Page 90 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Essentials of Faith 91

it tended towards Nestorianism. Thus, criti-
cizing the teachings of the Council of Chal-
cedon as heresy and underscoring the unity
of Christ's natures became the focus of the
Armenian christology. In mainland Armenia,
the conservative, apologetical, and reactive
attitudes of the Church remained unchanged
in the following centuries. In Cilicia, how-
ever, the Church's theological mind became
more proactive by seeking a modus vivendi,
without diverting from the fundamental
principles and basic approaches of Armenian
christology.
The christological teachings of the Ar-
menian Church are summarized in the Pro-
fession of the Orthodox Faith in the following
way: "We believe in God the Logos, uncreated,
begotten, and originated from the Father before
the ages, who is neither after nor subordinate [to
the Father] or younger, but inasmuch as the
Father is Father, with Him likewise the Son is
Son…. We believe that one of the three persons,
God the Word, begotten of the Father before the
ages, in time descended in the virgin Mary, the
Theotokos, (the God-bearer), He took from her
blood (i.e. substance) and united it to His God-
hood; for nine months He waited in the womb of
the immaculate virgin and the perfect God became
a perfect man, with soul and with mind and with
flesh; one person, one prosopon, and one united
nature. God became man without change or
alteration. He was conceived without seed and