Page 294 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
hand. Jurisdictional problems would also arise. Despite these
serious issues, however, there seems to be on both sides a
genuine will to continue toward communion, and once the
Christological problem is fundamentally clarified, the future
may be approached with cautious optimism.
The dialogue with the Anglican Church has a long history,
but it was especially after the First World War that it took the
form of serious theological study. During the interwar period,
the Anglicans pressed above all for sacramental intercommu-
nion, while the Orthodox insisted that unity in faith and doc-
trinal agreement must come first. The topics discussed were
largely those of the scholastic academic theology then domi-
nant even in Orthodoxy: Scripture and Tradition, the Creed,
the authority of councils, the Holy Spirit, the sacraments, the
Eucharist, the priesthood, icons, and so forth.
A central issue in that period was the validity of Anglican
ordinations. Several Orthodox Churches recognized them
provisionally, but this recognition was never universally con-
firmed. In this context, much use was made of the concept of
oikonomia, often presented as a specifically Orthodox solution
to ecumenical problems. At bottom, this idea rests on the
distinction between the strict application of canonical pre-
scriptions and a more lenient or dispensed application in spe-
cial cases. It was argued that the Church, being the source of
canon law, may in certain instances relax or adapt its strict
observance.
Yet this theory eventually revealed serious weaknesses. Al-
though the Eastern tradition certainly allows bishops and
spiritual fathers some freedom in the pastoral application of
canons to members of the Church, the extension of oikonomia
to the sacraments of communities separated from the Ortho-
dox Church proved difficult to justify. Once Orthodox theol-
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