Vasileios Ioannidis ( el, Βασίλειος Ιωαννίδης; 1896 – 25 November 1963) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

theologian and professor. His research was focused on the analysis and the understanding (

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

) of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. Ioannidis participated in the first three Assemblies of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

(1947, 1955, and 1961) and was involved in the movement of

Ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

Life

Ioannidis was born in

Përmet Përmet (; sq-definite, Permeti) is a city and municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. The municipality of Përmet consists of the administrative units of Çarçovë, Frashër, Petran, Qendër Piskovë and Përmet. The total popul ...

, modern-day

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. He initially studied at the

Halki seminary The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( el, Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης and tr, Ortodoks Ruhban Okulu), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the ...

in Constantinople (

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) and then continued his studies at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. He became a professor of Theology at the

University of Thessaloniki A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

(1942–1951), and later at the Kapodistrian

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

(1952–1963). In 1952 Ioannidis became a member of the Northern Epirus lobby, headed by the exiled bishop of

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

Panteleimon Kotokos Panteleimon of Gjirokastër ( el, Παντελεήμων Αργυροκάστρου, born Christos Kotokos, el, Χρήστος Κοτόκος, sq, Kristo Kotoko; 1890–1969) was a bishop of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. He was ...

, which propagated the rights of the Greek population in southern Albania. Ioannidis' research was focused on the interpretation (

) of the New Testament, while in 1961 he cooperated with the reformist in the field of education and supporter of the

Demotic Greek Demotic Greek or Dimotiki ( el, Δημοτική Γλώσσα, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece. "Demotic Greek" (w ...

language,

Alexandros Delmouzos Alexandros may refer to: *Alexandros, a Greek name, the origin for the English name Alexander *Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great *Alexandros, Greece, a village on the island of Lefkada *Alexandros (band), a Japanese r ...

. He is considered among the most important 20th century theologians in Greece, along with the former Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos I, Christos Androutsos, Panagiotis Trembelas, Panagiotis Bratsiotis and Ioannis Karmiris.

Ecumenism and World Council of Churches

He was one of the representatives of the

Orthodox Church of Greece The Church of Greece ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Ekklēsía tē̂s Helládos, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its ...

that participated in the

: in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(1948), in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, United States (1954), as well as in New Delhi,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(1961). Ioannidis together with another theologian, Amilkas Alivizatos, contributed significantly to the debates that led to the drafting of the "Toronto Statement", a foundational document which facilitated Orthodox participation in the organization and constitutes today its ecclesiological charter. Ioannidis was against the view that the Orthodox church should participate in discussions about

Dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

. On the other hand, he believed that the discussions among the representatives of the various Churches should focus on social and political issues. In general Ioannidis claimed that the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

should play a leading role in the

movement. In several reports about the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

(1962), Ioannidis addressed the importance of such an event, although the results of this, according to him, did not change the relations between the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and the

Work

His main works are: * (1960) – Introduction to the New Testament * (1934, 1957) – The Doctrine of Predestination in St. Paul and the

Stoic Philosophers Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy *STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain *' ...

* (1936, 1957) – Mysticism of Saint Paul and religious ideas and trends of the Hellenistic era * (1955) – The Kingdom of God according to the instruction of the New Testament * (1960) – The Gospel and the Social Problem Ioannidis also published a number of works about the movement of

,Benz, 1957: p. 112 as well as articles in various journals.

Life

Ecumenism and World Council of Churches

Work

References

Sources

See also