The spiritual preconditions of the acceptance of Christianity in Armenia
The reason why Armenia was comparatively quickly Christianized in 301 and its priority in the process when Christianity turned into one of the most powerful world religions is partially explained by the use of violence and political commonsense at the same time ignoring the very factor of religion.
Comparing the Armenians religious ideas with classical paganism and Zoroastrianism let us see the principal differences between old Armenian religions. The basis of pagan cosmogony is birth, and the ones of Christianity are Creator and creations. In pre-Christian faiths of Armenians the beginning of the world is connected with a much stronger act of creation than in other pagan systems: the supreme God is considered to be the creator of the heavens and the world. Unlike Zoroastrianism, where good and evil are the substantial beginnings, the Armenian religion excluded the evil from divine act of creation. These and other peculiarities of old Armenian faiths show that in Armenian pre-Christian religions are well seen the elements of monotheism which according to some observations of primary polytheism is the result of later formation. In accordance with it the acceptance of Christianity is return to the gone and the act of Christianizing in Armenia is expressed by the word ‘”dardz” which means “return”.
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