“Orthodoxy or Death”: Religious Fundamentalism during the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
This essay first contextualizes the question of the relationship between the religious and secular aspects of contemporary Greece that lies behind of any discussion of fundamentalism. It is important to note that the Greek case looks quite different from other Western societies. Despite the (external) change or progress in various aspects of institutions or daily life, religiosity remains high in Greece, and the religio-political identity of Greek Orthodoxy has allowed the Church to maintain a voice in the public square. This study then provides a brief overview of the main aspects of religious fundamentalism (e.g., reactivity, selectivity, inerrancy, moral Manicheanism) in contemporary Greece, and it concludes by describing the basic contours of an Orthodox secular theology—focusing on the incarnation, eschatology, unity of truth, and the modern existential concern—that offer a response to the current state of this Orthodox fundamentalism.