Religious Faith – A Determining Factor for National Unity in the Diaspora

Abstract

In the traditional church language, the word ‘diaspora’ (meaning ‘scattering’) has a social and a judicial meaning. The term was borrowed into Romanian from Greek and refers to the dispersion and subsequent settling of Jews outside the borders of their motherland, from the time of the Babylonian exile to the Greek-Roman era. Thus, the word ‘diaspora’ (Dt 28:25; 30:4; Is 49:6), as used in the Septuagint, refers to the body of Jews scattered throughout the pagan world after the Babylonian Captivity. The theological motivation for their scattering, in the opinion of certain prophets, would be purification (Ez 22:15), a notion which appears to trouble many pious souls (Ps 45). Once atonement and purification have been completed, the return to the initial state will take place (Ez 36:24; Eccl 36:10) (Motte 1988, 293). In this study, we will evaluate the concept of 'diaspora' and the implications it has in the biblical context that is mentioned and we will capture how these perspectives are found in the way the Orthodox Church reports to the Christian communities in the diaspora.