Kenotic Ecumenism

Abstract

This chapter considers the methodology of ecumenism from an Eastern Orthodox perspective. It begins by briefly reviewing the Holy and Great Council that took place in Crete in 2016, and its document on the relations of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian world. The second part looks at the lukewarm or hostile reception of ecumenical dialogue, and the third examines more closely the debates for and against. The chapter then suggests ways to move Christian unity forward through a broader engagement of bishops; reconsidering the bold twentieth-century proposals of Sergius Bulgakov, Nicolas Afanasiev, and Nicholas Zernov; a ‘kenotic ecumenism’ based on Philippians 2:4–7 and the thought of John Zizioulas; and making communion with God the focus of a renewed ecumenical movement in which the Jesus Prayer could play an important unifying role.