might be familiar to evangelicals but were not very familiar to apostolic Christians. That seems to have fizzled out a bit more in the independence period. I think the church has probably tried to consolidate, tried to bulldoze its way through society, and for people who the Christian faith was expressed with a wider spectrum of practices than the church was comfortable with found it very difficult.

The other thing to note is that the current leader of the church is very controversial. Many people regard him as unworthy and there's quite a strong movement within the apostolic church to get him defrocked and replace him with someone they regard as more worthy. He is said to have a secret wife and family, which is not allowed for bishops in the Armenian apostolic church.

There were wild rumors about him going to casinos. So there is quite a movement to oust him and there are various priests who've turned against him. The church has suffered a dip in, in public confidence in the last few years.

As we wrap this conversation, can you share any final thoughts about the current situation? Felix Corley: Everyone keeps saying this is not a religious war. And everyone on both sides tries to stress this. But the one problem is, the main marker of the two ethnic communities—the Armenians and the Azeris—is religion. So like in the previous war from to , they shout insults at each other based on their faith, the Armenians would paint white crosses on their tanks and uniforms so that they could identify each other as the battles were going on.

But that added to this sentiment that this is a religious conflict. And when the Azeris attacked the main cathedral Armenian cathedral in Shusha, which is a very prominent monument, this just reinforced these old stereotypes. When you hear Armenians talking about the conflict, there's a lot of angst and there's a lot of almost existential fear.

They think the genocide is coming back, that the Azeris and the Turks are ganging up on them again. Maybe these thoughts are overblown, but there's a deep ethnic memory of the genocide. They lost a lot of people in the genocide.

It's like the Jews with the Holocaust or the Roma also killed by the Nazis. There's just such an ethnic memory of that. Then the Azeris cite all these cases where the Armenians attack them in history. So both start to come up with all the ethnic grievances over the years, and it's very difficult to keep the conversation really about, what can we do to make life bearable for the people now? So there's just such a sad place we are at for both communities, both countries, and for the region.

To unlock this article for your friends, use any of the social share buttons on our site, or simply copy the link below. To share this article with your friends, use any of the social share buttons on our site, or simply copy the link below.

Quick To Listen Episode 56 min. Morgan Lee October 21, Article continues below. Free Newsletters Get the best from CT editors, delivered straight to your inbox! Posted: October 21 , More From: Morgan Lee Mepaynl. Current Issue. She believes in one Baptism with repentance for the remission and forgiveness of sins. On judgment day, Christ will call all men and women who have repented to eternal life in His Heavenly Kingdom, which has no end.

Christ overcame the power of death with His own death and gave salvation to all mankind. Copyright , St. The dogmas of the Armenian Church are based on these "articles of faith. Below, you will find a comprehensive listing of the latest news, articles, video, and other content on the official website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Back What is an Armenian Christian? Print What is an Armenian Christian?

Anton C. Vrame, Ph. The prime doctrinal dogma of the Holy Trinity defines God as One in three persons. The Nicene Creed is the main statement of faith.

Only three church councils are accepted as ecumenical Nicaea , Constantinople, , and Ephesus The Virgin Mary is venerated as the Mother of God. Religion has been an essential part of Armenian identity and has reshaped the course of history.

As a matter of fact, Christian communities were established in Armenia way before Christianity was declared as the state religion. Since 40 AD, the preachings of Thaddeus and Bartholomew, 2 out of 12 apostles, have left the mark on Armenia. Gregory the Illuminator. This same Anak was the father of Gregory, the latter being the only survivor of the family after they were all executed for the murder of the king. Roman alliances were forged, Persians were pushed out of Armenia, and all seemed well as he established his capital in the city of Vagharshapat.

Meanwhile, Gregory was growing up in Cappadocia, educated amongst Christians. He married a devout Christian called Miriam and had two sons, before leaving to lead a monastic life, hoping to evangelize Armenia and atone for the sins of his father.