Saint Maximus the Confessor, The new volume of the Analogia magazine

The recent issue of the English academic journal Analogia is dedicated to Saint Maximus the Confessor. It would perhaps be better to use as an introduction to the person of Saint Maximus the Confessor an excerpt from my work which is dedicated to Saint Maximus:

The most important element that one could emphasize regarding the contribution of Saint Maximus the Confessor is the fact that he does not simply represent a distinct theological expression among other Greek patristic theologians (without of course overlooking his strong personal theological expression), but constitutes the key to understanding a very important portion of the theology of other Fathers. Having assimilated almost the entire theology that precedes him, he opens the way for its future course: there is no one among the important representatives of theology after Saint Maximus who does not strongly bear the signs of his influence in various ways. Therefore, when we speak of Maximus, we are not simply speaking of another representative of Patristic theology, nor even of another important representative, but of a theological core around which the Greek patristic tradition moves and will continue to move… The theological achievement of Saint Maximus gives a trigger for the discovery of the source of his inspiration, in an era when the need to rediscover true sources of inspiration is greater than ever. Thus, we are also given the opportunity to work again on some of the most delicate and essential theological-philosophical issues: tradition means reinterpretation, a new conception and development, without altering its essence. Therefore, the most original spiritual 'discoveries' are nothing other, in this sense, than a reinterpretation of central elements of tradition. (1)

In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of theses, conferences, seminars, books and treatises – most of which are of a high academic level – dedicated to various aspects of the theology of Saint Maximus. This rich body of knowledge assures us that there is no doubt that the Confessor constitutes the pinnacle of Christian theology today and that any future expression of Christian theology that claims to be called such will not be able to ignore the thought of Maximus. Perhaps even no attempt to engage Christian thought in a dialogue with contemporary ideas and problems will be convincing to the extent that it does not take into account the truly creative and groundbreaking theological proposals of Maximus. Nevertheless, it is truly difficult to follow Maximus' example to the fullest extent if one is not himself creative and groundbreaking both academically and existentially. Maximus' work constitutes an inexhaustible spiritual source precisely because it is not simply the work of a good academic, but the profoundly groundbreaking work of a confessor and martyr of the Christian faith.

Most of the articles in this volume first appeared as presentations at a special session, during the twenty-third International Conference on Byzantine Studies in Belgrade, in August 2016, organized under the responsibility of Analogia Editorial Board member Dr. Sotiris Mitralexis, to whom we would like to express our special thanks. However, this volume is not a collection of all the papers that were conducted during the aforementioned session, as not all the papers presented were published. In addition, two of the articles, by Bishop Athanasios Jevtic and Fr. Maximos Konstas, were added later. On this occasion, I would like to thank all the authors of the volume for their contribution to the production of articles of excellent academic quality.

As a brief presentation of the articles: Fr. Maximus Constas, first of all, offers an excellent presentation of the ways in which Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus transformed Neoplatonism, using its philosophical concepts in a decisively different way, and focuses mainly on concepts such as monasticism, progress, return. Vladimir Cvetković provides a convincing description of the four modes/stages of union between God and his creations, a union which, according to the author, is based on God's actions in creation as creator, as provider, and as purpose, the third of which determines, gives meaning to, and fulfills all the others. Emma Brown Dewhurst offers a fruitful comparison between Athanasius and Maximus the Confessor regarding the concepts of being and non-being, suggesting an ontological Maximian approach to Athanasius' definition of sin as the rejection or abolition of existence itself. Nevena Dimitrova attempts a discussion of the extremely essential concept of desire as it appears in Maximus, and clarifies the process of the completion of human nature through the redefinition that Saint Maximus offered to the philosophical concept of will. The priest Dimitrios Harper presents with exceptional skill a description of Maximian's interpretation of ethics within the framework of the concept of proportional ethics, as the author calls it. Bishop Athanasius Jevtić offers a profound description of how the mystery of the incarnation of the Son is realized within each person, through existential participation in the life of the Gospel within the framework of the Church. Furthermore, he makes special mention of the Maximian character of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Smilen Markov explores the concept of wisdom in Origen, Dionysius, Maximus, and Photius, eloquently describing its epistemological and methodological dimensions as they appear in the work of these authors. Sebastian Mateiescu attempts an analysis of Saint Maximus' use of Nemesios Emesis regarding the relationship between soul and body and demonstrates the limits of this relationship when used to describe the Christological mystery. Sotiris Mitralexis proposes an interpretation of Maximus' theology on gender that departs drastically from the Old (Genesis) and New Testaments (e.g. (Gal 3:28). The author argues that Maximus 'not only claims that the difference of the sexes as such (and not simply the separation of the sexes or reproduction) will not last in the end', but that 'the distinction between male and female is not even part of the discourse of human nature'. Dionysios Skliris attempts to study the alternating roles, according to Maximus, between the dominated and the sovereign through the influence of the former on the latter. The author discusses Maximian's understanding of eschatological liberation from this dialectic of domination, with which pleasure and pain are closely linked, and argues that Maximus's abrogation of Monoenergeticism allows him to set the framework for escape from this dialectic.

In conclusion, in my article, I attempt to close a long theological debate with Orthodox Personalism and to show that, in Maximus, nature is essentially dialogical. That is, I argue against the imposition of any abstract separation of nature from person in Maximus. According to Maximus, person is enusion, and not an abstract ecstatic detachment from nature. Will, for Maximus, is an expression of the inner life of nature, both in anthropology and in Christology, and opposes any transcendental understanding of it. I also attempt to show that neither the Trinitarian life nor the completion of man can be expressed without the concept of consubstantiality. Finally, I wish to initiate a systematic discussion of these concepts within the framework of contemporary Philosophy and Psychology.

Father Nikolaos Loudovikos
senior editor

Notes
1. See Nikolaos Loudovikos, A Eucharistic Ontology: Maximus the Confessor's Eschatological Ontology of Being as Dialogical Reciprocity, (Brookline, Mass.: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2010), p. 211.

H Analogy available in printed and electronic form.

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The electronic version is also available through the following links (for Mac and iOS only):

Volume One: Mary, The Theotokos http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1243418663

Volume Two: St Maximus the Confessor http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1243436464