On various difficult places (aporias), 23, ..., 154

This fragment contains selected 7 chapters (aporias) from the work of St. Maximus the Confessor “Difficulties to John” (about 628-630 or until 633-634). The aporia presented cover a wide range of topics from ontology and epistemology to ethics and eschatology. Aporia 23 is a systematic exposition of methods for knowing God through the study of the created world. St. Maxim identifies 5 categories (types) of natural contemplation: essence, movement, difference, combination and position. He shows how each of these categories allows us to approach the understanding of God as Creator, Provider, Judge, as well as to virtue and unity with Him. Particular attention is paid to how, through the contemplation of creation, the human mind can achieve knowledge of God and even likeness to God. In Aporia 44-47 Ave. Maximus the Confessor interprets the events of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor using three aspects of cataphatic theology: action, Providence and Judgment. The radiant face of Christ symbolizes an apophatic theology, unattainable by the human mind. The light clothes of Christ symbolize the action of God, manifested in the beauty and greatness of creation. The Prophet Moses, who appeared during the Transfiguration, symbolizes the Providence of God, liberating from error. The Prophet Elijah symbolizes the Judgment of God, rewarding everyone according to their deeds. In Aporia, 81 authors comment on the statement of St. Gregory the Theologian that “the more perfect the word about God, the more difficult it is to achieve.” He explains this complexity by saying that creation is multiple and varied, and therefore the mind that perceives it is confronted with an innumerable number of different perceptions and reasons. However, God, being transcendent in relation to creation, is simultaneously present in everything and in everything particular, without being divided or scattered. Therefore, knowing God requires overcoming the limitations of the human mind. In Aporia there are 154 ave. Maxim reflects on the symbolic meaning of the number “7” in the Holy Scriptures, connecting it with the concepts of time, age, movement, measure and providence. Particular attention is paid to the interpretation of “Sabbath” as the eschatological rest of souls freed from all movement. He also considers 3 modes of being: being, well-being and ever-being, linking them with ability, activity and inactivity, respectively. He explains that a person's choice between living according to nature and living against nature determines his future in eternal peace - either a blissful existence or an unhappy existence. The “eighth day,” following the 7 days of creation, represents an eternal day of rest and union with God. *The title of the work in Latin is Ambiguorum liber. Contents Aporia 23rd. A brief explanation of the five types (τῶν τρόπων) of natural contemplation (τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας) Aporia 44th. Interpretation of the shining face of the Lord Aporia 45th. Interpretation of the bright robes of the Lord Aporia 46th. Another interpretation of the [image] of Moses Aporius 47th. Another interpretation of [the image of] Elijah Aporia 81st. To the words from Homily XXVIII of St. Gregory the Theologian: “The more perfect the word (ὁ λόγος) about God, the more difficult it is to achieve, since it has many vulnerable points (ἀντιλήψεις) and more difficult decisions” Aporia 154th. To the words from Homily LXI of St. Gregory the Theologian on Holy Pentecost: “[For the number seven, multiplied by itself, makes fifty,] needing only one day, which we added from the future century, [the day] is both the eighth and the first, rather one and indestructible; after all, it follows that the local peace (τόν σαββατισμόν) of souls should end there.” Aporia 23rd. A brief explanation of the five types (τῶν τρόπων) of natural contemplation (τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας) 1). In addition, let us consider the concepts (τους λόγους), of course, finite and accessible to us, the teacher of which is creation itself, as well as the five types (τους τρόπους) of contemplation associated with them, with which the saints divided creation and piously collected the mysterious principles contained in it (τους λόγους), dividing it into essence, movement and difference, as well as combination and position 2. According to them, three of them are mainly intended and lead to the knowledge of God: the one [type] that is by essence, the one that is by movement, and the one that is by difference. Thanks to them, God becomes known to people who collect His manifestations from existing things as Creator, Provider and Judge 3. And two [other types] lead to virtue and kinship (την οἰκείωσιν) with God: the one [type] that is by combination, and the one that is by position. Formed by them, man would become a god (θεός γίνηται), experiencing on the basis of existence that he is a god, as if contemplating with his mind the entire manifestation of God according to His goodness and imprinting in himself with his mind this Theophany in all its purity. For what it is natural for a pure mind to contemplate with pious knowledge, it can experience, becoming thereby in a state 4 thanks to virtue. 2). So, for example, essence is the teacher of theology, with the help of which we, looking for the First Cause of existence, learn from this that it exists, but without trying to know what it is in its essence, since in existence there is no sign expressing it (ἐμφάσεως προβολή), through which we would at least get closer to it, as through effects to cause. The movement reveals the [Divine] Providence of existence, with the help of which we, contemplating the unchanging [self]identity in essence [and] appearance and the impeccable management of each of the created things, imagine in the mind the One who, in ineffable unity, contains and preserves everything clearly separated from each other according to those principles (λόγους) according to which each individual thing arose. The difference points to the [Divine] Judgment, thanks to which we, based on the presence in each being of a natural ability corresponding to the subject of the essence, learn that God is the all-wise distributor of principles (τῶν λόγον) of each individual thing. I mean the Providence of the mind (πρόωοιαν νοῦ) - not the one that converts and, as it were, arranges the conversion of those provided for from what should not to what should, but the one that contains the whole world and preserves it in accordance with those principles (λόγους) according to which the world originally came into being. And the Judgment [I mean] is not the one that educates and, as it were, punishes those who sin, but the one that is the protective and delimiting distribution of existing things, according to which every created thing, in unity with those principles (τοῖς λόγοις) by which it arose, remains unshakably in unwavering agreement with the law consisting in its natural identity, as the Creator originally determined and realized in relation to each individual thing that it should be, what it should be, how it should be and what it should be. After all, there are also other called Providence and Judgment, which are closely related to the aspirations of our will. After all, in various ways they turn us away from evil and wisely turn us to good, and also deliver us from past, present and future evil, directing what is not in our power against what is in our power. However, by this I do not mean to say that there are different trades and courts. For I know that in possibility (κατά τήν δύναμιν) there is one and the same Providence and one and the same Judgment, but it has different and varied effects (τήν ἐνέργειαν) 5 in relation to us. 3). Further, the combination or connection (σύνυεσιν) of existence is a symbol of our will (γνώμης). In fact, our will, having mixed with virtues and mixed them with itself, itself creates the most divine order (κόσμον) in [our] mind. Finally, the situation is a teacher of the disposition appropriate for our will, since he must firmly hold on to a good decision, ordering it by reasoning 6 and, regardless of the circumstances, not accept absolutely any change that deviates from a basis consistent with reason. Having, in turn, linked the [category of] position with movement, and the [category of] combination with difference, [the saints] inseparably divided the hypostasis of all things into essence, difference and movement. Moreover, noticing that through skillful reasoning associated with representation (τῷ κατ' ἐπίνοιαν λόγῷ), the Cause is contemplated in its effects in various ways, they piously understood that She is existing, wise and living 7 . And from this they learned the divinely perfect and saving doctrine (λόγον) about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to which they were not only mysteriously enlightened regarding (τόν λόγον) that the Cause [of the world] simply exists, but were also initiated into the image of Her being (τόν τῆν ὑπάρξεως τρόπον). And again, having surveyed the whole creation from the point of view of one position only, they reduced the five mentioned types of contemplation to three, knowing from the basis of heaven, earth and what is between them that the creation, according to its own principle (τῷ λόγῳ), is a teacher of moral, natural and theological wisdom 8. 4). Further, having considered the creation from the point of view of only one difference, that is, based on the encompassing and the contained (I mean the sky and what is inside it), they reduced these three types to two - wisdom and philosophy. In fact, the first embraces and accepts into itself all the pious images that are magnificently expressed about it (τούς τρόπους), and also contains within itself the mysterious and natural principles (τους λόγους) of others 9 . The second unites morality and will, action and contemplation, virtue and knowledge, and by relative likeness (οἰκειότητι σχετικῇ) ascends to wisdom as its first cause. Finally, having considered creation from the point of view of only one combination, that is, the harmonious connection of the whole world, and through all the ineffably connected things that form one world, having cognized the one Creator-Word (Λόγον), Who connects and combines the parts both with the whole and with each other, they concluded these two types into one type of contemplation (ἓνα θεωρίας τρόπον). In accordance with it, through the principles contained in existence (τῶν λόγον), with a simple glance of their mind, having been transported to the First Cause and attached to It alone as one that brings together and draws to itself everything that has come from It, they are no longer scattered into private principles (τοῖς λόγοις) of everything that they surpassed. Finally, because they, on the basis of an accurate observation of beings, came to the firm conviction that only one God exists in the proper sense, that He is the essence and movement of beings, the clear difference of the different, the indissoluble connection of the united, the unshakable foundation of the posited and the First Cause in general of every in any way conceivable essence, movement and difference, as well as combination and position, they, through exact similarity, wisely endured the mysterious contemplation of the sensible age on the spiritual world created in the Spirit by virtues. 5). [So, the saints], according to this contemplation, having reduced the mentioned types to one, as far as possible, imprinted in themselves the only Word (τόν Λόγον), which by various types of virtues completely fulfills the essence of the rational and volitional world. Having surpassed all the principles (τούς λόγους) of existence and even the virtues themselves, or rather, together with them they in ignorance (ἀγνώστως) ascended to the all-essential and all-good Word (τόν Λόγον), which surpasses these principles, to which they are reduced and from Which have their own existence. Having completely united with Him, as far as their inherent natural ability allowed, [the saints] received from Him, to the extent possible, such qualities that they are cognizable by Him alone, like the purest mirrors, without any defect reflecting in themselves the image of God the Word looking in them (τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου), - [the image] manifested in them through His Divine properties. At the same time, they did not lose any of their former properties, in which human nature is usually found, although they all gave way to better [properties], just as dark air is completely permeated with light. Aporia 44th. Interpretation of the shining face of the Lord 10 The light of the face of the Lord, which overcame the human bliss of the Apostles 11, is [the light of] mysterious negative theology (τῆς κατ΄ ἀπόφασιν μυστικῆς θεολογίας), according to which the blessed and good Deity is according to essence is super-ineffable, super-unknowable and infinitely beyond all infinity. It left absolutely no trace of comprehension, even a simple one, for those who came after It, without providing any of the existing ones with an understanding of how and to what extent It is both Unity and Trinity, since the Uncreated cannot be contained by a creature, and the Infinite cannot be cognized by those who are limited by a limit. Aporia 45th. Interpretation of the bright robes of the Lord 12 In turn, the method of affirmative [theology] (τόν καταφατικόν τρόπον) is divided into [three types]: according to action (τόν κατ΄ ἐνέργειαν), Providence and Judgment. And that [species] which by action, on the basis of the beauty and greatness of creation, reveals that the God of all is the Creator, is designated by the bright robes of the Lord, having previously received which the Lord showed that they correspond with visible creatures. Aporia 46th. Another interpretation of [the image of] Moses 13 And that [species] that is according to Providence is designated through Moses, since [God’s] Providence lovingly liberates from error those who are engulfed in vice, and wisely decorates for people the ways of transmigration from the [area] of the material, corruptible and corporeal to the Divine, immaterial and incorporeal, and also skillfully strengthens them with Divine laws. Aporia 47th. Another interpretation of [the image of] Elijah 14 Finally, that [type] which is [based on] the Judgment is designated through Elijah, since the Judgment [of God] in word and deed punishes some according to their merits, and treats others as befits each one in accordance with the subject matter and the quality of [his] virtue or vice. So, all this, which [we] considered earlier in relation to this place of Holy Scripture, was historically accomplished by Moses and Elijah, each in his own time, as far as it was possible for them, in themselves figuratively capturing divine acts that are similar to what [we] said earlier in accordance with the [indicated] method of interpretation (κατά τόν τῆς θεωρίας τρόπον) 15 . Aporia 81st. To the words from Homily XXVIII of St. Gregory the Theologian: “The more perfect the Word (ὁ λόγος) about God, the more difficult it is to achieve, since it has many weak points (ἀντιλήψεις) and more difficult decisions” If what is created is plural, then it is, of course, different, if only it is plural. Indeed, it is impossible for many things not to be at the same time different. If many things are different, then we should also recognize the different reasons (τούς λόγους), because of which it has essential existence and thanks to which, or rather, because of which, what is different is different. After all, what is different would not differ from each other if there were no differences in the very foundations (τῶν λόγων), thanks to which it came into being. So, if the senses, which naturally perceive sensory objects, as they are assimilated, necessarily produce many different perceptions (άντιλήψεις) of what is subject to them and falls under them; in the same way, the mind, which naturally perceives all the principles contained in existence (τῶν λόγων), in the infinity of which it contemplates the Divine actions (ἐνεργείας Θεοῦ), produces a truly limitless multitude of differences in the Divine actions (τῶν θείων ἐνεργειῶν), which he comprehends. In this case, he, naturally, will not have sufficient ability and an easy path of knowledge in the study of the truly Existing, since he cannot understand how God, who is truly not anything that exists and in the proper sense is everything and exists above all, resides both in each principle (λόγῳ) of each existing thing separately, and at the same time in all the principles (λόγοις), in accordance with which everything exists. So, if every Divine action (θεία ἐνέργεια), corresponding to the true beginning (τον λόγον) 16 by itself points 17 to God, who in a special way, holistically and indivisibly resides in everyone according to a certain beginning (λόγον), then who can accurately understand and say how God is indivisibly and inseparably abides in all beings together and at the same time in each being separately, and at the same time does not dissipate along with the infinite diversity of beings in which He is present as the Existing One, and is not reduced along with the particular existence of the individual, and also does not erase the differences of beings in [His] unifying integrity, but truly is He who is all in all, Who is never deprived of His indivisible simplicity? Consequently, the teacher said well that in the word (τοῦ λόγου) about the Divine there are “many perceptions” (ἀντιλήψεις) 18, from which we learn only that God exists, as well as “more difficult decisions” from which we learn that God is not, in order to stop [our] useless and pernicious curiosity are those who believe that God is comprehensible to the empty fabrications of their reason, with the help of which they cannot comprehend 19 even the last among things according to its principle (λόγον), thanks to which it truly is and exists. Aporia 154th. To the words from Homily LXI of St. Gregory the Theologian on Holy Pentecost: “[For the number seven, multiplied by itself, makes fifty,] needing only one day, which we added from the future century, [the day] is both the eighth and the first, rather one and indestructible; after all, it follows that the local peace (τόν σαββατισμόν) of souls should end there"20 1). In the Holy Scriptures, the number seven, considered only as a number, for those who diligently explore the Divine, has many mysterious meanings (θεωρίαν) inherent in it by nature. In fact, it denotes time, and age, and ages, and movement, and volume, and measure, and limit, and providence, and much more, when contemplated in accordance with the concept (τόν λόγον) of each [of them]. If the number seven is considered as rest (ἀνάπαυσις) 21, then even then it has a lot of mysterious knowledge derived from it (τήν έπ' αύτῷ μυσταγωγουμένην γνῶσιν). But so that I do not dwell on each separately and do not burden [the readers with a long] discussion, we will discuss what seems to us more sublime than the rest. So, experts on the Divine say that there are three images (τρόπους) [of the existence of beings], since the common principle (about λόγος) of the entire creation of rational (τῶν λογικῶν) entities is contemplated as containing [the image of their] existence (τοῦ εἶναι), well-being (τοῦ εὖ εἶναι) and ever-being (τοῦ άεί εἶναι) 22. The first, [that is, the image of] being, is given to beings by essence; the second, [that is, the image of] well-being, is given to them as self-moving at will; and the third, [that is, the image of] ever-being, was given to them by grace. The first contains ability (δυνάμεως), the second – activity (ἐνεργείας), and the third – inactivity (ἀργίας). So, for example, the beginning (about λόγος) of being by nature has only the ability to act, which it cannot possess in its entirety and perfection without [the participation of] free will. Further, the beginning of well-being possesses only volitional activity based on natural ability, but does not possess this ability in its entirety and integrity without [the presence of] nature. Finally, the beginning of ever-being, which entirely embraces in itself that which precedes it (that is, the ability of the first and the activity of the second), is not fully present in beings according to natural ability, and also does not necessarily follow free will at all. Indeed, how is it possible for those who have a beginning by nature and an end by movement to be eternal and have neither beginning nor end? But it (that is, the beginning of ever-being) is the limit that makes nature stable according to ability, and will according to action, without completely changing either for the first or for the second the principle (τόν λόγον) according to which they exist, and determining for all all ages and times. And this, it seems to me, perhaps, is the mysterious and blessed Saturday, and the great day of rest [from] Divine works 1), which, according to the sacred narrative of the origin of the world, turns out to have no beginning, no end, no origin. This is the phenomenon of that which exceeds limitation and measure, after the movement of that which is limited by measure, as well as the infinite identity of that which is incontainable and unlimited, after the quantity of that which is capacious and limited. So, depending on whether the action (ἡ ἐνέργεια) of [our] free will to use [its] natural ability is natural or unnatural, at the end it will be expected either a blessed existence (τό εὖ εἶναι), or an unhappy existence (τό φεῦ εἶναι), which refers to ever-existence (τό ἀεί εἶναι), in which souls that have calmed down from any movement “subsist.” This will be the “eighth and first, rather single and indestructible day,” which is pure and clear, and the Epiphany (παρουσία), which occurs after the moving ones stop. And to all those who, by free choice, took advantage of the beginning of [their] existence in accordance with nature, God will appropriately appear in all its fullness and, by communion with Himself, will endow them with an eternally blessed existence (τό ἀεί εὖ εἶναι), since He alone in the proper sense possesses both being and well-being. And those who, of their own will, took advantage of the beginning of [their] existence unnaturally, instead of an eternally blissful existence, He will rightly endow them with an eternally unhappy existence (τό ἀεί φεῦ εἶναι), because they will no longer be able to contain well-being, since they are opposed to it, and will no longer have absolutely any movement after the appearance of the Requested One, in accordance with which the Requested One It is by nature to appear to those who seek [Him]. Per. from Greek and comm. A. Fokina Translation made according to the edition: ΤΩΝ ΝΗΠΤΙΚΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΚΗΤΙΚΩΝ, 14Δ, ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ 1992. εἰς οὐσίαν και κίνησιν και διαφοράν, κράσιν τε και θέσιν. In the “Chapters on the Theology and Economy of the Incarnation of the Son of God” (I, 2), St. Maximus identifies three main categories of created existence, which partially coincide with the division proposed here: essence, movement and action. Associated with the concept of God as Creator is the category of essence, as Provider - movement, and as Judge - discrimination. Κατά τήν ἓξιν. Option: “by possession.” This refers to the Aristotelian concepts of possibility (potentiality) and reality (actuality). ὡς παγίως ἔχειν περί τό εὖ δόξαν τῷ ρυθμίζειν ἀντιλόγῳ. The text is corrupted. In the apparatus of J. P. Migne (PG 91. Col. 1135–1136) there is a discrepancy: εὑδόξαν τῷ ρυθμίζον. Based on this, we propose a conjecture: τῷ ρυθμίζοντι λόγῳ. Και εἶναι και σοφόν εἶναι και ζῶν εἶναι. St. Maximus reproduces here what arose back in the 4th century. a doctrine that identified the Persons of the Holy Trinity with the three primary properties of God - being, thinking and life. At its core, this teaching, characteristic primarily of Western theologians - Marius Victorinus (see his Adversus Arium, I:22; I:63; IV:25) and Augustine (De Trinitate, X:13; De libero arbitrio, II:3) - is based on the well-known “intelligible triad” of their Platonic dialogue Sophist (249a). St. Maximus reproduces this teaching more than once (see, for example, Quaest. ad Thalas. 13; Capita de caritate, II: 29; Capita theologica, II: 1; Ambiqua // PG 91 1113 CD; 1260 D, etc.). This may be due to the influence of Western theology on him, although Ambicua was written by him even before leaving for the West, where he spent about 20 years (first in West Africa (about 632-645), and then in Rome (about 645-652)). In a similar way, Saint Ambrose and Blessed Augustine saw in the three parts of philosophy (“philosophy”) - logic, physics and ethics - not only a connection with the structure of the created world, but even a hidden indication of the Holy Trinity itself. See: St. Ambrose, Expositio Euangelii sec. Lucam, Prologus, 5; Augustine, De civatate Dei, XI:25. Option: “words about others.” Compare: Matthew 17:2. This aporia continues a series of aporias (numbers 40–43), in which the Transfiguration of the Lord is interpreted. Option: “according to true reasoning.” Option: “indicates in a special way.” This word from St. Gregory the Theologian means “vulnerable places”, “difficulties”, but St. Maxim returns to its original meaning. Option: “to truly comprehend.” In the Old Testament, the seventh day (ἡμέρα ἐβδόμη) was associated with rest (κατάπαυσις), when God rested from his work (Gen. 2:2–3; Ex. 20:11), and the Sabbath (σάββατον Ex. 20:8–11), although in Hebrew the words “seven” and “rest” have different roots. These are the three most important categories of the anthropology of St. Maximus, which are mentioned by him repeatedly (see: Cap. Char., III. 24–25; Cap. Theol., I.56, etc.). The category of being means the natural abilities given to us, the category of well-being is the state of virtue and bliss that we achieve subject to the free-will implementation of these abilities, and the category of ever-being is the state of eternally blissful existence in the next century. It should be noted that since the category of “well-being” by St. Maximus the Confessor has two meanings: firstly, the morally good state of a rational creature, achievable already in this life, and secondly, its blissful, happy state, fully achievable only in the future life, therefore we translate this term differently.