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ARMENIA'S SURVIVORS
The Christian Century
June 6 2013
NOTES FROM THE GLOBAL CHURCH
Jun 06, 2013 by Philip Jenkins
In northeastern Turkey stand the ruins of what was once one of the
world's largest and most imposing cities. In the Middle Ages, Ani
was the "City of 1,001 Churches," the capital of Armenia's mighty
Bagratuni dynasty which held off both the Christian Byzantine Empire
and the Arab Caliphate.
The Bagratid kingdom is long gone, like Ani itself, but Armenians
survive. Although Armenia's Christian past is little known in the West,
it is an awe-inspiring tale of endurance in a profoundly hostile
political and religious setting. So devastating have been some of
these events that outsiders have repeatedly been tempted to write
the obituary of Armenia, yet people, nation and church continue.
Armenia today is a small nation of some 3.3 million people in a
territory barely a quarter the size of Pennsylvania. Officially, it
is also a new country, independent only since 1991. Such curt facts
conceal a deep antiquity.
Apart from Rome, how many other capital cities can plausibly claim
a foundation date in the eighth century BC, as does Armenia's Yerevan?
An already ancient kingdom accepted Christianity around 301, making
it probably the world's oldest Christian state (Ethiopia challenges
that title). The Bible was translated into Armenian before the time
of Chalcedon, in 451.
In space as well as time, Armenia's present small scale belies a much
larger ancient reality. In the Middle Ages, different versions of
the Armenian Empire sprawled over much of what is now eastern Turkey,
penetrating into Iran.
For a thousand years, Armenia was home to a thriving Christian
culture. It included the spiritual center of Etchmiadzin, "the place
where the Only-Begotten descended," where the cathedral claims a
foundation date of 303. Haghpat and Sanahin are the stars among the
great monastic complexes.
Besides its physical monuments, medieval Armenia had a flourishing
tradition of scholarship and visual art. The 12th and 13th centuries
witnessed an artistic and scholarly resurgence-led by the Katholikos
Nerses IV and the polymath monk Mkhitar Gosh-equal to anything in
medieval Europe.
Beginning in the 13th century, however, Armenia was overwhelmed by
repeated disasters. Ani never recovered from the Mongol sack of 1236.
In 1375, the Egyptian Mamluks ended the last independent Armenian
kingdom and demolished the beloved ecclesiastical capital of Sis.
Armenians recall the following 200 years as a dark age, the beginning
of their great diaspora.
The nature of Muslim rule varied over time, but persecution could at
times be horrendous. Even under tolerant regimes, Armenians suffered
from their strategic position on the borders of the rival Ottoman
and Persian empires, whose epic military campaigns repeatedly laid
waste the country. Yerevan changed hands 14 times in 250 years. The
Russians later joined the struggles in the region.
But despite the calamities, Armenians survived in ways that recall
the persistent refusal of Jews to vanish from history. Wiser Muslim
rulers valued their Armenian subjects for their acumen and their
international connections.
In 1604, Persia's ruler Shah Abbas established the Armenian mercantile
settlement at New Julfa, which rapidly became extremely wealthy
and globally connected. Under Persian rule, New Julfa's Christians
traded throughout Europe, Russia and the Middle East and into China,
India and the Philippines. Armenians were likewise the merchants and
traders of the Ottoman Empire. By 1900, they had a strong presence
in the Ottoman cities, constituting a sixth of the population in
Constantinople itself.
And then once again, the world seemed to end. In 1915, Armenians
suffered an attempt at systematic genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire that closely prefigured the Jewish Shoah. Perhaps 1.5 million
died in the following three years, out of an original population of
2.5 million.
Yet again, the nation persisted. Today, there are some 112 million
Armenians around the world, and they have a nation-state in the
Caucasus. These Armenians still cling to their distinctive Christian
identity. Christians constitute over 90 percent of Armenia today,
the overwhelming majority being members of the Armenian Apostolic
Church (part of the Oriental Orthodox tradition), along with a
Catholic minority.
The existence of the Armenian Apostolic Church is a remarkable fact
in its own right. The world's oldest national church, it claims an
unbroken tradition to the era of Diocletian, a full half millennium
before the conversion of Germany. The church is anything but a relic.
In 2001 Yerevan commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of the nation's
conversion to Christianity by consecrating its sumptuous Cathedral
of St. Gregory the Illuminator, with seating for over 2,000.
Justifying his genocidal policies, Hitler notoriously asked his
commanders, "Who, today, remembers the Armenians?" One answer, of
course, is that the Armenians do. Anyone who cares about Christian
history should too.
http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-05/armenia-s-survivors
From: A. Papazian
The Christian Century
June 6 2013
NOTES FROM THE GLOBAL CHURCH
Jun 06, 2013 by Philip Jenkins
In northeastern Turkey stand the ruins of what was once one of the
world's largest and most imposing cities. In the Middle Ages, Ani
was the "City of 1,001 Churches," the capital of Armenia's mighty
Bagratuni dynasty which held off both the Christian Byzantine Empire
and the Arab Caliphate.
The Bagratid kingdom is long gone, like Ani itself, but Armenians
survive. Although Armenia's Christian past is little known in the West,
it is an awe-inspiring tale of endurance in a profoundly hostile
political and religious setting. So devastating have been some of
these events that outsiders have repeatedly been tempted to write
the obituary of Armenia, yet people, nation and church continue.
Armenia today is a small nation of some 3.3 million people in a
territory barely a quarter the size of Pennsylvania. Officially, it
is also a new country, independent only since 1991. Such curt facts
conceal a deep antiquity.
Apart from Rome, how many other capital cities can plausibly claim
a foundation date in the eighth century BC, as does Armenia's Yerevan?
An already ancient kingdom accepted Christianity around 301, making
it probably the world's oldest Christian state (Ethiopia challenges
that title). The Bible was translated into Armenian before the time
of Chalcedon, in 451.
In space as well as time, Armenia's present small scale belies a much
larger ancient reality. In the Middle Ages, different versions of
the Armenian Empire sprawled over much of what is now eastern Turkey,
penetrating into Iran.
For a thousand years, Armenia was home to a thriving Christian
culture. It included the spiritual center of Etchmiadzin, "the place
where the Only-Begotten descended," where the cathedral claims a
foundation date of 303. Haghpat and Sanahin are the stars among the
great monastic complexes.
Besides its physical monuments, medieval Armenia had a flourishing
tradition of scholarship and visual art. The 12th and 13th centuries
witnessed an artistic and scholarly resurgence-led by the Katholikos
Nerses IV and the polymath monk Mkhitar Gosh-equal to anything in
medieval Europe.
Beginning in the 13th century, however, Armenia was overwhelmed by
repeated disasters. Ani never recovered from the Mongol sack of 1236.
In 1375, the Egyptian Mamluks ended the last independent Armenian
kingdom and demolished the beloved ecclesiastical capital of Sis.
Armenians recall the following 200 years as a dark age, the beginning
of their great diaspora.
The nature of Muslim rule varied over time, but persecution could at
times be horrendous. Even under tolerant regimes, Armenians suffered
from their strategic position on the borders of the rival Ottoman
and Persian empires, whose epic military campaigns repeatedly laid
waste the country. Yerevan changed hands 14 times in 250 years. The
Russians later joined the struggles in the region.
But despite the calamities, Armenians survived in ways that recall
the persistent refusal of Jews to vanish from history. Wiser Muslim
rulers valued their Armenian subjects for their acumen and their
international connections.
In 1604, Persia's ruler Shah Abbas established the Armenian mercantile
settlement at New Julfa, which rapidly became extremely wealthy
and globally connected. Under Persian rule, New Julfa's Christians
traded throughout Europe, Russia and the Middle East and into China,
India and the Philippines. Armenians were likewise the merchants and
traders of the Ottoman Empire. By 1900, they had a strong presence
in the Ottoman cities, constituting a sixth of the population in
Constantinople itself.
And then once again, the world seemed to end. In 1915, Armenians
suffered an attempt at systematic genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire that closely prefigured the Jewish Shoah. Perhaps 1.5 million
died in the following three years, out of an original population of
2.5 million.
Yet again, the nation persisted. Today, there are some 112 million
Armenians around the world, and they have a nation-state in the
Caucasus. These Armenians still cling to their distinctive Christian
identity. Christians constitute over 90 percent of Armenia today,
the overwhelming majority being members of the Armenian Apostolic
Church (part of the Oriental Orthodox tradition), along with a
Catholic minority.
The existence of the Armenian Apostolic Church is a remarkable fact
in its own right. The world's oldest national church, it claims an
unbroken tradition to the era of Diocletian, a full half millennium
before the conversion of Germany. The church is anything but a relic.
In 2001 Yerevan commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of the nation's
conversion to Christianity by consecrating its sumptuous Cathedral
of St. Gregory the Illuminator, with seating for over 2,000.
Justifying his genocidal policies, Hitler notoriously asked his
commanders, "Who, today, remembers the Armenians?" One answer, of
course, is that the Armenians do. Anyone who cares about Christian
history should too.
http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-05/armenia-s-survivors
From: A. Papazian