John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon

Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon

His Eminence John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon (b. 1931) is a modern theologian and titular Metropolitan of Pergamon, under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Life

This article lacks historical information. Specifically: Life of the Metropolitan before his consecration to the Episcopate. When and where did he became a monk? In what monastery and for how long was he living before being ordained to deaconate, priesthood, etc.

The future metropolitan was born January 10, 1931. He began his studies at the University of Thessaloniki but took his first theology degree from the University of Athens in 1955. He studied patristics under Father Georges Florovsky at Harvard Divinity School, receiving his M.T.S. in 1956, and his doctorate in theology from the University of Athens in 1965. He was professor of theology for 14 years at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Geneva, Gregorian University, and King's College, London. He was consecrated as a bishop on June 22, 1986 and named Metropolitan of Pergamon. Metropolitan John has become a key figure in major ecumenical dialogues (seen also by many Orthodox as blasphemous and heretical) between the Orthodox Church and other heterodox traditions claiming to be Christian, and in 2006 succeeded Archbishop Stylianos of Australia as president of the Commission of Orthodox in the Dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. He is also an important figure in ecological theology, playing a central role in making the Orthodox Church one of the most active religious communities involved with development and environmental issues.^{citation needed}

His Theology

Some people believe that Metropolitan John is one of the most important Christian theologians alive today, influencing theologians in the Roman Catholic and Protestant communions as well, while others see him, and his work, to be problematic in a sense that it does not comply with the Tradition of The Church. Some have suggested that his 1985 book, Being as Communion, is perhaps the most significant theological book of the late 20th century, while others see his book as collection of innovations (e.g. numerous "hypostases" of man), not known in the 2000 years of the Church's Tradition.

The principle themes in Metropolitan John’s theology are freedom and otherness, both human and divine. Some people believe that he grounded his work in the Cappadocian Fathers (St Maximus Confessor in particular), while others believe that he used Fathers to parade his own innovations as patristic. His Being as Communion (1985) addressed the theme from the importance of communion for unity, while his later Communion and Otherness (2007) is a complementary analysis of the importance of otherness for communion. He thus takes up the ancient philosophical problem of reconciling the One and the Many, which he examines with respect to divinity (the three Persons of the Trinity and the monarchia of the Father), humanity (theological anthropology), and the Church (ecclesiology). The philosophical implications of the book extend to the human and social sciences. A further theme of the two studies is his own eschatological ontology he claims is being derived from St Maximus the Confessor, in which the truly real is that which is real at the eschaton. This is the subject of a new book by the Metropolitan to be released in summer 2008, Remembering the Future: An Eschatological Ontology. Relity is that he derived his ontology from various sources, including heterodox thinkers, like: Martin Buber, John Macmurray, Wolfhart Pannenberg and Emmanuel Levinas. ⁷

His first book was his doctoral dissertation in 1965, only recently published in English as Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries (2001). It was an early contribution to the development of ‘eucharistic ecclesiology’ that focused on the essential role of the bishop as the presider of the Church’s Divine Liturgy. Many deny orthodoxy of such an ecclesiology, as it is based on theology of French Catholic theologians Henri de Lubac and Yves Congar.

Metropolitan John is also well-known for his work on the environment, particularly for his lecture series, ‘Preserving God’s Creation.’

Books

• L'Être ecclésial (Paris: Labor et Fides, 1981). ISBN 978-2830901801.
• E Ktise os eucharistia (Athens: Akritas, 1992). ISBN 978-9607006981. This would be rendered in English as Creation as Eucharist.
• Being and Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1997). ISBN 978-0881410297.
• 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 978-1885652515.
• Ellenismos kai Christianismos: H Synantese ton duo Kosmon (Athens: ApostolikeDiakonia, 2003). This would be renderd in English as Hellenism and Christianity: The Meeting of Two Worlds.
• Communion & Otherness: Further Studies in Personhood and the Church (London: T & T Clark, 2007). ISBN 978-0567031488.
• Remembering the Future: An Eschatological Ontology (London: T&T Clark, 2008). ISBN 978-0567032355.
• Lectures in Christian Dogmatics (London: T&T Clark, 2009). ISBN 978-0567033154.

Studies

• Fox, Patricia A. God as Communion: John Zizioulas, Elizabeth Johnson, and the Retrieval of the Symbol of the Triune God (Michael Glazer, 2001). ISBN 978-0814650820.
• Knight, Douglas, ed. The Theology of John Zizioulas: Personhood and the Church (Ashgate, 2007). ISBN 978-0754654308.
• McPartlan, Paul. The Eucharist Makes the Church: Henri du Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue. Eastern Christian Publications, 2006. ISBN 978-1892278616.
• Papanikolaou, Aristotle. Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006). ISBN 978-0268038304.

Criticisms

Metropolitan John's theological contributions, like those of other theologians, have been criticized. These criticisms have focused in areas of theology and ecumenical relations Metropolitan John is championing in:

Theology:

• Lucian Turcescu argues in "'Person' versus 'Individual' and Other Modern Misreadings of Gregory of Nyssa" ¹ that "Zizioulas is ... in error when he contends that the Cappadocians did not understand a person as an individual or when he credits them with having had the same concerns we moderns have when combating individualism today."²
• In the September 1971 issue of the Newsletter Supplement to The Orthodox Christian Witness, in the article titled Concerning the Approaching Orthodox – Monophysite Union , John Zizioulas serves as an example of "muddled theologian". (Paragraph 21)
• Hieromonk Patapios in the article titled A Traditionalist Critique of The Orthodox Church, criticizing ecumenistic Baptismal theology , refers to John Zizioulas as to: "...lamentable Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon". (Part II, paragraph 27)

Ecumenism:

• Rodoljub Lazić's book, "Innovatory Theology of Metropolitan Zizioulas" (in Serbian), argues that the Metropolitan's work differs from "traditional" Orthodoxy and that there is a connection between the Metropolitan's ecumenical orientation and his theology.
• Another such critic is Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, who has criticized the Metropolitan for his stance on the Eastern Catholic Churches.⁶
• In his letter, Archbishop Chrysostomos states: "...once we pass beyond the non-Orthodox, dated book by the eccentric British scholar D.M. Lang, who is quoted in the text that you sent me, as well as the mind-set of such Westernized theologians as Father John Meyendorff and Metropolitan John (Zizioulas), to the eminently Orthodox thought of Father Georges Florovsky (though Zizioulas was a student of Father Georges, his theological and philosophical thinking has deviated substantially from the Patristic principles set forth by his mentor), we see this matter in a clearer way." The Article
• 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?

Notes

¹ Modern Theology 18:4, October 2002, 527-539.

² Ibid, p.537.

³ "Is John Zizioulas an Existentialist in Disguise? Response to Lucian Turcescu," Modern Theology 20:4, October 2004, pp. 601-607).

⁴ In Communion and Otherness, pp. 171-177.

⁵ ATOS Missionary Center, Belgrade, 2002.

⁶ In an interview with Maria Antoniadou.

⁷ From article listed in note ³: "Turcescu indicates that Martin Buber and John Macmurray are the most substantial influences. But Zizioulas does not appear to hide the fact that both Buber and Macmurray have influenced his thought. Turcescu himself cites Zizioulas's references to Buber. Zizioulas has also cited Macmurray. He even gives credit to Pannenberg for helping him to articulate thoughts concerning personhood that he was 'struggling to express'." (str 604) "Zizioulas himself has admited to me in private conversations that the thought of Martin Buber did influence his understanding of personhood. He did not mention John Macmurray." (footnote 13)

External links

• List of Works by John of Pergamon
• His Eminence John, Metropolitan of Pergamon from the Orthodox Research Institute
• Dogmatics notes - "These are the notes that were taken from the lessons of Professor I. Zizioulas (current Metropolitan of Pergamus and Chairman of the Athens Academy) at the Poemantic Division of the Thessaloniki University's School of Theology, during the academic year 1984-1985. They are published with the blessing and the permission of the reverend Metropolitan."
• John Zizioulas (Wikipedia)
• Resources for Christian Theology: John Zizioulas

Succession box: John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon
Preceded by: ?	Metropolitan of Pergamon 1986 - present	Succeeded by: —

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