SEER, 94, 2, APRIL 2016 388 Agadjanian, Alexander (ed.). Armenian Christianity Today: Identity Politics and Popular Practice. Ashgate, Farnham and Burlington, VT, 2014. vi + 279 pp. Notes. Bibliographies. Index. £65.00. Refreshingly, this collection of twelve essays — ably edited by Alexander Agadjanian, professor at the Russian State University for Humanities, who also provides an introduction — looks at Armenian Christianity today as it is. It eschews the perpetuation of myths, the sentimental harking back to the conversion of the Armenians in 301ad and vague assertions as to the fundamental Christian essence of the Armenian nation. It also does not limit itself to the Armenian Apostolic Church, but gives due weight to the Armenian Catholic Church and Protestant communities, including older Evangelical congregations alongside newer Pentecostal groups. The collection also covers communitiesinawide—ifratherrandom—geographicspread,withfiveessays on post-Soviet Armenia and other contributions on St Petersburg, Lebanon, Istanbul, Romania and the United States (particularly southern California). Religiosity, self-identity, church politics and politics more widely are covered. Many of the chapters draw on researchers’ detailed sociological surveys. Looking at Armenia, Konrad Siekierski unpacks the myth of ‘One Nation, One Faith, One Church’ (in the words of Catholicos Garegin II in 2008, p. 21) sedulously peddled by proponents of the Apostolic Church. He identifies six key elements of the ‘ethno-religious chain of memory’ (p. 10) aimed at the perpetual linking of the Apostolic Church and the nation, leading from the Biblical flood (with Ararat — within sight of Yerevan — identified relatively recently as where Noah’s Ark settled) to the genocide in the Ottoman Empire from 1915, which left a deep scar on the Armenian consciousness. Siekierski acknowledges the relatively high level of trust in Armenia’s religious institutions, but notes that this relates to its role as ‘national symbol’, with popular scepticism about the Church’s current leaders ‘which can be traced in private conversations’ (p. 29). Yulia Antonyan examines how the traditional church building by rich patrons has continued in a new context, with the construction of ‘money churches’ to demonstrate patrons’ wealth. She finds that the ‘secularized layers of the population’ often object to newer churches with innovations such as chairs and a separation of the building into sections for different rites, preferring the image of the destroyed or ‘bowed down’ church as cultural heritage (p. 37). She contrasts such show churches with a chapel built over decades in a cave as an act of pious devotion without church approval. As the Apostolic Church battles for political influence, it has promoted the teaching of its doctrines — including creationism — in schools, as Satenik Mkrtchyan notes. Agadjanian’s chapter examines the Brotherhood — a more evangelical movement within the Apostolic Church which ‘emphasized the importance of the Christian REVIEWS 389 dimension of Armenianness’ (p. 88). The movement arrived in Soviet Armenia with the ‘repatriation’ of overseas Armenians in the 1940s but, he notes, has seen a decline in membership and influence since the 1990s. Anna Ohanjanyan looks at the ‘precarious identity’ (p. 115) of the varied and fluid Protestant congregations, as they try to define their identity in terms of Armenia’s Christian history and relationship (or otherwise) with the dominant Apostolic Church today. Such churches also stress their separation from views of their co-religionists outside Armenia, fiercely resisting ‘globalization’, ‘LGBT marriages and child adoption by such families’ (p. 113). Hovhannes Hovhannisyan examines the long and often fraught relations between the Apostolic Church under the jurisdiction of Echmiadzin in Armenia,andtheLebanese-basedCatholicosateofCilicia.Althoughextensively coveredinthepast (oftenhighlypolemically),Hovhannisyandeftlysummarizes the ambivalent relationship between the two spiritual centres, which he rightly characterizes as ‘quite delicate and sometimes explosive’ (p. 141). Looking more widely, Christopher Sheklian examines Armenian memorial practices in Istanbul, arguing that ‘liturgical practices of saint veneration in the Armenian Apostolic Church are ways of remembering exemplary figures who provide a basis for collective identification’ (p. 147). Weekday commemorations of the saints — including modern saints — are ‘ubiquitous’ (p. 158) in the city, he notes. Given the small remaining Armenian population near many of the churches, a ‘handful of dedicated choir members, deacons and even parishioners move around the city’ (p. 159) to ensure daily liturgies in what would otherwise be sparsely attended churches. ‘There are very...
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Aug 17, 2017
Sa Balasanyan 
Open Access