Salt: Crossroads of Religion and Culture 1 (2022)

A new scholarly journal in Theology with an aspiration to meet at the Crossroads of Religion and Culture. A peer reviewed Orthodox Journal of Cross-Cultural Theology, Dialogue and Mission. Inaugural Issue Nr 1 (2022).

The recent experience of all humankind has made us realise how the world is becoming ever smaller; the “ends of the world” are no longer remote. All peoples are our “neighbours,” in a theological, sociological, and ecological sense.

Meeting in a global community is not always an easy task. The Church is catholic and universal, but we humans are subject to partiality. This is the antinomy we are striving to overcome when we think in an open and missional way, when we meet in different contexts, embracing the world as an act of love, solidarity, justice, and liberation.

A new awareness of mission has emerged gradually among the Orthodox over the past two centuries, sharing with all humanity the salvific reality of the Resurrection and the Kingdom of God, already present and yet to come. Today mission is a reality of the Church worldwide, shaping its very identity in the course of history.

Mission is not a one-way endeavour. If we wish to embrace the world in its richness and variety, we should also be passionate to listen. We need to work for a plurality of aspects and viewpoints in our theological scholarship. Peoples and cultures welcomed into the Church have their own valuable background, and they should also have the possibility to make their voice heard, meet with the others, increase in self-awareness, and enrich the Orthodox Church with the gift of their civilisation, language, art, customs and culture.

Scholars say about Salt:

As Orthodox we enjoy a creative freedom such that we have not possessed in the past.  How are we using this freedom?  I am confident that the new journal Salt will contribute positively to our contemporary Orthodox witness.

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia

Missiology is the reality in which the church looks at a reality, a culture, a context, (a continent), and then does its best to step inside that beam of light and articulate what it knows and what it brought into that experience.

Rev. Michael Oleksa

There is a pressing need for a journal where reflection on the missionary dimension of the Orthodox Church in the contemporary world can take place alongside a re-articulation of her missionary heritage throughout history.

Dr Alison Ruth Kolosova

Having worked together with the Orthodox within the Ecumenical movement for many decades, I have long experience of how valuable Orthodox theology and the Orthodox mentality are in respect of mission, dialogue and issues of peace, justice and the preservation of creation. A scholarly journal in this field will assist in further developing and articulating missiological theology, which is very important for Europe and the world today. I feel privileged to be invited to participate in such a significant project.

Prof. Dr Jooseop Keum

I am very excited about Salt as I think the journal addresses a gap in the available missiology journal offerings and brings a perspective I know my scholarly peers in American missiology and the sociology of religion will welcome.

Prof. Frances Kostarelos

More than ever, we live in an interdependent world. Increasingly, the actions of those in one area (even those of one individual) have ramifications on the other side of the globe. It has been heartening to see a new generation of scholars rediscovering and articulating in fresh and creative ways an Orthodox understanding of missiology, interreligious dialogue, cross-cultural encounter, and multidisciplinary engagement. This effort must continue and increase in the years to come, if Orthodoxy is to remain relevant to the younger generation (Gen Z).

Assoc. Prof. Andrew M. Sharp

This journal is a timely testimony about the universal character of Orthodoxy in the period, when local Orthodox Churches demonstrate a tendency to isolate themselves from one another and from the cultural environment that surrounds them. The Salt also reminds us that mission is not optional for Christianity but belongs to its very nature. In our times, mission cannot bring desired fruits without inculturation. The journal repairs bridges between the Church, mission, and modern culture, and keeps those bridges crowded.

Rev. Prof. Cyril Hovorun

I believe that a nuanced understanding of the historical relationship between Orthodox Christians and Muslims is a neglected but crucial part of Orthodox witness in the 21st century. A general Orthodox awareness of not just the history of conflict but also the history of coexistence between these two communities is in my view necessary in order to build a strong Orthodox theological foundation for both social witness and social harmony.

Assist. Prof. Philip C. Dorroll

Salt offers us the opportunity to establish a promising ‘dialogue on the dialogue’ and to approach various issues pertaining to the meeting of “the other”, no matter whether it is a person, a culture or a language.

Dr Niki Tsironi

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