Page 222 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
the Church, which begins in baptism and is nourished in the
Eucharist.
This is why the term “father” was given first to the bishop
and then to the priest: because they offer life—not their own,
but the life of the Church, the life of Christ. Outside this com-
munion, there is no spiritual fatherhood, for it is the Holy
Spirit who makes us members of the body and gives us life that
does not end in death. Spiritual fatherhood creates children
for eternity.
In this light, the Fathers of the Church are not simply teach-
ers of doctrine. They are those who give life in the Holy Spirit.
Their authority is not external, but relational; it is the author-
ity of one who gives existence, leads into communion, and
nourishes with eternal life.
This also explains why our age suffers from a crisis of fa-
therhood. When spiritual fatherhood is lost, biological father-
hood also collapses. Modern society rejects authority and the
idea of receiving life as a gift, replacing it with a notion of
equality that refuses to acknowledge any source. Yet every-
thing we are is given. Someone has given us life—physically
and spiritually. Gratitude is the beginning of truth.
To say that the Church is “patristic” means more than fidel-
ity to past teachings. It means that the Church lives by a con-
tinual giving and receiving of life. Fatherhood is a gift of God,
not something we create. Through this gift, the Church exists
as communion.
At the same time, the Fathers themselves teach us how to
live this truth in every age. In their effort to interpret Scripture
and tradition, they used the language and concepts of their
time. They borrowed terms—such as “soul”—from the philo-
sophical world around them in order to express the biblical
truth. Fidelity to the Fathers does not mean repeating their
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