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80 The Armenian Church

Christian faith, the apologetical approach
gained predominance in theological think-
ing. This trend became dominant in Ar-
menian theology, as the Church was bound
to grapple with heresies and defend its faith.
In the course of time, the Armenian Church
came in touch, directly or indirectly, with a
number of heretical movements and it either
formally condemned or took a strong stand,
particularly against the following heresies:
Adoptionism (2nd C.), Gnosticism (3rd C.),
Manichaeism (3rd C.), Sabellianism (3rd C.),
Arianism (4th C.), Apollinarianism (4th C.),
Nestorianism (5th C.), Eutychianism (5th
C.), Monophysitism (5th C.), Monothelitism
(7th C.), Paulicianism (7th-9th C.), Ico-
noclasm (8th C.), Tondrakianism (9th-11th
C.), and Unitarianism (17th-18th C.).
c) Christocentric theology. Due to long
and heated controversies about the natures
of Christ, christology was given a primor-
dial place in Christian theology from the 5th
to the 14th Centuries. Because of its staunch
opposition to Chalcedonian christology and
its constant endeavor to explain and defend
the christological teachings of the Armenian
Church, the Armenian theology was mainly
developed around christological issues par-
ticularly in reference to the person of Christ.
Hence, the christocentric approach became a
dominant feature of Armenian theology.