Armenian Protestants...

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." Psalm 33:12

With Reformation Day fast approaching on 31 October, I thought I would write a short blog about the Protestant Armenian community. At this point you may be thinking... "Reformation Day?"... What the heck is that all about? I'm glad you asked! On 31 October 1517, a German monk, by the name of Martin Luther nailed a challenge to the Roman Church on the doors of the "catholic" church in Wittenberg, Germany. Brother Luther was challenging the Roman church and her practice of selling salvation for money in the form of documents called indulgences. By daring to confront an unbiblical man made practice this simple German monk opened the door of self examination. What does the Bible say about the worship, doctrine and customs of our church? The Armenian Reformation appears to have started in the 19th century with a series of Bible studies which examined the Holy Scriptures without the tinted glasses of the apostolic church. The movement initially sought reform and not separation for those practices and customs in the church which contradicted the Bible. These practices were virtually identical to those in the Roman church which initiated the Protestant Reformation. The Armenian Reformers emphasized the authority of Scripture, the priesthood of all believers and justification by faith alone. Their attempts at reform were met by contempt, persecution and excommunication. The final breach appeared to be the imposition of a new creed which resulted in the beginning of the Armenian Evangelical Church in 1846. By the end of that year, three churches had been established with over 1000 members. The Armenian Evangelical Church clearly stated their reasoning in separating from the mother church:

“We subscribe and have always subscribed to the Church’s Nicean Creed to which all Christians subscribe. No other creed since 400 A.D. was ever imposed on the believers, but in 1846 a new creed is being imposed upon the members of the Armenian Church that is concerned with traditions and ceremonies. Therefore, by subscribing to the ancient Christian creed, we consider ourselves legitimate members of the church.”

So on Reformation Day, our family will be remembering not only Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Knox who were used of God so instrumentally in bringing the Reformation to Western Europe, but also those Armenian Reformers who wondrously brought back the Scriptures into the hand of the common Armenian people. Sadly, there is a dangerous association today that being Armenian means being a member of the apostolic church so that loyalty for the one demands loyalty for the other. Even in Armenia this summer, I can remember seeing a poster on the street that said something along the lines of "We are Armenians, Our Land is Armenia, Our Language is Armenian and our Church is Apostolic." While I can appreciate the attempt to preserve the Armenian Culture, it should never be at expense of the truth of God's Word. We should remember the unbelieving jews at the time of Jesus who were so enslaved by their national pride and blind faith in their religious leaders, that they could not even recognize their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. While false gospels such as Islam, Mormonism and the Jehovah Witnesses (who all deny the divinity of Jesus) are preying on souls, Armenians should not overreact against those Protestant Christians whose "heart's desire and prayer to God" (Romans 10:1) is for their ultimate good. As the Armenian Reformers of 1846 said:

“We respect the ecclesiastical authorities, we honor its traditions, sanctified by the blood of martyrs; we accept the creed of the universal church, we love the Armenian nation with all our heart and soul, but we hold the freedom of conscience more sacred than every thing else, and we cannot let any authority, tradition or mandate deprive us from the Gospel of Christ.”

I will not be afraid...

"I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about." Psalm 3:6

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This morning I opened the New York Times online and read about how "Support Wanes in House for Genocide Vote." It seems that almost a dozen former supporters of the genocide resolution have now had second thoughts about the timing of the vote and are now pushing the House leadership to drop the vote. Why you ask, would co-sponsors suddenly become opponents of their very own resolution? Well, I'm sure that the numerous Turkish paid lobbyists and the millions of dollars spent by their government to fight the resolution have had some impact, but I think that there is another explanation. No one really knows that is going to happen in Iraq and no one wants to be the one responsible when Turkey suddenly restricts the flow of logistics to Iraq. Imagine watching the news that so many Americans were killed today in Iraq and the next story talking about how the Armenian Genocide resolution is the indirect cause of body armour and supplies not reaching the front line troops (or being responsible for a Turkish invasion of Northern Iraq). You can almost hear the question "Honey, how did our congressman vote?... What an idiot!"

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Now, I've never been the biggest supporter of all aspects of the war in Iraq (although I won't hide the fact that I was in favor of the invasion in 2002), but I certainly take issue with such reasoning? What are the Americans in Iraq, if not (as the U.S. State Department says) bringing peace and democracy to the region? How can you have peace in the absence of truth? Less then a century ago over one million, five hundred thousands Armenian fathers, mothers, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, doctors, lawyers, ministers, farmers, school children, artists, etc. with souls, minds and hearts were subjects of rape, torture and murder in an organized attempt to annihilate an entire race of people. How can we not stand up and recognize what happened in 1915? It is quite easy to condemn injustice when it is politically popular and when it doesn't have any cost or negative repercussion that effects you. It's quite another thing to stand upon truth and refuse to waiver amidst a costly storm of opposition. It is at this point that you discover the truth about the sincerity and principals of those who stood with you as fair weather friends, but who had to run back home to get an umbrella. Honest resolutions that have no "resolution" about them are halfhearted and unworthy of the great words and ideas that they contain. America prides itself on being a great nation, and yet it will probably remain silent in 2007 about the Armenian Genocide because of political expediency.

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I thought the best quote in the article was from Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania who said "This happened a long time ago and I don't know whether it was a massacre or a genocide, that is beside the point... The point is, we have to deal with today's world." So Congressman Murtha feels that events in the past are only relevant when they prove popular and useful in pursuing our current policies? Congressman, I remember being taught as a boy in school that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It appears that you have not even come to a historical conclusion about whether the events of 1915 were a series of uncoordinated massacres or a systematic policy of genocide, so how can you even lecture us about it's relative importance? Reading between the lines, it appears that reaching a conclusion as to that question is only of importance if there is something to be gained diplomatically by the United States! Perhaps the question needs to be asked as to who is the mercenary... Turkey or the United States? A congressman that can sell his principals so cheaply has only evidenced that he has already sold his soul.