De l’image à l’Image: Réflexions sur un concept clef de la doctrine de la divinisation de Saint Maxime le Confesseur. By Elie Ayroulet
The doctrine of the human image of God according to St Maximos the Confessor has long been seen as something of a paradox. On the one hand, it is acknowledged that, given Maximos’ indebtedness to earlier patristic theology, not least the Cappadocians, the doctrine of the image is central, and in sup...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2021
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2021, Volume: 72, Issue: 2, Pages: 1016-1018 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The doctrine of the human image of God according to St Maximos the Confessor has long been seen as something of a paradox. On the one hand, it is acknowledged that, given Maximos’ indebtedness to earlier patristic theology, not least the Cappadocians, the doctrine of the image is central, and in support of this the remark by M.-Th. Didier (the author of a seminal article, ‘Les fondements dogmatiques de la spiritualité de saint Maxime le Confesseur’, EOr 29 [1930], pp. 296-313) is often cited, that the doctrine of the image ‘est à la base de toute de théologie, comme de toute la spiritualité du Confesseur’ (from a later article, EOr 31 [1932], p. 36). Despite that endorsement of the centrality of the doctrine of the image for Maximos, major studies of the Confessor—such as the landmark studies by Thunberg, Völker, and Larchet—find it puzzling that there is so little attention paid to the key biblical text behind his doctrine, Gen. 1:26-7, in his works. It is a puzzle addressed in various ways: Thunberg (in his Microcosm and Mediator, 1965; 2nd edn., 1995) finds little original in Maximos’ treatment of the image; Völker (in his Maximus Confessor als Meister des geistlichen Lebens, 1965) finds the doctrine of the image overshadowed by the Confessor’s emphasis on God’s transcendence; Larchet (in his La divinisation de l’homme selon saint Maxime de Confesseur, 1996) explores more fully the way in which the doctrine of the image is entwined with other characteristic Maximian doctrines, but then leaves the puzzle hanging. Now, in his doctoral thesis, Elie Ayroulet shows that he is of sterner stuff, and confronts directly the question of the image in Maximos with all the resources of modern scholarship. His is a masterly achievement, and by dint of focusing on the doctrine of the image provides an exploration of all the central aspects of the Confessor’s theological vision, clustered round the notion of the image as the key concept in his doctrine of deification. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flab117 |