Why orthodoxThe Orthodox Church is the ancient, unbroken, unchanged church of Jesus Christ as it was given to the Apostles. When searching for the unchanged Body of Christ - His Church - people often find themselves at the doorway of an Orthodox Church. For many new members, their first visit to an Orthodox service is like stepping out of time or into Heaven itself.
For others, joining the Orthodox Church is stepping into the secure Ark of Salvation. For two thousand years the Orthodox Church has maintained unchanged beliefs about Jesus Christ and His holy Church. The Orthodox Church also upholds all of the traditional moral Christian values intact. While accepting all sinners and encouraging them to struggle and work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), the Orthodox Church does not accept sin as natural human behavior, and never something to take pride in or to celebrate. Your journey to the Orthodox Church may just be beginning, and we welcome you with the invitation of the Apostles, "COME and SEE!" WE BELIEVE The faith and doctrine of the Armenian Orthodox Church are based upon Apostolic teachings, Holy Tradition, and the written Word of God. The Nicene Creed is the main statement of faith in the Armenian Church. It was adopted by the 318 bishops at the ecumenical Council of Niceae in 325 A.D. St. Arisdagés, the son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, represented the land of Armenia at the council.
Nicaean Creed
We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of God the Father, only-begotten, that is of the substance of the Father. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten and not made; of the same nature of the Father, by whom all things came into being in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, took body, became man, was born perfectly of the holy Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. By whom he took body, soul and mind and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance. He suffered and was crucified and was buried and rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven with the same body and sat at the right hand of the Father. He is to come with the same body and with the glory of the Father to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there is no end. We believe also in the Holy Spirit, the uncreated and the perfect; who spoke through the Law and through the Prophets and through the Gospels; Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles and dwelled in the saints. We believe also in only one catholic and apostolic holy Church; In one baptism with repentance for the remission and forgiveness of sins; In the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgment of souls and bodies, in the kingdom of heaven and in the life eternal. |
christianity
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Mission of the Armenian Orthodox Church
According to The Teaching
of St. Gregory the Illuminator
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To illumine all people who come into the world;
To give repentance of salvation to all; To wash all people and deliver them from the bonds of darkness by baptism; To seal all nations as Christ’s inner circle; To make the Spirit of God dwell in people’s hearts; To unite and join them to the love of the Son of God, that the heart of all might cry as one, and to unite all the world in saying: “Abba, Father,” so that the name of enslavement might be taken away, and the name of adoption be placed on them by the grace of Christ;[1] To enable them to eat the flesh of the Son of God and drink the life-giving blood,[2] so that thereby they might bring all the world into the inheritance of Christ, to become “heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ.”[3] [1]Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6-7. [2]John 6:54 [3]Romans 8:17. |
Առ ի լուսաւոր առնել զամենայնմարդ որ գալոց է յաշխարհս.
Տալ զապաշխարութիւն փրկութեան ամենեցուն, Լուանալ զամենեսեան, արձակել ի կապանաց խաւարի՝ մկրտութեամբն, եւ Քրիստոսագունդ դրոշմել զամենայն ազգս. Տալ զՀոգին Աստուծոյ բնակել ի սիրտս մարդկան, Միաբանել խառնել ի սէր Աստոուածորդւոյն, զի սիրտ ամենեցուն իբրեւ մի աղաղակիցէ, եւ զամենայն աշխարհս միաբանել ասել, թէ «Աբբա հայր»։ Զի բարձցի անուն ծառայութեան, եւ դիցի անուն որդեգրութեան շնորհելովն Քրիստոսի՝ Ուտել զմարմին Աստուածորդւոյն եւ ըմպել զարիւնն կենդանարար. զի այնու մտցեն ամենայն աշխարհ ի ժառանգութիւն Քրիստոսի, լինել ժառանգորդ Աստուծոյ եւ ժառանգակից Քրիստոսի։ *Taken from The Teaching of Saint Gregory, ed. Robert W. Thomson, AVANT: Treasures of the Armenian Christian Tradition 1 (New Rochelle, NY: St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, 2001) 223-224. |
