The theology of church chanting in the theology of Metropolitan Jovan Zizioulas

In the paper, we present the theological views of the Metropolitan Jovan Zizioulas on chanting in the Liturgy and consider their signifi- cance for the area of Systematic Theology. By examining the relationship between chanting and the iconic nature of the Eucharist, Metropolitan Jovan points to the eschatological origin of Eucharistic chanting, and thus the chanting of the Church as the acceptance of God’s gift. Since the Word of God, hymns, and psalmody originate from the eschaton, church chanting represents an integral part of the event of the “com- munity of saints”, or the “brightness and brilliance of the eschaton” that the Eucharist brings to the liturgical assembly. The knowledge of the doxological spirit of church chanting is a result of one’s openness to ac- cepting God’s gift of salvation, rather than individual strain occurring within biological and religious emotions. As an element of Orthodox Tradition, chanting testifies to a faith that anticipates the resurrection of the body and perceives its church dogmas as arising from human free choice to participate in the way of the Triune God’s existence. With few words directly devoted to church chanting, Metropolitan Jovan Ziziou- las manages to illuminate Eucharistic chanting as a relevant theological topic. This, within contemporary theological thought, opens the pos- sibility for the first time to re-examine the notion of church chanting as a natural, universal, and therefore ontologically insignificant activ- ity of homo religiosus.