Vasileios Ioannidis (; 1896 – 25 November 1963) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

) of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. 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, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

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

Ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

Life

Ioannidis was born in

Përmet Përmet () is a List of cities and towns in Albania, town and Municipalities of Albania, municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. The municipality of Përmet consists of the administrative units of Çarçovë, Frashër, Petran, Qend� ...

, modern-day

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. He initially studied at the

Halki seminary The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( and ), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theo ...

in Constantinople (

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) and then continued his studies at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. He became a professor of Theology at the

University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest Tertiary education, tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stagira (anc ...

(1942–1951), and later at the Kapodistrian

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

(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 List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

Panteleimon Kotokos Panteleimon of Gjirokastër (, born Christos Kotokos, , ; 1890–1969) was a bishop of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. He was the metropolitan bishop of Gjirokastër (1937–1941) and later the President of the exiled Northern Epir ...

, 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 (, , , ) 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" (with a capital D) contrasts with the conservat ...

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 Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commo ...

. 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 (, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its canonical territory is confined to the borders of Greece prior to the ...

that participated in the

: in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

(1948), in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

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

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(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 Chu ...

. 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, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

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 and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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), ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll *Stoic (mixtape), ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 201 ...

* (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