CRRC, ARISC and American Councils are pleased to announce the 3rd talk of the Fall 2023 Tbilisi Works-in-Progress series!
The talk will take place in hybrid format in-person at CRRC Georgia and online through Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/…/tZEsc…
“Orthodox Christianity in Abkhazia”
Paul Crego, U.S. Library of Congress (ret.)
Date: October 18, 2023, at 18:30 Tbilisi time
Christianity appeared in the territory we call Abkhazia very early. Even not accepting the received tradition of apostolic visits, we have by the time of the Nicene Council in 325 a representative of the see of Sebastopolis (now Soxumi). This presentation will include some of Dr. Crego’s thinking for a paper that he will deliver at this year’s annual meeting of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). Dr. Crego will ask a number of questions and make some statements about this territory and its religious history: Why was Sam Huntington was wrong? What can be said, if anything, about the national/ethnic makeup of early Christians in Abkhazia? Why is there an Abkhazian autocephaly? What about Islam in this area? And who are the Orthodox Georgians in Abkhazia?
Paul Crego recently retired as Senior Cataloging Specialist at the United States Library of Congress. He has a PhD in Theology from Boston College and an MA from the Soviet Union program, and has studied Georgian since 1977.
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Works-in-Progress is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place office of CRRC at Chavchavadze Ave. 5 and online. It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.
In observation of the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, the talks will not be recorded, and we courteously request that the other participants refrain from recording and/or distributing recordings as well. The opinions expressed in WiP talks are those of the speakers alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC, ARISC or of American Councils.