Page 385 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

H O W M U S T T H E O L O G Y S P E A K T O D AY
ogy; it is the Church—the place of ascetic struggle and sanc-
tification. Asceticism, as the Fathers teach, begins not with the
condemnation of others, but with self-judgment. Sanctifica-
tion is not escape from the world, but its offering to God, its
transformation into Eucharist.
Only in this way can Orthodoxy serve the world today and
contribute to its salvation.
In our present age—and even more in the age to come—
Christ will be, more than ever, a “sign of contradiction.” The
scientific and technological developments of our time will not
render God unnecessary; on the contrary, they will make Him
indispensable.
For these developments threaten the human person—his
freedom, uniqueness, and unrepeatability—as well as nature
itself, its integrity and the laws that sustain its unity in diver-
sity. Humanity will be forced to respond to this threat, or else
cease to be human.
Christ, as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church—and as
theology must interpret Him today, in an existential man-
ner—will, in such a situation, be revealed as the only authentic
“perfect Man,” who, as “perfect God,” shows the way out of
every impasse.
If the Church and theology interpret and proclaim Ortho-
dox Christology in this existential way, then contemporary
humanity will once again see that “there is no salvation in
anyone else.”
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