Armenian Christianity Today

Alexander Agadjanian is a professor at the Center for the Study of Religion at the Russian State University for Humanities and has taught at a number of institutions in Russia, central Europe and the USA. His research interests include a wide range of topics on religion and modernity, approached from historical, sociological and anthropological perspectives. His areas of specialization have been first Southeast Asia and later post-Soviet Eastern Europe and Eurasia. He edited a few books in Russian, including a volume on religion and secularism; on current religious practices in Russia; and the studies of Russian Orthodox congregations. He was a co-editor of the volume ’Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age’ (AltaMira Press, 2006) and of a special issue ’Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Latin America and Eastern Europe.’ (Religion, State and Society, Vol. 40 (1), 2012).

'Armenia provides one of the most fascinating instances of the seeming fusion of nation and church, and contemporary Armenia combines a post-Soviet desecularisation, especially with regard to public space and building, with an internal secularisation by national sentiment. This study of both the homeland and the numerically larger diaspora provides a rich and subtle sociological commentary on the myths and the realities.' David Martin, Fellow of the British Academy and Professor Emeritus of Sociology, London School of Economics, UK ’Armenian Christianity Today contains glimpses of the complex mosaic of the present-day Armenian religious worldview and practices. Christianity, adopted far back in time, and often perceived as a stable ethno-religion, is discussed in its multifaceted and multifunctional manifestations: from identity-preserving, social-political and transnational functions to parallel realities of folk Christianity.’ Levon Abrahamian, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia ’This book in an important resource for anyone interested in the paradoxes of desecularisation in the countries of the some time Soviet bloc and for the debates over nationalism and religion associated with major scholars like Anthony Smith.’ Journal of Contemporary Religion

• Introduction Alexander Agadjanian PART I: The Republic of Armenia: Religious Revival and Renewal 1 "One Nation, One Faith, One Church": The Armenian Apostolic Church and the Ethno-Religion in Post-Soviet Armenia Konrad Siekierski 2 Church, God and Society: Toward the Anthropology of Church Construction in Armenia Yulia Antonyan 3 Where Did We Come From? Creationism versus Evolution in Armenian Public Schools Satenik Mkrtchyan 4 The Religious Modernity of the Brotherhood: A New Face of Armenian Grassroots Christianity Alexander Agadjanian 5 Evangelical and Pentecostal Communities in Armenia: Negotiating Identity and Accommodation Anna Ohanjanyan PART II: Armenian Diasporas: Puzzles of Identity 6 Identity, Borders and Religious Belonging: Armenians between Two Spiritual Centers, Etchmiadzin and Cilicia Hovhannes Hovhannisyan 7 Venerating the Saints, Remembering the City: Armenian Memorial Practices and Community Formation in Contemporary Istanbul Christopher Sheklian 8 The Three Religions of Armenians in Lebanon Irina Papkova 9 The Chronotopes of the Armenian Diaspora in Romania: Religious Feasts and Shrines in the Making of Community Konrad Siekierski 10 Armenians in St. Petersburg: Belonging to the Church as a Key Marker of Ethnic Identity Anatolii Tokmantcev 11 Finger on the Pulse: Armenian Identity and Religiosity in Southern California Dyron Daughrity and Nicholas Cumming 12 Sanctuary, Community or Museum? The Apostolic Church in the Life-Worlds of a Sample of American ArmeniansSara Kärkkäinen Terian