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Christology

 

 

 

  Etchmiadzin Cathedral detail of Christ with two fingers symbolizing two natures or a single combined divine-human nature  
    Էջմիածնի Մայր Տաճար – Etchmiadzin Cathedral near Yerevan    
         
 

Well befitting a nation which became the first Christian state in 301 Anno Domini under the spiritual leadership of Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ – Γρηγόριος Φωστήρ – Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia (* c. 257, or as early as 240 – c. 331 †) and the temporal kingship of Տրդատ Գ – Trdat (Tiridates) III the Great (* c. 250 – c. 330 †), the original church was built on this location in that same year of 301, and strikingly for all Christian Church architecture in the world, the main structure of the present Cathedral building, though added to in later centuries, dates to 483-4 Anno Domini.

Those familiar with Christian iconography will at once recognize the gesture of Christ in this figure on the façade of this preeminent cathedral of the Oriental Orthodox, that is, Non-Chalcedonian family of Churches, a striking testimony to the fact that the Oriental Orthodox are not, and never were, Monophysite.

 

 

  Etchmiadzin Cathedral  

 

 

 

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Contributors and Collaborators:

This page, like this website as a whole, is still in a very early stage of development. Now, already in 2015, and as the days evaporate away I must, with a very heavy heart, admit that this whole project should be much further along than it is. I am not months, but years behind schedule. Please consider what you see here to be little more than the roughest outline and sketch of what should be set down regarding the state of progress in the re-unification of the Orthodox-Catholic Church and the re-establishment of something that might in fairness be called a Christian civilization. Please visit again.

DOC

 
     

 

[insert portrait of Saint Cyril of Alexandria]

[insert portrait of Saint Leo the Great]

 

 

  relics of Evangelist Saint Mark in Alexandria Egypt  
  Relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist in Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral on the site of the Church founded by Saint Mark in 60 Anno Domini, Alexandria, Egypt. Photograph taken on Pascha - Easter 2011  

 

  And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch." And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt."  
    Mark 14:33-36  

 

 

       

Syriac Byzantine Chi Ro

Syrian Byzantine Christian carved Lintel (c. 400-550) depicting Christogram, formed formed from the first two letters of Christ written in Greek, Chi (X) and Rho (P), together with the Alpha and the Omega

 

 

 

Joint Declarations on Christology among Chalcedonian (Catholic and Orthodox) and non-Chalcedonian (Oriental Orthodox) Churches
       
Orthodox-Oriental Orthodox
  1987 Middle East Orthodox-Oriental Orthodox Patriarchs Joint Declaration on Christology
       
  1989 Orthodox-Oriental Orthodox First Agreed Statement on Christology    
       
  1990 Orthodox-Oriental Orthodox Second Agreed Statement on Christology    
       
 

Some of the current monastic-inhabitants of Holy Mount Athos weigh in: "It is well known that a hurried union is being forced upon the Orthodox and the Non-Chalcedonians..." From 451 to 2013 — 1562 years — constitutes "hurried"!

If left to minds like these, reconciliation within the One Holy, Apostolic Orthodox-Catholic Church will be defined so as to be impossible this side of the Parousia, and Christ's explicit injuctions to His disciples, set forth at John 17:20-23 and elsewhere will never be obeyed as an act of free will by His Disciples. Consider, John 17:20-23 is Bible > New Testament > Gospel Scripture > Words of Christ > In Prayer from God the Son to God the Father; there is no higher authority on Earth, no more urgent human imperative.

Concerning the Dialogue Between the Orthodox and Non-Chalcedonian Churches - A Memorandum of the Sacred Community of Mount Athos

 

 

 

   
Catholic-Oriental Orthodox
  1973 Common Declaration on Christology of Pope Paul VI and of the Pope of Alexandria, Shenouda III
 

(Catholic-Coptic)

       
  1970 Joint Declaration on Christology of Pope Paul VI and Vasken I, Supreme Catholicos-Patriarch of all Armenians
 
(Catholic-Armenian)
       
  1996 Common Declaration on Christology of Pope John Paul II and Karekin I Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
 
(Catholic-Armenian)
       
  1997 Common Declaration on Christology of Pope John Paul II and Aram I Keshishian, Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia
 

(Catholic-Armenian/Cilicia)

   
  1984 Common Declaration on Christology of Pope John Paul II and Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church
 

(Catholic-Syriac: please note that by a decision of a synod in 2000 the name of this particular Church when expressed in the English language was changed from the Syrian Orthodox Church to the Syriac Orthodox Church)

     
 

 

 

 

 

in European Christendom 17th century icon in fresco, in the 16th century Успенский Собор — Cathedral of the Dormition   Fresco depicting the Sixth Ecumenical Council in the narthex of the Church of Saint Athanasius the Athonite in the Great Lavra on Holy Mount Athos
17th century icon in fresco, in the 16th century Успенский Собор — Cathedral of the Dormition,
in the Свято-Троицкая Сергиева Лавра в Сергиевом Посаде —Holy Trinity Saint Sergius Lavra,
depicting the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon, 8 October to 1 November 451.
  Fresco depicting the Sixth Ecumenical Council in the narthex of the Church of Saint Athanasius the Athonite
in the Great Lavra on Holy Mount Athos - Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας του Άγιο Όρος Άθως.

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

 

"Rise, and have no fear."   "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." the Holy Spirit Man proposes, God disposes