XThe question of who is a Hellene and what makes one a true Hellene was the basic premise and goal of the presentation. He posed: is it simply a Greek-born or naturalized citizen regardless of background? Is it anyone who is of Greek descent? Or does being a true Hellene go beyond that classification to a mode of thinking and way of living. In Professor Yannaras’ view, a true Hellene is characterized by critiquing critical thought following in the tradition of the ancient Greeks. Critical thought was born in Greece out of the need to seek the deeper truth and not what only appears to be true.
Professor Yannaras examined next what it means to be a Greek Orthodox. Orthodoxy, he said, should not be viewed as simply religion reduced to a set of rules nor one limited by the instinctual or psychological needs of man. Again, as with what characterizes a Hellene, it is something beyond what appears superficially. Christianity is characterized by the metaphysical search and transformation of our existence, and not a relative truth but the absolute truth. A Greek Orthodox engages his inheritance of ancient Greek critical thought to distinguish “truth from falsehood” and then through the Church discover what truly exists and what does not, and share that truth by building relationships based on love for God and for one another.
Whereas we commonly use the words religion and church interchangeably, Professor Yannaras makes a distinction in this regard. The Ecclesia or Church became the new “polis” as a place of congregation and exchange. The polis of ancient Athenian society was not only a group of people co-existing but an expression of a way of life. Their priority was interacting, debating and communing with fellow citizens for the governance of the “polis” and for developing, expressing and sharing critical thought in search of the truth. The Church too is a place to congregate in order to worship and commune with God as a community, i.e. communing in unity.
A fundamental difference the Professor highlighted between the Orthodox Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church and (Catholic from the Greek denotes universality in this context and is the term used in the early Church before the Great Schism) is that in the latter there is more emphasis on the individual hence the infallibility of the Pope. In the Roman Catholic Church, there is a different understanding of “catholicity” in that the guiding principle is that every parish adheres to same principles applied across geographic boundaries.
The Orthodox Church is “quality-based.” For the Orthodox, “catholicity” means fullness of experience and of truth at any one Eucharistic gathering (celebration of the Liturgy and the Eucharist - Holy Communion). As a parallel example, if one needs to see maternal love or romantic love, one need only to have one sincere and true example and not a multitude of each to understand its nature.
The understanding is qualitative.
Today our Church is going through a difficult period. The complete and total need to transform the individual's existence into a loving communal and Eucharistic relationship has taken second priority to the lower level needs of society. For Greek-Americans, to rediscover our love for Hellenism would lead us to offer something unique to American culture and society. Interestingly, he says, “we can become even better Americans if we become true Hellenes.”
In order for us to accomplish this, Professor Yannaras urged the Greek-American community to remain as independent as possible institutionally from the modern Greek state. Through their heritage,
however, Greek-Americans can and must assess how and what they can contribute to American society in order to actively continue the high ideals of Hellenic tradition. And, if Greeks do not achieve this, some other group that espouses Hellenic ideals will do so because “truth never dies.”
Provocative was his unparalleled call for a reawakening of what it is to be truly Greek and a reevaluation of what it can mean to be a Greek-American!
Greeks in the diaspora, throughout the world, do hold on tightly to Greek culture and traditions. Perhaps as a form of self-preservation originally, they also linked ethnicity and Church that at times subordinates our Church to the folkloric aspects of Greek culture. Professor Yannaras promotes a link of Church to cultural identity, but the cultural identity is that of Hellenism in a way that goes beyond just the folkloric aspects of culture and reawakens us to the metaphysical needs and roots of Hellenism.
The Church and Orthodoxy are integral to the Hellenic tradition. Ancient Greek thought in the pursuit of truth was realized and incorporated in early Christian thinking. Christianity was propagated largely because of the Greek Church Fathers and through the rich and intricate expression of their language. Our ancient ancestry, Greek and Orthodox Christian, is undeniable very rich. The question is again: can we rise to the level of our forefathers and continue this tradition?
Given what Professor Yannaras says, in making our mark in American society, we Greek-Americans have an opportunity to bring Orthodoxy and the high ideals of Hellenism to American culture and society. Can our contribution to intellectual, educational and political thought in American society sprout from and within the Church as in Byzantium?
Can the Church really be the new "polis" again today? Generally we, including myself, are ignorant of our Hellenistic and ecclesiastical roots. We have a huge treasure in Orthodoxy but most of us do not know this. I have only begun to see the treasure. Being brought up in a western society, we tend to lose the distinction of what is western and what is Hellenic and this is particularly manifested in our faith. So we must educate ourselves first by going back to our roots beyond the folklore, which is important to us and also makes us interesting to non-Greeks but does not necessarily elevate us. How do we give the gift of Orthodoxy and of our original Hellenism to our world so that all in the society can benefit from something that is uniquely ours?
How can we spread the word and pass down this inheritance if we don’t understand it? Worse yet, we often reduce the Church to an ethnic club. As Greek-Americans assimilate more and more, this
ethnic group will dilute and fade and so will our Church as we know it. The Church itself will never die because it belongs to Christ but He may give it to the safekeeping and stewardship of others.
In practice, do modern-day Greeks continue to live the ideals of Hellenism or do we just live on past glories? Have we reduced Orthodoxy to an ideology, a set of rules and mere ethnic tradition and not necessarily a way of life? Do we really make an impact?
Further, we often think of Orthodoxy as a religion of “do’s and don’ts”, (i.e. fasting, standing, being under the constant surveillance of God Who stands ready to punish when we break the rules), however, it is actually more guidelines-oriented than rules–based. Abidance in rules for the sake of rules makes our faith less than what it can be for us. In Orthodoxy, the intention of the heart is as important as the action based on Jesus’ emphasis on the ‘spirit of the law’ vs. the ‘letter of the law’. Therefore, it is important to know why one does what one does in their faith and to do it willingly and purposefully. Do we apply this critical thought to ourselves: why do we believe or do we really believe?
We must understand the richness of our faith. There is an issue with regard to the language barrier. If I only understood a part of Professor Yannaras’ lecture, I understand even less of the liturgical services in Greek. However, I am not a proponent of eliminating the Greek language from liturgical worship given the richness of the language, but I am a proponent of finding a way to make the faith more near and dear to the people, whether it is education, translation books or some other means. The question is “what?”
To be Hellenic is to be spiritual. And, to be spiritual is to joyously contemplate the truth of our existence through the Church; the gift given to us by the Truth Who is Christ.
R. Dorothy Poli, a structured finance banker by profession, is also the Coordinator of FOS (Forum on Orthodox Spirituality), a group of New York Orthodox professionals that meet weekly to learn about and come deeper into the meaning of Orthodoxy in order to make it more relevant to their lives. FOS is under the spiritual leadership of Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. For more info on FOS, please visit http://www.theca thedral.goarch.org/FOSSummary/.
