HE HAS RISEN

The "change of plan" weekend was also Easter, a time of celebration, family, church, something that we didn't expect to see here in Turkey.  While Turkey is a secular country and the only one with no state religion, 98% of the population is Muslim.  However, their current constitution guarantees religious freedom and tolerance.

Christianity has a long history in Turkey:
*Birthplace of numerous Apostles & Saints (Paul, Timothy, St. Nicholas are a few)
*2 of the 5 ancient Pentarchy's: Constantinople (Istanbul); Antioch (Antakya)
*Antioch, where the follwers of Jesus were first called "Christians"
*Hagia Sophia, site of one of the earliest, oldest, and largest churches, started by St. Peter
*Home to 7 Churches of  Revelation-Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Tyatira, Sardis,   Philadelphia, and Laodicea
*Last home of Virgin Mary
*All of first 7 Ecumenical Councils were held here
*The Nicene Creed

Christianity was the official religion of Turkey in 380AD during the reign of Theodosius I.  During the Byzantine Era Christianity had it's ups and downs, and with friction between the Romans and the Orthodox churches, many of the peasants living on Ottoman held land  converted to what seemed a much simpler Islam.

 

 

As we were driving this building with the cross caught my eye, with people milling out front, so we turned around and came back to check it out.  It turned out to be an Armenian Christian Church.

 The members were leaving one service while others were entering for another.  Geoff stuck his head inside and said it looked beautiful, but as we were not dressed to enter, we decided we would return one day for a look inside.  Most were dressed in their Sunday best, maybe their new Easter finery.  

Turkey has 3 major Christian communities, Armenian (45,000), Assyrian (17,000), Greek (4,000), with minorities of Roman Catholic, Bulgarian, Anglican and Protestant.  There are 236 churches in Turkey that are open for worship today.  The Armenians were the first country to accept Christianity as their state religion, with the Armenian Apostolic Church being the world's oldest National Church.  The Armenians managed to hold on to their faith until the Ottoman Empire.  During this era (1915), the Armenians were forced to leave, walking long distances, often dying en route and even murdered.  The Greeks and Assyrians also faced similar deportations.

This little guy (with a dog tucked up and sleeping under the greenery) was happily picking dandelions and brought a smile as that is something we could see Natty or Ian doing.


Apparently in the past, the two big traditions of the Armenian Christians were painting eggs, after collecting the plants to make the dye, and the burning of beeswax, both of which were prepared on Holy Saturday.  The beeswax was hung on the doorways to light the streets for the evening celebrations.  On Easter morning the children of the community would go from house to house collecting walnuts and money.  With migration to the cities and outside the country, the once large communities have dwindled and the celebrations are not as they once were.

The Syriac Christians distributed colored threads halfway through lent: red for the blood of Christ, white for purity, and blue for the ascension of Jesus. The collected threads were then presented before dawn on Easter morning and thrown into ovens that were being used for baking their special Easter cookies and eggs.  Burning of the threads represented resurrection and salvation.  The Syriacs still maintain this tradition.


The Greek Orthodox Christians baked a special kind of cookie, early on Easter morning, while painting eggs.  After the Easter Service they had a roasted lamb lunch, usually outdoors.  


We were extremely pleased to see this profession of the Christian faith in the center of a large Muslim city, and no matter what the tradition of a particular group of Christians, they all have one common denominator:  JESUS.  So while it might not have been the weekend we thought we wanted, it turned into a weekend that was perfect for us.