'Signs of the times': Prophecy belief in contemporary Greek Orthodox contexts. (March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kessareas, Efstathios
• Is Part Of: Social compass. Volume 70:Number 1(2023)
• Page Start: 73
• Page End: 90
• Publication Date: 2023-03
• Subjects: crisis -- Greek Orthodoxy -- nationalism -- prophecy -- prophetologists; crise -- nationalisme -- orthodoxie grecque -- prophétie -- prophétologues; Religion and sociology -- Periodicals; 306.605
• DOI: 10.1177/00377686231154110
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0037-7686

Abstract

This article examines the structure, content, and function of widely circulating prophetic narratives in contemporary Greece and Cyprus. Prophetologists play a key role in recycling and disseminating prophecies through traditional and modern means of communication in an attempt to explain conditions of crisis and to promote conservative moral values and nationalistic aspirations as salvific remedies in the public sphere. Their highly politicized prophetic discourse blurs the differentiation between religion and politics that characterizes secular modernity. But at the same time, the use of modern media and secular strategies for sacred purposes have unintended secularizing effects on the religious field. Finally, the article explores the reasons why prophecy belief finds fertile soil for proliferation in these countries.