Window Quarterly Vol. 4, No. 1, 1994 Copyright 1994 [Permission is granted to use, print, reproduce this article provided the following acknowledgment is given: From Window Quarterly 4, 1 (1994); ACRAG c. 1994. *** A THEOLOGY OF WAR Faith and Evangelism in Karabakh A conversation with Bishop Barkev Mardirossian Primate of the Diocese of Artzakh (Karabakh) by Hratch Tchilingirian Q. During your public addresses in the United States, you were speaking about the deep faith of the people of Karabakh, how did that faith develop? BISHOP BARKEV: Religion, faith, piety were always present in the life of the people of Karabakh - on some level or another - but because of Communism, people were left thirsty of faith and the seeds that were planted by our forefathers were not allowed to flourish. Since 1930s, religion was forbidden in Artzakh, but today, in order to preach the message of the Gospel, we are utilizing television and radio, public forums, hospitals, old age homes. We are actively preaching the Gospel. We are distributing free Bibles to people, children's Bible and other religious publications. As means of evangelization, we distribute religious literature published by us, we use local newspapers and magazines, we use our local radio station in Karabakh and we broadcast 30 minute sermons five to six times a week. Besides these, we have 38 Sunday Schools in Karabakh. Whatever means are available to us, we are putting them to good use - for the glory of God and for the benefit of the Armenian Church and our people. Moreover, our army in Karabakh knows that our church stands besides them in their struggle and is a source of spiritual strength for them. They know that these are difficult times and they are trying to remain safe and sound as much as possible. They realize that in order to attain victory, they need great spiritual power. This is way they need God, they need God's power. As such, when troops go to the battle field, they try to make sure that all the soldiers are baptized; they make sure they have a cross around their neck for protection. If they don't have a cross hanging, they draw or paint a cross on their hand or heart or on their back, so that God's power is at hand. This spiritual awareness among the soldiers is greatly contributing to the growth of faith among the people of Karabakh. Second, there were so many bombings, shelling and fightings, that the people, young and old, were unceasingly praying, "Lord God, please save us from this evil." These burdensome situations are also contributing to the reawakening and strengthening of faith. Third, there are great many miracles taking place throughout Karabakh. The presence of God's right hand and dominion is so strong and visible in Karabakh that when people see these miracles, they are moved from unbelief to a deep faith. Q. Could you give examples of these miracles? BISHOP BARKEV: For instance, a huge bomb fell within one meter from one of our commanders, Arthur, and he survived with only a minor injury to his leg. This is impossible. No one would survive the devastation of such a bomb. But it happened. God saved this man because of his faith, because of his obedience to God. He was just slightly injured. It might sound illogical, but it is a miracle. There are numerous incidents like this. About three years ago, Russian soldiers arrested Arthur on false accusations and then turned him over to the Azeris. At the time he had a wrist watch that had a cross in the middle and the names of the twelve apostles inscribed around the watch and he had a cross hanging from his neck. I had given him the cross when he was baptized. They took the watch from him and tried to snatch the cross from his neck. But he did not let them. Instead, he broke the chain and put the cross in his mouth. The Azeri solders tried to pull it out of his mouth. But he held on. They hit him so hard that they crushed his teeth. But he held on... Later on, when he was released - they could not find anything criminal about him - he gave me his watch as a gift and told me the story and kept that cross to himself. Q. How does this incident effect the soldiers under his command? BISHOP BARKEV: It effects them greatly. Those commanders who have faith, transmit that faith to their soldiers. At various times, we had battalions who were commanded by very faithful men, and these commanders became the godfathers of their soldiers when they were baptized. Moreover, faithful commanders require that the soldiers say a prayer before every meal or say a prayer before going to the battle front. In these cases we make sure to give our assistance by providing a priest or a chaplain to the battalion. Praying is widely practiced among the soldiers. Not all of them, but I could say a very large number of them. These soldiers have hunger for the Scriptures, for the blessings of the priest and for the power of God. All of them want to be alive, all of them want to survive the battle, all of them want victory through a miracle, because we are very small in numbers, we have shortage of everything, that is why our only hope is God and our people. Q. When you preach to the people in Karabakh, what is the message that you give them? BISHOP BARKEV: I give them a very simple message. Our movement is holy and just. God has created us as Armenians and we have been baptized Christians and He has given us this land and we are obligated to preserve it in the best way we could. We are obligated to remain good Christians. We teach that the first thing that God requires from us is cleanliness and purity. In order for us to be pure, we need to repent - because man as a human being - is mortal and sinful and is always prone to commit sin. That is why we need to do penance all the time. Because God promised that whoever repents will receive back what he has lost, in hundred fold. Therefore, if we want to have our homeland, we need to repent and God will return to us in hundred fold. This is a very simple truth, which should save and help us today. It is not easy to bring the whole population of Karabakh to faith. It is a very difficult task. I would see it as a miracle of God when all of us, all 180,000 inhabitants of Karabakh come to prayer and do penance - when all of us start a fasting period of fifteen or forty days, in vigilance and prayer. This might seem idealistic, but it is our goal. Q. When you say penance, is it individual or collective? BISHOP BARKEV: First, every individual should repent and live with the awareness of a repentant heart. Second, we request from the people to fast. For example, when we are faced with a difficult week or a major battle is ahead of us, or when there is an immanent attack on us, we request that all go through a penitential period and purify themselves and pray unceasingly for our soldiers. When we are faced with great difficulties, we have perpetual prayers. We ask people to take turns to say prayers at various times, so that we have at least five or ten individuals praying at each moment, so we have perpetual prayers for twenty four hours a day. For example, twenty individuals will take it upon themselves to pray overnight: let's say a few people 12:00 midnight to 12:30 am, others from 12:30-1:00 am, and so on. In this way, we have a group of people, like "soldiers of Christ," praying at all times, even during the late hours of the night. Q. How are these perpetual prayers organized? BISHOP BARKEV: We send a word out and the faithful organize it among themselves through our help. Q. How is penance done by the faithful? BISHOP BARKEV: It is done through prayer, fasting, purifying of oneself, perpetual supplication, confession of sins and absolution; and all these are culminated at the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is our "holy of holies" and it is through communion that we receive the power of God. Q. Since Karabakh is going through a war, whether declared or undeclared, what is your "theology of war?" BISHOP BARKEV: War is horrendous. First, let me say that we did not start the war, they [Azeris] did. We want to stop and solve the war through peaceful means, but they are not willing. They are forcing us to go to war. They are forcing us to use our weapons. As such, their desire is to destroy Karabakh by force - to occupy our land by force. That is evil. This is the work of the evil. This is very clear. When you are unable to stop the evil through prayer and by words, and he is coming to devour your body, by raping and perpetrating immoral acts to your sister and mother, to your daughter and children, it is your duty to protect and safeguard their lives. When they are coming with their guns, you have no other choice but to use your gun to defend yourself. This is your duty. When you are defending [the innocent], it does not mean that your are killing [your enemy] and doing evil. That's your moral obligation. Second, when there is evil, evil has to be uprooted. Like in the case of the dry branch, Christ tossed it into the fire, it is useless, [cf. John 15:6]. When there are weeds in your garden, you uproot and clean them so that they don't destroy your entire garden. Likewise, when evil is rushing over you, it needs to be uprooted. This teaching gives us the moral right to protect ourselves. This is very clear. Morally, we are obligated to do this, all of us. That's why we say that Karabakh has an army of 180,000, the whole population - all ages. Q. Does everybody in Karabakh have this religious moral understanding toward the conflict? BISHOP BARKEV: Definitely. Q. Let's go to a wider question, what are your thoughts about the mission of the Armenian Church? BISHOP BARKEV: We are the first Christian nation. God gave us that privilege and honor and we have to take that privilege very seriously. Indeed, we have to be the finest Christians in the world. That is what God requires from us. Unfortunately, we have not reached that level yet. One day we shall.... In the past, our fathers - during the time of St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Sahag, St. Mesrob - went to Georgia and spread Christianity, went to the Albanians and spread Christianity, went to the north Caucuses and spread Christianity. In the seventh century, when the Arab invasions started, our prince Theodore R'shduni went to the Khazars, among the Turkic tribes of the north, and tried to convert them to Christianity, but he was unsuccessful. Imagine, an Armenian prince was evangelizing. We know from history that we even preached Christianity to the Tatar Mongols, during the Cilician period, however, we were unsuccessful in converting them. Q. Were these missions organized by the church or were they individual initiatives? BISHOP BARKEV: They were organized and planned by the church and carried out by individuals who were capable of preaching the Gospel. There are Russian historians, especially Pavlov, who have written that in the sixth century Armenians have done massive preaching in China. There are indications that in 635 A.D., during the reign of Emperor Tysung, all of China was baptized. China was a Christian country. But we do not know why world historians are silent about this. It is quite strange. Q. Are there published materials on this, for instance Pavlov's theory? BISHOP BARKEV: Yes, there are publications in Russian. These were revealed during the First World War. Q. Do these revelations specifically speak about an Armenian mission to China? BISHOP BARKEV: Yes. It is interesting also to note that Armenians have preached in Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries. In fact, there is a martyr, in what is Hungry today, by the name of Bartev - St. Bartev the Martyr - a preacher sent from Armenia, probably from the Illuminator's family, who is quite well known in the local tradition. He had traveled all the way to Hungry to preach the Gospel. There are indications that Armenians have reached as far as Iceland, where you find khachkars [cross tombstones] very similar to Armenian khachkars. There are indications that Armenians have preached Christianity in those northern islands. Armenian clergy have been very active and diligent in spreading the Light of Christ in various regions - and they were ready to go and be martyred if necessary. The truth is that as much as you give the Light of Christ, God gives you more. Unfortunately, as time went by, we enclosed ourselves within the boundaries of the Armenian nation and as a result we lost so much. We shouldn't have kept the Light of Christ to ourselves, we should have actively spread it. We are obligated to spread that Light actively. I don't know, perhaps when the Seljuk Turks came and occupied Armenia, we should have preached the Gospel more widely among them. Q. So indeed the Armenian Church is called to preach to "all nations," as we read in the Great Commission of Christ. As such, what should the primary task of the Armenian Church be today? BISHOP BARKEV: We should very actively preach the Gospel to our people and beyond the boundaries of our nation. The more you give the Light of Christ to others, the more you receive it - in tenfold. Q. I am going to ask you a difficult question - in the Diaspora this issue is quite important - what makes the Armenian Church "Armenian"? BISHOP BARKEV: To tell you the truth, I've never thought about this subject. Obviously, this is not an issue for us [in the homeland], perhaps it is for you here in the Diaspora. I think the question should be asked in two fold: What makes the Armenian Church "Armenian" for Armenians and what makes the Armenian Church "Armenian" for non- Armenians? These two questions are different. For non- Armenians, we have our unique theology and the founder of our theology is St. Gregory the Illuminator. He has founded a very large and distinct theological school. Even though later on our church fathers have develop it further - for example, St. Sahag Bartev, St. Mesrob Mashdotz, Yeznig Goghpatzi, Khosrov of Antzev, Khosrovig Tarkmanich and so on - it is St. Gregory who established the foundations of a remarkable theological school and created a particular ethos to Armenian theology. I'll give you an example: it is written in the Scriptures that whoever changes one word from the Bible, let him be condemned by God. However, our church fathers, in translating the Bible, have had the audacity not to translate the term "anti-Christ" the way it ought to be haga- Krisdos. [e.g. 1John 2:18]. Instead of translating the Greek anti-Christ as haga-Krisdos, they wrote Ner. This is very odd and I was thinking why did our fathers went so far and wrote Ner for anti-Christ. I realized that our fathers have been so considerate and wise, that in their theology there is no such thing as anti-Christ. There is no equal to Christ or against Christ. Who is the anti-Christ? It is the son of the Devil and the Devil is not equal to Christ. The Devil was the prime angel created by God who fell. Therefore, our fathers, theologically, decided that no one is equal to Christ and therefore, there cannot be an anti-Christ, so they translated it as Ner, they just gave it a name, rather than presenting it as a concept. This is a major and brave defiance in terms of translation. But it is a unique way of thinking. Indeed, there are many small instances such as this, which are particular to Armenians. And this spirit has remained constant in our theology throughout history. Another example is our Badarak (the Divine Liturgy), which - according to many non-Armenian scholars and experts - is one of the most beautiful liturgies in Christianity; take our language, our church's teachings, and so on, all indicate a unique blend of Christianity. Q. What are your thoughts on those who say that "Armenian" is a means of expression of faith and others as something that needs to be saved for its own sake? This is a problem in the Diaspora. BISHOP BARKEV: I understand that problem. First of all, the church's task is to preach the Gospel and tend to the spiritual needs of the people. This by itself will contribute to the preservation of our nation. Q. What do you understand when you say "preservation of our nation?" BISHOP BARKEV: If we are with God, then God is with us and He will protect and save us - our nation. This is it. There is no other formula. Mind you that sometimes we are not with God and sometimes we have many shortcomings Q. So, it is ultimately faith that is going to save the nation? BISHOP BARKEV: Of course, first and foremost it is faith. this is very clear. Q. How about the language? BISHOP BARKEV: I believe that our language has a unique role. I have my personal approach to the Armenian language. St. Mesrob Mashdotz received "divine letters" from God. The language plays an amazing role. As such, [during the Soviet period] we should not have changed the letters or spelling or any aspect of our language. This caused a lot of harm to our nation. We need to preserve the language as much as possible. Q. Are you speaking about Classical Armenian or Modern Armenian? BISHOP BARKEV: Primarily, I mean preserving Classical Armenian (Krabar) if we cannot do that, then Modern Armenian. The Classical language is quite different from Modern by its strength and structure. What is Krapar? When you look at the word closely, it means "naturally created letter," or "letter that has nature," [bnakan araradz gir], i.e. the letters that God gave to Mashdotz. Ashkharabar (modern) on the other hand, means "word of the world," it is "of the world." When you look at the names of both languages, you could clearly see their conceptual difference. Q. How about the practical implications of language? For instance there are many people who do not understand the liturgy because it is performed in classical Armenian. BISHOP BARKEV: In this case, we need to provide the translation to the people so that they could follow the liturgy. We need to give them books and have them in the pews for easy access. As for the sermon, that should be given in a language that people understand, whether modern Armenian or English. Q. What do you think about celebrating the Divine Liturgy in English, here in the United States? BISHOP BARKEV: That is something for you to decide here in the Diaspora. I do not know the specific circumstances of the community here in the States. I have not lived in the Diaspora long enough to picture the situation. Having said that, I personally think that classical Armenian (Krabar) should be the language of the liturgy and translations should be available to the people. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Q. Could you give us a biographical sketch of yourself? BISHOP BARKEV: My parents and siblings were all born in Artzakh (Karabakh), in the village of Chardakhlou - the same village were Marshal Baghramian, Babajanian and Catholicos Karekin Hovsepiants' father were born. But I was born in Sumgait. My mother was visiting there for a wedding around the time I was due, so I was born in Sumgait. But we returned to our village and I lived there until I was six years old. Then from the age of six to twelve, we lived in Sumgait again, where my father was working, and that's were I went to primary school. After that, my whole family moved to Yerevan. In 1971, I graduated from the State University of Armenia, majoring in Mathematics and after that, I attended the Polytechnic Institute for a year. Following that, I studied at the Russian Literature and Foreign Language Institute and graduated in 1976. My thesis was on Sergei Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" literary work, for which I was awarded a golden medal for best thesis in all of Soviet Union. Upon completing my military service in the Soviet Army, I worked in Yerevan for two years and then in 1980, I applied to study at the Seminary of Holy Etchmiadzin. I graduated from the Seminary in 1984 and soon after that, His Holiness arranged that I study in Leningrad, at the theological institute in St. Petersburg. I studied there for two years and wrote a thesis on "Knowledge of God" both in Christianity and non- Christian religions and philosophies, for which I was awarded a theological degree. Upon my return to Etchmiadzin, I served as assistant dean of the Seminary for a year and in 1987, His Holiness appointed me as Abbot of the Monastery of St. Hripsime. While an abbot, I continued to teach Systematic Theology at the Seminary, until November 1988, when I was appointed Primate of Karabakh by His Holiness. In March 1989, I permanently moved to Karabakh. Q. How did you decide to go into the priesthood? BISHOP BARKEV: During the time when I was at the University of Yerevan, I had a very close friend and we were both very much interested in Mystical studies - yogatasophia, anthroposophia, etc. And we were always wondering what were they teaching at the Seminary [in Etchmiadzin] about Christian mysticism. As we studied mysticism closely, we realized that the most correct way of life is the Christian way - that Christian teaching had to be the most perfect teaching. I also felt this in yoga. One of the greatest yoga teachers, Ramakrishna, himself said that Christ is the greatest teacher that ever was, is and will be for all times. This surprised me very much. So we said to ourselves, why are we studying yoga if their greatest teacher or guru has been Christ himself. Second, one day we obtained a copy of the book Practical Sorcery, written by Papus, where he wrote that all evil can be dispeled by simply invoking the name of Christ. This made us realize that Christ is above everybody and everything. The world of the evil is neutralized only by the power of Christ's name. So with this realization, we said to ourselves, wait a minute, we need to know and understand who and what Christ is - up to that point we didn't know much about Christianity. So we decided to learn more about Christ and Christianity and that's how we came to Etchmiadzin, out of curiosity. We had never thought about studying in the Seminary, in fact we went there to ask some questions and get some literature about Christianity. To make long story short, one thing led to another and I started studying at the Seminary. While studying at the Seminary, I was asked whether I would want to become a priest one day. I said, once I'm convinced that Christianity is the only way of life, then I would be baptized and dedicate my life to it and help others come to this understanding. It is important to understand what you are getting into. So this is how my spiritual journey started. Q. What do you see for Karabakh in the next few years? BISHOP BARKEV: First, we need to bring peace to Karabakh. Second, we need to strength the faith of our people - this is crucial. Then, God willing, we need to have more religious publications; establish a seminary; repair our churches; establish more Sunday Schools in the region; establish a department of theology at the University of Karabakh and so on. Ultimately, our wish is that Karabakh will become a uniquely Christian country, where people will live piously and according to very high moral standards. *This interview was held on March 18, 1994, in New York City. =================================================== _ _ _ _ _ |_| ___ _| | ___ _ _ _ | | | | | | _ / _ \ / _ | / _ \ | | | | | | | |_| |_| || |_ | | | || |_| || |_| || |_| |_| | \_________/\___||_| |_| \___/ \___/ \_________/ View Of The Armenian Church ===================================================