Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries

by John D. Zizioulas

Eucharist, Bishop, Church aims to define the relationship connecting the unity of the Church with the Eucharist and the Bishop as it was understood in the consciousness of the early Church. Written as the author's doctoral dissertation in 1965 for the University of Athens, the issues raised in this work are as relevant today as when Zizioulas first presented them. Zizioulas presents an episcopocentric structure of the Church as normative, constituted in the essential role of the bishop as president of the Divine Liturgy and the eucharistic community. This assertion, still novel when Zizioulas first described it, is widely accepted and forms the core concept of "eucharistic ecclesiology." Nevertheless, Eucharist, Bishop, Church continues to challenge many contemporary notions about the relationship of bishop and presbyter, parish and diocese, and local and universal church.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Church History, Christianity, Christian History, Church

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

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

Reviews

[Enoch Kuo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zizioulas' study of the early church argues for the central role of the eucharist and the bishop in exemplifying the unity of the church in the first three centuries of its existence. His historical method attempts to reconstruct, not only the historical reality, but also the underlying rationale behind the practices of the church. In doing so, he examines how the church responds to various challenges - heresy, schism, growth in numbers, persecution - and tries to maintain the eucharist- and bishop-centered focus of the church in the midst of these changes. Throughout, a clearer sense of what it means to confess belief in one "catholic church" emerges.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit clunky at times, perhaps due to the translation, and with an obvious, to-be-expected Eastern Orthodox bent and bias. Nevertheless, a valuable study and discussion. Insightful and thought-provoking, with a fresh perspective on otherwise well trodden ground. It is worth taking seriously the author's emphasis on the concreteness of the Church's unity, as the Body of Christ, in the office and ministry of the bishop, and especially in his celebration of the Holy Eucharist as the definitive heart and center of the Church's life in Christ.

[G Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading reading Popovich's argument that the church centers around the sacraments... that is, our unity is around God's means of grace (and what he has established in his church... NOT that the churches are all somehow unified and that the sacraments are something we do a point of unity... Sound like tedious nit-picking... but it actually has some significant implications... as this book demonstrates. Excellent book! Lots of good history, theology, praxy contained in here..

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenging history. Protestants need to work through these issues.