Strengthening the Ecumenical Relevance of Zizioulas’s Eschatological Hermeneutics through a Dialogue with Protestant and Roman Catholic Theologians

This article examines the ecumenical potential and challenges of John Zizioulas’s eschatological ontology in Remembering the Future. It considers his critical engagement with Jürgen Moltmann, arguing that broader dialogue could enrich discussion of creation, ecology, and universal salvation. It then brings Zizioulas into conversation with Louis-Marie Chauvet, Johann Baptist Metz, Reimund Bieringer, and James Alison. Their approaches to sacramental mediation, apocalyptic expectation, biblical interpretation, and the Resurrection reveal convergences and differences with his thought. Finally, it explores eschatological themes in the international Orthodox–Catholic dialogue, whose relevance remains largely implicit in the book. These encounters can extend Zizioulas’s future-oriented vision while preserving its Orthodox foundations. A common celebration of Easter is proposed as a concrete expression of this potential, linking theological reflection with the pursuit of Christian unity within the historical life of the churches.