Western Diocese

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
From
The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
by
Rev. Dr. Zaven Arzoumanian
Presentation of the Books at the Diocesan Center
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 7 pm

      The following five books were published by the order of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church. Among them are two Armenian historiographies translated into English for the first time with introductions and annotations. They are:

 History of Armenia by Bishop Ukhtanes of Sebastia Part II.  This volume presents an important work that is indispensable for the history of the Armenian Church in the 7th century. It is also a valuable source book on the history of the Georgian Church. This translation is based on, and in fact succeeds to, the only Armenian obsolete edition of 1871 published in Vagharsgapat. It contains an Armenian and English introduction, 135 emendations and corrections in the Armenian text, the translation of the second part of the History, a bibliography and an index. Part II of Bishop Ukhtanes of Sebastia’s History of Armenia is devoted to the separation, or the schism, of the Georgian Church from the unity of the Armenian Church initiated by the Georgian Catholicos Kurion at the beginning of the 7^th century against the wishes of the Catholicos of Armenia. Bishop Ukhtanes gathered all of the documents on the subject and presented them in a historical context with relevant comments and background information. Until now the Western scholars had access to Ukhtanes only through an outdated French translation published by M. Brosset in 1870. Fr. Arzoumanian has rendered a valuable service to scholarship by making such an important work available in English.

History of Ghevond on the Arab Invasions.  This first English translation presents the work of an 8^th century Armenian contemporary historian, Priest Ghevond, who has written as an eye-witness account, at least for the latter part of the book, on the Arab invasions who after the appearance of the Prophet moved north from the Arabian Peninsula and invaded Armenia and the Western provinces of the Byzantine Empire. It contains detailed information on the geographic and topographic status of the time, with the Bagratuni and Rshtuni dynasties at the helm of Armenia, and lengthy correspondence between the Arab Caliph Umar and Emperor Leo III of Byzantium on matters of Christianity. This new translation is based on two important manuscripts and three secondary ones, the oldest of which comes from the 13^th century. Of course none of the ancient documents have reached us as original writings by the authors themselves; they are at best copies of the copies of succeeding generations who have thus preserved the text in different monasteries, the most ancient of which, no earlier than the 12^th century, have served for publications during the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  The History of Ghevond covers the detailed accounts of the Arab invasions beginning from the Caliphs who were the successors of the Prophet from 640 on. The Last events reported refer to the revolt of the Armenians against the Arabs from 750 to 755.

Studies in Armenian History.  This bi-lingual book Contains the synopsis of six Armenian Historians and one Byzantine Emperor as follows: Eznik Goghbatsi Bishop of Bagrevand (5^th c.), Bishop Sebeos Bagratuni (7^th c.), Ghevond the Priest (8^th c.), Ukhtanes Bishop of Sebastia       (10^th c.), Aristakes Vardapet of Lastivert (11^th c.),  Kirakos Vardapet of Gandzak (13^th c.), and Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (10^th c.). Each author’s text is treated regarding its integrity, date, authenticity, and editions. The book is a compilation of papers read at different universities during Armenian history and ancient literature symposiums.

Studies in Armenian Church – History, Doctrine, Worship –is a collection of studies dealing with the Armenian Church history, tradition, excavations, worship, calendar of feasts, canonization, and the formation of the Armenian Church following the invention of the Alphabet and the translation of the Bible into Armenian at the beginning of the 5^th century.

Theology of the Armenian Church –an Introduction-  This is the first in its kind to easily explain the ancient and original theology of the Armenian Church. The author has labeled it as “popular edition” having in mind the reader’s comprehension and interest in matters of Christ’s Person, the Holy Trinity, St. Paul’s theology, the Creeds formulated by the First Ecumenical Councils and the Church Fathers, the theology of the Armenian Church hymns, the Sacraments of the Church, the essence of Christ’s Church, and finally the heresy and the atheism in past and present.

All five of these recent publications were sponsored by David and Margaret Mgrublian of Pasadena. The books will be presented under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian by the author Fr. Arzoumanian on Wednesday, May 21, 2008. The public is warmly welcome. Reception will follow.