The Temptation of Judas

This article by Pantelis Kalaitzidis examines the relationship between the Orthodox Church of Greece and nationalism through the biblical lens of the figure of Judas. Proceeding by means of a comparative exegetical and theological study, the author draws a parallel between the ethno-religious messianism of the Zealots — whose conceptions Judas is said to have shared — and the nationalist excesses of the contemporary Greek Church. The central idea is that the progressive identification of Orthodoxy with Hellenism constitutes a modern form of the "temptation of Judas": the substitution of a secularized messianism, centered on the nation and history, for the eschatological and catholic vocation of the Church. The theological contribution of the article lies in the demonstration that a return to an authentic eschatological consciousness — transcending all ethnic exclusivism — represents the only path by which the Church can overcome the heresy of ethnophyletism without falling into the opposite pitfall of transnational ecclesial imperialism.