The Armenian Christological Tradition

Published in The Dialogue between the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, edited by Christine Chaillot, Foreword by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Volos Academy Publications, Volos 2016, pp. 301-316

The Armenian Christological Tradition

The birth of Christology, as theological domain in the Armenian Church is hard to define, both from the historical and the doctrinal points of view. First of all, one has to agree that the insufficiency/uncertainty of the main historical-theological official documents on the Christology, i. e. the collection of Armenian Church Councils’ faith definitions (o9roj), was covered by the abundance of Christological responses and reflections of different theologians and theological schools. In this respect, it becomes difficult to discern the official counciliar responses from the official but not counciliar reactions during the great Christological debates and apologies in the history of the Armenian Church. Secondly, the translational-hermeneutical character of the Armenian Christian tradition, especially regarding the works of the Church Fathers, was extremely rich in creating and refining the Greek or Syriac Christological/Theological terms. And finally, the preponderant spirit of Apology in the Armenian Christological writings leaves little place for the theoretical and speculative reflections which could perhaps lead into some general trajectories for the clarification of special Christological terms and expressions.

Nevertheless, within the framework of the historical development of Armenian Christology there remain some important moments and realias which could largely contribute to the modern overview of some principal Christological notions. Yet, it does not mean that the medieval Armenian theologians did not create the Christological formulas and definitions. The problem is the relationship between historical development of Christological doctrine and its extra conception vis-à-vis the Byzantine and Syriac theological traditions. That is the reason why we are dealing, within the framework of this study, with some important facts of the history of Armenian Church’s Christology, observing them also in the light of principal theological-Christological conceptions and terms. It is not our goal here to present the detailed historical development of Christology but rather the emergence and formation of the Armenian Christological doctrine as a theological phenomenon, composed of theological-philosophical notions and historical facts.

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