Devoir de Philosophie

Armenian Church

Publié le 22/02/2012

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The distinctive Christian institution of Armenia. Armenia is a region in northeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran, and includes an independent commonwealth between the Black and the Caspian Seas. No one knows exactly when CHRISTIANITY fi rst arrived there. In 314 C.E. Tiridates, the king of the country, converted to Christianity. Armenia then became the fi rst nation in which Christianity was the established or offi - cial religion. Armenian Christianity took distinctive form in the fi fth century. At that time the BIBLE and many church writings were translated into Armenian. The most distinctive feature of the Armenian Church is its view of JESUS. In technical terms, the Armenian Church is "monophysite." That is, it rejects the teaching of the Council of Chalcedon (451) that Jesus had two natures, divine and human, united in one person. It teaches instead that the incarnate Word of GOD has only one nature. Armenian worship practices closely resemble those of the Orthodox churches (see EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY). So does the organization of the Armenian Church. The head of the Armenian Church is known as the "catholikos." He resides in Echmiadzin near Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. A smaller group of Armenians recognize as their head a patriarch who now resides in Beirut, Lebanon.

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