The primary aim of this project is to explore how the Orthodox Church, the second-largest Christian denomination, can successfully balance the preservation of its traditional roots while also embracing the principles and values of modernity. The project seeks to critically analyze contemporary formulations of Orthodox views on tradition, including an exploration of their historical development, contextual subtleties, and the epistemological and hermeneutical challenges involved in engaging with modernity. The objective is to reinterpret and present the core teachings of the Orthodox Church from a modern perspective, within a culturally and religiously diverse, democratic society. If the Orthodox Church were to maintain its anti-modern trajectory, this could have long-term ramifications both internally (diminished missionary capability, a crisis of ecclesial identity among future generations, and an influx of conservative adherents) and externally (decreased integration, heightened national tensions, extremism, gender and interfaith intolerance), as well as have a resounding influence on the global stage (for example, traditionalism and the repudiation of Western modernity were utilized as the primary source of ideology behind the current Russian aggression in Ukraine).

The segment of the project to be conducted at the Hellenic Center will focus on examining Georges Florovsky's understanding of tradition. Florovsky, widely regarded as the most influential Orthodox theologian of the 20th century, has an extensive archive housed at Princeton University. The research will center on his concept of "Christian Hellenism" and his call for the re-hellenization of Orthodox theology, which he positioned in opposition to the modernist agenda of Sergei Bulgakov and the Russian Religious philosophy. The objective is to demonstrate that Florovsky employed Christian Hellenism as an ideological tool, with the aim of emphasizing the importance of tradition and redirecting Orthodoxy's focus towards the Church Fathers. This approach, with its underlying conservative agenda, sought to eliminate influences that arose from the Orthodox Church's interactions with the West. Unfortunately, the widespread acceptance of this perspective in contemporary Orthodox theology, with its one-sided emphasis on tradition, has contributed to the difficulties Orthodoxy faces in addressing the complexities of the modern world.