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John Zizioulas

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Bishop John Zizioulas (born 10 January 1931), titular Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Pergamon, member of the Academy of Athens, member of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He was a student of Georges Florovsky.

John Zizioulas was a professor of theology at Glasgow University for 14 years and then later Visiting Professor at King's College London. He was a good friend and colleague of Colin Gunton and the Research Institute in Systematic Theology.

His major works are Being as Communion (1985, DLT) and the more recent Communion and Otherness (2006, T & T Clark). A dogmatics is on its way. Also recently published was The Theology of John Zizioulas edited by Douglas Knight (2007, Ashgate).

Work of John Zizioulas

He has contributed to the theology of the person, based mostly on the work of St Irenaeus and St. Maximus the Confessor. His seminal work, Being As Communion, was first published in 1985. The primary focus of his work was to develop a correct ontology of personhood derived from an extensive investigation of Greek philosphy, patristic era writings and modern rationalist philosophy. He argues that full humanity is achieved only as person so that they may participate (koinonia) in the Trinitarian life of God. However, an essential component of the ontology of personhood is the freedom to self-affirm the participation in relationship. He continues that man initially exists as a biological hypostasis, constrained as to the types of relationships one can have (biological) and to the eventual end of this type of being - death. He makes use of existentialist philosophers and novelists to show that the only type of ontological freedom in the biological hypostasis is the choice to commit suicide. Baptism constitutes an ontological change in the human, making them an ecclesial hypostasis, or a person. This rebirth 'from above' gives new ontological freedom as it is not constrained by the limits of biological existence. Such ecclesial being is eschatological, meaning it is a paradoxical 'now,' but 'not yet.' The completion of this rebirth from above is the day of resurrection when the body will no longer be subject to death.

Bishop Zizioulas has claimed in one of his paper that the philosopher Descartes was an Augustinian monk.

Zizioulas' theology has especially been accepted among younger generation of Greek and Serbian theologians, such as retired bishop Atanasije Jevtic or bishop Ignjatije Midic. Zizioulas' views, in regard to the human person and its creative capacities, have been further developed by Dr. Davor Dzalto and implemented in understanding contemporary art and culture. According to this philosopher, artist and art historian, Zizioulas is "the most prominent orthodox theologian, whose thought goes hand in hand with theology of the (Early Church) Fathers."

Traditional Orthodox view of the work of John Zizioulas

Although the western world appears to be amazed with the works of the John Zizioulas, his thought is not so widely accepted amongst the Orthodox. Main reason lies in the fact that his view of the personhood, Holy Trinity and The Church is untraditional, and quite different from the view of the Early Church Fathers, more specifically: St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Cappadocian Fathers).

In his article titled Person versus Individual and Other Modern Misreadings of Gregory of Nyssa, by Lucian Turcescu, writer exposes the differences between patristic theology and theology of the John Zizioulas.

Peter J. Leithart in his article Divine Energies and Orthodox Soteriology touches the work of Aristotle Papanikolaou, who points to differences between Vladimir Lossky and John Zizioulas on the issue of divine energies. Lossky's work is in Orthodoxy well established and widely accepted as contemporary synthesis of the patristic theology.

How far is the theology of John Zizioulas from the traditional Orthodoxy is very well summarized in the article published by the editorial staff of the magazine Italia Ortodossa, a magazine of Orthodox faithful in Italy: Is the Theologian Ioannis Zizioulas proclaiming Orthodoxy?

In the book "Innovatory Theology of Metropolitan Zizioulas", by Rodoljub Lazic (In Serbian, ATOS - Missionary Center, Belgrade 2002), writer explains why work of the Zizioulas differ from traditional Orthodoxy. He exposes connection between obvious Zizioulas' Ecumenistic orientation and his theology that he constructed in a way to satisfy and be in compliance with his own Ecumenism.

It is on the basis of the obvious conflicts with the traditional Orthodox Faith, that many traditional Orthodox will conclude that references to the patristic content in the writings of the John Zizioulas are nothing else but an attempt of his to legitimize his own inventions, thus rendering his theology as – heterodox.

See Also

Citations

  1. Zizioulas, John (2006-07). "THE THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE ECOLOGICAL PROBLEM". Symposium: Amazon River 2006. Religion, Science & the Environment. Retrieved 2007-12-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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