Thread by @GrantJHillman

The Historical Veneration of Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria in the Armenian Apostolic Church:

MEGA THREAD

Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria occupies the epicenter of the Oriental/Eastern Orthodox feud stemming from the Council of Chalcedon. I’ll skip the details of the Council itself since I assume most of the audience of this thread knows what happened at a basic level, at least.

The TL;DR for those not in the know: Pope St. Dioscorus is considered among the greatest of the Holy Orthodox Hierarchs in the Oriental Orthodox traditions. To Chalcedonians, he is one of their primary “monophysite” antagonists throughout history.

However, Pope Dioscorus does not appear to be commemorated in any manner in the modern Armenian Apostolic Church (as well as a few other notable miaphysite fathers). What does this mean? Many in online “apologetics” circles, particularly the Eastern Orthodox...

...interpret this as “proof” of “false unity” among the Oriental Orthodox communion.

With tweets like these circulating, it is more prudent than ever to look to the sources available and not merely take the base statements of biased outsiders at face value.

Research into the history of the Armenian Church provides a much different picture than the Chalcedonian claim of the Oriental Orthodox Church possessing “false union” over a perceived lack of common saints. Pope Dioscorus plays a key role in refuting this ahistorical argument.

What if I told you the ancient, exiled Coptic Pope was not only venerated by the Armenian Apostolic Church for over a thousand years, but was once listed among the greatest patriarchs of Orthodoxy by Armenian clergy, with hymns dedicated to his praise? Would you believe me?

First, we will look at sources from scholars outside the Armenian Church (citations at the end btw). We start with excerpts from "Armenia Christiana. Armenian Religious Identity and the Churches of Constantinople and Rome (4th – 15th century)" by Krzysztof Stopka.

First, the Armenian-Syriac-Greek Council of Shirakavan (862) is referenced. One of several attempts at unification between Armenians and Byzantines from the 9th to 11th century, Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, presented the Armenians with a list of conditions...

...he required for union. Among them was dropping miaphysites such as Pope Dioscorus from commemoration. The arguments raised by Photius were addressed and refuted, and he never succeeded in his mission to convert the Armenians.

Thus, the Council of Shirakavan (contrary to the false interpretation of numerous EO Discord e-theologians) did not result in a reunion of the Armenian and Byzantine churches (excerpt below from the Armenian Ordination Euchologian):

Now we will move to the Council of Tarsus (1196), yet another attempt at unifying with the Byzantines. Once again, veneration of Dioscorus was mentioned as a point of conflict by the Byzantines.

The Armenians again defended the Coptic Pope, arguing he was not guilty of the same heresy as Eutyches. Additionally, Armenians pushed back against the Byzantines on points of their own:

Now I will specifically quote excerpts from a 1997 essay by Rev. Dr. Krikor Maksoudian titled “Reconciliation of Memories: The Maligned Dioscorus” as it appears in Volume 3 of the St. Nerses’s Seminary Theological Review (1998) alongside many other essays by OO and EO clergy.

With potential unity of the Oriental and Eastern churches as the topic, themes of the essays span from the controversial saints and anathemas of each church to whether or not reunion is truly possible in the immediate term (This was less than a decade after the 1989/'90 talks).

To begin, the origins of Armenian knowledge of Dioscorus are examined, spanning from the sixth to early seventh centuries. Remember, the Armenian Church did not participate at Chalcedon and thus made no official statements as it occurred or in its immediate aftermath...

...in other words, during the lifetime of St. Dioscorus. Study of statements issued by Armenian clergy of this era reveals that Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria was not only held in high esteem among the Armenians but was even noted as a Confessor for the Orthodox faith:

In these same excerpts the list of “holy patriarchs” I mentioned at the beginning of the thread is noted. The list includes a few key figures beloved amongst the miaphysites: Pope St. Dioscorus of Alexandria, St. Philoxenus of Mabbug, and “Severianus” (likely Severus of Antioch).

More study of Armenian sources throughout the seventh and eighth centuries continues to prove the devotion to Pope Dioscorus among the leaders of the Armenian Church:

Over time, however, specific references to Dioscorus by Armenian Church leaders slowly became less common. This was not, however, due to a sudden shift against him and miaphysitism, but rather the Armenian Church developing its own methodology of apologetics:

We see a perfect example of these Armenia-specific apologetics in the words of Samuel of Kamrjadzor, who states the Armenian Church does not reject Chalcedon solely due to Dioscorian influence, but rather the statements of the Council and the Tome of Leo on their own:

The first time we see the Armenians ceding ground on Dioscorus occurs in the 11th century when the "king of Ani" (I believe he's referring to Gagik-Abas II), under political pressure from Byzantium, cautiously adds Dioscorus to a “list of heretics”…but with a very notable “if”:

In the late 12th century, Armenian-Byzantine dialogue continued. Time and time again, the Byzantines demanded the Armenians drop their veneration of Pope Dioscorus, Timothy Aelrus, and other miaphysites. The Armenians continued to defend their Orthodoxy:

Even as new political pressures from Rome replaced the previous issues with the Byzantine empire heading into the 13th century, notable Armenians such as the multitalented priest Mkhitar Gosh continued to praise Pope Dioscorus in writing:

We move to the 14th century, a period mentioned earlier in the thread when the Armenian Church was particularly vulnerable to Latin influence. Uniate Armenians drew up a list of accusations against the true Armenian Church, with veneration of Pope Dioscorus...

...(and the celebration of his feast day THREE TIMES PER YEAR) and hymns anathematizing the Tome of Leo among them:

The aforementioned hymn commemorating Pope Dioscorus as a saint was edited to remove the stanzas praising him and anathematizing Chalcedon/the Tome of Leo…in the EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

What this demonstrates is not only did the Armenian Apostolic Church regard Pope Dioscorus as a key historic Patriarch for approximately one thousand years, but his commemoration was only removed from Armenian liturgical practice to appease Uniate (read: traitorous) Armenians...

...who would later schism from the true Armenian church anyway.

In fact, even though the official removal of the stanzas celebrating Pope Dioscorus and professing anti-Chalcedonian doctrine occurred in 1726...

...churches continued to use this version of the chant well into the 19th century, as Armenian uniates were still complaining about it during that time:

This brings us to the modern day, with the Armenian Church appearing mute on the topic of Pope Dioscorus. He is regarded neither as a saint, nor as a heretic:

To conclude: Pope Dioscorus, the “Lamp of Orthodoxy” (as titled within the Coptic/Syriac Churches) was venerated by the Armenian Apostolic Church for over a thousand years (with the lengthiest-possible parameter being the 7th to 19th century)...

...and was regarded as one of the most important historical Orthodox patriarchs. His lack of commemoration in the modern Armenian church is a MODERN INNOVATION spurred by Latin influence.

It would be a RETURN TO HISTORICAL TRADITION to A) restore his commemoration within the church and B) to restore the liturgical stanzas praising him and anathematizing Chalcedon/the Tome of Leo.

But perhaps the most important takeaway from my research is this point: the online Eastern Orthodox argument of “the Oriental Orthodox have false union”/"Oriental Orthodoxy did not exist until the 1960s,” etc., has been nuked. Completely shattered. It's over for them.

Based on my findings, the historical Armenian Church venerated Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria – beloved by our fellow miaphysites, despised by the Chalcedonians – as a saint and only neglected to reference him liturgically beginning roughly two to three centuries ago...

...in a desperate attempt to appease Latinophile schismatics. Restoring Pope Dioscorus to the Armenian list of the Holy Patriarchs of Orthodoxy would not only demonstrate Oriental Orthodox unity…it would be a PROPER return to ancient tradition.

If you disagree, you’re a modernist, ecumenist, or both. It’s as simple as that. We are the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Works referenced:
"Armenia Christiana. Armenian Religious Identity and the Churches of Constantinople and Rome (4th – 15th century)" by Krzysztof Stopka
"The Christian Church in Cilician Armenia: Its Relations with Rome and Constantinople to 1198" by Charles A. Frazee

"Reconciliation of Memories: The Maligned Dioscorus" by Rev. Dr. Krikor Maksoudian
"The Anathemas in the Armenian Ordination Euchologian" by Dr. Abraham Terian
"Armenian Church Councils" bellevillearmenianchurch.org/orig/index.php…