MACARIUS OF JERUSALEM

Letter to the Armenians, AD 335

by Abraham Terian

Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem in the early fourth century, was commissioned by Emperor Constantine to oversee the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. As host to a large gathering of bishops from every city" (presumably for the dedication of the Constantinian edifice) Macarius draws on local tradition in his response to queries by the nascent Armenian Church regarding baptism and the Eucharist. His Letter to the Armenians addressed to Vertanes elder son and second successor to St. Gregory the Illuminator as head of the Armenian Church reveals much about the nature of pre-Nicene Armenian Christianity and its affinities with East Syrian baptismal and eucharistic traditions thought to stand in need of reforms.

Surviving only in Armenian the Letter belongs to a decisively formative period in the history of the church in Armenia.

Terian's study goes beyond establishing the authorship and date of this earliest document bearing on the history of the Armenian Church.

ISBN9780881413236 "