Conclusion.

        Orthodoxy is gifted with precious treasures. A rich liturgical tradition, a profound theology of communion, a joy in prayer, a depth of spiritual wisdom, a catholic vision of faith and reason — all are part of the Orthodox inheritance. At the core of the Orthodox tradition, whether we turn to the Eucharist or the lives of the great saints, the same truth has primacy, namely, Christ and the Gospel. We have examined above aspects of the grand legacy of Orthodoxy pertaining to the Gospel. However, Orthodoxy also has long exhibited tendencies toward “institutionalization. The problem is not so much that the Church is inevitably a historical institution, and endures by means of its institutional forms, but that because the Church is also an institution it can lose sight of the immediacy of God. The Church as a sociological reality may allow the life in Christ to diminish in various aspects of its existence with the result that a variety of institutional, professional, and cultural norms and forms take prominence. Then the Church risks being a religious institution with primary reference to itself and its survival, rather that to the risen Lord and its mission in the world. The challenge of rediscovering the centrality of the Gospel, as well as of energizing the evangelical ethos deeply enshrined in the Orthodox tradition, is the topic of our next chapter.