claimed only to those disposed to listen.

These were found, as we have

explained above, mainly among the humble ones, the poor of the land. It
is above all a spiritual liberation from sin which the third Isaiah announces, in metaphorical terms. The mystique of poverty reflected in
these chapters has affinities w ith the spirituality of many Psalms. But the
best comment of "the poor are evangelized" is probably found in the
Gospel Beatitudes. Bibliographical Note: J.l. Alfaro, O.S.B., "The Land
Stewardship," Biblical Theology Bulletin 8 (1978) 51-61; E. Bammel, art.
Ptochos, "poor", Theological Dictionary of the NT, vol. 6, pp. 885-915; F.
Bovon, Luc le thologien. Vingt-cinq ans de recherches, 7950-1975
(Neuchatel-Paris 1978); F.F. Bruce, "The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the
Apostles," Interpretation 27 (1973) 166-183; W. Brueggemann, The Land.
Overtures to Biblical Theology (Philadelphia 1977); A. Causse, Les
pauvres d'Isral, prophtes, psalmistes, messianistes (Paris 1922); H.
Conzelmann, The Theology of Saint Luke (London 1969; the first German
edition of Die Mitte der Zeit appeared in 1954); G. Friedrich, art.
Euaggelizomai, Euaggelion, TDNT, vol. 2, pp. 707-736; A. Gelin, Les
pauvres de Yahve (Paris 1953); L. Jacquet, Les Psaumes et le Coeur de
l'Homme, vol. 1 (Gembloux 1975); I.H. Marshall, The Cospel of Luke. A
Commentary on the Creek Text (Grand Rapids 1978); R.P. Martin, Mark:
Evangelist and Theologian (Exeter 1972); L. Sabourin, The Bible and
Christ, the Unity of the Two Testaments (Alba House, New York 1980); J.
Vincent, "Didactic Kerygma in the Synoptic Gospels," ScJTh 10 (1957)
262-273.
L. Sabourin

KOINONIA IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Several spiritual authors of the past have been looking for a synthesisconcept capable of unifying the various components of Christian perfection and of the means to attain it. Our Lord himself told the rich young
man, according to Matthew: "If you wish to be perfect, go sell what you
possess and give to the poor, and you w ill have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow me (19:21). This was, however, a particular vocation meant
for this wealthy person. The w ill o f God manifested in the Law and the
Prophets finds its definitive expression in the commandment o f the love
of God and neighbor (Mt 22:40). Several biblical theologians have attempted to determine what is the unifying notion o f the Old Testament.
Some have found it in the idea of promise/fulfilment. Among the central
conceptions must certainly be reckoned the Reign of God, or his
Presence: they have the additional advantage o f being applicable to both
Testaments. This is true also of communion with God, about which a lot
could be w ritten (see Grelot).

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It is my pleasure to depend almost entirely in this article on the book

of George Panikulam (see also p. 118), which examines the various
theological uses of the term koinonia in the New Testament and draws
from this a remarkable synthesis. The term koinonia is best translated
"fellowship" in English, but "com m union" is also acceptable, particularly
in some contexts. The Eucharistie "com munion" does express the
sacramental aspect o f koinonia. My exposition w ill consist mainly in commenting on the graphical synthesis o f the follow ing page, and the texts indicated there. The diagram is essentially that of Panikulam (p. 7), but I
have added the references and substituted for his "Jesus Christ" the
monogram IHS, which o f course stands (in Latin) for "Jesus, Savior of
Men".
The sub-title o f Panikulam's study presents koinonia as "a dynamic expression of Christian life". Perhaps " the dynamic expression" could have
been written, but the way had to be left open for others to propose other
syntheses. It would also be possible to say that koinonia is the synthesis
of Christian perfection. For in contrast w ith other central notions mentioned above "fellowship" is distinctive of Christianity, at least in the way
in which the New Testament understands it. As the diagram indicates, the
movement of koinonia is first of all vertical, going to Christ who is the
center, then to the Father who is at the summit. The horizontal arm
represents the koinonia o f the Christians among themselves, in Christ;
this was the foundation of the Pauline call of 2 Cor 8:4 in favor of the
brotherly service (diakonia) and of the communitarian experience of the
early Christians, which Luke evokes in Acts 2:42. This union of the Christians does not derive from a natural congregating of a purely social
nature, it results from the common response to the call to koinonia made
by Cod the Father, whose initiative it is (1 Cor 1:9). It is not an exaggeration to say that koinonia, in its vertical and horizontal dimension, forms
the heart itself of the com munity of the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit,
as we shall see, plays also a distinctive role in the building up of the Christian koinonia, so that this synthesis of Christian life has a Trinitarian
foundation.
We shall now proceed to examine separately each of the indicated
texts. A detailed exegesis w ill be found in Panikulam's book. We shall
here only propose a few observations to help the reader's own reflecting
on the different aspects of the NT koinonia.
Call to Koinonia
1 Cor 1:9 "Faithful is God, through whom you were called to the
fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
God's fidelity to the Promise and to the Covenant represents a major
OT theme, which finds expression in a large number o f texts, for example

110

Father

Koinonia
2 Cor 8:4

of Brethren
Acts 2:42

IHS

k sufferings
Ph 3:10
k eucharist
Cor 1 10:16
k Spirit
Cor 2 13:13
Ph 2:1

Cl

k collection
Cor 2 8:4
k Gospel
k faith
Phlm 6
1 Cor 1:9
Call to Koinonia

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Gn 26:3; Ex 34:6; Num 23:19; Hos 2:21f; Ps 36:6;40:11;88:13;105:8f;143:1,

and also Lk 1:72-75. To this initial call corresponds the assurance of the
final call of Cod to communion w ith his Son in the Kingdom: "Faithful he
is who calls you, and he w ill do it" (1 Th 5:24). God's fidelity to the promises w ill lead to its conclusion the movement which the first call had initiated. See 1 Th 1:4;3:12;4:7, where Paul insists on the calling received.
God's fidelity manifests itself particularly in the help he provides against
temptations (1 Cor 10:13; 1 Th 3:3). In Paul's perspective the Christian
vocation is a free,gift of God, which man has to receive in faith, and with
divine grace he has to conform his life to this calling: "I plead with you,
then, as a prisoner of the Lord, to live a life w orthy of the calling you have
received" (Eph 4:1). M odelling his thought on the call Christ addressed to
the Twelve during his lifetime, Ignatius of Loyola proposes in his Spiritual
Exercises to meditate on the Call of the Eternal King, Jesus Christ. For Paul
it is rather God who calls to his own kingdom and glory (1 Th 2:12), but a
later epistle attributed to Peter says of the believer that Christ has called
them through [or to] his own splendor and might" (2 P 1:3). Such is the
importance of the calling in Christian life that the term itself which
designates the com munity of believers, the ekklsia, derives from a
word, kalein, which precisely, as every one can see, means "to call".
Koinonia in the Sufferings
Ph 3:10 "To know him and the power of the resurrection and the
fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."
As Christ himself attained glory through his abasement, suffering, and
death, thus the Christian, justified through faith in Christ, w ill certainly
share his paschal glory in the same way as he already shares his sufferings
and death. These are past events present to the believer and capable of
transforming him, in view of the resurrection. Paul had written elsewhere
that the Christians are "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so
that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies" (2 Cor 4:10).
This correspondence between the sufferings of the true believers and
glory (also Rm 8:18), Peter expressed it just as clearly, when he wrote: "As
you share (koinoneite ) Christ's sufferings rejoice, that you may also
rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed" (1 P 4:13).
Koinonia in the Gospel
Ph 1:3,5 "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you . . . for your
partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now."
Paul speaks here o f the spiritual communion which unites the apostle
w ith the com munity e/'s to euaggelion, "for the Gospel", if the preposition
e/'s is given here the strong sense it has in classical Greek: movement
towards the object, as the Latin in w ith the accusative. It appears

112

therefore indicated to understand that Paul gives thanks for the koinonia
manifested in view of (spreading) the Gospel (see 2 Cor 2:12). The text
can accordingly be used as apostolic mandate for the lay apostolate.
Later Paul mentions Timothy as one who "has served w ith me for the
spread of the Gospel" (2:22), and also tw o Christian women who "have
labored side by side with me in (the field of) the Gospel together with
Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book
of life" (Ph 4:3).
Koinonia of Faith
Phlm 6 "And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may help bring to the
knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ."
In this letter to him Paul invites Philemon to treat kindly Onesimus, a
runaway slave converted by Paul, who sends him back to his master.
Showing himself merciful Philemon w ill demonstrate that the sharing of
the same faith, the spiritual bond uniting him with Onesimus, manifests
the presence o f the new life which is from Christ. Paul had written
elsewhere: "Therefore, as opportunity offers, let us do good to all men,
and especially to the members of the household of the faith" (Ga 6:10).
By faith the believer gives himself over to God, the author of salvation, to
receive the salvation which is offered to him. Faith is the human response
to revelation, and to the preaching of the Gospel. It is in other words
man's response to the invitation received to enter into communion with
Christ.
Koinonia in the Spirit
Ph 2:1 "If there is any incentive of love, any fellowship in the Spirit
(koinonia pneumatos), compassion and pity . . . be in full accord
and of one mind."
2 Cor 13:13 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the
fellowship in the Holy Spirit be with you all."
Even though pneuma in the first text has no article and is not modified
by "holy", the Holy Spirit is surely meant there also. In both texts pneuma
is in the genitive, but the meaning must be "in" the Holy Spirit, or "by" the
Holy Spirit. The Christian koinonia is a gift of the Spirit, because it is in the
Holy Spirit that it is lived in fulness by the believers, whom the Spirit
unites together, as Paul has also explained: "I beg you to lead a life
worthy of the calling to which you have been called . . . eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:1,3). Elsewhere, in
Rm 8, Paul has explained what is "the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus
Christ" (v. 2): it is necessary to have his Spirit to belong to Christ (v. 9); all
those whom the Spirit of God leads are sons of God" (v. 14). Also John
attests that to confess Jesus is to have the Spirit of God (1 Jn 4:2-3).

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Koinonia in the Eucharist

1 Cor 10:16 'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion

to the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a
communion to the body o f C hristr
There is no need to explain this text at length; it is clear and well
known. Our koinonia w ith Christ is of course sustained by this communion to his body and blood in the Eucharist. It is w ith Christ, Paul explains,
that we have to enter into communion, and not with the demons, that is,
the idols, by being involved in the sacrifices offered to them. Already
Deuteronomy would say of the unfaithful Israelites that they sacrificed to
the demons (32:17), and a psalmist relates that they sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons (Ps 106:37; cf Bar 4:7). The Eucharist is
the chosen way to preserve and develop koinonia with the Father, with
Christ, and with the brothers and sisters, because the whole Trinity is present in the Eucharist, and the Eucharistie meal expresses and effects the
unity of the believers.
Koinonia in the Service
2 Cor 8:4 The people of Macedonia "have begged for the favor of sharing
in the service to render to the saints."
The translation proposed gives the more probable meaning of a rather
terse sentence in Greek, in which "fellowship (koinonia ) o f the ministry
or service (diakonia)" is for our purpose the significant phrase. The favor
requested was to participate in the collection in favor of the Jerusalem
church (see Rm 15:23-26). This collection would illustrate the fulfilm ent
of the prophecy o f Is 60-62 on the future relation between Israel and the
nations. In particular, Paul saw in it the manifestation of this koinonia
among the brethren of the faith, united w ith Christ through their common calling to fellowship w ith him. The vertical koinonia w ith God supposes to be sincere a truly effective koinonia w ith the brethren. In other
words, as John explains, how can any one say he loves God if he has no
concern for others (1 Jn 4:20f).
Koinonia with the Brethren
Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves assiduously to the teaching of the
apostles and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers."
In this passage and in tw o other "summaries" (4:32-35;5:12-16) Luke
describes in a few traits the life of the early Christian communities. Acts
2:42 mentions koinonia w ithout any determinative. It probably refers
directly to the com munity of goods, a matter raised in vv. 44-45, but the
absolute use of the term shows that Luke wishes to tie up this particular
case w ith a generally distinctive mark of Christian life, the koinonia, the

114

fellowship with God and with the brethren. W hile the diakonia
precedingly mentioned united the different churches into one koinonia,
the community of goods expressed the deep unity of the Jerusalem community (Acts 4:32-35). This experience, perhaps too idealistic, apparently
did not last long, but the spirit behind it has survived in the Church, under
other forms, for example monastic life, a way of observing to the letter
several demands of Jesus (Mk 10:21; Lk 18:22).
Koinonia with the Father
1 Jn 1:3 "O ur fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."
The first Johannine epistle, very pastoral in tone, is addressed to
churches whose unity the Gnostic heresy particularly threatened. It was
meant to enlighten the believers in their struggle to keep the true faith.
Besides, it sets the foundations for the spiritual life of the Christians, and
this makes the epistle relevant for all ages. John introduces from the
beginning the koinonia theme, and adds to it a very im portant development, in agreement with his theology: fellowship w ith the Father. John's
interest in the theme appears in his repeated and solemn use of the term
koinonia from the very beginning o f his letter: 'That which we have seen
and heard we proclaim also to you, that you may have fellowship with
us; and our fellowship is w ith the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ. . . If we say we have fellowship w ith him while we walk in
darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship w ith one another, and
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1:3-6 RSV).
In a context which the theme of reconciliation and unity dominates
Paul had stated in a Trinitarian formula: "Because through him (Christ) we
both have access in one Spirit to the Father" (Eph 2:18). There is no mention of the Spirit in John's form ulation of the grace of koinonia (1 Jn 1:3).
The perfect formula, in our view, would be the following: "And our
fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit."
Bibliographical Note: G. Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament. A
Dynamic Expression of Christian Life, Analecta Biblica 85 ^Rorrie 1979);
J.G. Davies, Members One of Another. Aspects of Koinonia (London
1958); A.R. George, Communion with God in the New Testament (London 1953); J. Hamer, The Church is a Fellowship (London 1964); H.
Seesemann, Der Begriff Koinonia im Neuen Testament (Giessen 1933);
B.M. Ahern, "The Fellowship of His Sufferings (Phil 3:10)," CBQ 22 (I960)
1-32; M. McDermott, "The Biblical Doctrine of Koinonia," Biblische
Zeitschrift 19 (1975) 64-77; 219-233; P. Grelot, "God's Presence and Man's
Communion with Him in the Old Testament," Concilium 40 (1969) 7-22.
L. Sabourin

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