Being With God

Aristotle Papanikolaou

Description

The central task of Being With God is an analysis of the relation between apophaticism, trinitarian theology, and divine-human communion through a critical comparison of the trinitarian theologies of the Eastern Orthodox theologians Vladimir Lossky (1903–58) and John Zizioulas (1931– ), arguably two of the most influential Orthodox theologians of the past century. These two theologians identify as the heart and center of all theological discourse the realism of divine-human communion, which is often understood in terms of the familiar Orthodox concept of theosis, or divinization. The Incarnation, according to Lossky and Zizioulas, is the event of a real divine-human communion that is made accessible to all; God has become human so that all may participate fully in the divine life.

Aristotle Papanikolaou shows how an ontology of divine-human communion is at the center of both Lossky's and Zizioulas's theological projects. He also shows how, for both theologians, this core belief is used as a self-identifying marker against "Western" theologies.

Papanikolaou maintains, however, that Lossky and Zizioulas hold profoundly different views on how to conceptualize God as the Trinity. Their key difference is over the use of apophaticism in theology in general and especially the relation of apophaticism to the doctrine of the Trinity. For Lossky, apophaticism is the central precondition for a trinitarian theology; for Zizioulas, apophaticism has a much more restricted role in theological discourse, and the God experienced in the eucharist is not the God beyond being but the immanent life of the trinitarian God.

Papanikolaou provides readers with a richer understanding of contemporary Orthodox theology through his analysis of the consensus and debate between two leading Orthodox theologians.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian anthropology
• John Zizioulas
• Systematics
• Orthodox
• Christianity
• Anthropology
• Vladimir Lossky
• History

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 24 février 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268161446
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

BEING WITH GOD
BEING WITH GOD
Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion
ARISTOTLE PAPANIKOLAOU
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2006 by University of Notre Dame
Published in the United States of America
Reprinted in 2008, 2015
Material from Divine Energies or Divine Personhood: Vladimir Lossky and John Zizioulas on Conceiving the Transcendent and Immanent God, Modern Theology 19, no. 3 (July 2003): 357-85, appear throughout the four chapters of this book and are reprinted with the permission of Blackwell Publishing.
A revised version of Is John Zizioulas an Existentialist in Disguise? Response to Lucian Turcescu, Modern Theology (October 2004): 587-93, appears in chapter 4 . Material from that article is reprinted with the permission of Blackwell Publishing.
Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publication Data
Papanikolaou, Aristotle.
Being with God : Trinity, apophaticism, and divine-human communion / Aristotle Papanikolaou.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN -13: 978-0-268-03830-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN -10: 0-268-03830-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN -13: 978-0-268-03831-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN -10: 0-268-03831-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Deification (Christianity)-History of doctrines-20th century.
2. Trinity-History of doctrines-20th century.
3. Orthodox Eastern Church-Doctrines-History-20th century.
4. Lossky, Vladimir, 1903-1958.
5. Zizioulas, Jean, 1931- . I. Title.
BT 767.8. P 37 2006
231.092 2-dc22
2005036071
ISBN 9780268161446
This book is printed on acid-free paper .
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail] .
To
DENA
Truly, Madly, Deeply
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
chapter 1 Ontology and Theological Epistemology
Lossky s Apophaticism
Incarnation as Revelation
Cataphatic and Apophatic Theologies
Knowledge as Union
Essence/Energies Distinction
Theology as Antinomy
Zizioulas s Eucharistic Epistemology
Truth, Eucharist, and Eschatology
Pneumatological Christology
Icon: The Unity of History and Eschatology
Divine-Human Communion: Knowledge or Ignorance?
chapter 2 Trinity: Antinomy or Communion?
Lossky on Apophaticism and Trinity
Oikonomia and Theologia
The Person/Nature Antinomy
The Filioque
Zizioulas on Ontology and Trinity
Truth as Life
The Ontological Revolution
Apophaticism versus Ontology
chapter 3 Knowing the Triune God
The hopos esti of Trinitarian Existence
The Economic and the Immanent Trinity
Ontology and Epistemology
Divine Energies or Divine Personhood?
chapter 4 Trinity and Personhood
Person as Ekstasis and Hypostasis
Zizioulas s Philosophical Argument for an Ontology of Personhood
The Problem of Freedom in Zizioulas s Thought
Person, Patristic Interpretation, and the Hermeneutics of Retrieval
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
The completion of this project is both a culmination and a beginning. It is the beginning of what I intend to be continuous reflection in one form or another on the most fundamental existential questions which impinge on all of us. It is a culmination of a lifelong journey of learning and formation. In that I am who I am and know what I know through my relationships with friends, colleagues, teachers and professors, priests and hierarchs, to each of them I owe a debt of gratitude. There are others who more directly contributed to the realization of this project. I am thankful to Father Emmanuel Clapsis, my professor in Dogmatics and the current Dean at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, from whom I have learned and continue to learn much about systematic theology. He encouraged my further studies and inspired in me an even deeper love for theology. I am also indebted to Bernard McGinn and David Tracy for their patient and wise counsel throughout my academic career at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. I m especially grateful to McGinn for his immediate response to my many requests for all types of support after I graduated from the Divinity School. Where others may have questioned this type of project, McGinn and Tracy wholeheartedly supported it. Among the many things that I learned from them, an even greater appreciation for my own tradition stands as the most important. I consider it a blessing to have worked with them. My koumbaro and friend, John Fotopoulos, has been an indefatigable source of support throughout our shared academic journeys and a valued conversation partner in all things ecclesial and theological; I thank both him and my colleague Christophe Chalamet for reviewing portions of this text. A Fordham University Junior Faculty Fellowship generously funded the sabbatical time that allowed me to complete the manuscript. I am also grateful to the Ames Fund for Junior Faculty, granted through Fordham University Graduate School of Arts and Science, which subsidized, among other things, the use of the stunning icon of Moses at the Burning Bush as the book cover. Saint Catherine s Monastery graciously permitted the use of the icon, and I thank Father Justin, together with Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jaharis, for helping me obtain the permission granted by Archbishop Damianos. Finally, I consider myself blessed to have worked with Barbara Hanrahan, Director of the University of Notre Dame Press. I cannot overstate my appreciation for her openness, interest, encouragement, and guidance throughout the publication process. This book has benefited from the comments of many reviewers, and I can only hope that they see the fruits of their own labor in the final product. Whatever may be lacking, which I am sure is much, is my own doing.
My family has always been a constant source of strength and support. My brother and sister, Evans and Sultana, have always challenged and encouraged their little brother in ways too numerous to mention; I could not have asked for more loving and supportive siblings. It is difficult to express my feelings about my parents, the Reverend Byron Stylianos and Presbytera Xanthippe Papanikolaou. Their life has been one continuous sacrifice for others, but mostly for their children. Through their various forms of support, but more importantly, through their constant and incessant love they provided the conditions which made possible my education and my happiness. In many ways, this work is a reflection of their many sacrifices. How I feel about them is best expressed by St. Augustine s own sentiments about his mother Monica: In the flesh [they] brought me to birth in this world: in [their] hearts [they] brought me to birth in your eternal light ( Confessions 9.8.17). I feel compelled to mention also my grandmother, Panagiota Kassos, who recently celebrated her hundredth birthday. She survived Turkish Occupation, two World Wars, Civil War, poverty, and adversity. If it were not for her strength of character, her determination, her faith in God, in humanity, and in the future, I would not be the recipient of the many blessings I presently enjoy. In my relationship with her I understand what it means to receive a gift that cannot be returned. Of the many gifts she made possible for me to receive, the greatest of these are my children, Byron Theodore and Alexander Panagiotis, and my wife, Constantia (Dena) Tolios, Esq. In them I have experienced all the virtues and joys of life that are alone truly meaningful. Byron and Alexander by simply existing are a constant, daily source of happiness. Dena s strength, support, and unconditional love allowed me to see this project through to the end. A close friend of mine once described her as my sacrament. In her presence I have indeed come to understand and experience God s unconditional love; I have learned what it means to be loved not because of who I am, but in spite of who I am. I am indebted to her for much more than simply the completion of this project.
Introduction
This book is about being with God, about the realism of divine-human communion as it is expressed in the work of Vladimir Lossky (1903-58) and John Zizioulas (1931-), arguably two of the most influential Orthodox theologians of the past century. 1 Since it discusses divine-human communion through these two figures, it is also a small window into contemporary Orthodox theology. In addition to their impact on twentieth-century Orthodoxy, each has served in their own time as a spokesperson for Orthodoxy to the non-Orthodox world. Vladimir Lossky was one of the many Russian migr s to Paris, where he lived and taught after the Bolshevik revolution until his tragically sudden death. Zizioulas studied at the University of Athens and at Harvard, worked with renowned Orthodox patristic scholar and church historian Georges Florovsky, and was a part of a group of young Orthodox theologians in Greece who were determined to heed Florovsky s call for a neo-patristic synthesis in Greek theological studies.
In spite of being separated by a generation, both theologians shared a commitment to a return to the fathers for contemporary Orthodox theology. Lossky, together with Florovsky, was instrumental in initiating this paradigm shift in contemporary Orthodoxy against what he perceived to be the philosophically tainted Russian sophiology best represented in the person of Sergius Bulgakov. Zizioulas was reacting to a Greek theology that he considered inherently influenced by the neo-scholastic models of the West. Both also taught in non-Orthodox institutions and worked within the ecumenical movement, Zizioulas more formally in the World Council of Churches (WCC), and Lossky more informally through a theological working group that included such figures as Gabriel Marcel. Lossky also