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.”