Page 387 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

T H E D U T Y A N D P O S S I B I L I T I E S O F O R T H O D O X Y I N T H E FA C E O F T H E M O D E R N WO R L D
dismantle inherited values. Movements such as Surrealism
attempted to break the “distorting effect of logic,” turning in-
stead to the unconscious and to subjective experience. Psy-
chology and individualism thus survived, but now in the form
of unrestrained subjectivism, upon which modern existential-
ist thought built its understanding of freedom and person-
hood. At the same time, new forms of “hope” appeared—often
inspired by both Christian and Marxist eschatology—placing
expectations for salvation within history itself. The result has
been a renewed tension between individual piety and social
activism, a dilemma that continues to trouble modern man,
who seeks a true balance between the two.
Alongside this, there is growing unease regarding the rapid
advances of science and technology. Medical progress prom-
ises the conquest of disease, yet also opens unprecedented
possibilities for controlling human life at the genetic level,
raising serious questions about freedom. Technology, once
regarded as a benefactor, now reveals itself as a potential ty-
rant, capable of dominating not only the environment but
human existence itself. Combined with the ecological crisis
threatening life on our planet, these developments produce a
world filled simultaneously with hope and fear. Politics, in
which modern man places his trust, proves unable to resolve
these tensions without either the cooperation of society or the
risk of authoritarian control. Thus, the need for a deeper spir-
itual orientation becomes urgent. In this context, the time for
Orthodoxy—its responsibility and its witness—has come.
Orthodoxy is today regarded with increasing respect. Its
encounter with the non-Orthodox world has revealed not
only its distinctiveness but also the fact that it does not share
in the fundamental errors that shaped modernity. It did not
contribute to the destructive paths that have led to the present
387