Remembering the Future

To hold this book by John Zizioulas, Metropolitan of Pergamon, in my hands is for me still to clasp his hands in the friendship that bound us together. A posthumous book, as the title tells us, it comes to me as a sign springing from a past that has been liberated in the Future of God.. The eschaton knocks at the door of our daily life, seeks our collaboration, loosens the chains, liberates the transition to a good life. And it is at the heart of the eucharistic canon that for Zizioulas the Church remembers the future, completing as he does in the chapters of this book a doxology to Him who comes, a theology that he has written on his knees, in expectation. -- Pope Francis
The posthumous book Remembering the Future, by the late Metropolitan of Pergamon John Zizioulas of blessed memory, is a truly remarkable book. Through its impressive documentation and abundant bibliographical references, it opens exciting and challenging perspectives for theological dialogue, for discussing Biblical hermeneutics and for evaluating practices existing in the life of the Church related to preaching the Gospel and teaching the essentials of Christian Faith. The decisive achievement of the book is that it brings the reality or activity of eschatology, i.e., Christ's teaching about His second coming and about the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, to the center of serious discussion, comprehensively in terms of biblical, systematic, liturgical or practical Theology. The truly unforgettable late Metropolitan of Pergamon successfully transfers eschatology from the end of the books of systematic theology to the center of them and makes the teaching about eschatological ontology a relevant and vital topic for our Church today. -- Archbishop Demetrios Trakatelis, Former Archbishop of America
Metropolitan John Zizioulas is the most recognizable and ecumenically impactful Orthodox theologian since St. John of Damascus. He carries forward the patristic tradition in a way that meets his mentor's (Florovsky) call for a neo-patristic synthesis, but without shying away from bold and creative proposals that respond to contemporary questions and challenges. This book, his final monograph, is a gift that clarifies and extends his profound insights in Trinitarian theology, theological anthropology, creation theology, ecclesiology, and, of course, eschatology. His theological legacy is sure to endure not only in Orthodoxy, but in the history of Christian theology. -- Aristotle Papanikolaou, Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Co-founding director, Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University, USA
In his Remembering the Future: Toward an Eschatological Ontology, the late Metropolitan John Zizioulas revitalizes theological discourse by reintroducing the overlooked concept of eschatological ontology, placing it at the forefront of contemporary theological thought. Drawing from biblical, patristic, and Eucharistic sources, Zizioulas reexamines theological concepts like creation, humanity, evil and the fall, science and art, the Church and liturgical time, the ontology of the person and love through the lens of the coming Kingdom and the risen Christ. This work introduces an iconic ontology, emphasizing that our current, partial experience of truth will ultimately culminate in a perfected and complete state in the last days. -- Stavros Yangazoglou, Associate Professor of Dogmatics, Department of Theology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens