Xenofon Moschou

Xenofon Moschou ( Greek Ξενοφών Μόσχου ; * December 31, 1858 ; † 1939 , Athens ) was an important pastor of the Greek Evangelical Church . He was a pioneer of the Protestant movement in Asia Minor and founder of the Second Greek Evangelical Church in Athens.

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Moschou was born on December 31, 1858 in Thessaloniki as the son of a priest. His mother died when he was five, and by the time he was eleven his seven brothers had died as well. His father was influenced by the biblical interpretations of Adamantios Korais and was critical of various teachings of the Orthodox Church . Nevertheless, at the age of 12 he began training as a choirboy with Xenofon in his parish church.

At the age of 13, Moschou had an experience of a "rebirth" (αναγέννησης). Since that event he began to read the New Testament systematically . Instead, he renounced orthodox customs such as regular fasting and prayers to the saints. Even if he actually wanted to fit into the Orthodox Church , he could not gain a foothold and the "strangeness of his innovations" (παράξενος νεωτερισμός του) left him no place in the church. Therefore, while studying at the Philosophical School (Φιλοσοφική Σχολή) of Athens, he decided to join the Greek Evangelical Church . He took part in the event of the First Greek Evangelical Church and himself accepted his father's excommunication . However, his father changed his mind after a few years, he converted himself and became a presbyter (elder) in the Greek Evangelical Church of Thessaloniki (Ελληνική Ευαγγελική Εκκλησία Θεσσαλονίκης) and was ultimately killed by fanatics.

Xenophon Moschou received his PhD from the University of Athens and then went to Edinburgh to study theology for two more years. In 1884 he returned to Thessaloniki , married and served as a preacher in the community there. In 1886 he took a job as a teacher at the high school in Athens (δημόσιο γυμνάσιο) and preached during the week in the Greek Evangelical Church of Piraeus (Ελληνική Ευαγγελική Εκκλησία Πειραιά). At the same time he began writing and translating. In 1892 he took a position as pastor of the Greek Evangelical Church of Smyrna (Ελληνική Ευαγγελική Εκκλησία Σμύρνης).

For 30 years, until the Asia Minor Catastrophe (Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή) of 1922, Moschou served in the community in Smyrna . Among other things, he also worked in various cities in eastern Asia Minor , Pontus and in Cyprus as well as in Egypt and wrote Bible studies on the side. Though he was often threatened by fanatics (stoned several times and almost killed twice), he worked with the Metropolitan of Smyrna Chrysostom . With him he distributed New Testaments to the Greek soldiers and wrote letters to the great powers with him to warn of the catastrophe. When disaster finally struck, he and the rest of the community fled. He later founded the Second Greek Evangelical Church in Athens together with others, in which he worked until his death in 1939.

Works

The Magnum Opus in Moschou's work is undoubtedly the translation of the "Megalo Lexiko tis ellinikis Glossas" (Μεγάλο Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας) of the A Greek-English Lexicon by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott . Next works are: Christianike Melete (Χριστιανικαί Μελέται - studies to Christianity) Synopsis tis Christianikis didaskalias (Σύνοψις της Χριστιανικής Διδασκαλίας - Summary of Christian Doctrine), Erminea tis Pros Galatas epistolis (Ερμηνεία της Προς Γαλάτας Επιστολής - interpretation of Galatians), Plirousthe dia tou Pnevmatos (Πληρούσθε δια του Πνεύματος - Filled by the Spirit), Baptisma en Ydati ke Baptisma en Pnevmati (Βάπτισμα εν Ύδατι και Βντμα in και Βνττμα in water and baptism ύεντμα εντμα spirit. a. In addition, he translated many theological books and wrote the texts for more than 30 hymns that have entered the hymn library of the Greek Evangelical Church.

literature

• GA Chatziantoniou (Γ.Α. Χατζηαντωνίου): Xenofon Moschou (Ξενοφών Μόσχου). Publishing house of the Second Greek Evangelical Church, Athens 1958.

Web links

• The version of Liddell-Scott.
• History of the Second Greek Evangelical Congregation, Athens (Greek)