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The Ascetic and Eucharistic Dimensions of Orthodox Spirituality

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The Ascetic and Eucharistic Dimensions of Orthodox Spirituality THE ASCETIC AND EUCHARISTIC DIMENSIONS OF ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY Metropolitan John Zizioulas and the Debate in Contemporary Orthodox Theology Thèse Alan Maxym Lysack Doctorat en théologie de l’Université Laval offert en extension à l’Université de Sherbrooke Philosophiae doctor (Ph. D.) Faculté de théologie et d’études religieuses Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke, Canada Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses Université Laval Québec, Canada © Alan Maxym Lysack, 2016 Résumé Le Métropolite Jean (Zizioulas) de Pergame avance qu’il existe deux types de spiritualité dans l’Église primitive: la spiritualité monastique et la spiritualité eucharistique. En outre, il soutient que saint Maxime le Confesseur est celui qui a réalisé la synthèse des deux. Cette thèse est une étude en spiritualité orthodoxe qui prend la synthèse de saint Maxime comme point de départ, puis l’utilise comme paradigme pour examiner la pensée de plusieurs Pères et théologiens orthodoxes contemporains, y compris celle-là même du Métropolite Jean Zizioulas. Il devient évident dans la thèse que le Métropolite Jean Zizioulas comprend la synthèse différemment de saint Maxime et de ses célèbres successeurs, saint Syméon le Nouveau Théologien et saint Grégoire Palamas. Plusieurs ambigüités dans la spiritualité proposée par le Métropolite Jean Zizioulas sont examinées en détail. La position du Métropolite voulant que l’Eucharistie bénéficie d’une primauté exclusive dans la spiritualité et l’ecclésiologie orthodoxe est contestée. L’argument avancé dans la thèse est le suivant: la spiritualité et l’ascétisme devraient constituer l’ecclésiologie orthodoxe, permettant, dans la spiritualité orthodoxe, la primauté de l’Eucharistie qui les contient. La spiritualité orthodoxe se révèle comme l’équilibre entre les dimensions ascétique et eucharistique, ce qui est sans doute le plus manifeste dans l’intégration de la liturgie eucharistique avec la liturgie du cœur. iii Abstract Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon posits that there were two types of spirituality in the early Church: monastic and eucharistic. He further argues that Saint Maximos the Confessor was responsible for forging a synthesis of the two. This dissertation is a study in Orthodox spirituality that takes the Maximian synthesis as a point of departure and uses it as a paradigm to examine the thought of several Fathers and contemporary Orthodox theologians, including that of Metropolitan John Zizoulas himself. It becomes apparent in the dissertation that Metropolitan John Zizioulas understands the synthesis differently than does Saint Maximos and his celebrated successors, Saint Symeon the New Theologian and Saint Gregory Palamas. Several ambiguities in the spirituality proposed by Metropolitan John Zizioulas are examined in detail. The Metropolitan’s position that the Eucharist enjoys an exclusive primacy in Orthodox spirituality and ecclesiology is challenged. The thesis advanced in the dissertation is that spirituality and asceticism should be constitutive of Orthodox ecclesiology, allowing in Orthodox spirituality for a primacy of the Eucharist that is inclusive of them. Orthodox spirituality is revealed as a balance of the ascetic and eucharistic dimensions, a reality that is best demonstrated in the integration of the eucharistic liturgy with the liturgy of the heart. v Table of Contents Résumé ...................................................................................................................................iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... xiii Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 The Problem Considered in this Dissertation ................................................................. 1 The Objective and Goals of this Dissertation ................................................................. 2 Thesis .............................................................................................................................. 3 The Structure and Limits of the Dissertation .................................................................. 3 Section A: The State of the Question Regarding the Ascetic and Eucharistic Dimensions of Orthodox Spirituality in Contemporary Orthodox Theology .................................................. 7 Chapter One: The Background: Three Significant Precursors; Metropolitan John Zizioulas’s Understanding of the Spiritual Life ............................................................. 7 The Debate ...................................................................................................................... 7 Archbishop Basil Krivocheine ........................................................................................ 9 Father Dumitru Staniloae .............................................................................................. 13 Professor Paul Evdokimov ............................................................................................ 17 Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon ................................................................. 25 First Main Facet of Metropolitan John Zizioulas’s Spirituality: Historical- Eschatological Dimension............................................................................................. 26 Second Main Facet of Metropolitan John Zizioulas’s Spirituality: Christological- Ecclesiological Dimension ............................................................................................ 27 Third Main Facet of Metropolitan John Zizioulas’s Spirituality: The Limited Anthropological Dimension .......................................................................................... 30 Chapter Two: Responses to Metropolitan John Zizioulas .......................................... 41 Professor Petros Vassiliadis .......................................................................................... 41 Father Calinic Berger .................................................................................................... 46 Professor Aristotle Papanikolaou .................................................................................. 48 Father Nikolaos Loudovikos ......................................................................................... 49 Section B: Saint Maximos the Confessor and His Successors .............................................. 53 Chapter Three: The Ascetic and Eucharistic Dimensions of the Mystagogy of Saint Maximos the Confessor .................................................................................................. 53 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 53 Structure and Character of the Mystagogy .................................................................... 54 Prologue ........................................................................................................................ 55 The Church and Man as Images .................................................................................... 55 The Commentary on the Divine Liturgy ....................................................................... 58 The Application of the Divine Institutions to the Perfection of the Soul ..................... 60 The Recapitulations and Exhortations .......................................................................... 61 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 63 Two Levels of Spiritual Life ......................................................................................... 64 The Synthesis of Saint Maximos and the Synthesis of Metropolitan John Zizioulas ... 65 vii Chapter Four: Asceticism in the Ethical Discourses of Saint Symeon the New Theologian ....................................................................................................................... 69 The Life and Witness of Saint Symeon ........................................................................ 69 Saint Symeon’s Teaching is for Everyone ................................................................... 70 The Character and Purpose of Asceticism ................................................................... 70 The Importance of the Holy Spirit in Asceticism ......................................................... 71 The Manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Life of a Christian ................................... 72 The Importance of the Body in Asceticism .................................................................. 73 Progression and Growth in the Virtues ........................................................................ 74 Degrees of Apatheia ..................................................................................................... 75 Asceticism as a Means, not an End .............................................................................. 76 Chapter Five: The Eucharist in the Ethical Discourses of Saint Symeon the New Theologian ......................................................................................................................
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