Maximus the Confessor on the hidden in the hidden of mysterious theology

See also: Hidden in the Hidden (Words on the Contemplation of Light) Victor Neovitos The article by Victor Neovitos explores the contemplative thoughts of Rev. Maximus the Confessor about the mystical state of “sacramental theology” that arises after the ascension of the mind above the natural contemplation of the logoi of beings. It is shown that Rev. Maximus distinguishes three stages in sacramental theology, differing in the degree of concealment. The first stage is the initial process of deification of the soul, which takes place through unity with divine energies around God. At this stage, the mind supernaturally sees the uncreated light of the Lord's glory and recognizes the Wisdom of Christ. The next stage is accomplished through the denial of the knowledge of God around God and the introduction of the soul into a secret place, hidden from all thinking, knowledge and vision, where the mind remains in a state of complete uncertainty and unknowability of the Divine essence. At this stage, the soul, through hypostatic union with the divine nature, is adopted by God and becomes by grace everything that God is, except identity in essence. And the final third stage of mysterious theology is the eternal life of a new man around God, who again plunges into the bliss of the hidden vision of the Lord's glory, but in the rank of the son of God by grace. “No one has ever seen God” (John 1:18) There is nothing more majestic and mysterious than the mystery of the knowledge of God, called St. Maximus "sacramental theology". Mysterious theology is knowledge about God, but “God is one, without beginning, incomprehensible and inaccessible to all beings and is not known by any of the existing ones” 1 . Since Old Testament times, the unknowability of God has been called darkness: “He made darkness His covering” (Ps. 17:12). However, there is ignorance due to distance from God, and there is ignorance due to unity with God, which is holy. Dionysius calls the most luminous Divine darkness: “The mysteries of theology, shrouded in the illumined darkness of secretly mysterious silence, in the deepest darkness shine in the most luminous way and fill the eyeless minds with a completely mysterious and invisibly beautiful brilliance” 2. That is, Divine darkness, hiding the secrets of theology in a cloud of ignorance, turns out to be the bright radiance of the Lord's glory for those minds that are led by grace into the mystery of Divine darkness. Mysterious theology is hidden from natural thinking, but it is revealed through the skill of prayer in the contemplation of ineffable silence, 3 which in our time is called mental activity or hesychasm. This happens to people of contemplative life 4 at the highest stage of development of contemplative prayer, when by the grace and mercy of the Lord the mind is lifted above all created things to the supernatural contemplation of the uncreated light of the Lord's glory. About this Rev. Maxim speaks figuratively, comparing the practice of hesychast contemplation with the ascent of Moses to the mountain of contemplation: “When he, having already lost the connection of the mind with the sensory, spends time on this [mountain] diligently in the contemplation inherent in [him] in the spirit (for this, as I believe, means the passage of forty years of time), he will be honored to become mentally (κατ᾿ ἔννοιαν) contemplator and listener of the ineffable and supernatural Divine fire" 5. But even when the mind reaches the ineffable contemplation of the Divine fire, then the next state occurs, where vision ceases and the mind finds itself in the darkness of unseeing and ignorance: “This means to be under divine darkness - through unseeing and ignorance to see and understand the Being above contemplation and knowledge in unseeing and ignorance itself. This is, he says, truly seeing and knowing. Nowhere else does he explain in this way what knowledge in ignorance is.” 6 For above natural contemplation there are steps of supernatural ascent to God, ascending which the mind undergoes changes. And first, a vision of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is given, through which and in which the deification of man is accomplished and the mind cognizes the hidden knowledge of the Holy Trinity, and then the whole person is introduced into the hidden place in the hidden, where the sacrament of the birth of a new man takes place in the womb of Divine darkness. The mystical state of sacramental theology exceeds the natural contemplation of the logoi of beings during pure prayer and arises only through the grace of deification: “Divine grace alone is inherent in nature according to the [receptivity] of beings to grant deification, illuminating nature with a supernatural Light and making it, by the abundance of glory, exceed its own limits” (VO 22:7, p. 96). Therefore, the knowledge of mysterious theology is the darkness of ignorance for the created mind as long as it remains within the limits of its nature in ordinary thinking or in natural contemplation. But when the mind is deified by grace, then the hidden knowledge of Divine darkness is revealed through the vision of the brightest light, like the light of the sun. In the image of light, the Lord shows the mind His Face - the hidden knowledge of His divine Essence: “The Face of the Word, which shone like the sun, is concealment, a distinctive feature of His Essence, Which cannot be seen by mental explanation, just as it is impossible [to see] the bright sun, even if a person has a purified visual ability” 7. Contemplation of the Face of the Lord remains in the memory of the mind as a vision of light, and therefore the fathers say about this knowledge: “God is light” (1 John 1:5). The Fathers speak of seeing the face of the Lord like the fire of the sun, but this does not mean that the deified mind, found within the mysterious theology, sees any forms of a face, or a round disk, or the rays of the sun, which could be comprehended and described by mental explanation. In the fire of the glory of the Lord, “simple, absolute and immutable mysteries of theology” 8 are revealed, having no mental image and exceeding all that exists: “Simple and absolute they are understood and contemplated apart from images, and not by allegory. He calls absolute that which is not comprehended by revealing and explaining the meaning of names or symbols, but is achieved by eliminating and abstracting from everything existing and conceivable” 9. The light of sacramental theology is the uncreated light of the Holy Trinity, the contemplation of which becomes possible for the mind “thanks to deification, making it [entirely] light - the likeness of the First Light” 10. In the contemplation of the light of the Holy Trinity, the way of life in the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed: “And they will be received [as heirs] by the inexpressible light and contemplation of the Holy and Royal Trinity, shining more clearly and purer, even mingling entirely with the mind as a whole; This [contemplation], I believe, [is] the only Kingdom of Heaven” 11. However, the vision of the uncreated light of the Holy Trinity is only “a symbol of the invisible hiddenness (τῆς ἀφανοῦς κρυφιότητος) of the Divine essence” 12, for the Holy Trinity is inaccessible to vision. Contemplation of the uncreated Light is the initial stage of mysterious theology, after which the mind is immersed in the hidden place of the Divine essence, where all vision disappears, and the mind finds itself in the absolute darkness of ignorance and non-vision, which is the highest peak of prayerful knowledge of God: “We pray that we may find ourselves in this bright darkness and, through unseeing and ignorance, see and understand that which is higher than contemplation and knowledge, that it is impossible to see or know, for this is truly seeing and knowing” 13. Dionysius the Areopagite says that not seeing and not knowing “is truly seeing and knowing” in the sense that complete unity with God takes place, in which the ability to see and know disappears. Nothing can be remembered or said about this state, and this is the knowledge about which the Apostle John, who saw the Face of the Lord, says: “No one has ever seen God” (John 1:18). The hidden place in the cloud of Divine darkness is not an apophatic speculation made by the effort of the philosophizing mind, and not a prayerful withdrawal of the mind, but a real state revealed in the experience of unity with the Divine essence. The hidden secret of Divine darkness is the secret of the Divine essence, which is hidden not only for the natural state of the created mind, but also for the supernatural state of the deified mind. The divine essence is the hidden in the hidden of mysterious theology. 2. The initial stage of deification is the revelation of the hidden “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8) The divine essence is hidden from the knowledge and vision of the created mind. However, in the Kingdom of Heaven there is a place where the Essence is revealed through divine energies, shining from the unknown depths of concealment with the light of enlightenment of the mind and knowledge. This mystical state is called prep. The maximum place around God is for those in front and contemplating God face to face 14. Such reverends. Maxim calls them beloved: “And those who have already been worthy of the mystical image of contemplative theology, who have cleared the mind of all ideas and bear the impeccable image and likeness of Divine beauty, let them be “beloved” for us 15. Seeing the Lord face to face is accessible only to a mind purified of all ideas, i.e. for a mind that has been purified from the remembrance of the created world of beings and has become like pure light. In the place of vision of the uncreated Light, the deification of the soul takes place as much as possible for a created creature, as Dionysius says: “And deification is, as far as possible, likening to God and unity with Him” 16. And for this, the Lord Jesus Christ emerges from the hidden place of Divine darkness and appears to the beloved creature in order to bestow upon it the bliss of being light from Light and enlighten it with the knowledge of truth from Truth. In the place of vision of God, thus, the cognition of the Unknowable is accomplished through the comprehension of the energies of truth and goodness emanating from the Divine darkness of the unknowability of Truth and Goodness: “Truth and goodness, according to him, reveal God. But [He appears] as Truth when the Divine deigns to be revealed by His essence, because truth is something simple, unique, united, identical, indivisible, unchangeable (ἄτρεπτον), impassive, inevitable (ἀλάθητον) and absolutely unceasing (ἀδιάστατον). And [God appears] as Good when [He deigns to be revealed by His] energy, because good is beneficent, it provides providential care and protects everything that comes from it” 17. The perception of divine energies by the deified mind is called prep. Maximum abiding in God, but not in the Essence itself, but in Its surroundings: “When it happens in God: then first, out of fiery love, he seeks an understanding of His nature, but finds consolation in this not from the knowledge of what is in Him: for this is impossible and inconceivable for every created nature, but is consoled by the knowledge of what is around Him, somehow: eternity, infinity, indescribability, goodness, wisdom and power of the omnipotent, all-providential and all-judgmental. And only in Him is it comprehensible to everyone that He is infinite” 18. Here the words “when it happens in God” should be understood as being around God in the rank of “those in front” and worthy of “the pleasure [of contemplating God] face to face.” For to abid in God, St. Maxim refers to mystical states in which the mind is elevated by grace above the natural contemplation of created beings: “When, by the attraction of love, the mind ascends to God; then he feels neither himself nor anything that exists at all. Illuminated by the Divine immeasurable light, he is insensitive to everything created” 19. In the terminology of Rev. Maximus the Confessor as well as St. Dionysius the Areopagite, illumination or outpouring of Divine light corresponds to the concept of divine energy, which arose after disputes about the nature of the Tabor light. Orthodox theology distinguishes between the Divine essence (or, which is the same thing, the nature/nature/deity) of God and His energies, but at the same time, the energies are inseparable from the essence and are the uncreated manifestation of God, which is knowable to the deified mind by the gift of grace, and the essence is unknowable. Essence and energies are two ways of the pre-eternal uncreated existence of God, regardless of created creatures. Uncreated Divine energies themselves are unknowable for created creatures, but their actions are knowable, leading to the assimilation of the creature to divine properties. One of the manifestations of divine energies of St. Maxim calls logoi - the wills of God, by which everything that exists on earth and heaven is created and preserved in harmonious unity. Divine energies Rev. Maxim also calls the works of God, which exist pre-eternally and did not begin to exist in time. These deeds/energies of God are attended by created minds that have been rewarded with a mysterious theology around God: “The zealots [of the faith] should examine which of [His] creatures God should have conceived as beginning to be and which as not beginning to be. For if He rested from the works that He began to do, then it is clear that He did not rest from those works that He did not begin to do. Therefore, it is possible that the works (ἔργα) of God, the existence of which began in time, are all participating beings, such as, for example, the different natures of beings, since their existence was preceded by non-existence. God was then when the participating beings were not yet. The works of God, the existence of which did not begin in time, are perhaps those existing things that allow participation in themselves; beings who participate in them participate by grace. Such, for example, are: goodness and everything that is included in this concept, as well as simply all life, immortality, simplicity, immutability, infinity and that which is essentially contemplated around God - these are the essence of God’s works and did not begin to exist in time.” Through the knowledge of “life, immortality, simplicity, immutability, infinity and everything that is essentially contemplated around God” in the Kingdom of Heaven, God is known as Truth, for “[He appears] as Truth when the Divine deigns to be revealed by His essence.” And God is known as Good through such energies as “goodness and everything that is included in this concept.” The divine energies around God deify the mind and grant it unlimited knowledge of true wisdom: the “infinitely bestowing outpouring” of true wisdom, which came, according to the permissible [measure], “already unalloyed and directly delivers to the worthy the concept of God, inaccessible to either recognition or interpretation” 20. Unalloyed and direct - that means without the mediating participation of angels, as was the case in natural contemplation before ascending to the level of mysterious theology, that is, directly from Jesus Christ through the vision of the uncreated light of the Lord's glory. This knowledge is inaccessible to either recognition or interpretation, for it is one and simple, indivisible, immutable and infinitely like the divine Unity and it is comprehended by a single mind: “When the soul becomes one (ἑνοειδῆ) and unites with itself and with God, then there will no longer be a logos (λόγος), mentally dividing it into many; it will crown the head with the first, unique and united Logos and God, in whom, as the Creator and Creator of beings, in accordance with a single and inconceivable simplicity, all the logoi of existence uniformly exist and abide” 21 (Mys. V). Here the words “the soul will become one (ἑνοειδῆ) and unite with itself and with God” need clarification. The word ἑνοειδῆ is usually translated as single, but it also has the meaning single/simple (single, simple). In this case, we are talking about unity with God, when the soul becomes not only one-form, i.e. similar to a unit, but also a perfect unit in unity with the One. The state of uniformity arises even before unity with God during natural contemplation, when the mind is likened to the simplicity of the contemplated logoi of existence. But in natural contemplation there is a separation between the mind and the object of contemplation, so that there is a duality of thinking. For, as Rev. explains. Maxim: “Thinking is formed by conceivable [things]; whether it is single or multiple, it is formed in the image of each of the conceivable ones” 22. Multiple thinking takes place with the bodily-sensory perception of the visible world; thinking becomes unitary with the contemplation of the intelligible world of simple logoi of beings. At the same time, the distinction between body, soul and mind disappears - everything becomes one. And the fathers speak about the state of the soul, about contemplation of the mind and about mental feelings, implying a single spiritual state of a person, when the soul and body become a single mind like angels. When the soul finds itself in mysterious theology, then it becomes one with God, Who is above any image, both plural and singular, and then figurative thinking ceases: “When it finds itself on the other side of the multitude of sensory and intelligible [things] that form it, and becomes completely imageless 23 (ἀνείδεος), then the premeditated [God] Word appropriates it to Himself and bestows it upon it. peace [from the endlessly] alternating change of mental images" 24. With the natural contemplation of the logoi of existence, thinking is unified, for it is likened to the simple images of the Divine logoi, which have a single simple uncreated nature in accordance with the single and inconceivable simplicity of the Divine essence. The simplicity of images appears to the mind in the form of an infinite intelligible light that has no form, divisibility or changeability. In natural intelligible light there is no visual difference, but there is an internal semantic difference and an external difference between light and mind. The intelligible light is perceived as an external object of contemplation, enlightening the mind with angelic knowledge through the mediation of higher angels. At the same time, the mind realizes and distinguishes itself as a contemplator and can think about the contemplated light and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, comprehend the simple ineffable meaning of the logoi of existence. The logoi of the individual hypostases are contemplated, but the logoi of the most general natures of created beings, such as the logoi of the natures of heaven and earth, the logoi of the nature of the sensory, and the logoi of angelic knowledge, about which Rev. Maximus speaks in Difficulty 41, as well as the logoi of Providence and Judgment, about which Rev. Maximus speaks in Difficulty 10/19, where he gives “a brief interpretation of the five troposes of natural contemplation.” At the same time, the mind senses its position on the ladder of ascent through the stages of mixing natures into ever more general natures and distinguishes the degree of increase in knowledge. At the pinnacle of natural contemplation, the mind is likened to “the most original and universal logos” 25, according to which all creation found a beginning (Gen. 1:1) and arose from non-existence to a single being, not yet divided into heaven and earth. According to the action of this universal logos, according to which “the whole creation can perceive a single logos, completely devoid of difference (ἀδιάκριτον),” the soul becomes “one and unites with itself” and with the whole creation, but is not yet united with God. This is the state at the peak of natural contemplation of St. Maxim calls the highest state of pure contemplative prayer: “There are two highest states of pure prayer. The sign of the second is the admiration of the mind by the divine and boundless light in the very impulse of prayer, when it does not feel at all either itself or anything that exists, but only One Who so illuminates it with His love. Then, moving around the logoi that relate to God (περὶ τοὺς περὶ Θεοῦ λόγους), the mind perceives pure and obvious images of Him that relate to Him” 26 . In the highest state of pure contemplative prayer, the mind becomes like a unit in which all creation is one, so that the mind ceases to distinguish itself, but distinguishes “only the One Who so illuminates it with His love.” In this state, the internal distinction of meanings related to created natures ceases, but the external separation between the created mind and God is still preserved, so that the mind is illuminated by an intelligible light, which no longer reveals the logoi of the created world, but the logoi of the mysterious theology around God. Logoi around God, as we noted above, Rev. Maxim calls the eternal “works” of God, participation in which deifies and enlightens the mind with knowledge of God. That is, at the top of natural contemplation, the soul is in the vicinity of the logoi of deification, which in turn are in the vicinity of God. This is a two-tiered position of the mind in the vicinity in relation to God. Maxim conveys in words περὶ τοὺς περὶ Θεοῦ λόγους - around the logoi, around God. When the mind ascends to mysterious theology, it unites with the single uncreated nature of the divine energies around God and, according to the logos of deification, around the divine Unit (περί μονάδος λόγον) 27 becomes a unit like the divine Unit: “Finally, moving away from the diversity of logoi, it is unknown thus reaches the logos [deification] around the Unity (περί μονάδος λόγον). And only in this logos does the mind, contemplating its own immutability, rejoice with unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:8), having perceived the peace of God, which is above all understanding (Phil. 4:7) and which vigilantly guards its unshakable dignity” 28. In the logos of deification, around the Unit, the soul becomes simple light and inseparably unites with the uncreated Light. At the same time, the duality of the separation between creation and God disappears and any movement of created thought from the subject to the object of thinking ceases and, thus, the ability to think is lost: “All thinking reflects multiplicity or, at least, duality. For it is a mediating connection of certain extremes connected to each other, that is, it is a connection between the thinker and the thinkable. None of these extremes is inherent in maintaining complete simplicity... But God Himself, the Whole and Unique, is in essence Thought, and in thinking He, the Whole and Unique, is Essence. And at the same time, He is all - above essence and thinking, because there is an indivisible, indivisible and simple Unit. And therefore, the one who participates in thinking to some extent does not yet go beyond the limits of duality; the one who completely abandons this thinking finds himself in a certain way in the Unit and removes from himself the ability to think” 29. In the simplicity of the uncreated light, the created image of dualistic thinking disappears, but the supernatural thinking of the deified mind is born, which has become a unit in unity with the Unity. In this state, the knowledge of theology is accomplished, which is called esotericism within the sacramental theology: “On the other hand, the “man” is a mind that finds itself inside the sacramental theology and has as its head the uncovered Christ, in an unknown way comprehended by the mind in unprovable occultities 30; or, more precisely, (the head is) the Word 31 of faith, cognizable apart from the mind, above which none of the existing things is placed: neither feeling, nor reason, nor intellect, nor thinking, nor knowledge, nor cognizable, nor conceivable by the mind or reason, nor perceived by the senses or sensed. [In other words, it is] a mind striving in a praiseworthy, completely superior to itself and existing and extremely deifying renunciation [of everything]” 32. In a state of arcane knowledge, the mind is in a supernatural comprehension of Jesus Christ and possesses a supernatural “wise thought of sacramental theology” 33: “The “wife” of this mind is thought, pure from all sensual dreaming, having, as if the head of [its] mind, shrouded in beginningless and beyond thinking contemplations of ineffable and unknown dogmas. The Head of Christ, that is, according to the greatness of [His] mysteriously revealed Word, is the Mind, absolutely and in all respects infinitely removed from everything; It is the intelligible Christ who makes it cognizable to the worthy, being by nature the Word of the Mind” 34 . That is, in a state of mystery, the mind comprehends not the Lord Jesus Christ himself, but the knowledge of Christ to the extent that this is accessible to the deified mind. This knowledge exceeds the knowledge acquired through contemplation of the logoi of beings. As Rev. explains. Maxim, with natural contemplation, the knowledge of God is limited only to the belief that God exists: “The knowledge of beings contains for proof their own logoi, which are naturally united together and the clear limits of which give the existence of beings natural stability. As for God, through these existent logoi one gains faith only in His existence. He gives to pious people confession and faith that He truly exists, and [such faith] is more accessible than any proof. For faith is true knowledge, possessing unprovable principles, since it is a hypostasis of things that exceed mind and reason” 35. And when contemplating the “intelligible Christ” in a state of mystery, in an incomprehensible way, by the power of the Holy Spirit, faith in the mysterious knowledge of the Father, that is, the true knowledge of the Holy Trinity, which does not require proof, is acquired: “For [the Holy Scripture] says: He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9). Indeed, the speculation of the Word becomes clear knowledge of the Mind that gave birth to It, since the Word reveals the Mind that exists in It in essence, to which It raises the [human] mind.” In sacramental theology, the soul “attains faith - truly firm, unshakable and complete confidence in [things] divine” 36. The vision of Christ and the acquisition of true theological faith constitute the first stage of sacramental theology, preparing the soul for immersion in the hidden place of the Divine essence of the Holy Trinity. On the preparatory role of the first stage of sacramental theology, in which the mind sees the Lord's glory, Rev. Maxim speaks in the “Theological Chapters” as a pre-image of the future second coming of Christ in glory, which transforms those leading for deification: “The second (mystical image of the appearance of Christ) is a pre-image of the coming of [the Lord] in glory, which is comprehended spiritually. Through wisdom it transforms those who lead for deification, and thanks to this transformation of [God’s] Word in them, with an open face, as in a mirror, they look at the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18)” 37. That is, the vision of the glory of the Lord deifies the soul for final deification in unity with the Divine essence. Rev. here. Maxim uses the image of a mirror, which says that the saints do not see the Lord himself face to face, who is inaccessible to vision, but they see His image, as in a mirror. Such a mirror is the divine energies around God, by the power of which the transformation and deification of man is accomplished. And, on the other hand, the saints, who have become like the simplicity of the divine Unit, become like a mirror in which the Lord sees His Image: “Wholly united with Him, the All Whole, they have, to the extent possible, perceived His qualities that only by Him alone they are known, like the purest mirrors, for they fully and without damage reveal – through His divine features – the appearance of God the Word looking [in them]” 38 . Unity around God is like an endless mirror light, in which the deified soul and the Lord look at each other face to face, but at the same time they are not separated, but are completely united, becoming one light. This is the connection of Rev. Maxim calls betrothal to the Logos: “Looking into [this] Logos, which is no longer outside of it, but as the Whole in the whole, the soul itself in simple apprehension (κατά άπλήν προσβολήν) will know εἴσεται logoi and causes of beings, thanks to which, probably, before her betrothal to the Logos and God she slowly advanced through dieretic methods (ταίς διαιρετικαίς ύπήγετο μεθόδοις)” 39 . Betrothal is a preliminary agreement to enter into a future marriage. That is, betrothal prepares for the sacrament of wedding. The preparatory nature of the first stage of sacramental theology is reflected in Maximus the Confessor by the word secrecy (μυσταγωγία), literally meaning initiation into the sacrament or introduction to the sacrament of theology. Through dedication the soul becomes like God: “And the [work] of theological mystery is to make it (the mind), as far as possible, similar and equal to God in grace and in possession” 40. Another sign of the incompleteness of the deification of the soul at the first stage of sacramental theology is the preservation of the movement of the soul around God. For movement is a sign of a created creature, and rest in immobility is a sign of the Divine 41. The movement of the soul around God is characterized by the words ever-moving rest, that is, both peace and eternal movement at the same time. Peace means that the soul is at peace from its own movements of intelligibility and the desire for unity with God, characteristic of natural contemplation. And when the soul is deified, rises above the nature of beings and unites with the Logos, which contains in itself all the logoi of beings and logoi related to the deification and knowledge of God, then its desire becomes reality through supernatural communion with the divine glory of Christ, and it dwells around God in the enjoyment of the Desired: “And the satisfaction of desire is ever-moving peace around the object of desire of those who strive towards Him. Ever-moving peace around the object of desire is constant and continuous enjoyment of the Desired. This constant and continuous enjoyment of the Desired consists in a participation in the Divine that exceeds [human] nature, which is the likeness of those who partake of the Participant. [609] And this similarity is the identity of those participating with the Participant, actually perceived by them through the similarity. The same identity of those who participate with the Participant, actually perceived by them through similarity, is the deification of those worthy of deification” (VO 59, p. 343). Thus, Rev. Maximus the Confessor distinguishes between the process of deification around God in unity with divine energies and the final deification in unity with God. With the ascension of the mind to the level of mysterious theology, the process of deification begins, which Rev. Maxim calls the transformation of the mind through the vision of the Lord's glory, knowledge of the wisdom of the Mind of Christ, complete unity with the logoi of deification and ever-moving peace around God, arcane teaching/initiation/introduction into the mysteries of theology and betrothal to the Logos before the sacrament of unity with God. “No one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27) Identification in the speculations of Rev. Maximus the Confessor’s two stages of mysterious theology allows us to take a different look at the meaning of unforgettable knowledge in the work “Mystagogy,” to the study of which we previously devoted a separate article 42. Through the unforgettable guidance of Rev. Maxim names the stage in the ascent of the mind to God: “The mind, set in motion by wisdom, comes to contemplation; through contemplation - to knowledge, through knowledge - to unforgettable knowledge, and through it - to truth. Around the truth, the mind finds the limit of its movement, and its essence, strength, property and activity are determined by truth” 43. The interpretation of the position of unforgettable knowledge in this sequence of steps depends on what is meant by the completion of the movement of the mind around the truth. Previously, we assumed that knowledge of truth occurs above natural contemplation in a state of deification at a single level of sacramental theology. Therefore, we attributed unforgettable knowledge to natural contemplation, or rather to its highest state. But since we found out that Rev. Maxim distinguishes in sacramental theology the process of deification and the final deification in unity with God, from which, at the initial stage, the knowledge of truth around the Truth is accomplished, and at the next stage, unity with God as Truth is accomplished in ignorance and unseeing of the mind, which is the knowledge of the Truth, exceeding all knowledge, then we can assume that the initial stage of sacramental theology is unforgettable knowledge. That is, unforgettable knowledge is a state of seeing the Lord’s glory around God, in which and through which deification takes place and the infinitely bestowing outpouring of true wisdom occurs 44: “From all this, an internal connection is created with the Truth and the Good, that is, with God. Such a connection, said [the elder], is divine science, infallible knowledge, love and peace, in which and through which deification is accomplished” 45. With this interpretation, the words of Rev. are understood differently. The maxim that deification is given in exchange for unforgettable knowledge: “After all, it (the soul) has a prudent mind, prudent wisdom, active contemplation, virtuous knowledge, and on top of them (ἐπ᾽ αὐταῖς) - unforgettable knowledge, the most certain and unshakable. And, prudently pairing effects with causes and actions with possibilities, she brings [all this] to God, receiving in return deification, which creates simplicity.” That is, deification is a process accomplished through the unforgettable knowledge of the true wisdom of the Mind of Christ at the stage of arcane teaching/initiation into the mysteries of theology. In this process of deification, simplicity is created - the mind is transformed and likened to the Divine Unit before union with the most holy Unit. And this happens in accordance with the “logos [deification] around the Unity (περί μονάδος λόγον),” which we examined above. The following words also become clear about the transformation of the ten into one, that is, the mixing of five pairs of movements of the mind and reason into a single movement around the holy Unit: “Every soul, when it is able, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and also thanks to its own diligence and diligence, unite and combine all this, that is, reason with mind, prudence with wisdom, action with contemplation, virtue with knowledge, faith with unforgettable knowledge, not belittling or exalting one in relation to the other, but cutting off all exaltation and belittlement; or when the soul, to put it briefly, can turn its ten into one, then it will unite with God - the True and Good, the One and Only" 46. At the same time, our previous interpretation of unforgettable knowledge as the highest state of natural contemplation is also not without foundation, for in this state of the highest angelic order the mind becomes like a created unit in which all creation is one, so that the mind ceases to distinguish itself, but distinguishes “only one One who so illuminates it with His love” and is enlightened by the knowledge of God within the created nature of the mind. In this state, a gifting outpouring of true wisdom also occurs, but it is not limitless and moves to a higher state of mysterious theology, in which there is no longer a limit and an unlimited outpouring of unforgettable knowledge around the Truth takes place. This feature of the boundlessness of the unforgettable knowledge of St. Maxim notes in a special definition of unforgettable knowledge: “As for unforgettable knowledge (ἄληστον γνῶσιν), it is an incessant (ἀκατάληκτον) and involuntary (ἑκτικὴν) eternal movement (ἀεικινησίαν) wisdom, contemplation and knowledge, that is, strength. properties and activities [of the mind] around that Known Which is above all knowledge; the limit of this movement is infallible knowledge (ἀλάθητον γνωστόν). And it is surprising how the unforgettable (ἀλήστως) [movement] turns out to be limited, but it is clear that it is limited by God as Truth. For God is Truth, and around Him endlessly (ἀκαταλήκτως) and unforgettable (ἀλήστως) the mind moves, which can never stop, because it does not find a limit where there is no discontinuity (διάστημα)” (Myst. V) 47. From here the very name of knowledge “unforgettable” becomes clear, for in the state of one, when the mind becomes light in unity with the uncreated light of Christ and is not aware of itself and anything else except the vision of the uncreated light of the Lord’s glory, knowledge cannot be interrupted by the mind and consigned to oblivion. 4. Completion of deification - adoption “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9) The vision of the uncreated Light in the ignorance of the mind is the limit of possible knowledge for the deified mind at the initial stage of mysterious theology. But for those who have been granted the vision of Light, initiation into the mystery of the Divine Essence, which is hidden in the hidden place of Divine darkness, is prepared. That is, the Divine darkness of mysterious theology is twofold in its degree of concealment. There is a place of vision of God in ignorance, to which the mind ascends after natural contemplation. This place is the limit of the knowledge of God, accessible to the deified mind, transformed into light. And there is a place of knowledge of God in ignorance and non-vision, which St. Maxim calls it transcendental ignorance: “Having then plunged into transcendental ignorance, completely unknown to any understanding, he knew everything” 48. At the same time, the first place precedes the second and every mind that is worthy of the vision of God, at the next stage of mysterious theology, is introduced by the Lord into the transcendental Darkness of non-vision of impregnable light: “Divine darkness (see Ex. 20:21) is the “impregnable light” in which God is said to dwell (1 Tim. 6:16), invisible due to excessive lightness and unapproachable due to the excess of the super-essential outpouring of light. In it appears everyone who is worthy to know and see God - in a light invisible in itself and unknowable" 49 . Here, in the phrase: “Everyone who is worthy to know and see God finds himself in him,” the verbs to know (γνωναι) and to see (ιδειν) are used in the aorist form, that is, in the past tense of a completed action. And this indicates that the unapproachable light of Divine darkness is the state in which the deified mind finds itself after the stage of seeing God. The inaccessibility of the Divine light means that it is not visible and unknowable in itself: “To the extent that anyone has, he says, the knowledge of beings and the existing light, that is, the very understanding of truth, he will see that what is characteristic of God is not knowable. For it is not clarified by light or knowledge, but is rather hidden from those who possess it. And when such are given and increase - I mean light and knowledge - the divine turns out to be invisible and unknowable" 50. The state of seeing the uncreated light of the Lord's glory. Maxim characterizes it as becoming the Mind of Christ, but “an unthinkable Mind, meaning a Mind that is not understood by anyone” 51 . In this state, by the power of grace, the mind renounces everything created, including itself, and sees the light around God. And at the next stage of mysterious theology, renunciation occurs not only from all created things, but also from the unforgettable knowledge of the Mind of Christ. At the same time, the mind remains in a state of complete ineffable uncertainty: “One is crucified by active wisdom through dispassion and passes to natural contemplation in the Spirit, as if from some flesh of Christ [passing] to His soul; the other is mortified by natural contemplation, rejecting the symbolic contemplation of beings with the mind, and moves on to the uniform and simple mystery of theological knowledge, as if from a certain soul of Christ [passing] to His mind; and the third from this [secret knowledge] is mysteriously raised to a complete ineffable uncertainty, [carried out] through denial and abstraction (ἀφαιρετικήν), as if from a certain mind of Christ [raised] to His Divinity” 52. In the above quote, Rev. Maxim speaks most unambiguously about the presence, after natural contemplation, of two stages of supernatural mystical knowledge of God, of which the initial stage is the arcane knowledge of theology, and the next stage in time, which is higher in the rank of knowledge of God, is complete ineffable uncertainty. These two stages are not two ways of knowing the same mystical state, one of which could be called cataphatic, and the other apophatic in the sense usually meant for ordinary thinking, that is, when we can think about God affirmatively or negatively at our discretion. The two stages of mysterious theology are separated by the denial of the lower order and the ascension to a higher order of the mystical knowledge of God. And the highest rank is a denial of the unforgettable knowledge of God around God. Above the rank of contemplation of the uncreated Light, there is no longer anything accessible to the understanding of the deified mind: “Denial, according to the knowledge of those who are below, is the affirmation of the superior, [affirmation], through negation, advancing up to the highest of all in superiority of nature and rank; which [rank], after all ranks and powers, inherits the direct denial of the knowledge of God, [denial], which is not affirmed by any of those who exist, for there is no longer any limit or boundary that embraces this negation" 53 . The path of ascent to God ends after the denial of unforgettable knowledge around God and the initiation of the soul into the mystery of unity with the Divine nature, completely hidden from thought, which is ineffable, inconceivable and completely unknowable: “The mind ascends “from strength to strength”, rises, surpasses all ranks and powers and stops [the path, having reached] the ineffable, inconceivable and completely unknowable" 54 . Nothing can be remembered or said about the experience of the second stage of sacramental theology, for the soul remains in Divine non-existence, exceeding all existence of beings: “The soul that has been deemed worthy to acquire the Divine world goes beyond (if it is permissible to say so) the very virtue and knowledge, truth and goodness established for us, and rests, in an ineffable and unknown way, in the true and most good peace of God... In this In the blissful and all-holy peace, that awe-inspiring sacrament of unity, transcending mind and reason, is realized” (Myst. V). About the peace of God, Rev. Maxim also speaks in the “Chapters on Theology” precisely as the second stage of Sabbatarianism and motionless rest, exceeding the so-called state of the “Sabbath of Saturdays,” which corresponds to the first stage of mysterious theology and in which the mind remains at rest from its natural movements of knowledge, but the action of divine energies around God still continues and the mind remains in motion, consisting in the vision of the uncreated Light of the Lord's glory: “The Saturday of Saturdays is the spiritual rest of the rational the soul, which leads the mind away from all the divine logoi [contained] in beings, unites it entirely with the only God in a loving frenzy and through mystical theology makes it completely motionless in God (1:39)... But there is another, more hidden Sabbath, on which God rested from His own labors (1:44)... God's Sabbath is the final return to God of all creatures. At this time, God rests, resting from [His] natural energy directed towards them, and ceases His Divine action, carried out in an ineffable manner (1:47)” 55 . The soul learns the mystery of the final, complete unity in an unknown way, and after this state the mind is not able to form an idea about it, as if it had come to know the unknowable “nothingness of God,” as the venerable saint says. Maxim in “Chapters on Love”: “And the very knowledge (γινώσκειν) is nothing (μηδὲν) of Him is the perception (γινώσκειν), surpassing the mind, as men strong in theology said - Gregory and Dionysius" 56. At the final stage of deification, the hypostatic unity of the deified nature of man and the Divine nature takes place: “And, to top off all these [unions], [man], having united the created nature with the uncreated through love (oh the miracle of God’s love for us!), would probably show them as one and the same in the possession (ἕξιν) of grace, having completely completed interpenetration (περιχωρήσας) with the entire God, having become everything that God is, except for identity in essence, in return for himself having received God Himself entirely and, as if as a reward for ascending to God Himself, having found God Himself, the one and only, for He is the end of the movement of the moving, the durable and motionless peace of those carried to Him, the infinite limit and the endless end of all determination, institution and law, logos, mind and nature” (Amb, 41, 1308b-c, p. 692). Union with God is accomplished hypostatically by grace, similar to the sacrament of the hypostatic unity of natures in Christ at the Incarnation: “This sacrament, as is obvious, is the ineffable and incomprehensible hypostatic union of Divinity and humanity, in every way leading, thanks to the [very] meaning of hypostasis, humanity to identity with the Divine and from both creating a complex hypostasis, but in no way diminishing them essential and natural difference" 57. In the mystical experience of hypostatic union with God, the consistent reconciliation of opposites, about which Rev. Maximus speaks in “Difficulty 41,” namely, the reconciliation of the opposites of habitable earth and paradise, heaven and earth, sensible and intelligible, and finally created and uncreated. This is the meaning of the Lord’s commandment about the blessedness of peacemakers. Through the mystical unity of opposites, the soul ascends to God and at the final stage a person is born again and adopted by grace: “The image of our birth from God is twofold: one gives to those who are born the [constantly] present grace of adoption in a state of possibility, the other brings all this grace into a state of reality and through it morally transforms all the will of the one being born in relation to the giving birth to God. The first image of birth contains grace in a state of possibility, in faith alone, while the other, above faith, through effective knowledge, realizes in the one who knows the Divine likeness to the Known through actual and true knowledge, transforming [their] mind in the blessed rays of God and the Father so that this mind is considered for another god and experiences through grace-filled communion what God Himself is in essence (and does not experience) 58 . The first type of birth from God is accomplished through holy Baptism once. And this is a prototype of the second birth in God, which takes place through the sacrament of hypostatic union with God. That is, there is an individual union of two natures in a single human hypostasis - the deified human nature and the Divine nature to the extent that this is possible for a creature. In this unity, man becomes similar to the hypostasis of Christ, differing in that man is united with the Divine nature by grace, and not by birth. It can probably be assumed that the second birth takes place only once, for one who has already become a son is not adopted. Adoption by the gift of grace occurs once either in the present age through the mystical deification of man, or in the next age through the resurrection in God. 5. Mysterious theology of the future century “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12) The third stage of mysterious theology is the life of a person around God after being born again into the light of God in the womb of the Heavenly Father according to the foreknowledge of God: “That you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:45). In earthly life, a baby is born and grows in knowledge gradually before reaching earthly perfection. Likewise, in the experience of primary deification and unity with God, man sees perfection, but does not yet become perfect. At the second stage, the light of God blinds the mind of a person with an abundance of light, but after being born again, a person sees the light with a new mind, related to the Mind of the Father, and previously hidden knowledge is revealed, and a person is ascended by the grace of the Lord to the highest level of mysterious theology, which no longer has limits to perfection. The Lord calls us to this perfection: “Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:47). On the other hand, after being born again, a person returns to earthly existence and is again subjected to temptations and trials, which are experienced as a falling away from God: “So if,” he says, “I am one of those serving God through contemplation and enjoying blessed beauty, wholly carrying (έχων) “peace and holiness,” for I have simplified (ἁπλώσας) myself for God, [having achieved with Him] inseparable identity in intention (κατὰ τὴν γνώμην ταυτότητι) and if, having ascended to the very top of the Divine [contemplation], accessible to people in this life, I neglected the godlike state (τῆς θεοειδοῦς ἕξεως), having voluntarily inclined myself to love the body, then [it means] I am “burdened,” “burdened down with shackles,” that is, with worries, and “fell away from God,” for I applied “concern” and “search” for the Kingdom of Heaven alone to what I should not have done—to earthly life, and allowed the mind not to be drawn to God, but to be drawn along with the feelings” 59. Here, by simplifying oneself for God, we mean the sacrament of the soul’s likening to the simplicity of the unit around the most holy Unity, and by identity by intention, unity with God, “as one and the same in possession (ἕξιν) of grace, interpenetration (περιχωρήσας) with the whole God, becoming everything that God is, except identity in essence" 60. Perfection is the destiny of those chosen for a special service in enlightening people with the knowledge of God. In our time, the perfection of theological knowledge is achieved by those who are awarded repeated and sustainable communion with the uncreated light of the Lord's glory and the bringing of peace and holiness to people. Such were our venerable fathers John the Theologian, Gregory the Theologian, Simeon the New Theologian and, probably, Maximus the Confessor and many saints, whose sermons and writings bring people perfect knowledge of mysterious theology. But even for those who did not achieve perfection or the primary taste of deification, but directed their will towards its achievement, the resurrection from the non-existence of complete uncertainty and rebirth in God are prepared in the future century, “for the Spirit does not give birth to an unwilling will, but He only transforms a willing [will] for deification” 61 . For those who love God, God’s foreknowledge of eternal life around the Divine essence is prepared: “After all, even before the ages, [God] thought out the union of limit and infinity, measure and immensity, edge and boundlessness, Creator and creation, rest and movement - that union that was revealed in Christ at the end of time and fulfilled the foreknowledge of God, so that around Him who is in essence motionless, there would constantly be moving things by nature [of the soul], completely leaving the movement in relation to themselves and each other, and through experience they perceived the real knowledge of the One in whom they were worthy to abide - knowledge that is unchangeable and identical [always to oneself], giving them [spiritual] pleasure in the Known" 62 . The sons of God will dwell in the eternal delight of seeing the Lord Jesus Christ face to face, and will continually grow in the knowledge of the third stage of the mysterious theology, which will continually and unforgettably pour out upon their minds with a most luminous radiance from the hidden in the hidden darkness of the Divine essence. The sons of God will be eternally illuminated by the unapproachable light of the Holy Trinity and will see the light, but not the source of the light, “for just as we cannot look at the sun, except at the radiance surrounding it, so we cannot understand God Himself” 63 . Thus, the knowledge of sacramental theology is accomplished in three successive stages, separated by time and place. Moreover, by time and place we do not mean the passage of time in spatial places in the likeness of the created world, but the transition from one state of eternal deification to another, which is accomplished by the grace and mercy of the Lord. Initial stage of teaching Maxim calls the deifying mystery, the second stage of deification - complete uncertainty, and the final third stage - the fulfillment of the foreknowledge of God. At the initial stage, by the grace and mercy of the Lord, the soul is elevated to a supernatural state around God, where the brightest light of the Lord's glory flares up before the gaze of the mind, shining like the endless fire of the sun. Contemplation of the Lord's glory, Rev. Maxim calls it a vision of the Face of the Son of God. Through the vision of the Lord face to face, the mystery of deification and the knowledge of divine energies around God is accomplished, which exceeds any natural comprehension of the created mind. The deified mind becomes light in the Light and cognizes the wisdom of the Mind of Christ to the extent that it is accessible to the created mind. At the next stage, the soul plunges inside the Divine light and finds itself in the darkness of absolute ignorance and unseeing, where a person is born again in God and becomes a son of God by grace and everything that God is, except the Essence. The final, third stage is a repeated ascension to the vision of the Lord’s glory, but in a new quality of hypostatic unity with the Divine nature, and in the next century it is eternal life in the enjoyment of being light in the light of the Lord’s glory around God and the constant comprehension of mysterious theology. Maximus the Confessor, Rev. Ambigwa. Difficulties to Thomas (Ambigua ad Thomam), Difficulties to John (Ambigua ad Iohannem) / St. Maximus the Confessor; translation from ancient Greek by D.A. Chernoglazova and A.M. Shufrina; scientific edition, preface and comments by G.I. Benevich. – Moscow: Eksmo, 2020. – 992 p. Maximus the Confessor, Rev. Questions and answers to Thalassia / Trans. from Greek, preface and comment. A.I. Sidorova. – M.: Sibirskaya Blagozvonitsa; Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary, 2019. – 974 p. Works of St. Maximus the Confessor. Book I, Theological and Ascetic Treatises. Translation, introductory article and comments by A.I. Sidorova; publishing house "Martis", 1993 Maximus the Confessor, Rev. Questions and perplexities / Transl. from ancient Greek YES. Chernoglazova; scientific ed. G.I. Benevich; resp. ed. YES. Pospelov. - Moscow; Holy Mount Athos: Nicaea; Hermitages New Thebaida of the Athos Russian Panteleimon Monastery, 2010. – 488 p. Dionysius the Areopagite. Essays. Interpretations of Maximus the Confessor / Translation by G.M. Prokhorova - St. Petersburg: Aletheia; Ed. Oleg Abyshko, 2002. – 854 p. Chapters on Theology, 1:1, [3], p. 215. Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Chapter 1:1, [5], p. 737. Mystagogy V. [3], p.161. This refers to the Orthodox tradition of hesychasm. Love Chapters, 2:6. [3], p. 107. Difficulty 10/22. 22a. Speculation on Moses, 1148c-d, [1], p. 372. Scholium 1 to Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Chapter 2, [5], p. 747. Questions and confusion. 191, [4], p. 194. Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Chapter 1:1, [5], p.737. Scholium 1 to Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Chapter 1:1, [5], p. 737. Questions to Thalassia, 54, [2], p. 287. Ambigwa. Difficulty 7, 1088a, [1], p. 265. Ambigvy, Difficulty 10/31, 1160b, p. 391. Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Chapter 2, [5], p. 747. Questions to Thalassius, 10:7, [2], p. 60. Questions and answers to Thalassia. 10:3, [2], p. 57. Dionysius the Areopagite, On the Church Hierarchy, 1:3, [5], p. 575. Mystagogy V, [3] p.162. Translation by A.I. Sidorov with clarifications. Chapters about love, 1:100. [3], pp.106–107. Chapters about love, 1:10. [3], p. 97. Ambigwa. Difficulty 41, 1308b, [1], p. 691. Translation by V.V. Petrov with a clarification of the word ἑνοειδῆ, which literally means single, simple, and not uniform. Chapters on Theology, 2:5, [3], p. 234. ἀνείδεος – lit. without eidos. that is, without thought capable of penetrating the essence of a conceivable object. Chapters on Theology, 2:5. [3], p. 235. Translation by A.I. Sidorov with clarification. Ambigwa. Difficulty 41, 1309с, [1], p. 693. Chapters about love. 2:6. Translation by V.V. Petrov in the book “Maximus the Confessor: ontology and method in Byzantine philosophy of the 7th century.” / Ross. acad. Sciences, Institute of Philosophy. M.: IFRAN, 2007. Pp. 89. Ambigwa, Difficulty 10/45, 1200B, [1] p.402 and Theological Chapters, 2:8, [3], p. 235. Theological Chapters, 2:8. [3], p. 235. Translation by A.I. Sidorov with clarification of the translation of the phrase περί μονάδος λόγον, which we translated as “logos [of deification] around the Unity” instead of “logos of the Unity”, since here we are talking about the logos of deification, thanks to which the mind is transformed into one and becomes able to stay around (περί) Holy Unity. Chapters on theology. 1:82. Questions and answers to Thalassia, 25:5, Scholium 7: “Consider “beyond the mind” (το άνοήτως) in the sense of superiority, for the object of faith, that is, God, exceeds thought.” Questions and Answers to Thalassius, 25:5, [2], p. 105–106. Questions and Answers to Thalassius, 25:5, [2], p. 109. Questions and Answers to Thalassius, 25:5, [2], p. 106. Chapters on Theology, 1:9, [3], p. 216. Mystagogy V. [3], p. 163. Chapters on Theology, 1:97. [3], p. 232. Ambigwa. Difficulty 10/19, 1137bc, [1], p. 366. Mystagogy V. Dieretic method - thinking through division into parts / Translation by V.V. Petrova. report “Transformation of ancient ontology in the works of ps. Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor”, XIX Annual Theological Conference, p. 24. Ambigwa, Difficulty 20,1241B-D, [1], p. 596. Chapters on theology. 1:2–3, [3], p. 257. Victor Neovitos. On unforgettable knowledge (ἄληστος γνῶσις) in Mystagogy V St. Maximus the Confessor. Part II - Theological Meaning: https://www.academia.edu/38112127. Ambigwa. Difficulty 41, 1308b, p. 691. Mystagogy V. [3], p. 165. Mystagogy V. [3], p. 164. Scholium 19 to Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Chapter 1.3. [5], p. 743, 745. Dionysius the Areopagite. About mystical theology. Message 5, p. 781. Scholium 3 to Dionysius the Areopagite, On mystical theology. Message 1, [5], p. 765–767. Scholium 13, Dionysius the Areopagite, On the Divine Names, 1:1, [5], p. 213. Ambigwa. Difficulty 47, 1360 cd, [1], p. 770. Ambigwa. Difficulty 20, 1240d, [1], p. 595. Ambigwa. Difficulty 20, 1241a, [1], p. 595. Chapters on theology. 1:39, [3] p.221 and 1:47, [3], p. 222. Chapters about love. 1:100, [3], p. 106–107. Questions and Answers to Thalassius, 60:2, [2], p. 354. Questions and Answers to Thalassius, 6:2, [2], p. 48–49. Ambigwa. Difficulty 6, 1065d-1068c, [1], p. 245–246. Questions and Answers to Thalassius, 6:2, [2], p. 49. Questions and answers to Thalassia. 60:4, [2], p. 356–357. Scholium 6 to Dionysius the Areopagite, On the Divine Names, 1:1, [5], p. 209.