Zizioulous nuggets 1) The difference between "the individual" and "the personal"

You know "Being as Communion" was somewhat hard to to get into, but on the other hand not as bad as as some other Orthodox writers, most notably stuff written by Orlapubs / "Orchid Land Publications". And boy is it starting to get good (once I got to chapter 3)! So I'm going to start offering up some nuggets of interesting things mentioned in the book.


"There is no charismata that can be possesed individually and yet there is no charisma which can be conceived or operated but by individuals. How can this be understood?


Here I think we must seek illumination from a fundamental distinction between the individual and the personal. The distinction has already been made by more than one philosophy but it has been seldom applied to theological problems such as presented by Ecclesiolgy. And yet the paradox of the incorporation of the "many" into the "one" on which the eucharistic community, as we have seen, and perhaps the entire mystery of the Church are based can only be understood in the categories of personal existence. The individual represents a category that represents seperation and division. "Individuality makes its appearance by its differentiation from other individualities." The person represents a category that presupposes unity with other persons. The eucharistic community, and the Church in general, as a communion (koinonia) can only be understood in the categories of personal existence.