Of the Armenian Church

Of the Armenian Church

The history of the ancient religious sects of the East, opens an interesting and important field of inquiry, in investigating the rites and customs and discipline of the primitive church. These religious sects, severally, separated themselves at a very early period from the established church; and, in the deep seclusion and sleepless jealousy of Eastern bigotry, they have preserved their ancient religious rites unchanged through the lapse of ages. These their religious rites, therefore, carry us back to a high antiquity, and, with some circumstantial variations, disclose to us the usages and customs of the ancient church.

It would be interesting and instructive, for this reason, to compare the antiquities of some of the most ancient of these religious sects, such as the Armenians, the Nestorians, the Jacobites, the Copts, etc. The author has taken measures to obtain from our missionaries a brief statement of the religious rites of several of these sects, and has the pleasure of laying before the reader one such abstract respecting the Armenian church, from the Rev. H. G. O. Dwight, missionary at Constantinople. This communication from him cannot fail to be alike interesting both to the antiquarian and the Christian.