6/6 - Being As Communion Reading - Introduction

These studies are addressed to the reader who seeks in Orthodox theology the dimension of the faith of the Greek Fathers, a dimension necessary to the catholicity of the faith of the Church and to the existential implications of Christian doctrine and of the ecclesial institution. They are addressed to the Western Christian who feels, as it were, "amputated" since the East and the West followed their different and autonomous paths.

As for the second concern of these texts, it is a result and a consequence of the first--it provokes and invites contemporary theology to work with a view to a synthesis between the two theologies, Eastern and Western. It is of course true that, in some respects, these two theologies seem incompatible. That is due, among other things, to the independent historical roads followed by East and West since the great schism or perhaps even earlier. However, this was not the case during the early patristic period. As the late Fr. Georges Florovsky liked to repeat, the authentic catholicity of the Church must include both the West and the East.

What Met. John is known for is his teachings on the role of the Eucharist within the Church (eucharistic ecclesiology). In Being as Communion, he relates that teaching to our personal identities. I finished chapter one in the book and found it so accurate, clear, and enlightening that I want to share it.

Chapter 1, which I read in these videos, explores the history of how ancient, pagan, and secular cultures grappled with the conception of personhood, what it means to be, and how Christ gave us a new identity. Particularly fascinating to me is the organic conclusion of modern secular life which produces a philosophy of biology in which life is meaningless and the only control one has in it is over death. Without Christ, they can’t but reach such a conclusion. I already had a fruitful conversation with an elderly person struggling with suffering and death who is sympathetic to this biological philosophy and therefore to assisted suicide and I was able to clearly explain why the baptized Christian has a hope beyond the body, being a vehicle of the Holy Spirit’s comfort and peace--just because of chapter one.

Met. John also briefly touches on Marxism, modern art, immigration, the role of law, and a number of other topics so relevant to us today while presenting the ontology of personhood, or the study of what it means for a person to be.

I really think this is information so foundational, so transformative, that it should be widely known. So I’m reading it and sharing it with you. This video is the introduction. The series includes six videos: the forward and preface, chapter 1 (in four sections), and the introduction which is at the end as a sort of review. That’s it. I hope you’ll make time to watch. And I’d be honored if you chose to discuss it.