PAIDEIA

PAIDEIA comes from the Ancient Greek word meaning “education” or “learning,” and most importantly “culture” as a whole.  The derivation of the English word “culture” from the Latin “cultus,” or community of worship, reminds us that culture in this broadest sense—which shapes our experience of space, time, meaning, and reality itself—ultimately derives from worship or the practice of religion, as was the case in the Ancient Greek Paideia, in the Christian Civilization of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and indeed in traditional cultures everywhere.  
 
Modernized, secularized forms of Christianity offer little foundation for a rich and vibrant culture, leaving us with the reign of commercialized mass culture and the pseudo-cultures of political ideology that often serve as simulacra for religion.  We believe that Orthodox Christianity stands in a unique position to lead in the retrieval and revitalization of Christian culture through remaining steadfast in the ancient liturgies, dogmatic and moral teachings, and ascetic practices of the Church.
 
We hold that the path through and beyond the problems of modernity leads not backward through nostalgic retreat into an often fancied past, but forward by drawing upon the illumination and witness proper to living Orthodox worship, prayer, and ascesis, to articulate elements for a Christian culture of the future.