Page 358 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
ered only in relation to the rights of other individuals, but
must also be considered in relation to what could even be
called the rights of nature. The ecological problem reveals with
particular force that man does not exist alone. The human
person belongs to a web of relations that includes the natural
world itself. Thus the reconceptualization of law in personal-
istic rather than individualistic terms is no longer simply a
philosophical option; it is an urgent necessity.
All this makes the rights of the person the rights par excel-
lence of our age. Both Church and state, instead of remaining
enclosed within themselves, must hasten to increase their co-
operation in the face of these problems. At this critical mo-
ment, every institution is called to contribute to the person-
hood of man. The Church must contribute to the awakening
of consciousness and, through its theology, to the respect of
persons as icons of God. Science must offer its illumination,
and law its protection. The notion of man as an icon of God
must be preserved at all costs.
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