Orthodoxy in western society

[anglomedved]

19 May 2010

 I am much exercised by the question of Orthodoxy in a western society. It seems to me that our different varieties of Christianity to a large extent reflect the way societies have taken on board the Christian message in a way that makes meaning in their own particular contexts. Russian Orthodoxy is basically the way the Russian people have taken on board the Christian message against the background of their own value, social and cultural systems (what for lack of a better word, and to avoid the ambiguity of the word 'culture', I prefer to refer to as 'mindset’). Ditto the Swedish Lutherans or the Spanish Catholics. The problem comes when there is a mismatch of mindset and outer religious form. Ultimately I am very far from sure that Russian Orthodoxy goes together with a western mindset. I am as good as certain that Greek Orthodoxy does not work with native northern Europeans. Compounding the problem in western Europe is the increasing lack of any shared mindset. It is fragmented, and mapping it is a complex process. In Belgium it is a near nightmare, requiring 3-D or 4-D mapping.