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36 The Armenian Church

from Greek into Armenian were incomplete.
However, the historical facts and theological
evidence of both the pre-Chalcedonian and
post–Chalcedonian periods indicate that the
Armenian Church’s rejection of the Council
of Chalcedon was consistent with its christo-
logical teachings, which were based on the
first three ecumenical councils and on the
arguments advocated by the Alexandrian
theological school. From the very beginning
of the formation of the Armenian Church,
its special relations with Caesarea and close
theological connection with Alexandrian
church fathers, particularly through the
translation of their works, had already
placed the Armenian theology solidly in the
Alexandrian camp. Therefore, St. Cyril's
christological approach, which emphasized
the inseparable but identifiable unity of
divine and human natures in Christ and
which would become a point of reference of
crucial importance in the christological cont-
roversy, served as the basis of the Armenian
Church’s christological position vis-a-vis the
Council of Chalcedon.
The christological controversy in the
church did not end with the Council of
Chalcedon, which is regarded as the 4th
ecumenical council in church history. This
council was in fact the beginning of a larger
and deeper conflict, one that went beyond
the confines of the Byzantine Empire to affect