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Revision as of 21:06, 15 February 2008 by Cebactokpatop (talk | contribs) (Undid revision 191718916 by Seminarist (talk) Original article remains until consensus reached.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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). Also recently published was The Theology of John Zizioulas edited by Douglas Knight (2007, Ashgate).
Work of John Zizioulas
He tried to contribute to the theology of the person, and some individuals think that his work is based on the work of St Irenaeus and St. Maximus the Confessor. The primary focus of his work was an attempt to develop ontology of personhood derived from an extensive investigation of Greek philosophy, 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. According to his view, 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 had gained some acceptance amongst contemporary generation of Greek and Serbian individuals claiming to be theologians, such as retired bishop Atanasije Jevtic or bishop Ignjatije Midic. Zizioulas' views, in regard to the human person, have been promoted by Dr. Davor Dzalto, and implemented in his own work.
Traditional Orthodox view of the work of John Zizioulas
Although the many are amazed with the works of the John Zizioulas, his thought is not widely accepted amongst the Orthodox. Traditional Orthodox see his view of the personhood, Holy Trinity and The Church as untraditional, and 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 seeks 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 seeks the 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.
Denial of the representation of the Orthodoxy by John Zizioulas can be found 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 seeks the differences in the work of the Zizioulas from traditional Orthodoxy. He claims that Zizioulas' ecumenistic orientation had influenced his work and theology.
See Also
Citations
- Zizioulas, John (2006-07). "THE THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE ECOLOGICAL PROBLEM". Symposium: Amazon River 2006. Religion, Science & the Environment. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
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External links
- List of works by John Zizioulas
- John Zizioulas at Resources for Christian Theology
- Theological discussion of Zizioulas' theology
- Short biography of John Zizioulas
- Communion and Otherness
- Communion and Otherness
- Communion and Otherness: Chinese translation (traditional)
- Communion and Otherness: Chinese translation (simplified)
- The holy and sacred synod
- Article: Is John Zizioulas an Existentialist in Disguise?
- Article: Theo-Ontology: Notes on the Implications of Zizioulas' Engagement With Heidegger
- Lessons on Christian Dogmatics