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Victor Roudometof, Globalization and Orthodox Christianity: The Transformation of Religious Tradition. New York; London: Routledge, 2014. Pp. xviii + 228. 4 maps, 3 tables. Cloth $125.00.
Those of us who grew up as members of the Orthodox Church clearly remember that we were told that the Church never changes, that from the time when the apostles were leading it until today, it remained essentially the same. Yet, when we acquired historical and social consciousness we became aware that human institutions transform together with the always-changing society, the Church included. Very often, however, we keep these mature insights to ourselves in order not to disturb the tradition. Victor Roudometof is one of those courageous and exceptional scholars who studies change in the Orthodox Churches and in the societies that we, for the lack of better term, call Eastern Orthodox. Drawing on his wide-ranging experience in the field of sociology of religion, Roudometof paints a picture of the Orthodox Church that is dynamic and detailed. The picture of static, unchangeable Orthodox culture that the author seeks to dismantle does not come only from within. Very often, this picture is imposed by the West. Many Western scholars take the unity between the Orthodox tradition and the community as a given starting point and assume the existence of an unchanging Orthodox Commonwealth at all times in history. Roudometof makes it very clear that this is a misleading picture. According to him, Orthodox Christianity is far more creative in its answers to the modern world that either its supporters or critics give it credit for.
In order to analyze the relationship between religion and community, Roudometof looks at the relationship between Orthodoxy and globalization. He identifies four different social...