Athanasiadis, Harris

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ATHANASIADIS, Harris

PERSONAL: Male. Education: McGill University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Home—Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, University of Toronto Press, Inc., 10 St. Mary St., Ste. 700, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R5, Canada.

CAREER: Writer. St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada, minister.

WRITINGS:

The Way of the Cross: The Path to the Resurrection, St. Mark's Presbyterian Church (Don Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

George Grant and the Theology of the Cross: The Christian Foundations of His Thought, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Contributor to Together in Ministry: The Theology and Practice of Ministry in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, 2004; also contributor to periodicals, including Presbyterian Record and Toronto Journal of Theology.

SIDELIGHTS: The writings of Presbyterian minister Harris Athanasiadis include The Way of the Cross: The Path to the Resurrection, a collection of eighty-one brief meditations that relate to the Gospel of Mark. Presbyterian Record contributor Arthur Van Seters wrote that the volume "combines reflection on the biblical text with an invitation to let one's personal experience be questioned by that text."

In George Grant and the Theology of the Cross: The Christian Foundations of His Thought Athanasiadis studies the philosopher George Grant, who claimed that his faith (though he did not write extensively about it) inspired everything he thought and wrote. Writing in the Presbyterian Record, John Vissers stated that "this book is clearly written but it is not an easy read. It will, however, repay those who take the time to work through its five well-organized chapters." Anglican Journal Online contributor Gordon Baker also suggested that George Grant and the Theology of the Cross "is a great contribution to the ongoing study of George Grant's thought and will be rewarding for all those who, through an experience of the reality of the resurrection, find it necessary to struggle with the deeper significance of the Cross revealing the power and wisdom of God."

Athanasiadis told CA: "Writing is a wonderful vehicle for helping me think through ideas and for developing some coherence. As a writer in ideas rather than stories, my passion is to write in a way that is accessible but also compelling and persuasive. As a writer of theological and philosophical ideas, my hope is to inspire readers to openness of heart, mind and imagination. The challenge is to convey something of transcendence, of faith, of hope, of love in a way that persuades and convinces. The opportunity to write is a gift I have been privileged to taste. May it continue."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Books in Canada, winter, 2002, Barry Allen, review of George Grant and the Theology of the Cross: The Christian Foundations of His Thought, p. 23.

Canadian Literature, autumn, 2003, George Elliott Clarke, review of George Grant and the Theology of the Cross, p. 120.

Presbyterian Record, July, 2001, Arthur Van Seters, review of The Way of the Cross: The Path to the Resurrection, p. 45; September, 2001, John Vissers, review of George Grant and the Theology of the Cross, p. 43.