Within the framework of “The Church and the Law” series of interviews, Iravaban.net talked about the image of a Christian with Pastor Senior Priest Minas Martirosyan, the Abbot of Sevanavank of Gegharkunik diocese.
– What do we mean saying the image of a Christian? Is it more spiritual or physical?
– We understand everything both physical, mental and spiritual. By physical we mean the person’s posture, starting from his clothes, behavior in society, and actions whether moral or immoral. When we say intellectual, we understand the person’s thoughts, ideological, and spiritual refers to the person’s relationship with God and through it also with people.
– What contradicts the image of a Christian?
– Obsessions contradict the image of a Christian. For example: pride, envy, anger, hatred, greed, laziness, having dirty thoughts, gluttony. I basically listed the deadly sins. If we generalize, there are 2 main things that prevent a person from living a Christian life, accepting God in general, they are pride and selfishness.
– Are there any clothes that are forbidden to enter the church for both women and men?
– Of course, there are indecent clothes that naturally should not be worn by a person. They are open clothes, semi-open clothes, today’s torn clothes.
– Why do women wear headscarves?
– There is a certain evangelical message about women wearing headscarves, the Apostle Paul speaks about it. A woman’s wearing a headscarf also means that she has accepted the authority of a man. Of course, the apostle says, because of the angels as well, but the angels have no problem of being tempted.
– Why are women forbidden to go up to the altar?
-Honestly, it is not always forbidden, there are cases when women are allowed, for example, it is possible to raise the altar before reaching female adulthood. But the problem of women not going up to the tabernacle is more related to the phenomenon called the period of impurity, the period of menstruation. Since it is somehow inconvenient to talk about such things, it is better not to go up. Even men are forbidden to go up to the altar in such a state.
– Why do they leave the church facing the altar?
– When the believer leaves the church, he does not have to walk back and forth, but at the end he just turns around at the door, bows, crosses himself and leaves. It is even uncomfortable to walk like that.
– What kind of lifestyle should an Armenian Christian lead?
– First of all, a Christian has several responsibilities: to himself, to his homeland, to God, to society, to his family, etc. Let me tell you how a Christian should be in his relationship with God. He should both believe and listen to God himself. In other words, he should follow his commandments and strive to implement them in his life, love God. A Christian must also love himself, that is, do everything for his salvation, to get closer to God. He must also love his neighbor. A Christian has responsibilities towards the motherland. A Christian has very serious responsibilities in the family.
– Now there is a lot of talk about patriotism. How should one love the motherland?
– In order to be patriotic, they must first be strong. Strong not only physically and not only mentally, but especially spiritually, we must be truly strengthened by the Lord. We should also strive to keep our physical body healthy and strong so that we can withstand the upcoming trials. Protecting the motherland, security, upholding the glory and honor of the motherland; these are special for strong people. The manifestation of patriotism is the readiness to give everything, including life, if necessary, this is the highest love. In the name of faith and in the name of the homeland.
– Who is a neighbor and is the enemy also considered a neighbor?
– The neighbor is the person who needs us, and in reality, yes, the enemy also needs us. The need for our prayers, the need for our kindness. I am talking about a personal enemy. But it can also be extended to the enemy of the nation. We have a neighbor who hates us, who tries to harm us in everything. Should we treat them with the same hatred? Of course not. As Christians, we should see it this way: just as God does not want the death of a sinner, so we must love our enemy in that sense.
– What is the attitude of the church’s towards tattooing?
– The Bible talks about it and considers it a defilement. They should be avoided. In general, a person’s body is not his own, it is God’s, we must treat this value given by God correctly.
Details in the video.
