GEÇ ANTĠK ÇAĞ’DA ERMENĠ KĠLĠSESĠ’NĠN KURUMSALLAŞMASI
THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN THE LATE ANTIQUITY

Summary/Abstract: The acceptance of Christianity by Armenians, at the beginning of the fourth century, has had profound effects on Armenian society. After the adoption of Christianity, Armenians not only have moved away from the impact of Iranian culture but also have escaped the influence of the Roman Empire and thus they have built their own church models. The making of Armenian Christianity and the institutionalization phase of the Armenian Church caused conflicts due to the fact that Armenian Church was under the control of the aristocracy and had accepted a management based on the lineage of the St. Grigor (Gregory the Illuminator), unlike the decisions taken at the Council of Nicaea. In 370, after the king Pap has chosen the catholicos, “The Aristocratic Armenian Church” initially moved away from the archbishop of Caesarea (=Caesarea in Cappadocia) and then, after the invention of the Armenian and the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, almost completely separated from the Constantinople Church. To lose the power of these two centers and fight them over time has triggered the formation of the Armenian Church. Therefore, Armenian synod gathered under the leadership of catholicos St. Nerses I, in 365, was supported by other synods gathered in the fifth and sixth century and this revealed the independent character of the Armenian Church. In the light of this historical process, the main purpose of this study is to determine on what conditions the establishment and institutionalization phases of the Armenian Church.

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