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Christianity
Historical records prove that Christianity took shape in
the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire as an ideology
of subjugated and oppressed people. From the very start
this religion attracted people for its equal treatments
of various nations and strata of society. The human
nature, peacefulness, kindness of the religion, the
principles of the self sacrifice and faithfulness were
in harmony with the genetic strivings of the Armenian
people.
It is told that Christianity arose from the kind,
creative and human AR (Sun)- Father Main Cod Armenian
religion. About deep connection between Christianity and
old Armenian knowledge, culture and symbols of the
Father Main God period there are many facts. One of them
is the structure of famous cross-stones. They mean a
men, tending on ball-farmed earth. It is known that when
Jesus Christ was born, three Magi visited Him with
congratulations and presents. According to Adrian
G.Gibert, they were Armenians and they visited Armenian
towns.
At first in the world Christianity was officially
adopted by Armenians in 33 A.D. in Edessia, by
king Abgar the 5th. And officially it was
adopted in
Great Armenia, in capital town Vagharshapat (Echmiadzin)
by kind Trdat the 3rd. Vagharshapat was renamed
Echmiadzin in 1945. Christianity was introduced in
Armenia
by the
apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the first century
AD. At this time, paganism was widespread and practiced
by the kings of Armenia. Pagan practices did not deter
Christian missionaries in spreading the word of God to
Armenians. Among them was Gregory, the son of Partev
Anak, who was baptized a Christian in Caesaria, a city
in Cappadocia. Gregory was thrown into a pit in Xor
Virap by the Armenian king Trdat III, where he survived
for 13 years only by the grace of a kind woman who
secretly fed him. King Trdat fell in love with a
Christian nun named Hripsime. When she refused the
king's proposal of marriage, the king ordered to catch
her and put to death. Thereafter, the king went mad, and
only after the king's sister released Gregory from
captivity to heal her ailing brother did the king regain
his sanity. King Trdat was baptized by Gregory and
converted his entire kingdom to Christianity in 301 AD,
making Armenia the first nation to accept Christianity
as its state religion.
The king obliged his people to be baptized in Aratsani
river.
Gregory came to be known as the
Illuminator and was named the first Catholicos, the head
of the Armenian Church. After seeing a vision of the
descent of the Only Begotten Son, pointing to a site in
current-day Echmiadzin, St. Gregory the Illuminator
built the mother cathedral of the Armenian church. The
old pagan cults of Armenia didn't succumb without
resistance on the part of their followers and adapts.
But due to the immense faith and love of the preachers
to their land and people, soon it was admitted that the
new religion was destined to strengthen the nation's
spiritual and physical power. This might be the reason
of the uniqueness of the Armenian church. Throughout the
centuries Armenia has been invaded many a time. There
have been inner disagreements but when it came to their
faith the nation was unified and steadfast. The Armenian
church differs from sister churches by the independence
of its theological and linguistic peculiarities
ceremonial features. As
Armenians began to practice Christianity, many churches
and monasteries were erected, some on the foundations of
pagan temples. Armenia's innovative architectural
traditions can be seen in the church complexes as
precursors to the Gothic form. Although it is a distinct
church, the Armenian Apostolic Church is in communion
with the church universal and in the family of churches
such as the Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian, and Indian
Malabar churches. Traditionally, the Armenian Church
recognizes the Catholicos of All Armenians as its
leader. He resides in Holy Echmiadzin, where St. Gregory
the Illuminator established the Armenian Church in 301
AD. A National Ecclesiastical Assembly consisting of lay
and clergy representatives of Armenian communities
around the world elects the Catholicos. There are four
hierarchical Sees in the Armenian Church: the
Catholicate of All Armenians in Ejmiatzin; the
Catholicate of the Great House of Cilicia; the
Patriarchate of Jerusalem; and the Patriarchate of
Constantinople. The Church entered its most recent era
of leadership on October 27, 1999, when Armenian
Christians chose His Holiness Garegin II as leader of
their worldwide church following the death of Catholicos
Garegin I. Small Roman Catholic and Protestant
communities also exist in Armenia. Catholic missionaries
began converting Armenians in the Ottoman and Persian
empires in the early modern era, and American Protestant
missionaries were active in the nineteenth century. The
Kurdish population is mostly Yezidi or Muslim. A Russian
Orthodox community also serves its community.
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bout 94
percent of Armenians D
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