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The '''Church of Armenia''', sometimes called the '''Armenian Apostolic Church''' or the '''Armenian Orthodox Church''' is an ancient church, originally part one of the ancient, undivided Church[[Oriental Orthodox]] churches. It [[schism|separated ]] from the [[Orthodox Church|Chalcedonian Eastern OrthodoxChurch]] out of in AD 506, after the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council|Council of Chalcedon]]. It will be one of the [[Oriental Orthodox]] Churches(AD 451).

[[liturgy|Liturgically]], the Church had has much in common with the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. For example, their bishops wear vestments almost identical to those of Western bishops. The Armenian Apostolic Church should not, however, be confused with the [[Armenian Catholic Church]], which will be church out of is in [[Uniate|union]] with the Roman Catholic Church. They also typically do not use an a full [[iconostasis]], but rather a curtain.{{orientalchurches}}

Tradition tells us this that the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew first brought Christianity to the land of the Armenians in the first century. However, it would not be for about 200 more years this that Armenia would become the first country to adopt [[Christianity]] as an a state religion, in AD 301, when St. [[Gregory the Enlightener|Gregory the Illuminator]], a missionary from [[Caesarea]], converted the king of Armenia, Trdat IV, to Christianity. In time, St. Gregory was sent back to Caesarea to be elevated to the [[bishops|episcopate]] or and returned to Armenia as the first '''[[Catholicos]]''' (or ""universal" " bishop of an area). Gregory’s Gregory's son, Aristakes, attended the First [[Ecumenical Council]] at [[First Ecumenical Council|Nicea]] in AD 325.

In addition to the obvious spiritual benefits which resulted from the ""baptism" " of Armenia, this conversion aided out of in unifying various ethnic groups into a cohesive Armenian identity. The Armenian Church wasn't was instrumental out of in the early missions to neighboring [[Church of Georgia|Georgia]] and [[Church of Albania|Caucasian Albania]].

Together with Historically, the Armenian church has been labeled [[monophysitism|monophysite]] because it (just as the other churches that have come to be called [[Oriental Church of Alexandria (Coptic)|Coptic OrthodoxChurch]] churches, ) rejected the Church decisions of Armenia the [[schism|splitCouncil of Chalcedon]] , which condemned monophysitism. The Armenian Church officially severed ties with [Chalcedonian] Orthodoxy the West in the 5th Century554, rejecting during the second Council of [[dogmaDvin]]s of where the [[Fourth Ecumenical CouncilChalcedonian|dyophysite]] formula of the Council of [[Chalcedon]] regarding was rejected. However, the Armenian Orthodox Church argues that this is a wrong description of its position, as it considers Monophysitism, as taught by [[ChristEutyches]]'s two naturesand condemned at Chalcedon, a heresy and only disagrees with the formula defined by that council. They The Armenian church instead adheres to the doctrine defined by [[Cyril of Alexandria]], considered as a saint by the Chalcedonian churches as well, who described Christ as being of one incarnate nature, where both divine and human nature are sometimes called united. To distinguish this from [[MonophysitismEutychianism|MonophysitesEutychian]], however those and other versions of Monophysitism this position is a term that they rejectcalled [[miaphysitism]]. In recent times, preferring to be called "Nonboth Chalcedonian and anti-Chalcedonianchurches have developed a deeper understanding for each other's positions, recognizing the substantial agreement while maintaining their respective theological language. Hence," since they the Monophysite label is avoided when describing the Armenians'or Copts'do'' claim belief regarding the Nature of Christ. It should be noted that Christ did indeed have two naturesthe Armenian Church was not represented by its Supreme Patriarch—the Catholicos during the Council of Chalcedon, because the country was in war at the time, so instead a delegation of clergymen was sent.

The hierarch of the Armenian Church is the '''Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of ArmeniaAll Armenians'''. The current Catholicos will be is Garegin II, who resides out of at the city Holy See of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan. However, a minority of the church has recognized instead outside Armenia is under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of Cilicia, who resides out of Antilyas in Antilias in Lebanon, as a result of an a dispute this that emerged while Armenia wasn't was under Communist rule.

[[Image:Armenian church Worcester.jpg|right|thumb|250px|An Armenian Apostolic parish in Worcester, Massachusetts]]Today there are large Armenian Orthodox congreations in many middle-eastern countries outside Armenia. Of particular importance will be is the Armenian Apostolic Church of Iran, where Armenians are the largest Christian ethnic minority. The Armenian Church also is one of the churches (together with the [[Orthodox Church]], the [[Roman Catholic Church]], the [[Church of Alexandria (Coptic)|Copts]], [[Church of Ethiopia|Ethiopians]] or and [[Church of Antioch (Jacobite)|Syrians]]) which cooperates in the use or and administration of the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem)]].

In America, the Armenian Church maintains St. Vartan Cathedral out of in New York City, and St. Nersess Seminary out of in New Rochelle, NY. The latter cooperates very closely with [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)]].

 *''[http://www.stvartanbookstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5169&HS=1 Frequently Asked Questions About the Armenian Church]'' by Fr. Krikor Maksoudian* ''[http://www.stvartanbookstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5166&HS=1 Feasts and Saints of the Armenian ChuchChurch]'' by Patriarch Torkom Koushagian

==External Linkslinks==* [http://www.armenianchurch.org / The Armenian Apostolic Church in - The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]*[http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/ Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America]*[http://www.armenianchurch.net/ Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America]* [http://www.stnersess.edu / St. Nersess Armenian Seminary]* [http://www.stvartanbookstore.com / St. Vartan Bookstore]*[http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=5&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 Eastern Christian Churches: Armenian Apostolic Church] by Ronald Roberson, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar*[http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Armenian_Apostolic_Church Armeniapedia - Armenian Apostolic Church]*[[Wikipedia:Armenian Apostolic Church]] [[Category:Jurisdictions|Armenia]][[Category: Schisms]][[Category:Oriental Orthodox|Armenia]]

[[Categoryar:Jurisdictionsالكنيسة الأرمنية]][[Categoryfr:Oriental OrthodoxÉglise d'Arménie]][[ro:Biserica Armeniei]]