Armenian Apostolic Church

Definition and Meaning

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the traditional church of the Armenian people. It belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which did not accept the Christological definition of the Council of Chalcedon (451). Christology is the doctrine concerned with how the divinity and humanity of Christ are to be understood. The same family also includes the Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syriac Orthodox churches, among others. It is distinct from the Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox Church).

The name "Apostolic Church" derives from the tradition that Thaddeus and Bartholomew, two of the Twelve Apostles, preached the gospel in Armenia. Its highest ecclesiastical office is that of the "Catholicos of All Armenians," a title equivalent to patriarch. The church's headquarters are in Etchmiadzin, Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia, located in Lebanon, and the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople also belong to this church.

Biblical and Historical Background

• Scripture contains no record of a mission to Armenia. The missions of Thaddeus and Bartholomew belong to later church tradition.
• In the early fourth century, Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III, and the Kingdom of Armenia consequently adopted Christianity as its official religion. The traditional date is 301, though some scholars place it around 314.
• In the early fifth century, Mesrop Mashtots is credited with creating the Armenian alphabet for the purpose of translating the Bible.
• The Armenian Church did not attend the Council of Chalcedon, owing in part to war with Persia. Through later synods, such as the sixth-century Council of Dvin, it solidified its rejection of the Chalcedonian definition.
• The church suffered heavily in the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire around 1915. In 2015 it canonized the victims of that period as saints.

Theological and Liturgical Characteristics

Following Cyril of Alexandria, this church confesses "one nature of the incarnate Word." Chalcedonian churches have commonly labeled this position "Monophysitism." The Armenian Church rejects that label, explaining that it does not deny that Christ is truly God and truly man, nor that the two natures are unmingled.

Its worship also has distinctive customs. It uses unleavened bread and wine unmixed with water in the Eucharist. It also celebrates Christmas and Epiphany together on January 6.

Presence in the Korean Church

There is no widely known permanent parish of this church in Korea. Korean Christians typically encounter it through the traditions concerning Bartholomew and Thaddeus or through the study of church history.

Korean Protestant denominations use confessions that follow the Chalcedonian definition, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith. Consequently, they differ from this church in their Christological formulations. Attitudes toward this church, however, vary by denomination.

• Denominations participating in the ecumenical movement regard this church as a partner with which they cooperate as a fellow member church of the World Council of Churches (WCC). These include member denominations of the National Council of Churches in Korea, such as the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap), the Korean Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, and the Anglican Church of Korea. The Armenian Apostolic Church is reported to have been active as a WCC member since the 1960s.
• Denominations critical of WCC participation, in the context of the WCC controversy, tend to view this church as a traditional church with clear theological differences from Protestantism.

In the late twentieth century, this church carried on theological dialogue with the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. In the course of these dialogues, joint documents were issued stating, in effect, that the Christological differences between the parties were primarily matters of terminology.