Kalmoukos

Response to Kalmoukos’ “Ignorance Fosters Confusion…”

Submitted November 9, 2004

The primary role of the Orthodox Church is to assist individuals in their struggle towards salvation and to become like God. Christ gives the Apostles commandments in His Great Commission when He calls them to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel..." (Mark 15:16) and to "make disciples of all the nations" (Matt 28:19-20). I do not recall any reference in the Scriptures or Church Fathers that commands the Apostles to preach Hellenism or the glory of Ancient Greece to the world.

The Orthodox Church may have had a Judeo-Hellenic identity in the beginning, but this was clarified at the Council of Jerusalem (1st Century) which resolved the issue of national identity in the Early Church and concluded that Gentiles could also become members of the Church. In other words, the Orthodox Church does not have any national identity. If it did, then we would all have to become Jews and be circumcised in order to be Christians.

The miracle at Pentecost makes it clear that God wishes to speak to people in their own language that they can understand, not in classical Hebrew or Greek. St Paul also confirms this when he says that "in the church I would rather speak five words with my own understanding...than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Cor 14:19). In other words, the role of the church is to teach people the true Faith, not to try to impress them with ancient languages that we no longer speak or understand.

The Orthodox Church is not here to hold services or preach in any so-called "liturgical language" or to concern herself with national and political issues. The only cultural identity of the Church comes from whichever country she happens to be in. So in America, the Church is American Orthodox; in Japan it is Japanese Orthodox, and in Greece it is Greek Orthodox. The phrase "Greek Orthodox" should never be used outside of Greece to describe the Church or its people. I am in Australia, and therefore, I am Australian Orthodox. My Greek background has nothing to do with my Orthodox Faith. I am Orthodox because I am baptized, not because I am Greek.

If people wish to preserve their ethnic culture and identity, that's great, but let them not confuse this with their Faith. People can always send their children to Greek schools to learn the Greek language and customs, but it is not the role of the Church to preserve Greek culture, dances and nationalism.

During the Ottoman occupation of Greece, the Church had to preserve both the Faith and Greek language in order to prevent their children from becoming Turks, which was understandable at that time. But now that Greece has its freedom, there is no longer any place for nationalism in the Church. Indeed, to love your nation more than God or to subjugate the Orthodox Church to any national and political ideologies is to commit the heresy of "Ethnophyletism" which was condemned by the Synod of Constantinople in 1872.

When Saints Cyril and Methodius brought Orthodoxy to the Slavs, they did not impose the Greek language and culture on them. Nor did any of the other great missionaries of our Church.

An emotional appeal to the greatness of Ancient Greece might make a lovely history lesson at school, but it does nothing to advance any serious theological argument about allowing a foreign language or culture in the Church.

Unfortunately, there are still some people today who think that being Greek will save them. Is Hellenism "sacred"? Can Hellenism save anyone? These silly arguments are usually only put forward by people who have never read the Bible or the Church Fathers.

Once they do, they will quickly realize that all those who are baptized in our Church become Orthodox Christians where "there is neither Jew nor Greek...for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).



Volume 6 Number 46 - Tuesday, November 16th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY