Trdat III - the baptist of Armenia or a victim of deception? 

Adoption of Christianity in Armenia

The adoption of Christianity in Armenia is one of the most amazing events in world history.

Armenia is the first Christian country. It was here in 301. For the first time, Christianity acquired the status of a state religion. This event is associated with the names of King Trdat III and the first patriarch of the Christian world, Gregory the Illuminator.

This incident has many mysterious aspects that still puzzle historians. In addition to the fact that the adoption of Christianity was unprecedented, it was also the only time a change of religion occurred without a change in power and without the influence of a more powerful culture. The powerful and cruel king Trdat III persecuted Christians in every possible way, bloodthirstyly killed them, applied the most heartless and brutal punishments and did not allow religion to spread in any way. And now the same king Trdat, glorified as a firm and powerful ruler, recognizes Christianity and orders to spread the religion throughout the country. The question of what happened to the king is answered by a dramatic, extraordinary story that has survived to this day.

Where did it all start?

In the middle of the 2nd century. Armenia was ruled by the powerful and intelligent king Khosrov. During his reign, Armenia flourished greatly: it expanded its borders, defeated all its enemies, and freed itself from internal enemies. Princes who brought harm to the country were punished, others who were in a quarrel were reconciled. But one day, a plot is hatched against Khosrow and he is treacherously killed.

The dying king's last order was to track down and kill, along with their families, everyone who was involved in the regicide. At this time, the killer's wife miraculously manages to escape to Rome and takes away her baby. The murder of Khosrow was ordered by the Persian king in order to seize the Armenian throne. The situation becomes dangerous and the threat falls on the entire royal family. It was necessary to save the king's son and he was also taken to Rome.

The king's son was called Trdat, and the son of the regicide was Gregory. By a twist of fate, they were both dragged to Rome. They were from two enemy clans from which they were rescued. And many years later, they will baptize the Armenian people together.

From friendship to imprisonment

Having matured, Gregory begins to realize the vice of his father. He understands that the murder of the king was a great sin and a disastrous event for Armenia. As a sign of atonement for his father’s guilt, he comes to serve the son of the late king, Trdat, who, however, did not even imagine that Gregory was the son of a regicide. Gregory serves sincerely and with all his heart. He becomes Trdat's most faithful servant and close friend. And despite the fact that Gregory was already a supporter of Christianity, and Trdat hated Christians, the latter loved his servant with all his heart and shared his deepest secrets with him.

And so in 287, the Roman emperor Diacletian sent Trdat to Armenia with a large army. Trdat drives out the Persians who have established their power from the country, and becomes the king of Armenia. The king still could not come to terms with the fact that Gregory is a Christian, and at one of the pagan ceremonies, he orders him to give honor to the pagan goddess. Gregory, naturally, refuses, since he was very devoted to his faith, for which the king subjects him to torment and torture so that he renounces Christianity.

The king, of course, had no intentions of killing his best friend. But it was at this time that he was informed that Gregory, it turns out, was the son of the regicide. Then Trdat can no longer restrain his rage and throws Gregory into the Khor Virap (Deep Pit) dungeon, where the most malicious enemies of the state were thrown. This dungeon was a deep hole where the prisoners were not fed or given water, but were simply dragged out dead after a month or two, when it was the turn of another prisoner.

Acceptance of Christianity

13 years have passed since then and the king falls ill with an incurable disease. The king's sister recalls that Trdat had a devoted servant who was always there in difficult situations and often even helped him out. She immediately sends people for Gregory. At first, it seemed to everyone that she had gone mad, since it was extremely unrealistic that in a dungeon where people could not stand even a month, Gregory would be alive after 13 years of imprisonment. But she insisted that the dungeon be checked. And when they checked, everyone was gripped by fear from the miracle they saw. Gregory turned out to be alive. All emaciated and barely breathing, Gregory lay on the ground. Later it became known that one of the prison employees lowered bread and water to him through the chimney.

Gregory is told what fate befell his king and why he was released. Despite the fact that he had the right to hold a grudge against the king, he still shows his devotion and treats Trdat. After this, Trdat recognizes Christianity and orders the religion to be spread throughout the country. And Gregory becomes the Catholicos (patriarch) of Armenia.

Were there any motives? Armenian Apostolic Church

At first it may seem strange that the history of a few people decided the fate of an entire country. On the other hand, today, this is the most plausible and logical explanation for the radical change in the worldview of the king, who was so firm in his position. It turns out to be extremely difficult to dig out the objective motives for accepting Christianity. It is difficult to find any elementary reasons and explain what happened using the standard laws of history.

From a foreign policy point of view, it was a complete failure. The Persians tried for several centuries to return the Armenians to paganism through wars. Naturally, relations with the Roman emperor Diacletian, who himself installed Trdat on the throne, and who, being an ardent opponent of Christians, naturally did not approve of Trdat’s behavior, also deteriorated. From the point of view of domestic politics, everything was also not so good. Internal wars and bloodshed began, and cultural heritage was destroyed. Therefore, historians do not give a final and unambiguous answer as to why Armenia and why it adopted Christianity in such an absurd way.

There is a small motive for accepting Christianity, which, however, is unlikely to survive as the main reason. It is failure in foreign policy that contains hidden success. By adopting Christianity, Armenia boldly rejects the cultural influence of its powerful neighbors and takes the path of creating its own independent culture. Within 100 years, the Armenians had their own written language and a century of rapid development of historiography and literature began, which was called the “Golden Age”. And, of course, the change of religion did not occur so suddenly. There was a certain ground.

After the resurrection of Christ, two of the 12 apostles arrived in Armenia - Thaddeus and Bartholomew. That is why the Armenian church is called Apostolic, as a sign that the Armenians heard about Christian teaching from the apostles themselves. But Christianity originated in Armenia during the lifetime of Christ. Historians mention the first Christian king Abgar (king of Edesia - a separate Armenian kingdom), who believed that the works of Christ are the works of God and wrote a letter to Christ with a request and invitation to his kingdom, for the salvation of his people. To this Christ replied that he had business in Jerusalem, but promised that he would send his disciple to him.

Thus, Christianity has been penetrating Armenia since the 1st century. At the end of the 3rd century, Christian communities already existed throughout the country, which served as the basis for the proclamation of a new religion as the main one.

At the same time, at the end of the 3rd century, paganism had already weakened greatly. The priests did not serve as spiritual guides. Abuse of social status, deception, intimidation and robbery of the population became the norm on the part of the clergy. The pagan faith was no longer a national traditional faith that would be difficult for Armenians to abandon. There were many borrowings from Greek and Parthian religions, but the original Armenian religion was lost.

Moreover, in time immemorial, Armenians worshiped one god, who, like in Christianity, had three hypostases. It turns out, judging strictly, the adoption of Christianity was a return to monotheism and an approach to the original Armenian religion. Also, biblical teachings were very close to the mentality, national customs and family traditions of the Armenians. Thus, the people were morally ready to accept the new faith.

It is necessary to note, however, the dark sides of the religious revolution. The priests could not come to terms with the fact that in one day they lost all their powers and lost everything. They gathered troops and sent them against Christians and the royal army. The situation began to calm down when the high priest was killed. A lot of blood was shed. The cultural heritage has suffered greatly. Throughout the country, pagan temples were destroyed or Christian ones were built in their place. Many sculptures and manuscripts were destroyed. There is a widespread belief that the Armenians even had their own written language, of which nothing remains, since Christians destroyed everything without thinking about cultural values.

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Despite those troubled times, the role of the church in the history of the Armenian people is difficult to overestimate. During times of loss of statehood, the church took over the leadership of the country and maintained the unity of the people. It was the church that often organized liberation wars and established important diplomatic relations. She opened schools and universities, cultivated national consciousness and patriotic spirit in the population. Having gone through mountains of trials, having survived continuous pressure from cruel invaders of other faiths, the Armenian Church has not lost its status as a state religion for a single day.

Today, the Armenian Apostolic Church unites Armenians living abroad, which makes up 80% of the total Armenian population of the world.

Origins

The birth of Christianity in Armenia took place a very long time ago. The appearance of the very first Christians on the territory of this country dates back to the first century of the new era. Armenia became the very first state in the whole world to officially become Christian. These events are closely connected with the names of Saint Gregory the Illuminator and King Trdat.

But who brought Christianity to Armenia? According to legend, these were two apostles, followers of the teachings of Jesus - Thaddeus and Bartholomew. According to legend, at first Bartholomew preached together with the Apostle Philip in Asia Minor. Then he met Thaddeus in the Armenian city of Artashat, where they began to teach this people Christianity. The Armenian Church honors them as its founders, and therefore is called “apostolic,” that is, the recipient of the teachings of the apostles. They appointed Zakaria as the first bishop of Armenia, who performed this duty from 68 to 72.

Bartholomew Nathanael

This is the name of the Apostle Bartholomew. He was one of the first disciples of Jesus Christ. Artistically he is depicted in clothes of light colors, decorated with gold patterns. In his hand he holds a knife, which is a symbol of his martyrdom - Bartholomew was flayed. Apparently, he was a relative of the Apostle Philip, since it was he who led him to the Teacher. When Jesus saw Bartholomew, he said that he was an Israelite in whom there was no guile.

Tradition tells of the following story of the death of this apostle. At the libel of the pagan priests, the brother of the king of the Armenians, Astyages, captured him in the city of Alban. Bartholomew was then crucified upside down. However, even after this he did not stop preaching. Then he was taken down from the cross, flayed alive and beheaded. Believers picked up parts of the apostle's body, placed them in a tin shrine and buried them in the same city of Alban.

From the story of the two apostles it is clear that the path of Christians in Armenia to faith was not at all easy.

Construction and restoration

It was built in the 4th–5th centuries and has gone through a lot of reconstructions. Initially, it was a rectangle in plan, and after reconstruction it became a cathedral with central domes. Over time, the structure was supplemented with such large structural details as a bell tower, rotundas, a sacristy, and other buildings.

The cathedral was built and rebuilt over more than one century. At first it was wooden, and in the 7th century it became stone. In the 20th century, a new altar was built from marble, and the church floor was also laid with it. The interior paintings were also updated and supplemented.

Armenian alphabet and Bible

The adoption of the Christian faith was an incentive for the appearance of writing among the Armenians. It was necessary in order to translate the Bible and other religious literature. Until this moment, Christian services in Armenia were performed in two languages ​​- Syro-Aramaic and Greek. This made it very difficult for ordinary people to understand and assimilate the basics of the doctrine.

Besides this, there was another factor. By the end of the 4th century, the weakening of the Armenian kingdom was observed. Translation of the Holy Scriptures became necessary so that Christianity could survive as the dominant religion in the country.

During the time of Catholicos Sahak Partev, a church council was convened in Vagharshapat, where a decision was made to create the Armenian alphabet. As a result of long labors, Archimandrite Mesrop created the Armenian alphabet in the year 405. Together with his students, he carried out many translations of the Holy Scriptures into Armenian. The archimandrite and other translators were canonized. Every year the church celebrates the Day of the Holy Translators.

Scientists' disputes

As mentioned above, there is no consensus among researchers on this issue. Here are the views of the most famous of them.

• It is traditionally believed that Armenia adopted Christianity in 301. Based on this, the 1700th anniversary of this date was celebrated by Armenians in 2001.
• The Iranica encyclopedia states that there are problems with the dating issue. Previously, a date was given corresponding to the year 300, and later researchers began to attribute this event to 314–315. Although this assumption is quite probable, it does not have sufficient evidence.
• As for the Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, it names the year 314 as the date accepted today. This version is supported by the authors of The Cambridge History of Christianity.
• Polish armenologist K. Stopka believes that the decision to convert to a new religion was made at a meeting in Vagharshapat, held in 313.
• According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Armenia, the first to adopt Christianity at the state level, did so around the year 300.
• Historian K. Trever names the period of time between the year 298 and 301.
• American historian N. Garsoyan points out that, starting from the second half of the 20th century, the year 284 was considered the date of Christianization of Armenia, then scientists began to lean more towards 314. However, more thorough research conducted recently suggests a later date.

As we can see, the date of adoption of Christianity by Armenia has not been definitively established to date; the work of researchers continues. There is an opinion of the Armenian Church itself, which calls the year 301.

Judas Thaddeus

Considering the question of how and when Armenia adopted Christianity, let us briefly dwell on information about the lives of Thaddeus and Bartholomew. The first of them has several more names: Judah Thaddeus, Yehuda Ben-Jacob, Judah Jacoblev, Levi. He was the brother of another of the twelve apostles - James Alpheus. The Gospel of John describes a scene in which, during the Last Supper, Judas Thaddeus asks Christ about his future resurrection.

Moreover, in order to distinguish him from Judas, who betrayed the Teacher, he is named as “Judas, not Iscariot.” This apostle preached sermons in Arabia, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Syria. After bringing religious teachings to Armenia, he died there as a martyr in the 2nd half of the 1st century AD. It is assumed that his grave is located in the northwestern part of Iran, in a monastery named after him. Some of the relics of Judas Thaddeus are kept in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.