Tuesday, May 26, 2026

It is the 26th of May 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

It is pretty common for me to get questions about the often ill-defined concept of Christian nationalism and religious freedom, and the general topic of how nations and states deal, corporately, with the realities of politics and religion.

 

But what if I told you this wasn’t necessarily a modern problem? In fact, we can trace the first “Christian nation” to a time even before the conversion of Constantine and Rome, and one of the landmark treaties for religious freedom for Christians goes back to the days of one of the earliest church councils.

 

Today is a red-letter day for our friends in the Armenian church- the “first” Christian nation and one celebrating over 1,000 martyrs today on the anniversary of one of the most consequential wars in their history.

 

Historically, Armenia was at the crossroads of modern Turkey and Iran, south of Russia, and between the Black and Caspian Seas (go look it up if you need to, maps are fun!). The Armenian legend is that they are descendants of Hayk, a great-grandson of Noah, who set up his people near Mt. Ararat, where the Ark came to rest. Armenians have referred to themselves as “Hay”- “Armenian” is an exonym given to them by the Greeks.

 

At the time of the Roman Empire, they were in a precarious position- between the easternmost outpost of Rome and butted up against the Persian Sassanid dynasty. They would develop a fierce independence by battling opponents to both the east and west. As the legend goes, it was the apostle Thaddeus who brought the Christian faith to Armenia in the 40s AD, and in the 60s AD, Armenia was granted a modicum of independence with its own ruler, Tiridates I.

 

As Christianity spread in the first centuries, it was Gregory the Illuminator, an Armenian Christian who studied in Cappadocia, who cured and then converted King Tiridates III- Tiridates in turn made Armenia the first officially “Christian” state in 301, predating Constantine and the Roman Empire by decades.

 

The Armenian Church would send delegates to Nicaea in 325, and they would affirm the early councils of Constantinople and Ephesus- but in the late 300s, they would fall under the control of the Persian Sassanids. At first, they were allowed to practice their faith, but the Sassanids became increasingly distrustful of their Armenian Christian vassals and began a forced conversion to Zoroastrianism (the curious Middle Eastern religion that has all but disappeared).

 

And it was the resistance to forced conversion that gave the Armenians perhaps their most famous battle, martyr, and ruler- and it dates to this day- the 26th of May in 451. That year might ring a bell- that was the year of the Council of Chalcedon- the Armenians were, well… occupied- they did not attend, did not affirm the council, and have thus been counted amongst the “Oriental Orthodox” ever since.

 

May 26th marks the battle of Avaryar during the so-called Vardanants War. It’s the story of the heroic charge of Vartan (if you go to the Armenian church’s American Cathedral, you will note that it is called “St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church”) Vartan lead his small army against the massive Persian army on Avaryar- they were defeated and suffered over 1,000 casualties but the Persians lost over 3,000 and decided to change course on forced conversion- the first Christian nation was saved. Vartan would die, and he and his fellow fallen soldiers are recognized as saints and martyrs in the Armenian Church. By 486, the Treaty of Nvarsak granted the Armenians freedom to practice their own religion- the first “Christian Nation” by 301, getting “Religious Freedom” by 486- and this on account of the heroes of one of Armenia’s most famous saints- St. Vartan, who led his fateful charge at Avaryar on this day in 451.

 

 

 

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Romans 8:

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 26th of May 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man insisting I apologize to Nickelback and their fan (or fans, I guess plural), he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose favorite Armenians include Cher, System of a Down, and Andre Agassi— I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.