ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of some conceptual foundations of Orthodoxy as a basis for understanding their implications to those who call themselves Greek Orthodox. Two of Orthodoxy’s most obvious characteristics are its traditional and authoritarian orientations. Both in doctrine and practice the Greek Orthodox Church is authoritarian and absolute. Discussions of the church evoked a patterned response Informants would invariably note that Gree linked to Orthodoxy and observe that synonymous with “being Greek.” A priest or bishop would be criticized for enforcing a church policy much more readily than the church in the abstract for its dogmatic or bureaucratic position. Perhaps a cognitive understanding rests in a class of knowledge growing from Orthodoxy’s emphasis on liturgical worship and sacred tradition. The church’s distinctiveness was commonly summed up as “Orthodoxy is the original faith,” or “is pure and unaltered,” or is “the true faith,” being that laid down by Christ and kept inviolable.
