The Ontology of Saint Maximus the Confessor

 

The Ontology of Saint Maximus the Confessor

Monk Symeon Agiomichēlitēs

The ontology of Saint Maximus the Confessor is among the most sublime syntheses of Christian theological vision and metaphysical insight in the history of the Church. Situated firmly within the ascetical and doctrinal heart of the Orthodox tradition, Maximus articulates not merely a speculative metaphysics, but a living tapestry of existence—one that is at once cosmic, personal, and profoundly Christological. To inquire into ontology, for Maximus, is to inquire into the deepest foundations of reality: into the very structure of being, purpose, and relation as established by God and fulfilled in Christ.

Ontology, classically, is that philosophical discipline which seeks to discern what truly is—what constitutes reality in its most fundamental constitution. It asks: What does it mean to exist? What kinds of beings are there? How are entities ordered in their being? Yet for Maximus, these questions cannot be abstracted from the theological drama of creation, fall, and redemption. Being is not neutral. It is theological. All existence proceeds from God, is sustained by God, and is fulfilled in God. This makes his ontology not only a metaphysical project, but a hymn of doxology.

The Logoi and the Divine Purpose

At the center of Maximus’ metaphysical vision lies the doctrine of the Logoi—the plural forms of the divine Logos (λόγος), the pre-eternal Word of God, Christ Himself. Each logos (λόγος) is a unique principle or idea in the divine mind, a rational seed (logikos spermatikos) planted within creation, revealing both the origin and destiny of that which exists. As Maximus writes, “The Logos of God...in his ineffable love for men, entered into all things according to their nature and became all things without abandoning his own nature” (Ambigua, PG 91.1084C).

The Logoi are not mere archetypes or abstract essences. They are the concrete intentions of God, the unique purposes imbedded within every being. The diversity of the Logoi reveals the plenitude of God’s wisdom, while their unity in Christ reveals that all creation is drawn toward the one Logos who is the telos of all things. As such, creation is neither arbitrary nor self-contained. Rather, each being exists to glorify God by actualizing the divine intention, its logos, within the relational order of creation. Thus, creation becomes a hymn of many voices, all harmonized in Christ, the living center and binding unity of all multiplicity.

Unity and Diversity in the Divine Economy

In Maximus’ vision, multiplicity is not a mark of disorder but a manifestation of divine wisdom. The differentiation of being—across the spectrum of angelic, human, animal, vegetal, and mineral creation—is not a fall from unity but a participation in it. The divine plan is not uniformity but koinonia (κοινωνία), a communion that maintains distinction without division. This principle of “unity in diversity” reflects the very mystery of the Holy Trinity, in which three Persons share one essence without confusion.

This dynamic of diversity within unity permeates all creation. The Logoi manifest the many ways God can be known, loved, and glorified. Yet they are all unified in the Logos, who, as both origin and end, reveals that existence is relational and teleological. As Maximus declares, “The One Logos is many logoi and the many logoi are One Logos” (Ambigua, PG 91.1305B). In Christ, the fragmentation of the world—caused by sin and disobedience—is overcome, and the cosmic symphony is restored to its original harmony.

Theosis as Ontological Fulfillment

For Maximus, ontology cannot be divorced from theosis (θέωσις), deification. Being is not static. It is a vocation. Every creature is called to fulfill its logos, not merely by existing biologically, but by actualizing its divine potential through participation in the uncreated energies of God. The Logoi are not ends in themselves but guideposts toward union with the Logos.

Theosis is, therefore, the ontological fulfillment of being. It is the alignment of one's will, mind, and nature with God’s will and purpose. Importantly, in Maximus’ framework, participation in the divine does not entail absorption or loss of individuality. Rather, deification perfects the uniqueness of each being, raising it to its proper stature within the divine-human communion. This synergy (συνεργία) between grace and freedom is the very mystery of salvation, where God acts and the creature freely responds in love.

Christocentric Ontology and the Incarnation

The Christocentric nature of Maximus' ontology cannot be overstated. The Incarnation is the decisive ontological event in history, wherein the eternal Logos enters into time, uniting divinity and humanity without confusion or separation. This union provides the key for understanding not only soteriology but being itself. Christ is not only the redeemer but the revealer of being. Through His Incarnation, the Logos discloses the structure and telos of all creation. The material becomes sacramental, the temporal is opened to the eternal, and the human is exalted to divine communion.

In Christ, the entire cosmos is recapitulated (anakephalaiosis, ἀνακεφαλαίωσις). The Incarnation reveals the intrinsic sacredness of creation and its capacity to mediate divine presence. This sacramentality culminates in the eschaton, where all things are gathered into the pleroma (πλήρωμα), the fullness of divine life. In this final state, each being, having fulfilled its logos, participates in the eternal communion of love with God.

Hypostasis and the Ontology of Personhood

Maximus’ metaphysics privileges hypostasis (ὑπόστασις) over abstract essence. A hypostasis is not simply a bearer of essence but a unique mode of being—a person in the full sense. Just as the three Divine Persons share the one essence of God, so too is every human called to become a hypostasis, a personal existence grounded in love and communion. Personhood, then, is not a mere psychological identity but an ontological vocation.

This view entails that existence is inherently relational. A person becomes fully a person only in relation to the Other—ultimately to God, but also to fellow creatures. This relational ontology is not secondary; it is constitutive. The human being, created in the image and likeness of God, realizes this image not through isolated autonomy but through kenotic (self-emptying) love. As Maximus writes, “He who loves God lives the angelic life on earth, fasting and keeping vigil and praying and singing psalms and always thinking good of everyone” (Chapters on Love, 1.4).

Will, Freedom, and the Mode of Existence

A key component of Maximus’ ontology is his distinction between physis (φύσις, nature), thelēsis (θέλησις, will), and tropos hyparxeos (τρόπος ὑπάρξεως, mode of existence). Every being has a nature, and according to that nature, a natural will—a spontaneous orientation toward the good. Yet humans also possess a gnomic will (γνώμη), a deliberative capacity that allows for choice. It is in this capacity that the drama of sin and redemption unfolds.

Christ, in His humanity, possesses a natural will perfectly united with His divine will. Yet He lacks a gnomic will, for there is no division or deliberation in His person. In contrast, fallen humanity experiences disjunction between its natural inclination toward the good and its often misguided deliberative choices. The task of the ascetical life is to heal this division, aligning the gnomic will with the divine. The perfecting of the will is, for Maximus, the restoration of freedom—freedom not as autonomous self-determination but as the joyful consent to God’s love.

Asceticism, Kenosis, and the Path of Theosis

The path to this ontological fulfillment is one of asceticism, marked by kenosis (κένωσις), the self-emptying modeled by Christ in the Incarnation. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the soul is purified (katharsis), illumined (theoria), and ultimately deified (theosis). These stages are not sequential in a mechanical sense, but represent a continuous deepening of one’s existential alignment with God. Asceticism is the healing of fragmentation. It reunites the body and soul, intellect and heart, desire and reason—all of which have been shattered by sin.

For Maximus, this healing is not merely individual but cosmic. Humanity’s return to God, its fulfillment as a priestly mediator, brings all creation along in its train. The human being, as mikros cosmos, unites the visible and invisible, the spiritual and material. In Christ, this priesthood is fulfilled, and in the saints, it is actualized.

Eschaton and the Apokatastasis

Finally, Maximus’ ontology points toward the eschaton—the final consummation of all things in God. This is not a pantheistic absorption but the radiant fulfillment of the many Logoi in the one Logos. In this vision of apokatastasis (ἀποκατάστασις), not in the Origenist sense of cyclical return, but in the Pauline sense of all things being “summed up in Christ” (Eph. 1:10), the cosmos is restored to its original harmony, but also transfigured into a new mode of existence.

Each creature, in its uniqueness, sings its own logos, and yet all these voices are joined in the eternal hymn of love. The divisions wrought by sin are overcome. Death is no more. God becomes “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), and creation enters into the eternal Sabbath of divine rest.

In this light, Saint Maximus’ ontology is not merely a philosophical system but a theological vision—a vision of the cosmos as liturgy, of being as love, of the human as the bridge between creation and Creator. It is a vision that demands not only intellectual assent but existential participation. For to exist, truly, is to love—and to love is to become divine.