Microcosm and Mediator: The Theological Anthropology of Maximus the Confessor

506 Pages·1995·19.85 MB·English

by  Lars Thunberg

JY!icrocosm
Mediator,
,
/
The Theological Anthropology
of Maximus the Confessor
Second Edition
Lar: Th~n~~;,~,:
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Foreword by A. M. Allchin
Open#Court
Chicago and La Salle, Illinois
Cover illustration by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Italian (Sienese), active 1278-
1319, The Raising ofLazarus, c. 1308-11, egg tempera and gold on wood, 171/s x
18lf4 in. Photograph by Michael Bodycomb provided by the Kimbell Art
Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.
*
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© 1995 by Open Court Publishing Company
SECOND EDITION
First printing 1995
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
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Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thunberg, Lars, 1928-
Microcosm and mediator : the theological anthropology of Maximus
the Confessor I Lars Thunberg; foreword by A.M. Allchin.-2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8126-9211-X (pbk.)
l. Maximus, Confessor, Saint, ea. 580-662. 2. Man (Christian
theology) I. Allchin, A. M. 11. Title.
BR65.M416T5 1995
233'.092-dc20 95-16644
CIP
TO THE MEMORY OF MY PARENTS

CONTENTS
FOREWORD XV
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION xix
INTRODUCfiON 1
1. Life of the Saint 1
2. Maximus' historical and theological importance 7
3. Other research and the purpose of the thesis 12
CHAPTER ONE. THE CHRISTOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 21
A. The Chalcedonian Heritage and Maximus' Theology of
the Incarnation 21
B. Maximus and the Neo-Chalcedonian Position 36
1. The position of Cyril of Alexandria in Maximus' writings 40
2. Positive evaluation of Cyril's expression "one incarnate
nature of the God Logos" 41
3. The expressions "one nature" and "two natures", correctly
understood, are complementary to each other 43
4. Hypostatic and "synthetic" union 43
Vlll Contents
5. Christ is said to be not only "in duabus naturis" but also
"ex duabus naturis" 44
6. "One energy" 45
7. The concept of hypostasis 4 7
CHAPTER TWO. THE COSMOLOGICAL CONTEXT 49
l. The creatio ex nihilo idea and other expressions of the
aspect of differentiation within creation 50
The basic gulf 51
tl.w.ipopa, difference 51
tiw.~pEu~, division 55
lllixO"Tau~-Biixcrr-qJ.ta, distance and separation 57
fiw.O"ToAT,, distinction, expansion 60
Other terms 61
2. Creation because of God's will 64
3. Creation because of God's benevolence. The concept of
providence and judgment 66
4. Creation by the Word 72
The Airyo~ of a differentiated creation reflect together the
purpose of the Creator 73
The Ao')'o~, pre-existent in God, are held together by the
Logos 75
The Ao')'o~ of creation are intimately connected with the
Ao')'o~ of the economy of salvation and of Christ's
Incarnation in the flesh 77
5. Creation on the basis of God's prudence 80
6. Creation-an act of divine condescension, which
introduces the element of motion 81
7. Every creature is composite of substance and accident 83
The concept of substance 83
The concept of "nature" 87
8. Creation, not only of qualities but of qualified substances,
which are, however, in need of divine Providence 90
CHAPTERTHREE.MA~S'ANTHROPOLOGY
IN GENERAL 95
A. The Constitution and Position of Man 95
l. The unity of body and soul 9 5
Co-existence of body and soul 9 5
Body and soul as a composite nature and a complete
species 97
Contents ix
The analogy between the unity of body and soul in man
and the unity of divine and human nature in Christ 101
2. Human trichotomy 104
Human hypostasis 105
Mind, soul and body 107
3. The Image of God in Man 113
The place of the Image of God 114
Freedom and the divine Image 118
Dominion and the divine Image 120
4. From Image to Likeness 120
The background of Maxim us' distinction 121
Reasons for rejection and acceptance of the distinction 124
Maxim us' personal understanding of the distinction 125
Additional note: Imago Trinitatis 129
5. Microcosm and mediator 132
Man as microcosm in the tradition before Maximus 133
Man as both microcosm and mediator in Nemesius 136
Maximus and man's middle position 137
Man the mediator 142
B. The Fall of Man and Its Consequences 144
1. Adam and the original state of man 144
The excellency of the primitive state 144
The idea of a double creation in Maximus' predecessors 14 7
The "garments of skin" 150
Maximus and the concept of a double creation 151
Maximus and the "garments of skin" 153
2. Adam's fall and its causes 154
Man's fault and the Devil's seduction 154
The dialectic of pleasure and pain 157
3. Consequences of the fall 159
Laws of pleasure and destruction 159
Three fundamental evils 161
4. The trees of Paradise 162
Earlier Christian interpretations 162
Maximus' interpretation 164
CHAPfER FOUR. SOME ELEMENTS OF MAXIMUS'
PSYCHOLOGY 169
A. The Trichotomy of the Soul 169
1. The human soul and the basic dichotomy 170
Contents
X
2. Different forms of 'trichotomist' psychology in Maximus 173
3. The general background of Maximus' dominant
psychological trichotomy 17 6
Plato's position 177
Aristotle's understanding 179
The Stoic view 180
Later modifications 182
Philo and Clement-the earlier Alexandrian position 184
Origen's view-a more elaborated standpoint 187
Evagrius and later Origenism 188
The Cappadocian Fathers and the trichotomy 190
Nemesius and Ps.-Denis-a more positive approach 192
4. The trichotomy and Maximus' allegorical Scripture
interpretations 195
The negative aspect of disintegration through the
trichotomy 19 5
The positive or neutral aspect of unity in trichotomy 197
5. The trichotomy and human differentiation 199
The concupiscible element in human differentiation 199
The irascible element in differentiation 201
The rational element in differentiation 202
6. The trichotomy and the mind in human unity and
unification 205
B. The Psychology of the Will 208
1. Will, mind and human nature 208
Reason and will in human nature 209
The mind and man's use of his self-determinative
nature 211
2. rvw~Tj-an ambiguous term 213
Its use before Maximus 213
Its note of ambiguity in Maxim us' understanding 214
rvw~, and the aspect of differentiation 216
3. Stages of volitional activity 218
The wish 219
The enquiry 220
Consideration and deliberation 221
The judgment 222
The choice 222
The decisive impulse 224
The action 226
4. Fall and restoration of the human will 226
The individual will in man's fall and restoration 22 7
Unification of will 228
Contents x1
CHAPTER FIVE. ESTABLISHING THE MICROCOSM 231
A. Disintegration through the Passions 231
l. Self-love-mother of vices and passions 232
The position of self-love in the theology of Maximus'
predecessors 233
A Western parallel-Augustine's evaluation of self-love 237
Self-love as sensualitiy and pride in Maximus'
predecessors 239
A similar understanding in the tradition influenced by
Maximus 242
Self-love as love for the body in Maximus'
understanding 243
Maximus and the Eastern alternative 246
Negative and positive self-love 247
2. The Evagrian hierarchy of eight vices and Maximus'
differentiations of vices 248
The context and roots of the idea of the eight cardinal
vices according to earlier research 249
The idea of the trichotomy of the soul as background to
the hierarchy 251
Examples of 'trichotomist' differentiation between the
vices in Evagrius 253
Examples of 'trichotomist' differentiation in the later
Evagrian tradition 254
The later history of the Evagrian hierarchy and
Maximus' list of vices 256
3. The trichotomy of the soul and the work of passions in
general 259
'Trichotomist' and other principles of differentiation
among the vices 259
Direct references to the whole trichotomy 261
Direct references to the dichotomy of the passible part
of the soul 263
Indirect or implicit references to the trichotomy 264
4. The 'trichotomist' understanding of the separate vices 267
Gluttony (" /ClO"TP'J.I-aP'Yi.a) 268
Fornication ( 1ropvEW:) 269
Avarice (IP'Aapyvpi.a) 270
Grief(Ai11M7) and wrath (bm) 271
Listlessness (lrK11Bi.a) 273
Vainglory ( KEPo&~i.a) 2 7 4
Pride (inrEP1!!pQPW:) 275
xii Contents
5. The double commandment of love and the disintegrating
effect of the passions 2 7 8
Human passions and vices as the cause of a double
separation 2 7 8
The double commandment of love as a principle of
distinction between human passions and vices 281
The double perspective of self-love 283
B. Re-integration through the Virtues 284
1. Hierarchies of virtues compared with the hierarchies of
vices 285
Maximus and the Evagrian hierarchy of virtues 286
The character of the correspondence between the
hierarchies of vices and virtues 287
Other enumerations of virtues and the problem of their
correspondence to the vices 289
2. Correspondences between virtues and vices as seen in a
'trichotomist' perspective 290
'Trichotomist' differentiations of virtues in Evagrius 290
'Trichotomist' and 'dichotomist' differentiations of
virtues in Maximus 292
The correspondence between individual vices and
virtues in the Evagrian tradition 293
The correspondence between individual vices and
virtues in Maximus 295
Maximus' critical attitude to a mere correspondence
between vices and virtues 297
3. The state of detachment 299
The concept of detachment in some of Maximus'
predecessors 299
Evagrius' view of detachment 302
Maximus' view of detachment and the Evagrian
influence 304
An inner transformation of the concept of detachment 306
4. Love-the integrating factor 309
Charity as the inclusive summit of all the virtues 309
The double dimension of charity and the life of virtues 312
The double commandment of love and Maximus'
'trichotomist' understanding of the virtues 315
Charity in relation to faith and hope as agents of
deification 31 7
Charity and knowledge 320
5. Divine incarnation in the virtues 323