A Church History Source at the Crossroads of Politics and Theology: The Key of Truth

Year 2024, , 35 - 62, 30.06.2024

Ömer Faruk Kalıntürk

https://doi.org/10.51490/oksident.1453198

Abstract

This paper questions the authenticity of one of the two main sources cited in scholarly research on the history of the Paulicians in early mediaeval Byzantine Asia Minor, The Key of Truth. It first addresses the issues raised in this source, then analyses the arguments of scholars for and against the authenticity of this text, subjecting the claims of both to a contextual archaeological reading. Finally, it shows how these scholars argued for the authenticity of this work in light of the political, theological, and philosophical events of their time and highlights an aspect that scholars interested in this topic have often ignored. The debates surrounding this text, which purports to be a source of church history, cannot be explained solely in terms of internal identity and doctrinal disagreements. It is argued here that the authors who consider The Key of Truth to be authentic were directly and naturally associated with nineteenth-century Armenian political ideals and, because of these ties, presented this work to ensure the existence and subsequent legitimacy of the Armenian Protestant Church, whose workers were Anglo-American Protestant missionaries and whose patron was the British Empire.

Keywords

History of Religions, Protestantism, the Paulicians, the Thondrakians, Adoptionism, Heretics

Politika ve Teolojinin Kavşağında Bir Kilise Tarihi Kaynağı: Gerçeğin Anahtarı

Abstract

Bu makale, erken ortaçağın ilginç hareketlerinden olan Pavlikanların tarihi konusunda, akademik araştırmalarda atıfta bulunulan iki ana kaynaktan birinin, Gerçeğin Anahtarı'nın otantikliğini sorgulamaktadır. İlk olarak Gerçeğin Anahtarı'nda ortaya konan meselelere işaret etmekte ve ardından, bu metnin özgünlüğünün lehinde ve aleyhinde olan akademisyenlerin argümanlarını bağlamsal bir arkeolojik okumaya tabi tutarak analiz etmektedir. Nihayetinde bu araştırmacıların içinde bulundukları dönemin siyasi, teolojik ve felsefi olayları ışığında, bu eserin otantikliğinden yana tavır aldıkları gösterilecek ve bu araştırmacıların ısrarla ıskaladığı bir nokta tebarüz ettirilecektir. Kilise tarihine dair bir kaynak olma iddiası taşıyan bu metin çevresinde cereyan eden tartışmalar sadece Ermeni Kilisesi içerisindeki bir dahili kimlik ve teoloji tartışmalarıyla izah edilemez. Burada iddia olunan şey, Gerçeğin Anahtarı’nı otantik gören araştırmacıların, doğrudan ve tabii olarak Ermeni siyasi idealleriyle ilintili olmuş olması ve bu bağları dolayısıyla emekçileri Anglo-Amerikan Protestan misyonerleri, hamisi ise Britanya İmparatorluğu olan Ermeni Protestan Kilisesi`nin mevcudiyetinin ve akabinde meşruiyetinin temini için bu eseri öne sürmüş olmalarıdır.

Keywords

Dinler Tarihi, Protestanlık, Pavlikanlar, Tondrakianlar, Adoptionizm, Sapkınlar

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