What Has Constantinople To Do With Athens? Maximus Confessor’s Creative Appropriation of Hellenic Philosophy

In my paper I propose to examine the great Byzantine theologian St Maximus Confessor’s appropriation of Hellenic philosophy. As I will demonstrate, Maximus’ philosophical theology reveals a deep and creative engagement with pagan philosophy which sometimes produces surprising results. For example, by transposing Aristotle’s Physics onto the plane of metaphysics, Maximus argues for a temporal beginning to the world – a conclusion diametrically opposed to that of Aristotle. In terms of the Neoplatonists, Maximus presses the ‘intelligible triad’ into the service of Christian Trinitarian doctrine – even as he rejects the notion of a mediated hierarchy of being. A third example is Maximus’ use of Porphyrian logic which he creatively conjoins with the Pauline understanding of the Church as a unity-in-multiplicity. These are but three of myriad examples of Maximus’ creative engagement with Hellenic philosophy. As such, Maximus offers a fascinating case study of a 7th century Byzantine thinker’s engagement with the other in the form of Athenian and Alexandrian philosophy. Maximus’ deep understanding of philosophy throughout his writings bears witness to the cosmopolitan education of a professed monk while demonstrating that his engagement with pagan philosophy is neither one of dogmatic rejection nor uncritical reception. Instead, Maximus’ virtuosity and creativity as a philosophical theologian reveal to us the pinnacle of what can only be called an authentic Christian Byzantine philosophy. A striking example of the late Byzantine reception of Maximus the Confessor is the Church Slavonic translation of Epictetus’ Enchiridion, incorporated as the fifth century of Maximus’ Four Hundred Chapters on Love. This fusion of Stoic ethics and Maximian ascetic theology illustrates how late Byzantine and Slavic thought integrated Hellenic moral philosophy into the Christian pursuit of deification.