CHAPTER III.

THE ARMENIAN CHURCH.

THERE is a tradition that Abgarus, king of Armenia, whose metropolis was Edessa, in Mesopotamia, was converted, during the life of Christ, by hearing of his wonderful works; and that he sent a messenger to invite the Saviour to his court. It is further related that Thomas, by the command of the Saviour,` sent Thaddeus, one of the seventy, to Edessa, who performed a miraculous cure on king Abgarus, and baptized him, with many of his people. The successors of Abgarus, however, apostatized from the Christian faith, and persecuted the Christian cause with merciless severity. But they did not prevail against it. The church retained its position in that country, as it did in all others where it was introduced, and gradually triumphed over its opposers.

When the Monophysite doctrine of one nature in Christ was proposed by Eutyches, abbot of a convent near Constantinople, and extensively received in the East, though condemned by the council at Chalcedon, A. D. 451, it was extensively received in Armenia; and in 491 a synod of Armenian bishops rejected the decisions of the council of Chalcedon, and thus cut themselves off from communion with the other great branches of the Christian church.

From this time, the Armenian church has been an independent establishment, and has steadily persisted in maintaining the Monophysite doctrine, that the divine and human natures in Christ are so blended as to form but one nature, and that consequently he has no human soul separate from the divine.

The government of the Armenians is episcopal and patriarchal.

Originally they had a single patriarchal head, called Catholicos, residing at the imperial residence. In modern times they have three catholicoses, one at Echmiadzin, one at Aghtamar, and one at Cis, in the ancient province of Cilicia. Of these the Echmiadzin catholicos is the greatest. The catholicos ordains bishops, and consecrates the holy oil which is used in their religious ceremonies; and derives a considerable revenue from furnishing this article.

Since Echmiadzin has fallen under the power of the Russians, the Turkish portions of his jurisdiction have continued to acknowledge the Echmiadzin catholicos as their spiritual head, and to constitute a part of his flock. The principal orders of Armenian clergy are catholicos, patriarchs, bishops, vartabeds, priests and deacons. All below the bishop are ordained by the bishop, the bishop by the catholicos, and the catholicos is chosen by a council of bishops.

The Armenians have two patriarchs established by the Turkish authorities; those of Constantinople and Jerusalem. These officers have only the rank of bishops, but they are clothed by the Turkish government with great political power. The Arinenian patriarch of Constantinople has the power of imprisoning and scourging the members of his flock at pleasure; and, till recently, could easily procure their banishment, whenever he pleased.

The late charter given by the Sultan to his subjects, however, will, if carried into effect, prevent his doing this without giving the accused a trial before the Turkish courts.

The

The vartabeds are a collateral order with the priests. priests are all married previous to their ordination, no others being eligible to the priestly office. The vartabeds never marry, but are under vows of perpetual celibacy. The vartabeds are all preachers; the priests never preach. The vartabeds live in convents, or in church enclosures; and the priests live in the midst of their flocks, and mingle freely with them. On the death of his wife, a priest is not permitted to marry again, but

may, if he chooses, become a vartabed.

The priests always

remain priests, and can never rise to the office of bishops. The bishops are all taken from the order of vartabeds, and are called aratch norts.

The Armenians hold to seven sacraments, like the Latins. They baptize infants by a tri-immersion, and pouring water three times on their heads. They believe in transubstantiation, and worship the elements; reject the doctrine of purgatory, but pray for the dead; worship the virgin Mary, confess to the priests, and perform penances.

The Armenian churches are opened twice every day, for morning and evening prayers. The mass, occupying six hours in its performance, is performed daily, in the large city churches. In the ordinary morning and evening prayers, the people kneel and cross themselves in rapid succession, while the priest chants the prayers. In some places they kneel, and continue quietly in the kneeling posture, till the service is completed.

The Scriptures are read in the ancient Armenian, which is a dead language to most; and preaching is rare among them, except on great days. The priests only read prayers and say mass. They have fourteen great feast-days in the course of the year, in which labor is suspended. They fast forty days before Easter, six days before Christmas, and have two weekly fasts, Wednesdays and Fridays. Their fasting is abstaining from animal food alone.

Girls among the Armenians are often married at the age of twelve or thirteen, and men from twenty-five to thirty.

The Armenians abstain from blood, and things strangled. Their system of Monachism is that of St. Basil. Their country fell under the power of the Turks in 1552, and has since constituted a part of the Turkish empire.-H. G. O. Dwight's Coleman's Christian Antiquities, pp. 466–474.

CHAPTER IV.

THE COPTIC CHURCH.

THE Coptic church is the lineal successor of the ancient Christian churches of Egypt. The title Copt is derived from the Greek Ayvatios, and signifies simply Egyptian. The Coptic version of the New Testament is one of the most ancient versions extant, dating, according to some, as early as the second century, and judged by none to be later than the fifth. They are supposed to number between four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand, and are devoted to agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and other higher employments. They are governed by the patriarch of Alexandria, successor of the ancient patriarch of that place; and their ecclesiastical polity is similar to that of the Greek church. Great exertions have been made to secure their adhesion to the church of Rome, but without effect.

The Copts inhabit Egypt, Nubia, and the countries adjacent. In respect to race, they are an intermediate variety between the negro and the fairer tribes of the north.

The long series of oppressions to which they have been subjected, under the rule of the Turks, has greatly reduced their number, and corrupted their characters; but, with all these disadvantages, they show capabilities for the attainment of a high state of civilization.

Their church polity, and religious principles and usages, are essentially the same as those of the Armenian church; and their principal departure from the Greek church is in respect to the single nature of Christ. On this point they differ from the Greeks and Latins, and agree with the Armenians and ancient Monophysites.

The patriarch of Alexandria resides at Cairo, and has ten bishoprics under him. They have the Bible and ancient liturgies in the Coptic language, which is the same that was used in Egypt under the Ptolemies, but is now a dead language.

They baptize their children always in church, never till they are forty days old, and frequently not till they are seven years of age; and, immediately after baptism, they administer to them the Lord's supper. They celebrate the Lord's supper with leavened bread, and partake the wine with spoons. The Copts of Upper Egypt practise circumcision. The others do not. Their public divine service consists of singing, prayers, and reading the Scriptures, ordinarily, without preaching. The patriarch preaches once a year.

Monachism originated in Egypt, and the Coptic church still retains it; but its convents are not numerous, nor largely attended.

CHAPTER V.

THE ABYSSINIAN CHURCH.

THE Abyssinians received Christianity before the middle of the fourth century. Their form of Christianity, however, is peculiar, with a large infusion of Judaism. They practise circumcision, receive the Jewish doctrine of clean and unclean meats, observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and adopt the Monophysite doctrine of a single nature in Christ.

In public worship they use the Bible and the apocryphal books, and administer baptism and the eucharist according to the ritual of the Greek church. They also observe the same festivals and fasts as the Greeks. They differ, however, from most other churches, ancient and modern, in not admitting com