Page 392 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
Toward a Living Catechesis:
C onclusion
With this book we have attempted to offer a different,
existential approach to Orthodox theology and to the
life of the Church. In the new age, Orthodoxy is called to
speak in a direct and contemporary language, transcending
the wooden forms of sermons, religious moralism, and pure-
ly psychological interpretations of faith. When ecclesiastical
experience is approached existentially—when it is, so to speak,
“dissected” within the living reality of human existence—it
becomes possible to propose a way and a method for a truly
interpersonal catechesis, one that speaks to the human being
of today.
Such a search does not lead inward, toward self-enclosure,
but outward—toward liberation from the self and toward en-
counter with the Other. It opens a space of dialogue marked
by respect and acceptance of difference, including those who
come from other traditions or bear other perceptions. This
dialogue must remain alive and honest: attentive to the deep
longing and anguish for truth, but also sincere in acknowledg-
ing the mistakes and historical failures of Christians. Moving
constantly within the experience of crucifixion and resurrec-
tion—of reception and transformation—it turns questions
about God into existential questions about human life itself.
The modern Christian, therefore, cannot approach faith as
something merely given or inherited, but must confront it
personally, even painfully, at the level of existence. From such
a confrontation arise the fundamental questions: what does it
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