The Christian Post. In the summer of 2023, I had the privilege of visiting Armenia on a study tour supported by the Save Armenia Judeo-Christian Alliance. What I encountered there was a country of extraordinary resilience, a people holding firmly to faith and tradition despite centuries of pressure from hostile neighbors.
Armenia is not merely another nation on the map—it is a spiritual landmark for all Christians. And at this moment in history, Armenia desperately needs the solidarity of the Christian world.
Armenia’s claim to fame is singular: it was the first official Christian nation. In 301AD, under King Tiridates III and the witness of St. Gregory the Illuminator, Armenia declared Christianity its state religion. This moment came a dozen years before Constantine’s Edict of Milan legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. The Armenian highlands thus became the first place where the cross stood not merely as a personal profession of faith, but as a national identity.
Yet that sacred heritage is imperiled. Surrounded by Muslim-majority nations — Turkey to the west, Iran to the south, and Azerbaijan to the east — Armenia is caught in a geopolitical vise. Turkey has closed its border with Armenia for decades, cutting off trade and, more grievously, denying Armenian Christians access to important biblical sites, including Mount Ararat itself. To the east, Azerbaijan has waged a relentless campaign of pressure and intimidation. The tragedy of 2023, when Azerbaijan cut off the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) region, was only the latest example of this aggression. The blockade starved the Armenian population into submission and forced tens of thousands to flee their ancestral lands. For Armenians, Artsakh is more than territory — it is sacred ground, home to centuries-old churches and monasteries that testify to the endurance of faith in a hostile world.
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What is happening in Armenia should alarm all Christians. Armenia is more than a geopolitical pawn caught between East and West — it is a frontline defense for Christian civilization itself. If Armenia falls, what message will that send about the world’s willingness to defend the very first Christian nation? The threats are not hypothetical. There are those, particularly in Ankara, who dream of reviving the Ottoman map: An Islamic empire stretching from Turkey through the Caucasus, wiping Armenia from existence in the process. That dream would require the erasure of Armenia, its borders redrawn, its culture suppressed, and its faith silenced.
Christians around the globe should not remain silent. We must be bold defenders of Armenia — through advocacy, prayer, and political action. We should demand from our leaders and from the international community that Armenia’s borders be respected, its sovereignty upheld, and its people protected from harassment and violence. To do less is to betray our brothers and sisters in Christ who have preserved the flame of faith for nearly two millennia in the most difficult of circumstances.
There are moments when the world has shown leadership on this issue, and they should not be forgotten. The Trump administration, for example, deserves praise for recognizing Armenia’s importance and working to secure a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. That diplomatic breakthrough demonstrated that strong U.S. leadership can help restrain aggression in the region and preserve Armenia’s fragile security. While the work remains unfinished, it was a vital step in the right direction — one that should be built upon, not abandoned.
The question for today is whether Christians — and the nations shaped by Christian heritage — will rise to Armenia’s defense. Armenia’s survival is not just a matter of national self-interest for Armenians. It is a test of our own faithfulness. Do we believe that the heritage of the world’s first Christian nation is worth protecting? Do we care enough to stand against those who would erase it from history?
My brief time in Armenia left me with deep admiration for the courage of its people. Despite their small numbers and limited resources, Armenians continue to hold fast to their faith. Armenia has kept the faith for nearly two thousand years. Now the question is whether we will keep faith with Armenia. To remain silent in the face of its trials is to risk not only the loss of a nation but the dimming of a light that has shone since the earliest centuries of Christianity. Christians must speak, pray, and act with urgency — so that the first Christian nation will not become a forgotten one.