syncretism

Adapting ceremonies and festivals

Diarmaid MacCulloch, the eminently readable author of numerous books on ecclesiastical history, gave his bestselling work on the history of Christianity the provocative subtitle ‘The first three thousand years’, making the point that there is much in Christian ritual and iconography that is drawn from pre-Christian practice.

OPPOSITE The three nave Alanian church of Shoana, built in the Byzantine style in the early 10th century. Karachay Cherkessia, Russian Federation. IMAGE: Alexander Svirkin

Converting the Caucasus

According to legend, a king who had been saved after being turned into a boar ordered the conversion of Armenia to Christianity. From these royal beginnings came fights between crown, clergy, and defenders of different creeds. Christoph Baumer takes us on a journey through the ecclesiastical conflicts of the Caucasus and to its magnificent early churches.