{"id":767,"date":"2026-07-08T08:50:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haroutnercessian.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2026-07-08T18:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:20:47","slug":"questions-from-the-initial-flame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haroutnercessian.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/questions-from-the-initial-flame\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions from the Initial Flame"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201c\u2026since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>

Hebrews 12:1 NKJ<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u201cHe is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>

Martyred missionary, Jim Elliot<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

As I reflect on the beginnings of the Armenian Evangelical Church 180 years ago, I find myself asking: what questions do the lives of the founders\u2014the 37 men and women who first became members of the Armenian Evangelical Church in 1846\u2014ask us today?<\/p>

To begin answering that question, I need to step into their world\u2014their faith, values, priorities, and lifestyles.<\/p>

Like the Apostle Paul, the Armenian Evangelical pioneers saw the Gospel as a treasure worth preserving, practicing, and propagating at any cost. What they once valued\u2014social status, wealth, and comfort\u2014became loss compared to the knowledge of Christ. These former priorities became weights that slowed their race.<\/p>

In this light, their aim was faithful endurance in witness to Christ. The founders of the Armenian Evangelical movement ran with single-minded resolve even through severe opposition, sacrificing comfort, status, employment, businesses, and financial security. Their steadfast witness mirrored those who first carried the Gospel into a hostile world. They were ostracized, denied legal and social rights, dismissed from jobs, and saw their livelihoods destroyed\u2014yet they did not turn aside.<\/p>

What marked early Christians?<\/strong><\/p>

Sacrificial service<\/strong> has marked Christians throughout history. Glen Scrivener reflects on the response of believers to the lethal pandemic known as the Plague of Cyprian (249\u2013262 AD). While the heathen deserted those who began to fall ill, \u201cMost of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains.\u201d<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>

How did this pattern continue among Armenian Evangelicals<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>

German historian Dr. Hilmar Kaiser<\/strong> writes extensively about the role of Armenian Evangelicals in the rescue efforts of Armenian Genocide survivors. He notes that \u201ca second and much wider Evangelical relief network emerged around Reverend Hovhannes Eskijian<\/strong> of Aleppo\u2019s Evangelical Emmanuel Church.\u201d<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> <\/strong><\/span>Eskijian tirelessly rescued hundreds of children from deportation trains bound for Der Zor, ultimately dying of diphtheria contracted through his work. Kaiser also highlights Rev. Aharon Shirejian<\/strong> of Aleppo, who cared for countless orphaned children\u2014providing food, education, vocational training, and even arranging suitable life partners\u2014embodying Paul\u2019s words, \u201cpoor, yet making many rich.\u201d<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Referring to Evangelical young pastors<\/strong>, graduates of the Marash seminary, Kaiser writes that they \u201cformed the backbone of the relief work in many places.\u201d<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> <\/strong><\/span>He further notes that \u201cthe relief network at Hama was independently organized by Evangelical preachers Dikran Koundakdjian, Haroutiun Nohoudian, and Kaspar Haidostian,\u201d<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> <\/strong><\/span>who played an important role in organizing the deportee camp; all three were later arrested and imprisoned.<\/p>

Armenian Evangelicals carried forward the legacy of sacrificial service that has marked Christians throughout history.<\/p>

How did their sacrificial services influence the dominant Armenian culture?<\/strong><\/p>

During its early decades, Christianity had a powerful transformative influence on the prevailing culture\u2014norms, values and practices. In his book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind<\/em>, historian Tom Holland<\/strong> writes extensively about the transformation that Christianity ushered into Roman culture. His assertions can be summarized in the following three points:<\/p>