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Topic:Christianization of Armenia
Showing 2 of 2 matching publications (200 total) · catalogue updated 2026-07-22
Journal ArticleOpen Access

Prerequisites for the Emergence and Formation of Independent Theological Thought in the Armenian Church

Sahakyan, Fr. Movses (Davit), 2025
Fundamental Armenology, Issue 1(21) 2025, Religion (National Academy of Sciences of RA / All Armenian Foundation Financing Armenological Studies); ISSN 1829-4618

Christian faith is one of the cornerstones of Armenian identity, and it finds its distinctive expression in Armenian theological thought. Fr. Movses Sahakyan takes the early period, from the Church's apostolic foundation to the beginning of the sixth century, tracing the mission of Sts Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the adoption of Christianity as a state religion, and the invention of the Armenian alphabet and its effect on Armenian Christian thought. He works through the universal and local ecclesiastical challenges of the era, the Nicene Creed and the successive councils, to show how period authors and events crystallized a distinctly Armenian theology, one that answered both internal religious needs and developments in global Christianity.

Armenian Apostolic Churchearly Armenian theologyGregory the IlluminatorMesrop MashtotsNicene Creed
EnglishRead Prerequisites for the Emergence and Formation of Independent Theological Thought in the Armenian Church (opens in a new tab)
Journal ArticlePaywalled

To What Extent did Armenia Become Christian during the Fourth and Fifth Centuries? Performing Christianity among Armenian Elites

Cinemre, İlhami Tekin, 2024
Le Muséon, Vol. 137, No. 3-4, pp. 405–433 (Peeters); DOI 10.2143/MUS.137.3.3293894

Argues that the narrative of Armenia's Christian history has taken on a mythical character, a distortion made worse by the total absence of pagan Armenian historiographical sources. Everything surviving was written by Christians. The fourth and fifth centuries carry outsized weight in that narrative, but Cinemre questions how accurately Christian Armenian sources depict the actual Christianization. He asks specifically how deeply Christianity penetrated the Armenian elite class as opposed to being formally professed, examining the religious influence of Christianity in what was a multicultural, multi-religious environment.

Christianization of Armenianakharar elitesfourth-century Armeniareligious practiceArmenian historiography
EnglishRead To What Extent did Armenia Become Christian during the Fourth and Fifth Centuries? Performing Christianity among Armenian Elites (opens in a new tab)

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