The Anthropic Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor Saint ...

JournalforInterdisciplinaryResearchonReligionandScience,No.3,July2008

11

TheAnthropicCosmologyofStMaximustheConfessor

DragosBAHRIM

TheOrthodoxTheologicalSeminarySt.BasiltheGreat,Iasi,MihailSadoveanuAlley,no.46,700489

[email protected]

AbstractThe present article shows the unbreakable connection

between man and the created cosmos. Man, as mediatorbetweenall thedivisions increation, find themselvesat theheartoftheworld,andhavethevocationtomediatebetweenthevariouslevelsofcreationsoastodeifythem(theosis).

One of Saint Maximuss favourite concepts is logos,whichistheattributeofanybeingcreatedbyGod.ThesealofdivineLogos isoneachcreature, i.e. itsconnectionwiththeuncreated God. The created cosmos finds its meaning andultimate purpose in humanity. Saint Maximus thusanticipates what contemporary physics calls an anthropicprinciple.SaintMaximustheConfessor(580662)isoneofthemost

important Byzantine theologians. His theology represents alandmarkofuniversalthought,amomentoforiginalsynthesis,a starting point for any work written after him. He remainsnormative for all the branches of theological thinking,especiallyafterthecanonizationofhisChristologyattheSixthEcumenicalCouncil(681).Althoughunsystematic,hiswritingisexceptionallycohesiveandcoherent.Allthecategoriesofhisthinkingareconnectedwithoneanother;therefore,inordertoapproach one of them, one must be familiar with his entirework.Thebetterpartofhistheologicalreflectionisinthefieldof Christology, closely interrelated with his other favouritetopics:cosmology,anthropology,andecclesiology.

Saint Maximus cosmology could not find an officialapproval by anEcumenical Council, aswas the casewithhisChristology,many of the theologians thus considering it as apersonaldevelopmentofolder intuitionsofpredecesorssuchas Dionysius the Areopagite, Evagrius Ponticus and others.Thus,histheoryofthedivinelogoiofcreationwasconsideredratherasatheologumenonthantheologyinthepropersense

BAHRIMTheAnthropicCosmologyofStMaximustheConfessor

12

of the word. It is the merit of contemporary Orthodoxtheology, and especially of the representatives of theneopatristic current, to have emphasized the topical andoriginal character of Maximus cosmological thought. Forexample, in the first volume of hisDogmatics, the ReverendFather Dumitru Staniloae, practically the most importanttranslator of Saint Maximus works into Romanian, gave adetailedpresentationof theMaximian teachingon thedivinelogoiofcreation.ThistopicisfrequentlydealtwithbyWesternscholars studying Saint Maximus, so that it reached anunprecedented akm at the end of the past century1.Numerousdoctoraltheses,monographsorchapters,aswellashundreds of studies and introductory notes make SaintMaximus the Confessor one of the best studied and mostinspiring patristic authors in contemporary theology. ThepresentstudyisanattempttoemphasizethemainguidelinesofSaintMaximuscosmologybytakingintoconsiderationthemost important contemporary studies. The main purpose ofthis approach is to emphasize the unity between cosmologyandanthropologyasdescribedinSt.Maximuswork,aswellastounderline thehumandimensionof thecosmos, theway inwhich man, as part of the cosmos, discovers his calling asmediator, between the visible and unvisible, betweenmatterandspirit,betweentheintelligibleandthesensible,andlately,throughChrist,betweenGodheadandtheuniverse,asacluetoitsdeification.

The world and everything in it were brought intoexistenceoutofnothing,exnihilo.This iscategoricallystatedbySaintMaximusseveraltimes2.Thecreationisinacomplete

1AidanNicholsoffersageneraloverviewuponSaintMaximusuntilthe

end of the 80s in his book Byzantine Gospel. Maximus the Confessor inModern Scholarship, Edinbourgh: T&T Clark, 1993. A general bibliographycanbefoundinPeterVanDeun,MaximeleConfesseur:tatdelaquestionetbibliographieexhaustive inSacrisErudiri,38,19981999,pp.485573.Another useful general introduction in the maximian work, as well as abiography, and bibliography, can be found in JeanClaude Larchet, SaintMaximeleConfesseur(580662),Cerf,Paris,2003.

2Forexample,heshowsthisinCenturiesonLove[Char.]IV,1,P.G.90,1048A: God called all things into existence out of nothing Ambigua[henceforth, Amb.] 7, P.G. 91, 1080A: by his gracious will He created allthingsvisibleandinvisibleoutofnonbeingcf.St.MaximustheConfessor.


13

dependence on its Creator. The divine transcendency isabsolute and the creatures cannot exist without their preexistent logoi. In terms of nature, the distance between Godand His creation is expressed by Saint Maximus throughseveralexpressions,eachof themhaving itsownhistoryandcontent:(difference),(distinction,division),(distance),(separation,space)3.Thus,Godby His Word and by His Wisdom made all things and ismaking,universalsaswellasparticularsatthepropertime4.Underlining the absolute difference between God and thecreatures, Saint Maximus rejects the negative, pessimistic,PlatonicOrigenistic view according to which, before cominginto existence, the beings preexisted, substantially unitedwiththedivineLogos.Throughsin, these fallenspiritswouldhave attracted the divine punishment, which consistedessentiallyoftakinganinferior,corporealformofexistence.AsPolycarpSherwoodshowed5,SaintMaximuscriticallyrefutedOrigenism (mainly in theAmbigua), in the form it had beentransmittedwithinthemonasticcommunitiesbytheEvagriantradition.MaximusdidthisrelyingalsoontheDionysianviewof the world, by raising the OrigenistEvagrian spiritualityfrom its immanent human level to that of the relationshipbetween man and God6. Here he develops the theme of thedivine.

On the CosmicMystery of JesusChrist. SelectedWritings fromMaximus theConfessor, translated by Paul M. Blowers, Robert L. Wilken, St. VladimirsSeminaryPressNewYork,2003,p.55[henceforth,Blowers&Wilken].

3 A detailed analysis of these therms was made by L. Thunberg,Microcosmos and Mediator The Theological Anthropology of Maximus theConfessor,2ndedition,Chicago,LaSalle,1995,p.5160.

4Amb.7,P.G.91,1080A,Blowers&Wilken,p.55.5P .Sherwood,TheEarlierAmbiguaofSt.Maximus theConfessorand

hisRefutationoftheOrigenism,StudiaAnselmiana,Rome,1955.6 Cf. Rev. Prof. Dr. D. Stniloae, Translators Introduction to Saint

MaximustheConfessor,Ambigua,P.S.B.80,EIBMBOR,1983,p.11,note6.


14

ThedivineFor we believe that a logos of angels preceded their

creation,alogosprecedethecreationofeachofthebeingsandpowersthatfilltheupperworld,alogosprecededthecreationofhumanbeings,alogosprecededeverythingthatreceivesitsbecomingfromGod,andsoon7.

However, these logoi that precede the beings and thethings in the world do not have an existence before actualexistence; they are only meditations, thoughts of God. Theofabeingisnotasubstance(),butthereasonofasubstance();itdoesnotsubsistinitself,butinHim, it only exists inpotentiam [in potentiality], as an yetunmanifested possibility. Although known beforehand aslogos, abeing is createdbyGod in timeat the rightmoment,according to a preestablished logos in the beginning of Hiscreation. Once created, a being has a real and actualexistence/subsistence,thatistosay,itissubstantial.

Following Dionysius the Areopagite, Saint Maximusrelates the notion of the logos of a being to the divine will. of the beings are not manifestations of the divineessence,butmanifestationsofthecreatingwillofGod.Forthisreason, Maximus names the logoi divine wills()8,alsobecause theyrepresentwithin thebeings the inscriptionofthedivinewillorGodsintentionregardingeachbeingand,finally,becausetheyshowthisdivinepurposeinthecreationitself9.Larchetaccuratelydefined theofabeingas itsprinciple or its essential reason, the one that fundamentallydefinesandcharacterizesit,butalsoitsfinality,thescoposforwhich a being exists, briefly its reason of being in a doublemeaningofprincipleandendofitsexistence10.

7Amb.7,P.G.91,1080A,Blowers&Wilken,p.558According toAmb. 7, P.G. 91, 1085A;Questions toThalassius [Thal.]

13, P.G. 90, 296A; SaintDionysius theAreopagiteDediv.nom. V, 8, P.G. 3,824C, at J.C. Larchet, La divinisation de l'homme selon St. Maxime leConfesseur,Paris,1996,p.114.

9J.C.Larchet,op.cit.,p.114115.10 J.C. Larchet, Introduction SaintMaxime le Confesseur, Ambigua,

trad. et notes par E. Ponsoye, commentaries par le P. D. Staniloae, Paris,


15

Hence, the logoi of beings point to the principle, themeaning of the existence of the being by virtue of itsrelationshipwiththedivine,butatthesametime,theyalsoshowthepurposethatGodhadinviewforeachparticularcreature and implicitly for the world, as nothing that cameinto being is perfect in itself nor has it a purpose in itself11.Saint Maximus thus relates everything to the final purpose()which isdeification()of theentirecreation.However, it is grounded in the Embodiment. From the veryfoundation of creation, Saint Maximus sees the logoi ofparticular beings as a sort of embodiment. The mysteriouspresence of the divine within the of the beingslays the divine purpose as the foundation of the being, setbeforehand in the same being, which is deification. We seethattheisnotonlyadivinewillinthesenseinwhichitcorresponds to Gods creating intention through which, andaccordingtowhich,Godwouldhavecreatedattherighttimethebeingwhichcorresponds to this logos,and forwhich thelogos constitutes the archetype or the primary model(prototype)ofthisbeinginitsessenceanditspeculiarity.Thelogosalsocorrespondstothedivineintentionwithregardstothedestinyofthisbeing:itdefinesbeforehanditsfinality,thepurpose to which it must tend and in which it will find itsperfection,andthisfinalityistounitewithGodandtobecomegod through participation. Thus, this logos is not only anindicationofthispurposeorsomethingthatorientates,guides,leadsthecreaturetowardshim,but it is inGod, inthedivineplan (oraccording toGodsgoodwill) thateachcreaturehasalready,potentially,fulfilledthispurpose12.

Saint Maximus explanations regarding the ofcreation, besides the criticism of Origenism, represent a keypointofhisentire thought,unitaryasawhole13. J.C.Larchet Suresnes,1994,p.20;thesamedefinitioninJ.C.Larchet,Ladivinisationdel'hommeselonSaintMaximeleConfesseur,Paris,1996,p.113.

11Amb.7,P.G.91,1072C,Blowers&Wilken,p.4912 J.C. Larchet, La divinisation de l'homme selon Saint Maxime le

Confesseur,Paris,1996,p.119.13 Many authors wrote about the divine logoi of Saint Maximus the

Confessor: I.H. Dalmais, La thorie des logoi des cratures chez saintMaximeleConfesseur,en Revuedessciencesphilosophiqueetthologique,


16

brings important clarifications concerning theparticularwayinwhichthelogoiareorganized.Thus,eachbeingrespondsinthesametimetodifferentlogoi:toalogoswhichcategorizesaparticular being under a gender (), to a logos thatclassifiesitunderaspecies(),toalogoswhichdefinesitsessence()ornature()Maximusmakesaspecialreferenceheretothisfundamentallogosofthenature[]toalogosthatdefinesitsconstitution(),and also to some logoi that describe its power, itswork, itspassion respectively,butalso itspropercharacteraccordingto quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, motion,stability (Amb. 15, 1217AB; 17, 1228A1229A) and to othernumerous logoi that correspond to the multiple qualities ofGod.

Thus,oneandthesameindividualcorrespondsnotonlytoa single logos, but also to a multitude of logoi that are,

36(1952),p.244249;P.Sherwood,TheEarlierAmbiguaofSt.MaximustheConfessor and his Refutation of Origenism, in Studia Anselmiana, no 36,Rome, 1955, p. 166180; H.U. von Balthasar, Kosmische Liturgie. DasWeltbildMaximusdesBekenners, Einsiedeln, 1961, p. 110117; A. Riou,LeMonde et L'glise selonMaxime le Confesseur, Paris, 1973, p. 5463; J.C.Larchet, Introduction inSaintMaxime leConfesseur,QuestionsThalassios,translationandnotesbyE.Ponsoye,ParisSuresnes,1992,p.1012; Idem,Introduction inSaintMaximeleConfesseur,Ambigua,translationandnotesbyE. Ponsoye, comentaries byRev.D. Stniloae, ParisSuresnes, 1994, pp.1924;L.Thunberg,MicrocosmanMediator.TheTheologicalAnthropologyofMaximus the Confessor, Chicago&La Salle, 1995, p. 7279; Idem,Man andCosmos. The Vision ofMaximus the Confessor, N.Y., 1985, p. 137143; J.P.Farrell, Free Choice in St.Maximus the Confessor, Pennsylvannia, 1989, p.139144; J. Van Rossum, The of Creation and Divine energies inMaximus the Confessor and Gregory Palamas, in Studia Patristica, XXVII(1993),p.213217;W.Wlker,MaximusConfessoralsMeisterdesgeistlichenLebens,Wiesbaden,1965,p.2931,301314;J.C.Larchet,Ladivinisationdel'homme selon Saint Maxime le Confesseur, Paris, 1996, p. 112123; J.Lematre (I.Hausherr), Contemplation chez les grecs et autres orientauxchrtiens, inDictionnairedespiritualite, t. II(1953),col.18181819,EricD.Pearl,Methexis:Creation,Incarnation,deificationinSaintMaximusConfessor,Diss.,YaleUniversity,1991,p.147179;AssaadEliasKattan,Verleiblichuungund Synergie.Grundzge der biblehermeneutik beiMaximusConfessor, Brill,Leiden, Boston, 2003, pp. 179; among the most recent and importantresearchonthistopicisTorsteinTollefsen,TheChristocentricCosmologyofSt.Maximus the Confessor. A study of HisMetaphysical Principles, Unipubforlag,Oslo,2000.


17

however, unified and synthesized in its own logos. Certainlogoimaybelongtootherbeingsaswell.Inthisrespect,someof the logoi aresingularorpeculiar,whileothersaregeneraloruniversal(Amb.7,1080A,21,1245B),sothatanintellectualrecapitulation in contemplation and a spiritual unification oflogoi arepossible starting from the singular to theuniversal,by going through different intermediate stages up to theirinitial or principal Cause (Amb. 41, 1309C). There are alsologoiaccordingtowhichthecohesionofthesedifferentlogoiisrealizedwithinoneand thesame individualandwhichallowhim to preserve his own unity within the entire universe,which, consequently, allows him to further preserve theharmonyofthedifferentconstitutivepartsofthecosmosandthe coherence of the different rules (nomoi) that ensure itsfunctioning (Amb. 17, 1228B1229A, 41, 1312BD). Certainlogoideterminetheorderofcoexistenceofcreaturesandtheirperpetuation (Amb. 15, 1217A). Other logoi define theirquantitative increase or decrease, while others define theirqualitativeadjustments.

Consequently and in correlation to each other, certainlogoi secure the permanence and the identity of the beingsregarding theirnature, theirpowerandtheirworkregardingthemotionthataffectsthem,andtotherelationshipsbetweenthem respectively. In accordancewith these logoi the beingshave an order and a permanence, they do not deviate fromtheirnaturalproperty,neitherdotheychangeintosomethingdifferentnormerge. (Amb.15,1217A).Some logoi (reasons)haveadistinctivefunction,sothatthebeingsarenotmistakenfor each other and this functionmakes each being different,distinctandindependentfromalltheothers.Otherlogoihave,correspondingly,aunifyingfunctionwhichmakesthingsholdtogether without separation and dispersion within them orbetween them. They are in relation with each other andincreasinglyunitedinasmuchastheyascendtotheuniversal(thus,theindividualsareunitedbythelogosofthespeciestowhich theybelong, thespeciesareunitedby the logosof thegender towhich theyare linked),until theyreachasupremeunity(Amb.41,131B1313B).Thus,withincreationthereisan


18

indivisible difference and a distinct peculiarity (Amb. 7,1072C)14

TheunityofinWehaveseen that there isacertaindiversityamongthe

worlds creatures, as each of them is characterized andfundamentallydefinedbyacertainnumberof.Throughtheeachbeingorthinghasitsownindividuality,whichis different from that of the others. In the same time, aswehavealreadyseen,throughthefinalityofeachcreatureitsdeification()ispredetermined.

TheLogosor theWordofGod is theOne thatgathers inHimself the multitude of because in Himself, in Godseternalthought,thereasonsofallcreaturesweredetermined,the world itself being made by Him (according to John 1:3;Colossians1:16).SaintMaximusexplainsthatweaffirmthatthe one Logos is many logoi and the many logoi are One.Because the One goes forth out of goodness into individualbeing creating and preserving them, the One is many.Moreover the many are directed toward the One and areprovidentially guided in that direction. It is as though theyweredrawntoanallpowerfulcenterthathadbuiltintoitthebeginnings of the lines that go out from it and that gathersthemalltogether.15

Within the Logos, all the logoi of both beings and thingspreexist. Through their actuality/configuration[plasticization, apud Staniloae], they reveal the sameworkandpresenceoftheLogos.Ineachcreature,throughits logoi,theentireLogosismadepresentandmanifested.ThisinspiresSaint Maximus to compare our contemplation of this worldwith themeetingbetweenElisabeth andMary theMotherofGod(Luke1:3956).Inourmaterialandbodilyform,eachandeveryoneofusrepresentsSaintJohntheBaptistinthewomb,whiletheLogosishiddenincreaturesasifinanotherwomb16.

14 J.C. Larchet, Introduction in St Maxime le Confesseur, Ambigua,ParisSuresnes,1994,p.2021.

15Amb.7,P.G.91,1081BC,Blowers&Wilken,p57.16Amb.6,P.G.91,1068AB.


19

AsamatteroffacteachmysteriouslycontainstheLogostoahigheroralowerdegree.HeretheideaofthepresenceofGodintheworldbythelogoiinthecreaturesisfirmlystated.ThispresenceoftheLogoslinkseachbeingwithGod,showingitasa portion()ofGodbecausethe logoiofourbeingpreexistedinGod17.

Contrary toOrigenwho sawadecline in corporalityandmateriality, Saint Maximus shows the positive value of theworld, as a necessary way toward God. Thus, according toSaintMaximus,thecreationoftheworlditselfisaRevelation.ItistheverynaturalRevelation.TheessenceofthisRevelationis the mysterious presence of the Logos in the logoi of thecreatures. This is considered by Saint Maximus to be anEmbodimentoftheLogos.HesometimesspeaksaboutatripleEmbodiment of the Logos18: in nature, in the Holy ScriptureandinthehistoricpersonofChrist.

The Word becomes thickened [] concealing Himselfmysteriously for our sakeswithin the logoi of creatures andthusHerevealsHimselfaccordingly/analogously through thevisiblethingsasthroughsomewrittensignaturesasawholeinHis fullness from the whole of nature and undiminished ineach part, in the varieties of natures as one who has novariationandisalwaysthesame,incomposites,asOnewhoissimple,withoutparts, inthingswhichhavetheirbeginningintime, as the One without beginning, as the Invisible in thevisible, the ungraspable in tangible things. For our sake Hereceived to embody Himself and to incarnate within lettersanddeignedtobeexpressedinsyllablesandsounds(Itrefersto theHoly Scriptures). Thepurposeof all this is todrawusafterHimand togatherus together inHispresencewithinashortspaceof timehavingbecomeone inspirit,we,whoarethickenedinmind.19

CorrespondingtothethreeEmbodimentsof theLogosinthe creation, in Scripture and in Christ, there are three

17Amb.7,P.G.91,1081C,Blowers&Wilken,p.58.18 Thal. 15, P.G. 90, 297B300A; see also H.U. von Balthasar, Cosmic

Liturgy. The Universe according to Maximus the Confessor. A CommunioBook,IgnatiusPress,SanFrancisco,2003,p.292.

19Amb.33,P.G.91,1285D1288A.


20

universal laws that govern the world: the natural law, thewrittenlawandthelawofgrace20.ThecontentofeachlawisChrist,theLogos.ThisprovestheunityofdivineRevelation,aunique,gradualdiscoveryoftheWord.ThedifferencebetweenthethreelawsliesintheintensityofthepresenceoftheLogosineachofthem.SaintMaximusdoesnotconsiderrevelationasascholasticdivisionbetweenthenaturalandthesupernatural,butasinglemanifestationoftheSameLogosinthreedifferentstages.This leadshimto theconclusionthatWhetherone isjudgedornotaccordingtothewrittenlaw,itisthroughChristandinHimthatonewillbejudged.21Betweenthethreelawsthe relationship is not one of subordination regarding thecontent.Thisprovestheimportancethatboththenaturalandthe written laws have for Saint Maximus, whose conceptionhad radically changed from that of his predecessors, Origenand Augustine: these are two terms of equal value of adialectics, they complete each other22. Through each of thethree laws through themanifestation of Himself He leads toHimself in His complete and secret hiddeness the wholecreation23.

TheDynamicsofcreationThe cosmological conception of Saint Maximus the

Confessor is highly dynamic.Hedevelops this concept of themovement()ofthecreaturesespeciallywhilerefutingOrigenism. According to Origen, between the creatures andGodthereisacertainconnaturality,astheyarebothinastate

20Thal. 64,P.G.90,724C: Byuniversal lawshere Imean thenaturallaw, the scriptural law and the law of grace. For each of these laws has apeculiarmodeoflifeandappropriatecourseofaction,sinceeachgeneratesadifferentdispositionofthewill()forthosewhofollowit..

21Thal.19,P.G.90.308C.22H.U.vonBalthasar,op.cit.,p.292; cf. andV.Karayiannis,Maxime le

Confesseur.EssenceetnergiesdeDieu,Paris,1993,p.362.23 Amb. 10, P.G. 91, 1165D. About the three Laws and the divine

Revelation in Saint Maximus the Confessor we recommend the abovementioned thesis of V. Karayiannis, p. 333393;AdamG.Cooper Maximusthe Confessor on the Structural Dynamics of Revelation, VigiliaeChristianae,55,2000,p.161186.


21

of repose or rest (), in an original unity (henada).However, by satiety () the spirits went through amovement of decline, which implied their coming into acorporeallife(),thatwillbefollowedbytheirreturntotheoriginalhenada,attheendoftimes24.

ToOrigen,themovementis,inaway,thecauseofsin,andSaintMaximusatthebeginningofAmbigua7,summarisestheOrigenist viewpoint showing that according to their opinionthereonceexistedasingleentityofrationalbeings.WewereallconnaturalwithGodandhadourdwellingplace(In.14:2)and foundation in God. Then camemovement fromGod andfrom this they make it out that, as rational beings weredispersed invariousways,Godenvisagedthecreationofthiscorporealworldtounitethemwithbodiesaspunishmentfortheir former transgressions.25 There is thus the OrigenisttriadthatisreversedbySaintMaximusinto.However,thisisnotjustamatterof a simple change of positions, because Saint Maximuschangeseventhemeaningsoftheseconcepts,bygivingthemothervalues.

AccordingtotheConfessor,themovementisnaturaltoallbeing: For the divine is unmoved since it fills all things, andeverythingthatwasbroughtfromnonbeingtobeingismoved(becauseit tendstowardsomeend)26Themovementthatis tending toward its proper end is called a natural power( ), or passion (), or movementpassing from one thing to another and having impassibility( )asitsend.Itisalsocalledanirrepressibleactivity( ) that has as its end perfectfulfillment.27

InSaintMaximussystem,movementisalsorelatedtotheidea of purpose, of finality, because nothing that came intobeing is perfect in itself, nor has a purpose in

24 Cf. J.C. Larchet, La divinisation de l'homme selon SaintMaxime le

Confesseur,Paris,1996,p.115.25Amb.7,P.G.91,1069AB,Blowers&Wilken,p.4546.26Ibidem,1069B,Blowers&Wilken,4627Ibidem,1072B,Blowers&Wilken,48.


22

itself 28. Here Maximus triad maybe referred towithina complementaryone(beginningprinciplemiddleend).Movement corresponds to and is specific for the intervalbetween genesis (beginning) and end. Movement is aconstitutivepartofbeings.Togetherwithwisdomandchoiceit determines the final state, in accordance or not with theCreatorspurpose.Bythese,thebeingdeterminesitselftowardagoodexistenceortowardanexistenceagainstnature,whichdoesnotcorrespondtoGodswill:

If then rational beings come into being, surely they arealso moved, since they move from a natural beginning inbeing toward a voluntary ( ) end in wellbeing( )29

InAmbigua10SaintMaximusdescribesthefivemodesofnaturalcontemplation()30.TheyareinfactfiveoutofthetenAristoteliancategoriesthatSaintMaximusretainhere:substance(),movement(),difference(),union()andstabilityorposition().ThefirstthreeareonlymodesoftheknowledgeofGodandindicateGodasCreator,ProvidentandJudgeandthelasttwoaremodesofmansdeification.Movementisindicativeoftheprovidenceofbeings.Throughitwebeholdtheunvaryingsamenessofeachofthethingsthathavecometobeaccordingto its being and form and similarly its inviolable modes ofexistence, and understand how everything in the universe isseparated one from another in an orderly manner inaccordancewiththelogoiinwhicheachthingconsistsbytheineffableOnewhoholdsandprotectseverythinginaccordancewithunity.31

Related to,appearshereasmore thanasimple movement of the divine towards the human32, thus

28Ibidem,1072C.29Ibidem,1073BC,Blowers&Wilken,p.50.30 Amb. 10, P.G. 91, 1133A1137C, Andrew Louth, Maximus the

Confessor, Routledge, London andNewYork, 1996 [henceforth Louth], pp.112115.

31Ibidem,1133C,Louth,p.113.32V.Karayiannis,op.cit.,p.343:wealsoremarkthefactthattheterm

isput inparallel with the termand thatoneclarifies the


23

beingamodeof theRevelationofGod toman, apresenceofGod that moves the creatures from within. By this naturalpower, thebeings tend toGod, andHegoverns inorder thatthismovement be directed towards the good existencewiththehelpofthecreaturesfreechoice.

Movementcharacterizesnotonlyeachbeing,butalsotheentire universe in a process of expansion () contraction():Butthatwhichissimplycalledbeingitselfisnotonlythebeingofthosethingssubjecttochangeandcorruption,movedinaccordancewithchangeandcorruption,butalsothebeingofallbeingswhateverthathavebeenmovedand are moved in accordance with the reason and mode ofexpansion and contraction. For it is moved from the mostuniversalkindthroughthemoreuniversalkindstotheforms,by which and in which everything is naturally divided,proceeding as far as themost specific forms, by aprocessofexpansion, circumscribing its being towards what is below,andagainitisgatheredtogetherfromthemostspecificforms,retreating through the more universal, up to the mostuniversal kind, by a process of contractiondefining its beingtowardswhatisabove.33

The duality that characterizes theprocess of expansion and contraction from a cosmologicalpoint of view, together with the OrigenistEvagrian doubleconcept of providence and judgement ( )cleansed of inherent heresies, together with the concept ofmovement () helps Maximus demonstrate how thestructureofthecosmostogetherwiththesalvationplanforman anthropocosmical vision of Christology. Christologicallythis system is expressed through an equivalent view of thebecomingthick()andthebecomingthinwhich

other.Morethanthemovementofthenatureofthecreatedbeingstheword means the movement of the divine towards the creation. Godsmanifestation within the creation proves it. This divine revelation increation is defined as Providence. See inKarayiannis his comments onthe concept of the movement of creatures in the previously mentionedvolumepp.100116,aswellasthefivemodesofnaturalcontemplationpp338351.

33Amb.10,P.G.91,1177BC,Louth,op.cit.,p.138.


24

correspondstoChristscoming intotheworldandHisreturnto the Father (though from then on also as a Man and arepresentive of all believers and mankind). In Amb. Io. 3334,this is most clearly linked to the idea of the threefoldincarnation and also to the three general Lawsof theworld:thenaturallaw,thewrittenlawandthelawofgrace35.

As far as the last term in Saint Maximus triad isconcerned,aswehavealreadymentioned,itcorrespondstothepurposethatGodassignedtoHiscreaturesdeification.Thedistancebetweenthebeginningandtheenddisappears,thereisnointerval()intheinfinitythatman obtains: All movement of the things naturally movingcomes to an end once they dont have any longer where tomove,howorinwhatdirectiontomove,fortheyhaveGodastheir ultimate end/terminus, Who in His quality of ultimateCause is the edge of the infinity itself and brings to an endeverymovement.36Wethusseethatthisdynamiccharacterofthe world is not associated with an autonomousunderstanding of it, with selfdetermination or with anevolution (in a Darwinian sense). On the one hand, anunderstandingofastatic,rigiduniverseisavoided,andontheother, thisconception isclosely linkedtothedivinepresencewithin creation. As we have seen, among several types ofdivine logoi, there are also some logoi that characterise themovement of beings. The worlds dynamic is spiritually andlogicallyoriented.

In the mention of a fragment from Amb.737 in hisIntroduction to Ambigua, the Reverend Father Dumitru

34Amb.33,P.G.91,1285C1288A.35 According to L. Thunberg, Symbol andMystery in St.Maximus the

Confessor, in F. Heinzer and C. Von Schnborn (d.),Maximus Confessor,ActesduSymposiumsurMaxime leConfessor,Fribourg,1982,p.296andL.Thunberg, Man and the Cosmos: The Vision of Maximus the Confessor,Crestwood,N.Y.,1985,p.160.

36Amb.15,P.G.91,1217C.37Amb.7,P.G.91,1076CD,It isabsolutelynecessarythateverything

will cease itswillfulmovement toward something elsewhen the ultimatebeauty that satisfies our desire appears. In so far as we are able we willparticipate without being restricted, as it were, being uncontainablecontained. Blowers &Wilken, p.53. Ibidem, 1077AB, Whenwe learn theessentialnatureoflivingthingsinwhatrespect,how,andoutofwhatthey


25

Staniloae says that in fact, as longasmovement isnatural, itwillneverstop,evenaftermancomestorest(),becausethen his natural forces are not destroyed, but are perfectedand receive stability in theirwork. This idea is very close tothat of the epektasis in Saint Gregory of Nyssa:Stability/Immobility in God is also movement; not amovementfromaboundarytowardsanotherboundary,butasteadymovementasexperienceofacontinualrenewalofthedivineinfinityintowhichwewillhaveeverything.Immobilityconsists of the fact that the soul no longer has any desire tomove away fromGod towards anything else, because God isinfinite, as an eternal personal source of love in HismanifestationasTrinity.[]Properlyspeaking,thiswillbeanimmobilemobilityconcentrated in thesamepersonal infinitecontent, a fulfillment and an overfulfillment of any othercapacityofspiritualsight38.Everythingthat isnatural inmanwillbe thenperfectedandoverfulfilledby thepresenceofGodwhofulfillseverythingineverything39.

Man,themediatorofdeificationThis idea of mans position, as a mediator of man in

relationshiptoGodandcreationisdominantinSaintMaximuswork. It appearsmerely implicitly several times, being selfunderstood.LarsThunbergextensivelyanalyzed this topic inhis volumeMicrocosm andMediator, published in 1965 andthenrepublishedandupdatedin199540.

exist,wewillnotbedrivenbydesiretoknowmore.ForifweknowGodourknowledgeofeachandeverythingwillbebroughttoperfection,and, insofaraspossible,theinfinite,divineandineffabledwellingplace(In14:2)willbeourstoenjoy.Blowers&Wilken,p.53.

38Rev.D.Staniloae,op.cit.,p.34.39Amb.31,P.G.91,1281C.40 Lars Thunberg, Microcosm and Mediator. The Theological

AnthropologyofMaximustheConfessor,Lund,1965,2ndedition:OpenCourtPublishing, Chicago & La Salle, Illinois, 1995. These two ideas of man asmicrocosm and as mediator are considered by Thunberg as defining forSaintMaximustheologicalanthropology,byfaroneofthemostelaboratedifnotthemostelaboratedoftheentirepatristicandpostpatristictheology.


26

According to Saint Maximus the Confessor, man is amediatorbynature.Hisownpsychicandphysicalconstitution,duetothefactthatheiscreatedaftertheimageofGod,helpshim deal with this. Also, man is a microcosm ()41, a world in small, recapitulating in himself theelementsoftheentireworld,inhisbodyandinhissoul.Manyfragments from the texts of the Confessor emphasize themiddle position ofman among the elements of creation. Hewasbroughtintobeingasanallcontainingworkshop,bindingall together in Himself. As such He has also been given thepower of unification thanks to his proper relationship to hisowndifferentparts.Manwasfurtherbroughtintobeingasthelast of Gods creatures, because He was supposed to be anatural link between all creation mediating between the extremes through the elements of his ownnature42.

In Chapter VII of hisMystagogy, SaintMaximus analyzesthe analogy between man and cosmos, showing that Theentirecosmosconsistingof thevisibleandunvisiblethings isman.Andmanconsistingofbodyandsoul iscosmos.Fortheintelligible things participate to the substance of the soul asthesoulhasthesamereasonastheintelligibleones.Andthesensible thingsbear the imageof thebodyas thebody is theimageofthesensiblethings.Theintelligiblethingsarethesoulofthesensibleonesandthesensiblethingsarethebodyoftheintelligible ones.43 This excerpt categorically underlines thepositionofmanas amicrocosm,while the fact thatman is atype of cosmos suggests his vocation as amediator betweenthe perceptible and the intelligible, although this is notexplicitlystatedinthetext.Manspossibilitytoaccomplishthismediationisgivenbytheverynaturalunitythatexistsinthediversityofthetwopartsoftheanthropologicalbasicdualism,betweenthesoulandthebody,foritexistsalawwhichbindsthem together. In these ones there is a logos of a unifying

ThunbergsbookremainstothepresentoneofthemostbeautifulandwellwrittenstudiesaboutSaintMaximus.

41Ep.6,P.G.91,429D.42L.Thunberg,op.cit.,p.139140,afterAmb.41,P.G.91,1305AB.43Myst.7,P.G.91,684C685A.


27

power which does not allow to loosen their identity on thebasis of their unity according to hypostasis44. The unitybetween mans soul and body is natural, as he has acompoundednature(),onthebasisofalogosofthecommonnature()thatsetsthelawthatthe above mentioned text speaks about. As we shall see,Ambigua41explicitlyshowsthatman,thismicrocosm,iscalledto mediate between the two parts of that large man()which isthevisibleandinvisibleuniverse,butthis isonlyoneofthe five fundamentalmediationsthatman iscalledtofulfill.

The same calling to mediation by his nature is alsodescribedinAmbigua10,shownassomewhatsimilartothatinthepreviousexcerpt,whereonlythesouliscalledtomediatebetween substance and God. The soul is a middle beingbetweenGodandmatterandhaspowersthatcanuniteitwithboth, that is, it has amind that links the soul with God andsensesthatlinkitwithmatter45.

However,man isnotamediatorbetween thevisibleandthe invisible only because he belongs to the material worldthroughhisbodilyformandtothespiritualworld;throughhissoul he is amediator by vocation; this is masterly shown inAmbigua 4146, an excerpt that contains the essence of LarsThunbergs thesis of 1965. From the very moment of hiscreation,whichwasthelastamongthestagesofcreation,manreceived fromGodtheassignmenttounifywithHimthroughhimself all the levels of creation by transcending the fivedivisionsorpolarities()ofthethingsexistinginthisvast cosmic process, and this practically coincides with thevery process of deification to which man is called. The fivedivisionsthatmanhastotranscendare:

Betweenthecreatedanduncreatednature;Within creation, between the intelligible world and the

perceptibleworld;Withintheperceptbileworld,betweenearthandheaven;

44Ibidem,P.G.91,685AB.45Amb.10,P.G.91,1193D1196A,Louth,op.cit.p.147.46Amb.41,P.G.91,1304D1316A.


28

Within the earth, between Heaven and the inhabitedworld;

Withinthehumannature,betweenmanandwoman.Mans vocation was to transcend the five divisions,

startingwiththefifthstage,theonebetweenmanandwoman.By means of a life free of passions, lived according to thecommonprinciple (), thedivision intogenderswas supposed to be transcended, simply by revealing thehuman being. In a second stage, he was supposed to unifyHeaven and the inhabited world through virtue, by way oftransforming the entire earth into a heaven, and then totranscend the spatial conditions byunifying theheavenwiththeearth,unhinderedbythebody.Throughaconscienceandavirtuesimilartothatoftheangels,hewassupposedtounifytheintelligibleworldwiththeperceptibleworld.Andfinally,beyondallthese,thehumanpersonunitesthecreatednaturewiththeuncreatedthrough love(o, thewonderofGods loveforus,humanbeings!),showingthemtobeoneandthesamethrough thepossession of grace, thewhole [creation]whollyinterpenetratedbyGod( ), and become completely whatever God is, save at the

levelofbeing47.Thisimageofauniversethatrevealsitsvocationthrough

man issignificant for theentirepatristic theology.Theentireworldexists forman, reveals itsmeaning throughman: it isnot thatman isapartof thecosmos,but thatall thepartsofthecosmosarepartsofman.Manisnotamicrocosmsidedbyamacrocosm,norisheframedwithinamacrocosm,butheistheactualcosmos,ashegivesacompleteunityandacompletemeaning to all the parts of creation48. In this respect, SaintMaximus the Confessors metaphysical considerationsconverge with the contemporary intuitions of Physics,especially with what we call today the anthropic principle,whichhasgeneratedseveralcontroversiesamongcontemporaryscientists.

47Ibidem,1308D,Louth,op.cit.p.158.48Rev.D.Stniloae,note328toSaintMaximustheConfessor,Ambigua,

P.S.B.80,EIBMBOR,Bucharest,1983,p.262.


29

Thisprincipleofscientificcosmologyandofastrophysicshastwoforms.Initsmoderateformitstatesthatifthelawsand the fundamental parameters of the universe had haddifferent values, life, conscience and man could have neverappeared49. In fact, the alteration of a single universalconstantvalueintheuniversebyatinyquantumwouldhavemade the existence of man impossible today, because therewouldnt have been the exterior conditions for life and thishappensonlyatamicroscopiclevel.

At both an atomic and a cosmic level, neither theworld,northeman,couldhaveeverexisted.

Initsstrongform,theanthropicprincipleleadsusinfactto the hypothesis according towhich not only our existencedependsontheverypreciseadjustmentoftheuniversallawsand constants, but especially on a certainway the cosmos isbuilt to engender life, conscience and man50. Here, manappears as the purpose andmeaning of the universe, whichexistssothatmancanmeditateaboutitsexistence,sothathecantranscendit throughcontemplationandcanlovetheOnethatmadeitsoperfect.Firstofall theuniverseappearsasawhole extremely well organized, an extraordinary systemwhose evolution reveals an increasing complexity. ThisUniversemay, rightfully, be called anthropic as it appears tohaveapurpose:thatofenablingtheappearanceoflifeandofman51.

In a famousbook, twoBritishphysicists, JohnD.Barrowand Frank J. Tipler develop the conclusions of the anthropicprinciple in several of its versions which are extremely

49 The statement belongs to G. Bogdanoff and Igor and Grichka

Bogdanoff,ManasAimoftheUniverse, inSCARA(Bucharest),I(1997),no.1,p.117(translationafterParisMatch,Decembre1994).

50Ibidem,p.117118.51 JacquesDemaret in Ibidem, p. 118.On the anthropic principle you

canalsoseeS.Hawking,AShortHistoryofTime.FromBigBangtotheBlackHoles, trans. Michaela Ciodaru, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1994, p. 153 sq; J.Barrow,TheOriginoftheUniverse, trans.B.Merticaru,Humanitas,1994,p.153;P.Davies,TheLastThreeMinutes.HypothesisregardingtheFinalFateoftheUniverse, trans.G.Zamfirescu,Humanitas,1994,p.146sq;J.Barrow,F.Tipler,TheAnthropicCosmologicalPrinciple,OxfordUniversityPress,1986;F.Tipler,ThePhysicsofImmortallity,NewYork,Doubleday,1994.


30

revealing for contemporary cosmology. Thus, the StrongAnthropic Principle is stated as follows: The Universe musthave those properties that should permit the appearance oflifeinitatacertainstageofitshistory52.

Thismeansthatthelawsandtheconstantvaluesofnaturemustexistsothatlifeinitsintelligent(human)formcanexist.Without itsnatural,complex frame,mancouldnotexist.Thisviewisperfectlyscripturistic.

Another alternative to the anthropic principle is thefollowing:ThereisasinglepossibleUniverse,destinedtothepurposeofgeneratingandsustainingobservers53.Thisrejectsthe theories of the multiple universes from the quantumperspectiveoftheobserversexistence.

OtherversionspresentedbyBarrowandTipler:TheParticipativeAnthropicPrinciple: The observers are

necessaryfortheUniversetobeborn(J.A.Wheeler,1977).TheFinalAnthropicPrinciple:theintelligentprocessingof

the information must appear in the Universe, and once itappeared,itwillneverdisappear.

The first alternative has teleological connotations,according to their finality, and their particular scopos, whilethe second one has eschatologic connotations. As it exists intheUniverseinhumanform,lifewillnotbedestroyed,butwillexist in the perspective of its perfection (transfiguration) ineschaton.

In the same work, other interesting conclusions aredrawn,thatmaycontradictsomeearliertheoriesofphysicistsorofsciencefictionwriters:intheUniversetherearenootherintelligent, superior forms of life similar toman.We are theonly superior living beings, with a unique destiny in aUniverse, on a planet which is one of the nine planets thatrevolve around a star, which, in its turn, is just one of

52 J.D. Barrow, F.J. Tipler,TheCosmologicalAnthropicPrinciple, trans.

W.R. Florescu, Bucharest, Ed. Tehnic, 2001, p. 41. The book of J. Barrowand F. Tipler is an important document, a representative synthesis of thenew scientific cosmology that takes firmly into account the finalistperspectiveupontheUniverse.

53Ibidem,p.42.


31

aproximately 1011 stars in the Galaxy and our Galaxy is justoneofabout1012GalaxiesinthevisibleUniverse54.

Returning to the Confessors view upon mans vocation,wemustindicate:thefallofthefirstman,immediatelyafterhiscreation55,made impossible theworkofmediationhehad tofulfil both by his constitution and by his vocation. Insteadofunitingthethingsdivided,hisdisobediencecontributedtothedivisionofthoseunified56.

The accomplishment of this primordial vocation of manwill be achievedbyChrist asman,byHisEmbodiment: Andthus He fulfils the great purpose of God the Father, torecapitulate everything both in heaven and earth in himself(Eph. 1:10) in whom everything has been created.57Moreover, thus Godmademan has done away with thedifferenceanddivisionofnatureintomaleandfemale,whichhumannatureinnowayneededforgeneration,assomehold

54Ibidem,p.678.55 According to J.C. Larchet, La divinisation de l'homme selon Saint

MaximeleConfesseur,Paris,1996,p.187:SaintMaximusisoftheopinionthatAdamhassinnedassoonashebegantoexist()(Thal.59,P.G.90,613C;Rom.trans.,FR3,p.325),assoonashewascreated()(Thal.61,P.G.90,628A,Rom.trans.,FR3,p.337).WehaveseenthatMaximusconsideredthatAdamknewtheheavenlyconditionandcouldhavestartedtoaccomplishhisvocation;hefell,thatis,notinthesenseofasimultaneity,butofashort interval.This isconfirmedbythefact thatMaximusdoesnotbyanymeansconsiderthesinasanoccasionforthesoulto fall into the body or into thematerial world, neither a fortiori as thecoming to existence itself in theway that origenists or some gnostics did.Forhim,Adamssinisnotanontological mistake,butapersonalone.OntheoriginalsinwithSaintMaximusonecanseeLarchet,op.cit.,p.187207,J.C. Larchet, Ancestral guilt according to St. Maximus the Confessor: abridge between Eastern and Western conceptions, in Sobornost, vol. XX(1998), no. 1, p. 2648, J. Boojamra,Original Sin according to St.MaximustheConfessor,inSt.Vladimir'sTheologicalQuarterly,vol.XX(1976),p.1930 and J.C. Larchet, Maxime le Confesseur mdiateur entre l'Orient etl'Occident,Paris,Cerf,1998,pp.77124.

56Amb.41,P.G.91,1308C.57Ibidem,1308D,Louth,op.cit.p.159.Thal.60,P.G.90,621A,Blowers

&Wilken,op.cit.p.124:Andsuchis,properlyspeaking,theterminusofhisprovidence andof the thingsunderhisprovidential care. In asmuchas itleadstoGoditistherecapitulation )ofthethingsHehascreated.


32

andwithoutwhichitwouldperhapshavebeenpossible.Therewasnonecessityforthesethingstohavelastedforever.ForinChristJesus,saysthedivineApostle,thereisneithermalenorfemale (Gal.3:28)58.ThroughHis lifeasmanHe thenunitedHeaven with the inhabited earth, making the entire world aplace inseparable from Heaven. Then by his ascension intoHeaven, He clearly united heaven and earth and with hisearthly body that is of the same nature and consubstantialwithoursHeenteredintoheavenandshowedthatthewholenaturethatcanbeperceivedthroughthesensesis,bythemostuniversal logos of its being, one thus obscuring the peculiarnatureofthedivisionwhichcutsitintotwo.Theninadditionto this, by passing with his soul and body, that is with thewholeofournaturethroughthedivineandintelligibleranksofheavenheunitedthesensibleandtheintelligibleandshowedthe convergence of the whole of creation with the Oneaccording to its most original and universal logos, which iscompletely undivided and at rest in itself. And finally,considered in His humanity He goes to God Himself, havingclearly appeared, as it iswritten, in the presence of God theFatheronourbehalf(Heb.9:24),asahumanbeing.AsWord,Hecannotbeseparated inanywayatall fromtheFather;asman, He has fulfilled, in word and truth, with unchangeableobedience,everythingthat,asGod,Hehaspredeterminedistotake place, and has accomplished the whole will of God theFatheronourbehalf.Forwehaveruinedbymisusethepowerthathavebeennaturallygivenus fromthebeginning for thispurpose.59

58Ibidem,1309A,Rom.trans.,p.264.59Ibidem,1309BD,SaintMaximussaysthesamethinginThal.48,P.G.

90, 436AB p. 181182: Maybe the Holy Scriptures by angles meant thedifferent unions between separated beings that were perfected throughChrist. For He united man by removing, mysteriously and in spirit, thedifferencebetweenmanandwoman,sinceHehadsetfreeinboththelogosof nature and uprooted those peculiarities grownup through thework ofpassions. He united thereafter the earth, by removing the separationbetweenthesensibleparadiseandtheearthweinhabit.Healsounitedtheearthand theheavens, thusshowingthenatureof thesensiblethingsasasingleone, gravitatingaround itself.Heunitedagain theworldof sensiblethings to thatof the intelligibleonesproving that thenatureofall created


33

This work of the Incarnated Logos supports a cosmicChristologythathasasfoundationacosmicanthropologyandananthropizedcosmology60.Christscomingintotheworldisnotmerelyapparent.Itisontologicallylinkedtothestructureof theworldandof man, and this ideacanberelated to theproblem that we have already mentioned above, that of thetwo previous embodiments of the Logos, in the logoi ofcreation andinthe logoioftheHolyScripture.ForMaximus,this cosmic Christology becomes the foundation, the linkbetween all the other chapters of his thinking. All of thembecome Christocentric and are thought of through Christ.Mans spiritual life becomes fundamentally Christocentric.Whatmancouldnotaccomplishbyproperlyusinghisnaturalabilities to cooperate with the divine grace, can nowaccomplishthroughChrist.

How can man effectively accomplish this mediation andwhat does it mean for him? L. Thunberg showed that thetranscending of the five divisions means, for man, theaccomplishingof the spiritual ascentwhich isusuallyknownas being divided into three stages: , and themysticalunionwithGod61.Thestageofpractisingthevirtuescorrespondstothefirsttwopolarities(manwoman,heaventhe inhabited world), the stage of natural contemplationcorresponds to the following two (heaven earth, sensitive inteligible), which are followed by the unintercededunificationwithGod.Asamatteroffact,thefirstfourdivisionsaretranscendedbyman,whothusrenderstheofthingsactualised in him as of the virtues that are of amore

thingsisoneaswell,all thingsbeingtightlyinterconnectedbetweenthem,throughamysteriousconnectivelogos.

60AccordingtoArchdeaconProf.Dr.C.Voicu,HristologiacosmicdupSfntulMaximMrturisitorul(CosmicChristologyaccordingtoSaintMaximustheConfessor), invol.Diac.I.I.Icjr.(ed.),Persoanicomuniune.Prinosdecinstire Printelui Profesor Academician Dumitru Stniloae la mplinireavrsteide90deani(PersonandCommunion.TributetoRev.ProfessorAcad.D.Stniloaeathis90YearsBirthday),Sibiu,1993,p.599.

61ThelastChapterPerformingtheTaskofMediation,p.331432,ofthebookofL.Thunberg,MicrocosmandMediator,anexhaustiveanalysisofAmbigua41.Also,seeL.Thunberg,ManandCosmos,N.Y.,1985,p.8091.


34

spiritual nature62. Mans progress in virtue is the way totranscendingthedivisions, fromthebasicvirtues(sensibility,justice, courage, moderation) through wisdom and kindnesswhich support the apatheia () and contemplation,endingwithlove()63,themostdivineandgeneralvirtuewhich unifies in itself all things divided. Through virtue ingeneral,andthroughloveinparticular,manmakestheentirecosmos actual in himself64, which becomes human to theextent thatman becomes god, offering it through him to theCreatorinthesamemovementoflove.

Conclusions

In his writings, Saint Maximus the Confessor presents aparticularlycoherentviewofthestructureandthemeaningofthe existence of cosmos and of man. Man has a well

62 Rev. D. Stniloae, note 285 to Ambigua, Rom. trans., p. 221: Thelogoi of the virtues aremoredivine than thoseof the things.And throughthesemoredivinelogoithevirtuesunifywiththespiritualmeaninghiddenin them. This spiritual meaning of the more divine logoi of the virtuesremoveallthenaturalaffectionofthesoulforthepresentthings,deliveringitselfentirelytoGod.[...]Infact,assoonastheybecomespiritualreasonsofthevirtues,thedivinereasonsofthethingscanbeperceived.

63 cf.Amb.21,P.G.91,1248B1249C,rom. trans.,p.219220. Inotherplaces,SaintMaximuscategorizesvirtues inotherways.However, the laststageislove(),thedeifyingforcepreeminently(Rev.D.Staniloae,note284inthesameplace).AndAmb.41,whichwehaveconsistentlycitedsaysthatthelaststageoftheunionoftheCreatorwiththeuncreatedworldshouldhavebeenaccomplishedbythefirstmanthroughlove(",1308B).

64Withinthisprocess,allthecreaturesparticipatetothedeificationofman. SaintMaximus speaks about this in several places:Thal. 59, P.G. 96,609A,Rom.trans.,FR3,p.321;Amb.7,P.G.91,1092C,Rom.trans.,p.93:nsfrit,caDumnezeunsuisdevintotulntoate,petoatecuprinznduleiipostaziindulenSine()prinaceeacniciofpturnumai are omicare separat (), neprta de prezena Lui, princaresunteminenumimdumnezei()...;Finally,inorderthatGodmaybecome all in all, comprising everything within Himself andenhypostasiatingthemintoHimself,sothateverycreaturemightnothaveanindependantmovementand,assuch,bedeprivedofparticipatingtoHispresencethroughwhichweareandarecalledgods. ThEc I,55,P.G.90,1104BC;Thal.60,P.G.90,621AC.


35

determined place within, through it he accomplishes hisuniverse,hisvocation(deification).Mancannotexistwithouthis cosmic, natural frame, but neither can the world existwithoutitsmediator,man;thisconceptionconvergeswiththetheories of contemporary scientific cosmology (Barrow,Tipler).

Inhisexplanations,SaintMaximusreliesontheideaofthedivine logoi of the beings through which the world isharmoniouslyorganized.Theyrevealadivinepresenceinthecosmos (natural revelation), enabling him to speak of a trueembodimentoftheLogoswithinthebeings,embodimentthatprecedesthefollowingtwo, fromtheScripturesandfromthehistorical person of Christ. Although there were voices thatrefuted SaintMaximus theoryof thedivine logoi,webelievethatthiscanbearguedonlyinatheologyofthescholastictypemarkedbydualismsofthenaturalsupernaturaltype.

If there is some pretense of confirmation and a generalacceptationbyacommonscholarlyagreementoftheteachingofSaintMaximustheConfessoraboutthedivinelogoi,wemaysay that there are however two historical ideas that cansupport this system. The first idea is the strong connectionthat exists between his Christology and cosmology; in thisrespect,hisChristologyremainsnormativeforOrthodoxy,dueto its canonization at the Sixth Ecumenical Council atConstantinople, while the cosmology is incomprehensiblewithout its Christological orientation. The second argumentwouldbethereconsiderationofthetopicofthedivinelogoiinthe 14th century during the Palamite disputes, as a partialassimilation of the concept of uncreated energywith that ofdivine logoi,sincethetwodonotcompletelyoverlap65.Beingrediscovered in the previous century, the topic of Godsuncreated energies became one of the most profound inOrthodoxTheology.

65See J. anRossum, The of Creation and Divine energies in

Maximus the Confessor and Gregory Palamas, in Studia Patristica, XXVII(1993), p. 213217; see also T. Tollefsen, op.cit. pp. 174238; DavidBradshaw, Aristotle East and West. Metaphysics and the Division ofChristendom,CambridgeUniversityPress,2004,p.206.


36

Bibliography

Sources1. LOUTH,Andrew,MaximustheConfessor,Routledge,Londonand

NewYork,1996.2. MAXIMUS, the Confessor, Saint, Ambigua, Patrologia Graecae

[PG],vol.91.3. MAXIMUS,theConfessor,Saint,CenturiesonLove,PG,vol.90.4. MAXIMUS,theConfessor,Saint,QuestionstoThalassius,PG,vol.

90.5. MAXIMUS,theConfessor,Saint,Mystagogy,PG,vol.91.6. MAXIMUS, theConfessor, Saint,On theCosmicMysteryof Jesus

Christ.SelectedWritingsfromMaximustheConfessor,translatedbyPaulM.Blowers,RobertL.Wilken,St.VladimirsSeminaryPressNewYork,2003

SecondaryLiterature7. von BALTHASAR, Hans Urs, Cosmic Liturgy. The Universe

accordingtoMaximustheConfessor.ACommunioBook,IgnatiusPress,SanFrancisco,2003.

8. BARROW,JohnD.;FrankJ.TIPLER,TheCosmologicalAnthropicPrinciple,rom.transl.W.R.Florescu,Bucharest,Ed.Tehnic,2001.

9. BOGDANOFF, IgorandGrichka,ManasAimof theUniverse, inSCARA(Bucharest),I(1997),no.1,p.117(translationafterParisMatch,Decembre1994).

10.BRADSHAW,David,AristotleEastandWest.MetaphysicsandtheDivisionofChristendom,CambridgeUniversityPress,2004.

11.KARAYIANNIS,V.,Maxime leConfesseur.EssenceetnergiesdeDieu,Paris,1993.

12.LARCHET,JeanClaude,AncestralguiltaccordingtoSt.Maximusthe Confessor: a bridge between Eastern andWestern conceptions, inSobornost,vol.XX(1998),no.1,p.2648.

13.LARCHET, JeanClaude, Introduction Saint Maxime leConfesseur,Ambigua,trad.etnotesparE.Ponsoye,commentariesparlePereD.Staniloae,Paris,Suresnes,1994.

14.LARCHET, JeanClaude, La divinisation de l'homme selon SaintMaximeleConfesseur,Paris,1996.

15.LARCHET, JeanClaude,Maxime le Confesseurmdiateur entrel'Orientetl'Occident,Cerf,Paris,1998.


37

16.STNILOAE, Dumitru, Rev. Prof. Dr., Introducereatraducatorului[Introduction]inSfantulMaximMarturisitorul,Ambigua,Col.Parintisiscriitoribisericesti80,Bucuresti,1983,pp.542.

17.THUNBERG, Lars,Manand theCosmos.TheVisionofMaximustheConfessor,Crestwood,N.Y.,1985.

18.THUNBERG, Lars,Microcosmos andMediator The TheologicalAnthropology ofMaximus the Confessor, 2nd edition, Chicago, La Salle,1995.

19.THUNBERG, Lars, Symbol and Mystery in St. Maximus theConfessor,inF.HeinzerandC.VonSchnborn(d.),MaximusConfessor,Actesdu Symposium surMaxime leConfessor, Fribourg, 25 septembre1980,Ed.UniversitairesFribourgSuisse1982,pp.285308.

20.TOLLEFSEN, Torstein, The Christocentric Cosmology of St.Maximus the Confessor. A study ofHisMetaphysical Principles, Unipubforlag,Oslo,2000.

21.VANROSSUM,J.,TheofCreationandDivineenergiesinMaximustheConfessorandGregoryPalamas,inStudiaPatristica,XXVII(1993),p.213217.

22.VOICU, C., Hristologia cosmic dup Sfntul MaximMrturisitorul (Cosmic Christology according to Saint Maximus theConfessor), invol.Diac. I. Ic jr.(ed.),Persoanicomuniune.PrinosdecinstirePrinteluiProfesorAcademicianDumitruStniloae la mplinireavrsteide90deani(PersonandCommunion.TributetoRev.Prof.Acad.D.Stniloaeathis90YearsBirthday),Sibiu,1993,pp.

The Anthropic Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor Saint ...

Documents

Transcript of The Anthropic Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor Saint ...