Greek City Times is pleased to introduce from next week, a weekly column titled "Insights into Global Orthodoxy" by author and scholar, Dr Vassilis Adrahtas, which will explore the faith of some 300 million Christians, in an international context.
Like everything in our time and age, Orthodoxy has entered the global condition - without, though, losing its local commitments. And far from being a static tradition, global Orthodoxy is full of developments that many a time play a pivotal role in current affairs - national, regional or international. At the same time, global Orthodoxy is a field of creativity at the level of ideas and culture that remains unexplored due to secular social biases, but nevertheless deserves to be voiced and known.
Of course, global Orthodoxy remains in many respects deeply a local and in some cases even a parochial reality. The relationship between the past and the present is not always easy to navigate, while the future remains a great challenge for the responsibility of Orthodox people, institutions and leadership all over the world. Nevertheless, the ensuing tensions and contradictions are a testimony to the fact that Orthodoxy is very much alive.
"Insights into Global Orthodoxy" will feature opinion articles that on the one hand capture the pulse of global Orthodoxy from the perspective of local sensitivities, needs and/or limitations, and on the other hand delve into the local pragmatics and significance of Orthodoxy in light of global trends and prerogatives. Last but not least, this will not be just a column about news, but a column about understanding.
Dr Vassilis Adrahtas holds a PhD in Studies in Religion (USyd) and a PhD in the Sociology of Religion (Panteion. He has taught at several universities in Australia and overseas. Since 2015 he has been teaching ancient Greek Religion and Myth at the University of New South Wales and Islamic Studies at Western Sydney University. He has published ten books. He has extensive experience in the print media as editor-in-chief, and columnist, and for a while he worked as a radio producer. He lives in Sydney, Australia, his birthplace.
-The Editor
