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Armenians then experienced periods of independence before being absorbed into the Muslim Ottoman Empire, which subjected them to persecution and even the twentieth century's first act of genocide. "Who now remembers the Armenians?" Turks scoffed in 1915. And just when Armenians thought their lot might finally improve, they were taken over by atheistic Russians. "We have been part of at least 30 empires," says Vrej Nersessian, the Armenian specialist at the British Library. "It is such a long history that time does not matter."

This attitude toward time, along with the corollary that continuity is more important than change, may be catching up with the Armenians. Their liturgy is essentially that of Basil (330-379) and still conducted in classical Armenian, which very few parishioners understand. The church relies on just three seminaries, in Jerusalem, Armenia, and Lebanon, to train clergy, and as a result many Armenians—including the million or so in America—have only nominal church leadership. Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian of Burbank, California, notes that for many Armenians religion is "a custom, not a conviction." Linda Maxwell, another Californian who works with Armenian youth, says many of the teens wear crosses but have no idea what the symbol represents.

A 1,700-year heritage of faith is a wonderful thing and well worthy to be celebrated. But this heritage will mean little unless the Armenian church begins looking to the future as well.

* Articles on Armenia's 1,700th anniversary have begun appearing in major newspapers, including the Guardian (U.K.) and the Los Angeles Times (from which some quotes in this story were taken). Both papers are online, but the articles are not easily accessible.

* More information on the Armenian church is also available at www.sain.org and www.canarmdiocese.org.

* For descriptions of the controversies at Nicea and Chalcedon, see issue 28: The 100 Most Important Events in Church History and issue 51: Heresy in the Early Church, both available in the CH store. Additional information is also available in issue 54: Eastern Orthodoxy.

Elesha can be reached at cheditor@ChristianityToday.com.

The online issue archive for Christian History goes as far back as Issue 51 (Heresy in the Early Church). Prior issues are available for purchase in the Christian History Store.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.
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