THE PROTESTANT ARMENIANS
Vahram Hovyan
"Noravank" Foundation
16 March 2010
The Protestant Armenians form one of the layers of the Armenians who
belong to different confessions. The Protestantism was spread among
Armeniancy in the 19th century. The first Protestant Armenian community
was formed in 1846 in Istanbul by order of sultan Abdulmecid. It
was called "Protestant nation" (millet). At first the number of the
Armenian Protestants grew and they spread over the other regions
of the Ottoman Empire including Western Armenia. On the eve of
World War I the number of the Protestant Armenians was more than
60 thousand1. They lived in Adana, Arabkir, Balu, Berri, Evdokia,
Erzurum, Talas, Kharberd, Kesaria, Marash, Mezire, Cungus, Partizak,
Sebastia, Sis, Sgerd, Sivrihisar, Marsvan, Samsun, Ordu. Carsamba,
Van, Istanbul and Ankara2.
After the Armenian Genocide the Protestant Armenians just like other
Armenians immigrated and settled in different parts of the world. That
is why almost in all the Armenian communities the communities of the
Protestant Armenians form a kind of sub-layer. After the collapse of
the USSR alongside with many other Armenian figures and organizations,
Armenian Protestant activists and structures also came to Armenia and
started eager activity. Particularly, Armenian Evangelistic Church
was re-registered in Armenia in 1994 and acquired the name "Armenian
Evangelical Church". Consequently, the number of the Protestants in
Armenia is also increasing.
Despite being conscious of their confessional peculiarity, the
Protestant Armenians, nevertheless, have high national morale and
they consider themselves a part of the Armeniancy. They do not accept
the idea that they are cut off or estranged from the rest of the
Armeniancy. In the perceptions of the Protestant Armenians the thesis
about the inalienability from the Armeniancy is mostly based on the
discussions and argumentations arisen around two principle issues:
The origin of the Protestantism among Armenians. Here they aspire to
show that the Protestantism is not alien to the Armenians.
The role and the significance of the Protestants in the history of the
Armenian people. An attempt is made to prove that the Protestants made
a valuable contribution to solving the issues and problems standing
before the Armeniancy during its whole history. Special attention is
paid to presenting the well-known Protestant Armenians as worthy sons
of the Armenian people.
The issues of origin in the self-perception of the Protestant
Armenians In the issues of origin the Protestant Armenians have their
own perceptions which mostly contradict to those widespread opinions
according to which the Protestantism was disseminated among Armenians
by the foreign missionaries. Among the Protestant Armenians the
standpoint that the Protestantism has inner Armenian origin prevails.
The foreign missionary activities greatly contributed to the
dissemination of the Protestantism but it did not cause its
origination. American missionaries simply found fertile ground among
Armenians to start up their activity.
The Protestants ground the Armenians origin of the Protestantism or
that it has its roots among the Armenians mainly in two plains which
can conventionally be called:
Sectarian (Pavlikians and Tondrakians) Reformist Sectarian trend
regards Protestantism as the successor of the medieval sectarian
movements – Pavlikians and Tondrakians. This trend shows the religious
commonalities between the Armenian medieval sectarian movements and
Protestantism.
Reformist trend insists that the Protestantism formed here back in the
17th century as a result of a reformist (Evangelist) movement within
the Armenian Apostolic Church. The initiators and the executors of
the reformist movements were the clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic
Church.
At first the reformist wing of the Armenian Apostolic Church peacefully
co-existed with the traditional wing. Though later they were removed
from the Armenian Apostolic Church: "… their deceased remained
unburied, children not christened, young people unmarried, and they
were denied any legal protection…"3. All those problems brought to
the necessity of the establishing the new church. In 1846 by order
of the Ottoman sultan the Protestant Armenians were recognized as a
separate community.
Though these two trends which point out the Armenian origin of
the Protestantism are independent from each other, they are of
conventional character. The point is that, nevertheless, there is
some connection between those two plains. The reformist movement,
which had begun since the beginning of the 17th century, sometimes
is regarded as a revival of the medieval Armenian sectarianism
(Pavlikian and Tondrikian movements). There is a standpoint that
though Pavlikian and Tondrakian movements were defeated, they had not
been fully eradicated and revived in the 17th century in the face of
the reformist movement within the Armenian Apostolic Church. Thus,
the Protestantism is considered as a successor of the Pavlikian and
Tondrakian sectarian movements in the medieval Armenia.
There is also another, not so widespread point of view, which tends
rather to show that the foreign origin of the Protestantism do not
deprive the Armenians of their Armenian identity than to prove the
Armenian origin of the Protestantism. According to this approach, even
if Protestantism was spread among Armenians by the missionary activity
of the foreigners, there is nothing to be afraid of. The history
of the humanity is the history of reciprocal influence of different
civilizations and cultures which, per se, is like a "trade". Different
civilizations, reciprocally influencing each other take and at the
same time give their values. Thus, if the Protestantism has entered
Armenian reality from the external world, one should not make a
tragedy of it. In course of its history Armeniancy has taken lots of
values from other civilizations and cultures and at the same time it
has contributed as well. If the Armeniancy refuses from the values
taken from other civilizations and cultures, its civilizational and
cultural treasury will essentially be impoverished. Thus the segment
of the Armeniancy which adopted the Protestantism as confessional
or religious value from the external world is not reprehensible,
particularly when it does not cause the loss of the national identity
and crisis of the national morale. The Protestant Armenians are the
same Armenians as the others.
The self-perception by the Protestant Armenians of their role in the
past and the future of the Armeniancy The perceptions by the Protestant
Armenians of their role in the fortune of the Armeniancy come to the
conclusion that the Protestant Armenians, just like other Armenians,
suffered persecutions and privations, went through the sorrow which
fell to the lots of the Armeniancy. They have made a great contribution
to the solution of the problems facing Armeniancy (preserving of
the Armenian identity, development of culture and education, social
problems and etc). And their stimulus in the actions of the nationwide
importance was their Armenian roots and not the Protestantism.
The self-perceptions by the Protestant Armenians concerning their
great role in the fortune of the Armeniancy can be divided into
several spheres:
Educational and cultural Preservation of the national identity
Social In educational and cultural sphere a special importance is
allotted to the fact that the Protestant Armenians were the first who
translated the Bible into the modern Armenian language and thanks
to this Christian values became accessible to the Armenians who do
not know Old Armenian (grabar). The Protestant Armenians opened many
schools and educational institutions where Armenian children could
get education of a high quality.
The important role of the Protestantism in the development of the
cultural and educational life is also conditioned by the fact that
the appearance of Protestantism caused competition between Armenian
Apostolic and Armenian Evangelistic Churches and this led the spiritual
and cultural life of the Armeniancy out of the stagnation and became
a serious stimulus to the development. Thus the translation of the
Bible and opening of the Protestant Armenian schools were followed
by the translation of the Holy Script and opening of schools by the
Armenian Apostolic Church. According to the Protestants, without this
competition Armenian spiritual life would have been doomed.
The role of the Protestant Armenians in the sphere of preservation
of the national identity in their personal self-perceptions is
particularly important from the point of view returning of the
Armenians who are on different stages of assimilation to their roots.
In the Ottoman Empire the Protestant missionaries (including Armenians)
began their activity among the forcibly Islamized Armenians too
and returned them to their roots. This fact is also accepted by
the adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Particularly, the
Protestant Armenians make a reference to Raffi who wrote: "Arriving
to Dersim the Protestants began reading Gospel in Armenian for the
Kurdishized Armenians; they taught them their forgotten native tongue.
What do we have to say to those preachers? Do we have to say: "Go and
preach among the pagans. You have nothing to do with Armenians"?4 In
the social sphere the Protestant Armenians carried out and continue
carrying out many social and beneficial programmes in Armenia and
Diaspora. E.g. in 1989 in France the "Hope of Armenia" organization
was established which aim was to help in the restoration of the
districts demolished during the earthquake in Spitak in 1988 and
overcoming the difficulties of the transition period in Armenia5.
According to the self-perception of the Protestant Armenians their
actions are based not on the religious but on the national morale. The
vivid example is the killing of Talaat Pasha by S. Tehlirian in 1921.
As Pargev Taragchian mentions S. Tehlirian killed Talaat Pasha not
because he was a Protestant but because he was an Armenian6. Thus, in
the self-perception of the Protestant Armenians the nationwide actions
are conditioned by their Armenian roots. The important part of the
national identity is the national morale. As Raffi mentions: "…The
national unity is not annihilated by the variety of the confessions.
The unity should be sought in the harmony of those parts; its main
motive should be the nationalism in its high meaning"7.
The Protestant Armenians, despite some of their confessional
peculiarities, have a clear feeling of being a part of the Armeniancy.
Due to the high level of the national morale they constitute the
integral part of the Armeniancy.
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3Hagop A. Chakmakjian, The Armenian Evangelical Church and The Armenian
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Reverend, Doctor Rene Levonian.
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6Barke v N. Darakjian, Armenian Evangelical Identity: Historical and
Theological Perspectives
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