
| A Christian Understanding of the Armenian Genocide... |
| "For on account of Thee, we are being put to death the whole day; we were counted as sheep for the slaughter." -St. Paul to the Romans 8:36 |
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For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. -2 Cor. 1:5 ...We suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. -Rom. 8:18 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. -Phil. 1:21 ...That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. -Phil. 3:10-11 For one is approved if, mindful of God, he endures pain while suffering unjustly. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on His lips. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten; but He trusted Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. -1 St. Peter 2:19-24 |
| Armenian Church Icon of the Crucifixion of our Lord |
What is the CHRISTIAN understanding and approach to the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide? Most of our yearly memorials, with there angered calls for "justice," are seriously devoid of an orthodox Christian perspective. Indeed atheists and modern-day pagans could have identical memorials. Where is Christ and His message in such commemorations? When we remember liturgically the "Holy Innocents of Bethlehem," do we couple this with demands for justice? Do we call on the modern Israeli government to admit its ancestor's injustice through King Herod? In his book "Faith, Church, Mission," Dr. Vigen Guroian (in the article "How Shall We Remember?") addresses these questions in a clear, reasonable manner. Until Armenians understand this message, they will never begin to allow Christ to heal them of their own collective, perpetual despair. The Orthodox Christian answer to all human suffering, as Dr. Guroian writes, is our Lord Jesus Christ's own example. His voluntary Passion and Crucifixion gives meaning to our suffering if we unite it to His. The ultimate victory over suffering and death, which He gained for us and promised to those who trust Him, is derived through the power of His Resurrection. |

| St. Ignatius Maloyan An Armenian Catholic Martyr of the 1915 Armenian Genocide |
