Read Ebook: Armenia a martyr nation A historical sketch of the Armenian people from traditional times to the present tragic days by Gabrielian Mugurdich Chojhauji

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Then it was that the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His wings and chased away the darkness which had enveloped the whole world. Christ's fame had already spread far and nigh and reached the ear of the Armenian Prince of Edessa, and it had revived in his heart hopes of recovery from an incurable disease. Therefore sent he for Christ, according to the tradition of the entire Christian Church. Soon after the ascension of Christ three of His apostles, Thaddeus, Bartholomew and Jude, successively and successfully preached the gospel in Armenia. Some even affirm that not only the seed of the gospel was planted there by these apostles, and they watered it by their blood--having suffered martyrdom there--but by the apostolic preaching of Gregory the Illuminator, the churches which they organized survived all manner of persecution till the final conquest of Christianity over Armenia.

The following is from the pen of H. B. Tristram, D.D., LL.D., F.R.S., canon of Durham, England, writing on the subject: "There were certain Greeks." "It is a very early tradition, and the pretended letter of Abgarus, and the reply of Jesus, are recorded by Eusebius, and were accepted in his time. He professes to have obtained them from the archives of Edessa. The Armenians identify the messengers with their nationality and claim that Abgarus was King of Armenia. But, though all historical critics agree in pronouncing the letters apocryphal, there is less reason for rejecting the tradition that Thaddaeus, soon after the dispersion of the disciples from Jerusalem, carried the gospel into Armenia. We know that when Gregory the Illuminator, who was born A.D. 257, proclaimed the message throughout Armenia, he found Christians everywhere, and a church which though sorely persecuted and oppressed, had existed from apostolic times. He was, in fact, rather the restorer than the founder of the Armenian church, which became the Church of the whole nation half a century before the cross was emblazoned on the standard of Rome. The Armenians may justly claim to be the oldest Christian nation in the world."

Though Christianity was first introduced into Armenia by the Apostles, who laid the foundation of the ennobling, regenerating, purifying religion of Christ so early as in the middle of the first century of the Christian era, yet the completion of that work and the demolition of heathenism were reserved for St. Gregory.

Prince Anak, Gregory's father, was of the royal family of Arsacidae of Parthia, whose reign was overthrown by Artaxerxes, the founder of the Sassanian dynasty of Persia. But the Armenian branch of Arsacidae was still in full vigor in the person of Chosroves I, the King of Armenia, who had tried to restore the seized scepter of power to the deprived royal family of Parthia from the revolter, Artaxerxes, the Persian. The latter could not be secure on his throne, so long as Chosroves was the ruler of Armenia. So he attempted to reduce Armenia. But, failing to do this, by force of arms, he resorted to treachery. Anak, who was related to Chosroves, was induced by Artaxerxes, with promises of large reward, to play the part of an assassin. It was so arranged that Anak would be driven out of Persia as a person dangerous to the safety of the newly established sovereignty there because he was a member of the Arsacide dynasty. "Anak, with his wife, his children, his brother, and a train of attendants, pretended to take refuge in Armenia from the threatened vengeance of his sovereign, who caused his troops to pursue him, as a rebel and deserter, to the very borders of Armenia." Anak was received by Chosroves, who listened to his story with great credulity and sympathy. With the first opportunity, Anak committed the crime of assassination of the king, but the latter lived long enough to request the complete destruction of the assassin and his family. Anak had no time to effect his escape and being seized, he and his brother received the due punishment of their crime. His son, Gregory, however, who was only an infant, was saved by the faithfulness of his nurse, who took the child and escaped into the city of Caesarea, Cappadocia, where he was brought up in a Christian family, with a thorough Christian education.

On the other hand, Artaxerxes attained his object without paying for it, and, hearing of the condition of affairs in Armenia, he immediately hastened thither with his army and took the people by surprise. He doomed the royal family of Arsacidae to death, so as not to leave any to rival him for the throne. However, Tiridates, the son of Chosroves, escaped into the Roman province of Armenia, and thence to Rome, where he received a military training. His sister was hid in the stronghold of Ani.

Tiridates found favor with the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who, with a great force, sent him to Armenia to retake his father's throne from the Persians. He was welcomed by his people, who joined his army and drove out of the country their common enemy . It appears that Gregory had sought Tiridates and found him in Rome and entered his services, his sole "purpose being to win over to eternal life, through the gospel of Christ, the son of him who had been slain by his father, and thus to make amends for his father's crime." Though Gregory suffered many a torture and torment and a long period of imprisonment, yet this noble Christian hero and apostle was determined "to win over to eternal life, through the gospel of Christ."

The king, finally, was converted and baptized by St. Gregory. Tiridates himself became a worthy champion of the truth, and the first honored king who proclaimed throughout his dominions that henceforth the religion of Christ is the religion of Armenia. The Armenians were nationally converted to Christianity, from the king down to the servant; we must not forget, however, that there were some especially among the nobility, who with a heathenish tenacity held on to the Zoroastrian faith, but this was for mercenary purposes rather than a real appreciation of Zoroastrianism. For Christianity had made a great advance in the country. Moreover, the apostle of Armenia, by his evangelistic spirit and labors, had laid a firm foundation for the religion of Christ in the land of Ararat . He was, by the request of the king, sent to Caesarea, Cappadocia, to be ordained bishop over Armenia .

The temples of the idols in every important city and town were pulled down and Christian churches in their stead were built. The most splendid of all these churches was Etchmiadsin, "the descent of the only begotten," which was afterwards clustered about with other buildings and became a monastery and to this day the seat of St. Gregory's successors to his prelatic chair.

In those days, and during a century afterwards, Christian training was carried on by the catechisers, for very few had access to the Syriac or Greek literature, and the Armenian literature also was written in either of these characters; the characters of the Armenian alphabet were not yet wholly discovered or completed. So the reader will bear in mind that the advantages of imparting or disseminating a thorough Christian knowledge, if not lacking wholly, were very inadequate. After a long and useful life St. Gregory entered into the joy of the Lord and Master .

Ten years after the death of this noble apostle of Armenia, the valiant defender of that divine faith also ended his useful career , after seeing the prosperous condition of the Church, which they loved and for which they toiled. Both were succeeded by their sons. The power of Armenia, however, was not equal to the conflicting forces on either side, though the descendants of Tiridates held the scepter of Armenia nearly a century longer, it was in a very enervated state. Nevertheless the Church of Christ made a decided advance within this period. The Armenian alphabetic characters were recovered and completed by the distinguished scholar and prelate Mesrob, who, with St. Isaac, the patriarch, or bishop, translated the Scriptures into the Armenian language, the Old Testament from the Septuagint version and the New Testament from the original Greek. After the conversion of the Armenians to Christianity not a few of the youths of Armenia flocked into the schools of Athens, Alexandria, and Constantinople, to sate their avidity for learning, who, afterwards, rendered great service to the nation, both by their writings, and many valuable translations from the Greek. Some of these originals have been lost and the world now has them in Armenian only.

The rise of the Sassanian dynasty in Persia was a source of more or less perpetual misery and bloodshed in Armenia. The Persians had two reasons for their cruel attitude toward Armenia. The first was the continued existence of the Arsacide reign in Armenia; the second was Armenia's conversion to Christianity, while Zoroastrianism was revived in Persia by the Sassanian Kings. Christianity was the permanent occasion for which Armenia has suffered and is still suffering indescribable miseries and innumerable cruelties. The Persians imagined that as long as the Armenians were Christians they were in alliance with the Greeks, while in reality the Greeks were no more in sympathy with them than the Persians were.

Yasgerd II, the King of Persia , decreed thus: "All peoples and tongues throughout my dominions must abandon their heresies and worship the Sun, bring to him their offerings, and call him God; they shall feed the holy fire, and fulfill all the ordinances of Magi." Accordingly, Mihrnerseh, the grand vizier of the Persian court, wrote a long letter to the Armenians, polemic in character, persuasive in style, and menacing in tone. The Synod of the Armenian bishops was convened at once and it was unanimously decided to defend their religion at any cost. The synod also agreed upon answering the letter of the grand vizier in which they both refuted the charges brought against Christianity, undauntedly defended their faith, showing the absurdity of Zoroastrianism, and concluded the epistle with these words: "From this belief no one can move us, neither angels nor men, neither fire nor sword, nor water, nor any other horrid torture, however they be called. All our goods and our possessions are before thee, dispose of them as thou wilt, and if thou only leave us to our belief, we will here below choose no other lord in Thy place, and in heaven have no other God but Jesus Christ, for there is no other God save only him. But shouldst Thou require something beyond this great testimony, behold our resolution; our bodies are in Thy hands--do with them according to Thy pleasure; tortures are thine, and patience ours; Thou hast the sword, we the neck; we are nothing better than our forefathers, who, for the sake of their faith, resigned their goods, possessions and life. Do Thou, therefore, inquire of us nothing further concerning these things, for our belief originates not with men, we are not taught like children, but we are indissolubly bound to God, from whom nothing can detach us, neither now, nor hereafter, nor for ever, and ever."

As soon as this letter arrived at the royal court of Persia, King Yasgerd read it; he was enraged and summoned the Armenian princes immediately to repair to his majesty's presence. There in the presence of the king they manifested a great resolution in their faith, for which they were ignominiously treated and confined in prison. Having been threatened while in their confinement they devised a scheme; they thought it is better to apparently comply with the demands of the king, but inwardly to remain true to their convictions. God, who is able to bring good out of evil, indeed did so in this case. When it was made known to the king that the Armenian princes were willing to accept his terms, at once they were liberated and returned with distinctions to their homes. And a large army with over seven hundred magi were exultantly marching on to Armenia to raze to the ground every Christian Church and school and disciple the people into the mysterious absurdities of Zoroastrianism.

No sooner had the news of the apostacy of the princes reached Armenia than the bishops, priests, and the laity condemned the weakness and the folly of the princes. When the princes returned to Armenia they found no one ready or willing to listen to any explanation, but everywhere and everybody was ready and willing to defend his religion at the cost of his life. A large multitude, made up of clergy and laity, among whom were many women, gathered for immediate action, for the enemy was marching on. Some of the princes could not endure the contempt of the people nor the unrelenting remorse of their consciences, so they were ready to expiate their folly at any cost.

Prince Vartan, the Mamigonian, was unanimously appointed the commander-in-chief of the Armenian forces, and the multitude--66,000 volunteers--was formed into three divisions and each division was entrusted to a prince, Vartan, Nershebuh and Vasag. All knew that the struggle and the strife was a desperate one. But brave Vartan and the rest were not dismayed, though they knew that they alone could not conquer the immense army of the enemy already in the country, with a small and inexperienced force of his own, yet there was no other choice; they were not fighting for victory, but for their convictions and for their chosen religion, the religion of Christ.

The address of Vartan, the commander-in-chief, is most beautiful and touching: "I have been," said he, "in many battles, and you also with me; we have sometimes bravely vanquished the foe; sometimes they vanquished us, but on all these occasions we thought only of worldly distinction, and we fought merely at the command of a mortal king. Behold, we have all many wounds and scars upon our persons, and great must have been our bravery to have won these great marks of honor. But useless and empty I deem these exploits whereby we have received these honorable marks, for they pass away. If, however, you have done such valiant deeds in obedience to a mortal ruler, how much more will you do them for our immortal King, who is Lord of life and death, who judges every one according to his works.

"Now, therefore, I entreat you, my brave companions, and more so as you--albeit in bravery, worth, and inherited honors greater than I--have of your own free will and out of your love elected me your leader and chief; I entreat that my words may be favorably received by the high and the low. Fear not the numbers of the heathen; withdraw not necks from the terrific sword of a mortal man in order that the Lord may give the victory into our hands, that we may annihilate their power and lift on high the standard of truth."

On the morning of the day of the battle the little army of the Holy League received the Eucharist and marched on with these words: "May our death be like to the death of the just, and may the shedding of our blood resemble the bloodshedding of the prophets! May God look in mercy on our voluntary self-offering, and may He not deliver the Church into the hands of the heathen!"

With amazing bravery and valor must they have fought. But alas; there was treachery and treason among the little army of the Holy League. Vasag, who was in command of the third division of the Armenian forces, deserted the holy cause with his force, and still worse, he sided with the enemy and decided the battle against the Armenians. The fall of the noble commander Vartan and some others also disheartened the rest. Had Vasag not acted the part of Judas, had he not betrayed his Master and Master's cause the Armenians would have achieved a signal victory in the annals of Church history, and also might have regained their political independence. The fall of the leaders left the people in confusion, the enemy then fell upon them, seized many and indiscriminately slaughtered them. Many of the bishops and priests were captured, some were martyred on the spot, others were carried to Persia and there executed. The patriarch Joseph, in whose character and life shine forth piety, courage, and devotion, was one of those carried to Persia.

This was one of the many contests which the Armenians had with the fire-worshiping Persian. The Armenians were defeated, the Persians had the battlefield, but the real victory, the moral and religious victory, was won by the Armenians.

Indeed did the sons and daughters of Armenia prefer a Christian's grave to the heathen's home.

"Her head was crowned with flowers, Her feet were bathed with spray, Hers were the land of Eden, The cradle of our race.

"But then upon her borders, Shouted the Persian horde: 'Fall down and worship fire, Or perish by the sword.'

"Then up sprang Armenia And raised her voice on high, And back to haughty Persia Rang loud the warlike cry:

"'I will not be a heathen, I will not be a slave, If I cannot have a Christian's home, I'll find a Christian's grave.'"

From this time on the Armenians have never shrunk from defending their religion and rights against any odds. If they have no way to defend these rights as has been the case recently, they still would rather suffer torture and death than purchase life and freedom at the cost of principle and right.

The Persians, after their conquest of Armenia, destroyed many of the churches and schools, persecuted the Christians with indescribable tortures and cruelties, and forced them to become like themselves, fire-worshipers. The Armenians, in return, most cordially hated both the religion of Zoroaster and its defenders and teachers, and were anxious for an opportunity to drive out these usurpers and unwelcomed teachers of a philosophized religion, spun out of Zoroaster's or somebody else's imagination. Christianity and Zoroastrianism had many a battle in the land of Ararat, until the latter, in total despair, was willing to submit to the former, on some amicable terms to be suggested by a brave son of Armenia, a worthy member of the house of Mamigonians. This valiant champion of Christianity was Vahan Mamigonian, whose father and uncle, Prince Vartan, led the Holy League in battle and with the heroism and courage of the martyrs defended their rights and religion and had sealed their testimony to the truth of Christianity by their blood in that battle.

The long-looked for opportunity had come; the northern provinces rebelled against the Persians; the latter, therefore, attempted to subdue them. The Armenians availed themselves of this ample occasion, armed themselves, and urged Vahan to take the lead of the army to clear out the country of the troops of the enemy left there. The attempt was made. The Persian forces stubbornly resisted the Armenians, but several reverses had convinced them that further resistance was useless and when a new governor, Nikhor, was appointed by Balas, the King of Persia , he, instead of attacking Vahan, who held almost the entire country, wished to come to an arrangement agreeable to the Armenians. Prince Vahan, therefore, proposed the following terms:

"1. The existing fire-altars should be destroyed, and no others should be erected in Armenia.

"2. The Armenians should be allowed the free and full exercise of Christian religion, and no Armenian should be in future tempted or bribed to declare themselves disciples of Zoroaster.

"3. If converts were nevertheless made from Christianity to Zoroastrianism, places should not be given to them.

"4. The Persian King should in person and not by deputy administer the affairs of Armenia."

These terms proposed by Prince Vahan were favorably received by Nikhor, and an edict of toleration was issued and proclaimed that every one be at liberty to adhere to his own religion, and that no one should be driven to apostatize. Afterwards Vahan himself was appointed by the king, governor of Armenia, and the church thus enjoyed a period of tranquillity from the persecutions.

FOOTNOTES:

John 12:20, 21.

Rawlinson, "The Seventh Oriental Monarchy," p. 51.

"The Armenian King became a convert before their revival under Diocletian ; and Christianity was adopted as the religion of the State in Armenia some thirty years prior to its triumph in the West by the decisive action of the Melvian Bridge , and over 100 years before the edicts of Theodosius the First against the practice of paganism." Lynch, "Armenia," Vol. I, p. 293.

The translation of Scriptures was completed A.D. 436. "A statement found in Philostratus would point to the existence of an Armenian alphabet at the beginning of our era." Appleton's, "The Universal Cyclopedia," Vol. I, p. 321.

The final translation and revision of the Scriptures was completed in A.D. 436.

Rawlinson, "The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy," pp. 334-4.

THE CONFLICTING FORCES

Some great changes were slowly taking place in the East as well as in the West. These changes were to give a different aspect to the history of future nations. As we have seen the Parthian Empire had been overthrown; Persia proper regained her independence. The Parthian branch of the Assacide dynasty in Armenia also came to an end after a reign of almost six centuries . On the other hand the Roman Empire was too large to be under one emperor; the leading people of the empire were divided into two, the Greeks and the Latins. The division of the empire into the eastern and western was not only natural, but also desirable. The Greek city Byzantium was rebuilt and honorably made the capital of the Eastern empire, and called Constantinople after the name of Emperor Constantine the Great . This metropolis of the Eastern Empire soon became a worthy rival of Rome, both in civil and ecclesiastical matters.

The above brief survey of these conflicting forces--and others which will be mentioned in their order--show that they were naturally of two kinds, namely, political and religious. Though we may make such a division, and even admit, that politics can be divorced from religion, yet we must confess that this has not been done in the East to this present time. It may be, therefore, stated that Christianity, as a religion, was, and is, one of the most powerful of the conflicting forces in the East. It is true that its Founder is called the Prince of Peace, and He was and is, and ever shall be, yet the very principles of His religion uncompromisingly militate against the domestic, social and political evils. The baser natures--many of them, even among the so-called Christians--therefore, run to the sword to settle their disputes.

The enforcement of the religion of Christ upon the millions by Constantine or other emperors did not change their hearts. It is to our credit to confess, that though the Armenians nationally accepted Christianity, and no doubt it had taken a firm root in the hearts of the most of the people, yet there were many Vasags that had clung to their idols, and had not failed to give much trouble to the truly patriotic followers of Christ. It was due to this lack of true Christianity that increased troubles arose between the Greek and Armenian Christians.

The Greeks feared and hated the Armenians, for the latter were in alliance with the Persians when they invaded Greece; and later the conquests of the distinguished monarchs of Armenia, like Tigranes the Great and others, over the Greeks, recorded by their own historians in a more exaggerated manner than by the Armenians themselves, would most naturally make them to foster such a deep rooted malice in their hearts and cause them to wish for opportunities to avenge themselves. We do not fail to find them doing so whenever an opportunity was offered them.

Hardly would Armenia sound pleasantly to the ear of the Persian any longer. Armenia had lived in peace with Persia for centuries. The reason of these comparatively peaceful relations between these two countries was two-fold; both the Armenians and Persians were Aryans and co-religionists. But Armenia, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, had apostatized from her former religion, Zoroastrianism, and forsaken her devotion to Magism. The revival of Zoroastrian faith and its enforcement upon the inhabitants of the country in Persia was insisted upon by the founder of the Sassanian dynasty. In his charge to his son and successor before his departure from this life Artaxerxes dilated on the subject of religion, maintaining and enforcing it upon the Iran or non-Iran to become worshipers of the Zoroastrian faith as a necessary basis for the stability of the empire. His successors were found very faithful and zealous in their endeavors to execute their master's orders. In Armenia, however, the fire-temples and the temples of the leading deities were swept out of existence, and Christian churches and schools were established all over the country. Zoroastrianism had received such a blow from the hand of King Jesus that it had fallen in pieces, like Dagon of Ashdod, before the ark of the Lord in the days of old, and now seven hundred Magi and an immense army of the Persians could not gather its fragments or keep the fires unquenched on its altars in Armenia.

The establishment of a Christian empire, in the West by the Greeks, would most naturally force upon the Persians the idea that these two nations now united by a common faith will be their formidable enemies. But how naturally do the heathen think, and how unnaturally do the so-called Christians act, is shown by the succeeding events of the conflicting forces in Western Asia. It was perfectly natural for the Persians to think, that a common religion or faith should produce a harmonious relation between, and a united action of, these two nations. Accordingly did the Persians look upon the Armenians with the profoundest suspicion and dealt towards them with relentless cruelty.

We have made passing reference to one other disturbing cause, namely, some of the nobility in Armenia, unfortunately not being in full sympathy with the faith of the majority, did ignobly act by uniting with the Persian hordes , thus aggravating the misery of their own people and causing much bloodshed in the country. Such persons are found in all ages and among all nations, but fortunately have not been many.

It will be impossible, in a small work like this to enumerate all the agencies, the internal , and the external and occasional causes which precipitated the country into indescribable misery. However, we have endeavored to review some of these facts, which, the reader bearing in mind, will have the key to unlock the mystery of the Armenian troubles and miseries.

After the political existence of Armenia was brought to an end, the country was divided between the Eastern Empire and Persia, the former having the western part of the country, and the eastern part being occupied by the latter. The usurpers of Armenia tried to govern their respective possessions by various methods, but they succeeded better when they had native rulers, or princes had their contingent forces under them. Whenever their respective sovereigns called upon them to assist in their wars, they responded with readiness. There was, however, this trouble in either province: the ever-ready endeavor on the one hand to bring the independent Armenian church under the influence of the Greek Church; and in the Persian province of Armenia, under some fanatic rulers, who attempted to apostatize them from their chosen faith; otherwise the Armenians seemed to have enjoyed a tolerable freedom. This form of government lasted until new actors and more conflicting forces began to appear on the stage.

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