Adamantios Korais: Theological documentation of the struggle against the Turks. Adamantios Korais (1748-1833) was possessed by hatred and aversion against the Turks. As he was influenced by the principles of the French Revolution, he...
moreAdamantios Korais: Theological documentation of the struggle against the Turks.
Adamantios Korais (1748-1833) was possessed by hatred and aversion against the Turks. As he was influenced by the principles of the French Revolution, he wanted the enlightenment of the Greeks. Although Korais became known mainly for his literary works, he also wrote theological works. A characteristic example for the understanding of his theological conceptions is his work "Brotherly teaching". Although he was influenced by the Enlightenment, he did not hesitate to sustain theologically the resistance of the Greeks against the Turks in his work "Brotherly teaching". This fact should not surprise us, as the central pillars of the future Greek state, independent of the Turks, were identified in his thought with the quintessence of the Christian religion.
From the title of the work we realize that Korais, addressing his compatriots, does not call them either Romans or Hellenes, but Greeks. That was a conscious choice, as he believed that the Romans had deprived the Greeks of their freedom. However, in his text he refers to "Greco-Roman" emperors. In any case, the result of the bad policy of those emperors was the slavery to the Turks. Just as slavery to the Turks was due to the rulers of the Greeks, so freedom will come as a result of the attitude of the Greeks.
Korais bases his theological thought mainly on the Apostle Paul and the “Acts of the Apostles”. Secondarily, he uses the “Gospel according to Matthew”, the “Samuel 1/1 Kingdoms”, the books of the Maccabees, as well as a troparion of the Orthodox Church. But beyond the afore-mentioned books, Korais uses basic principles of Christian ethics, to which he adapts the demand for freedom and resistance against the Turks.
In particular, when conditions do not allow for it, confrontation with the Turks should be avoided, as a move of passive resistance. In this perspective, he implies that when conditions allow for it, the Greeks should move aggressively against the Turks. Then the Greeks should fight like the Maccabees in the art of war. Both the afore-mentioned attitudes of the Greeks are based on passages from the Bible. In particular, Korais documents the demand for freedom from the Turks through the allegorical interpretation of biblical passages, in which the Greeks, as descendants of Sarah, must be free from the children of Agar, that is, from the Turks.
Finally, slavery to the Turks has soteriological implications. This is because the Turks, by depriving the Christians of their freedom, at the same time deprive them of their ability to be led to virtue. This fact is of fundamental importance, as the development of virtue leads to moral perfection and to man's participation in the uncreated virtue of God, that is, to salvation.
