Ever-Moving Repose: A Contemporary Reading of Maximus the Confessor's Theory of Time: 24 (Veritas)

Sotiris Mitralexis offers a contemporary look at Maximus the Confessors (580-662 CE) understanding of temporality logoi and deification through the perspective of contemporary philosopher and theologian Christos Yannaras as well as John Zizioulas and Nicholas Loudovikos. Mitralexis argues that Maximus possesses both a unique theological ontology and a unique threefold theory of temporality: time the Aeon and the radical transformation of temporality and motion in an ever-moving repose. With these three distinct modes of temporality a Maximian theory of time can be reconstructed which can be approached via his teaching on the logoi and deification. In this theory time is not merely measuring ontological motion but is more particularly measuring a relationship the consummation of which effects the transformation of time into a dimensionless present devoid of temporal spatial and generally ontological distance--thereby manifesting a perfect communion-in-otherness. In examining Maximian temporality the book is not focusing on only one aspect of Maximus comprehensive Weltanschauung but looks at the Maximian vision as a whole through the lens of temporality and motion. In this remarkable book Dr. Mitralexis seeks more than an exposition of a central notion in St. Maximus the Confessors metaphysical vision but rather a genuine fusion of the horizons in a Gadamerian sense so that his understanding of Maximus is informed by the development of a relational ontology by the likes of Zizioulas and Yannaras whose own thought has been inspired by their reading of Maximus. The result is a bold and original contribution to ontology and metaphysics. --Andrew Louth FBA Professor Emeritus of Patristic and Byzantine Studies Durham University This book written by a young and promising Maximus scholar is an interesting study of a central set of notions in Maximus writings namely the notions of time the Aeon and eternity. These notions have been studied by others as well but never as extensively as by Mitralexis. He finds the roots of Maximus notion of time in Aristotle but has a quite original hermeneutical approach since he tries to unravel the Confessors philosophy from the vantage point of the Greek modern philosopher Christos Yannaras thus seeking to make Maximus thought relevant for our own age. The depth of Mitralexis knowledge of the sources and his grasp of modern scholarship on Maximus is impressive. I highly recommend this book. --Torstein Theodor Tollefsen Professor of Philosophy University of Oslo This is a really welcome addition to the fast-growing literature on Maximus the Confessor. It is a first-class study of the original texts but is distinctive in its willingness to bring Maximus thought into fruitful conversation with contemporary philosophical discussions so that the implications of this study will be of interest to many more than Byzantine specialists. --Rowan Williams Master of Magdalene College University of Cambridge Sotiris Mitralexis is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the City University of Istanbul and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Winchester. He is the editor of Ludwig Wittgenstein between Analytic Philosophy and Apophaticism (2015) Mustard Seeds in the Public Square (2017) and the forthcoming The Fountain and the Flood and Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher (2017).