Orthodoxy and the problem of identity

Abstract

All the articles in this issue discuss different aspects of the problem Orthodox face as to their identity in the modern world. This is crucial for the Orthodox because of the legacy of the rise and fall of communism in the twentieth century and behind that the protracted decline of the Ottoman Empire. The restoration of the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow is a symbol of this ambivalent identity. It is argued that Orthodox identity finds its roots in the Liturgy and the cycle of the liturgical year. Metropolitan Kallistos's article provides a survey of modern Orthodox theology. Some important points emerge: the limitations of Florovsky's ideal of Christian Hellenism, the importance of acknowledging parallels between the development of Orthodox theology and parallel developments in the West, going back to Romanticism. The Metropolitan ends by emphasising the importance of the notion of personhood in the problems we face today. Russell explores the way in which the Ecumenical Patriarch accrued power in the shadow of the emperor, and the problems this bequeaths to later Orthodox, not least the lack of any ultimate executive authority in the Church and also the conflicting claims to primacy among the Orthodox. The problem of the nature of nationhood is skilfully discussed by Loudovikos, his solution being the notion of ontological eschatology. The relevance of ecumenism to the question of Orthodox identity, the problems of religious freedom in a confessedly Orthodox nation, and the vexed question of the translation of traditional texts are discussed by Tsompanidis, Diamantopoulou, and Konstantinou. The article closes with a plea to reach beyond the political and the cultural to the liturgical.