The following, taken from the Armenian Christian Text “Adamgirk’ 1” (1403) shows that the work is very “anti-Calvinistic” (using ‘Calvinistic,’ of course, anachronistically [i.e., before Calvin]):
The protomartyr opened the
heavens,
He saw Jesus seated with the father.
And he closed the vision of the Jews,
Lest they see the crucified God.
All the saints resemble them,
Who preserved that key.
They were always opening and closing,
That which is impossible for all.
The Lord spoke this word with
Peter,
To give [him] the keys of the kingdom,
To close, to open to the sons of men,
On earth, in heaven at the same time.
Whatever you bind, he said, on the
earth,
Will be bound in heaven.
Whomsoever you loose on this earth,
Will be loosed in heaven.
The Inscrutable bequeathed to us,
His ineffable, divine will.
Whatever the one desires who does His will,
Will always take place.
If they abandon sin, the book is
annihilated,
Just as Basil [did] that of the harlot.
And if they bind, they will be bound,
Just as John [bound] that of Eudoxia.
But he who abandons the Creator’s
will,
From the heart’s depth completely,
Whatever he says will not take place,
For he has not His will.
And this, in the parable of the
prodigal son,
He makes known, the mystery of the matter.
He does not offer the sacrifice,
You will offer it on his account.
And if certain ones oppose,
not agreeing to the order of this matter,
They say the Creator’s word functions,
Through an unworthy priest.
Those who say such things as this,
Have the Lord as their opponent.
In Capernaum the unworthy,
He cold not do any miracle.
And if again they oppose,
We are not unbelieving like them.
From the Lord he hears the answer,
What does He say to that sort?
‘Not he that says to Me, “Lord,
Lord”,
Enters the kingdom.
But he who will do My will.
For him, there will be what it says.’
But he who wishes to listen to the
Saviour,
Will be a disciple of His will.
Without Me, you can do nothing,
If not, to carry it out by My will.
For He acts by His will,
Towards him who carries out His will.
But he who does not do His will.
How will what he says take place?
And this is the Redeemer’s will,
To oppose the will of the Evil One.
Yet where the evil will is carried out,
How shall the will of the Creator act?
Again, this too is the Saviour’s
will,
To kill the sins in the body.
But he who esteems sin in his soul,
What portion has he with the Saviour? (1.20.10-25, in Michael E. Stone, Adamgirk’:
The Adam Book of Aṙak’el of Siwnik’ [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007],
200-2, emphasis added. Note the section in bold: the Church itself can decide if sins have been forgiven [cf. D&C 132:46])
