Cosmic Liturgy The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor

by Balthasar, Hans Urs Von

• ISBN13: 9780898707588
• ISBN10: 0898707587
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Ignatius Press

Summary

Maximus the Confessor, saint and martyr, is the theologian of synthesis: of Rome and Byzantium, of Eastern and Western theology, of antiquity and the Middle Ages, reexcavating the great treasures of Christian tradition, which at that time had been buried by imperial and ecclesial censure.

Von Balthasar was an authority on the Church Fathers—Irenaeus, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius Ponticus, Augustine, and above all, Maximus the Confessor. This masterpiece on Maximus broke new ground at that time. Subsequent editions included new material from decades of research. This is the first English translation of the latest edition of this acclaimed work.

This book presents a powerful, attractive, religiously compelling portrait of the thought of a major Christian theologian who might, for this book, have remained only an obscure name in the handbooks of patrology. It is based on an intelligent and careful reading of Maximus’s own writings. Here the history of theology has become itself a way of theological reflection.

Author Biography

Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988) was a Swiss theologian widely regarded as one of the greatest theologians and spiritual writers of modern times. Named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, he died shortly before being formally inducted into the College of Cardinals. He wrote over one hundred books, including Prayer, Heart of the World, Mary for Today, Love Alone Is Credible, Mysterium Paschale and his major multi-volume theological works: The Glory of the Lord, Theo-Drama and Theo-Logic.

Table of Contents

Translator's Foreword	11	(12)
Foreword to the Second Edition (1961)	23	(6)
Introduction	29	(52)
The Free Mind	29	(15)
Opening Up the Tradition	29	(8)
Between Emperor and Pope	37	(7)
East and West	44	(12)
Religion and Revelation	44	(6)
Scholasticism and Mysticism	50	(6)
The Synthesis	56	(18)
Contents and Levels	56	(9)
Christ and the Synthesis	65	(9)
Chronology of His Life and Work	74	(7)
God	81	(34)
The Dark Radiance	81	(10)
The Dialectic of Transcendence	81	(4)
The Dialectic of Analogy	85	(6)
Divine Unknowing	91	(6)
A Thrice-Praised Unity	97	(9)
The Blighted Image	97	(6)
Hidden Fruitfulness	103	(3)
Transformations of the One	106	(9)
Elements of the Tradition	106	(3)
Number and What Is Beyond	109	(6)
Ideas	115	(22)
Ideas in God: A Critique of Pseudo-Dionysius	115	(12)
The Ontological Approach	115	(7)
The Epistemological Approach	122	(5)
Ideas and the World: A Critique of Origenism	127	(10)
Correcting the Myth	127	(4)
The Truth of the Myth	131	(6)
The Syntheses of the Cosmos	137	(42)
Being and Movement	137	(17)
``The Age''	137	(6)
Extension	143	(3)
Realization and Grace	146	(6)
Between East and West	152	(2)
Generality and Particularity	154	(11)
Being in Motion	154	(3)
Essence in Motion	157	(2)
A Balance of Contrary Motions	159	(6)
Subject and Object	165	(6)
Intellect and Matter	171	(8)
The Macrocosm	171	(2)
The Microcosm	173	(6)
Humanity and Sin	179	(28)
History and the Parousia	179	(1)
Paradise and Freedom	180	(5)
Passivity and Decay	185	(3)
Existence as Contradiction	188	(5)
The Dialectics of Passion	193	(3)
The Sexual Synthesis	196	(11)
Christ the Synthesis	207	(70)
Setting the Question	207	(9)
The Terminology	216	(19)
The Synthetic Person	235	(21)
Parallels in Creation	237	(3)
From Leontius to Maximus	240	(2)
The Free Synthesis	242	(4)
Christology of Essence and Christology of Being	246	(4)
Beyond Antioch and Alexandria	250	(6)
Healing as Preservation	256	(15)
The Exchange of Properties	256	(4)
The Meaning of the Doctrine of Two Wills	260	(3)
The Drama of Redemption	263	(8)
The Syntheses of Redemption	271	(6)
The Spiritual Syntheses	277	(82)
Christian Realization	277	(7)
The Synthesis of the Three Faculties	284	(7)
The Synthesis of the Three Laws	291	(23)
Nature and Scripture Grounded in Christ	291	(6)
Relation between Natural and Biblical Law	297	(4)
The Essential Points of Tension	301	(2)
The Contemplation of Nature	303	(5)
The Scriptural Law	308	(4)
The Synthesis of Christ	312	(2)
The Synthesis of Three Acts of Worship	314	(17)
Ecclesial and Sacramental Worship	315	(11)
The Worship of Mind and Spirit	326	(2)
The Worship of Love	328	(3)
The Synthesis of the Three Acts	331	(12)
Action and Contemplation	331	(8)
Love as Unity	339	(4)
Now and Eternity	343	(16)
The Centuries on Knowledge	344	(7)
Movement and Rest	351	(3)
Restoration	354	(5)
Appendix: The Problem of the Scholia to Pseudo-Dionysius	359	(30)
Bibliography	389	(20)
General Index	409	(6)
Index of Citations from Maximus' Works	415