John Zizioulas
University of Athens |
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John Zizioulas (
Early life and career
Metropolitan John was born in
Zizioulas took up a post at the University of Athens in 1964 as assistant professor of Church history, and then six years later, worked as professor of patristics at the
Honors
Zizioulas held honorary doctorates from the Catholic Institute of Paris, the University of Belgrade, St. Sergius Institute in Paris, the Babeș-Bolyai University, University of Münster (2010),[6] University of Munich (2015),[7] New Georgian University in Poti (2019).[8] He also was elected an Honorary Member of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies (2011).
In 2003, the President of Greece awarded him the Senior Brigadier General of the Order of the Phoenix , In 2007 he was awarded the Lambeth Cross. In 2019 President of Ukraine awarded him the Order of Merit III degree.
Death
Zizioulas died from COVID-19 in Athens, on 2 February 2023, at the age of 92.[9]
Theology
The theological work of Metropolitan John has focused upon the twin themes of
Ecclesiology
Zizioulas' ecclesiology was first developed in his doctoral dissertation, subsequently published in English as Eucharist, Bishop, Church. Here Metropolitan John develops critically the eucharistic
Theological ontology
Zizioulas worked on the theology of the person, appealing to the work of Irenaeus and Maximus the Confessor. The primary focus of his work was to develop his own ontology of personhood derived from an extensive investigation of Greek philosophy, patristic era writings and modern rationalist philosophy.[citation needed]
He argues that full humanity is achieved only as person so that they may participate (
He makes use of existentialist philosophers and novelists, notably the French absurdist writer Albert Camus, to show that the only type of ontological freedom in the biological hypostasis is the choice to commit suicide. He claims that 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.
Bibliography
Primary
- 'Ἡ ἑνότης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐν τῇ Θείᾳ Εὐχαριστίᾳ καί τῷ Ἐπισκόπῳ κατά τούς τρεῖς πρώτους αἰώνας." (En Athi̲nais, 1965). Doctoral Dissertation. Published in French translation as "L' Eucharistie, L'évêque Et L'eglise Durant Les Trois Premiers Siècles." 2nd ed. Translated by Jean-Louis Palierne. (Paris: Desclée De Brouwer, 1994). Published in English translation as "Eucharist, Bishop, Church" (see below).
- L'Être ecclésial (Paris: Labor et Fides, 1981). ISBN 978-2-8309-0180-1. Published in English translation as "Being as Communion" (see below).
- H κτίση ως Eυχαριστία, Θεολογική προσέγγιση στο πρόβλημα της οικολογίας [Creation as Eucharist: a Theological approach to a problem of ecology] (Athens: Akritas, 1992). ISBN 978-960-7006-98-1. This work is based on lectures previously delivered in English. Available in three parts: King's Theological Review vol. 12, no. 1 (1989): 1-5, no. 2 (1989): 41-45, vol. 13, no. 1 (1990): 1-5.
- Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997). ISBN 978-0-88141-029-7.
- Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross, 2001). ISBN 978-1-885652-51-5.
- Eλληνισμός και Xριστιανισμός, η συνάντηση των δύο κόσμων [Hellenism and Christianity: The meeting of two worlds] (Athens: ApostolikeDiakonia, 2003).
- Communion & Otherness: Further Studies in Personhood and the Church (London: T & T Clark, 2007). ISBN 978-94-92183-82-8.
- Lectures in Christian Dogmatics (London: T&T Clark, 2009). ISBN 978-0-567-03315-4.
- The One and The Many: Studies on God, Man, the Church, and the World Today (Sebastian Press, 2010) ISBN 978-0-9719505-4-2.
- Remembering the Future: An Eschatological Ontology (London: T&T Clark, 2012). ISBN 978-0-567-03235-5.
There are extensive bibliographies devoted to Zizioulas’ published works in various languages in:
- McPartlan, Paul. The Eucharist Makes the Church: Henri De Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993.
- Papanikolaou, Aristotle. Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006.
- Malecki, Roman. Kosciol jako wspolnota. Dogmatyczno-ekumeniczne studium eklezjologii Johna Zizioulasa (In English: The Church as Communion. A Dogmatic and Ecumenical Study of Ecclesiology of John Zizioulas). Lublin: RW KUL, 2000.
Secondary
- Alan Brown, "On the Criticism of 'Being as Communion' in Anglophone Orthodox Theology", in Douglas Knight (ed.) The Theology of John Zizioulas: Personhood and the Church (Ashgate, 2006) defends Zizioulas against several of the polemical rejections of his theological ontology.
- Aristotle Papanikolaou. Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006).
- Lucian Turcescu, "Person versus Individual and Other Modern Misreadings of Gregory of Nyssa", Modern Theology 18, no. 4 (October 2002): 527-539, is a polemic against Zizioulas' use of the Cappadocian Fathers, especially St Gregory of Nyssa.
See also
- Anti-individualism
- Christian philosophy
- Ecumenism
- Eucharistic theology
- Jürgen Moltmann
- Orthodox Christian theology
- Social trinitarianism
Citations
- ^ "enploeditions.gr - Ζηζιούλας Ιωάννης (Mητροπολίτης Περγάμου)". www.enploeditions.gr. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "(Ο εκ Καταφυγίου) Μητροπολίτης Περγάμου Ιωάννης Ζηζιούλας: 30 χρόνια Αρχιερωσύνη". mikrovalto.gr (in Greek). 5 May 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- Blackwell, 2005, pp. 572-88.
- ^ Cf. Rowan Williams, 'Eastern Orthodox Theology', in Ford (ed.) The Modern Theologians, pp. 572-88.
- ^ Cf. John Meyendorff, 'Foreword' in Being as Communion (1985)
- ^ https://Ehrendoktor für Zizioulas, Julay, 2010.
- ^ Metropolit Ioannis Zizioulas wird Ehrendoktor der LMU, July 2015
- ^ Metropolitan Ioannis (Zizioulas) of Pergamon was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor by New Georgian University, October 2019
- ^ "Εκοιμήθη ο Μητροπολίτης Γέρων Περγάμου Ιωάννης". Othodoxia News Agency. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ISBN 0-88141-236-8.
External links
- In Memoriam: Metropolitan John D. Zizioulas and the Journey of Theology Toward the Future
- Metropolitan John Zizioulas, 1931-2023
- Pope Francis pens foreword for a book by Metropolitan John Zizioulas
- John Chryssavgis, An Eagerness for Encounter. Remembering John Zizioulas
- Rowan Williams, John Zizioulas: An Ecumenical Appreciation
- Nikos Tzoitis, Zizioulas, prophet of a theology free from the shackles of history
- Official website of the John Zizioulas Foundation
- Theological discussion of Zizioulas' theology
- Lessons On Christian Dogmatics Lectures of Professor John Zizioulas at University of Thessaloniki.
- Article: Is John Zizioulas an Existentialist in Disguise?
- John Zizioulas, Eucharist, bishop, church: the unity of the church in the divine eucharist and the bishop during the first three centuries
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