ISSN 2078-9823 (Print), ISSN 2587-7879 (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.048.019.201904.427-439

Vyacheslav M. Meshkov

Korolenko Poltava National Pedagogical university (Poltava, Ukraine),

e-mail: slava.home@gmail.com

 

Maxim the Confessor about Perfect Love

 

Introduction. The subject of study in the article was the experience of the ascent of the famous Byzantine theologian to the mystical-metaphysical contemplation of divine reality, embodied in his book “Chapters on Love”. According to the Orthodox version of the metaphysics of the Way, this ultimate goal can be achieved during life only in the process of hard and practical work of an ascetic, during which the task is set not only to kill worldly desires, but also to ultimately spiritual and moral purification of the monk’s soul. In this small work, Maxim the Confessor described in detail the technology of advancing an ascetic to the last stop and staying in a blissful state of perfect love for God. Materials and Methods. The source of the research was the works of the ancient Indian, Orthodox and Sufi ascetics, which are different versions of the metaphysics of the Way. During the work, mainly thematic and transcendental analysis methods were used, which together made it possible to track the desire of Maxim the Confessor to describe and comprehend the ascent of the Orthodox monk to the mystical-metaphysical contemplation of the Lord. Discussion. The author of the article in numbered and distributed throughout the chapters of the statements of the Byzantine theologian revealed a complex system of mystical and metaphysical views, which can be called the metaphysical theory of theology. From the point of view of modern methodology and philosophy of science, he created effective theoretical constructs “pure mind”, “perfect love”, “selfishness”, “thoughts” and others, which together fully describe the mystical existential reality of a harsh Orthodox monk, which is difficult to reflect by means of language. However, his reasoning is not speculative thoughts. It is quite obvious to the researcher that they are based on rich personal experience and other prominent ascetics of Byzantine Orthodoxy. Results. The study of the soulful book of Maximus the Confessor “Chapters on Love” allows you to advance in understanding one of the most important and the most difficult moments of the Orthodox version of the metaphysics of the Way.

Keywords: metaphysics of the Way, mystical-metaphysical, perfect love, knowledge, pure mind, pure prayer.

For citation: Meshkov V. M. Maxim the Confessor about Perfect Love. Gumanitarian : aktual’nye problemy gumanitarnoi nauki i obrazovaniia = Russian Journal of the Humanities. 2019; 19(4): 427–439. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.048.019.201904.427-439

 

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