Στοχαζόμενος, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀποφαινόμενος: St. Maximus the Confessor as an Interpreter of St. Gregory of the Theologian

Authors:

Pages: 81-96
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/TVSH1050

Abstract:

One can ascertain that Sts Gregory of the Theologian and Maximus the Confessor formulated a comprehensive teaching about communion, beginning with the communion which prevails between Persons of the Triune God and, reaching, by way of the dimensions of creation, the world and the Church, human reality. In a unique way Maximus combines Gregory’s theological and ascetical tradition with his monastic experience. He offered his best thoughts by interpreting the Cappadocian father. This paper attempts to examine, through six textual examples of comparison, how faithfully Maximus expresses the Cappadocian and to indicate if Gregory’s theology finds its organic continuity in Maximus, which will help us understand to what extent is Maximus original with regard the preceding theological tradition. From Maximus we learn an important hermeneutic lesson in theology: to be faithful to patristic thought means to make explicit what is implicitly said in the Fathers, and to ask what the fathers would have replied if they were asked a modern question (i.e., a question of another time.)

Keywords:

exegesis, hermeneutics, interpretation, tradition, exchatology, epistemology, evil, Trinity, cosmology, Christ, participation

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