Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume II/Sozomen/Book II/Chapter 8
Chapter VIII.—How the Armenians and Persians embraced Christianity.
Subsequently the Christian religion became known to the neighboring tribes and was very greatly disseminated.[1]
The Armenians, I have understood, were the first to embrace Christianity.[2]
It is said that Tiridates, then the sovereign of that nation, became a Christian by means of a marvelous Divine sign which was wrought in his own house; and that he issued commands to all the subjects, by a herald, to adopt the same religion.[3]
I think that the beginning of the conversion of the Persians[4]
was owing to their intercourse with the Osroenians and Armenians; for
it is likely that they would converse with such Divine men and make
experience of their virtue.
Footnotes edit
- ↑ This paragraph is regarded by Valesius as spurious.
- ↑ The source of this chapter certainly is not Moses Chorenensis. Tiridates III. reigned a.d. 286–342. At first a persecutor, through Gregory the Illuminator he became a Christian. Yet parts of Armenia were Christianized much earlier. Dionysius bishop of Alexandria wrote a letter on Repentance to the Armenians in the reign of Gallus. Eus. H. E. vi. 46. Cf. Agathangelas, History of Tiridates the Great, and the preaching of Gregory the Illuminator.
- ↑ Here follows in the Greek text a repetition, word for word, of the first two lines of this chapter, which seem to be superfluous, if we do not reject the paragraph above.
- ↑ Soz. is wrong in attributing the conversion of Persia to Armenia.