St Maximus the Confessor (580–662) is an influential Byzantine thinker. The book is a study of the basic features of his thought, his philosophical theology or metaphysics. The term ‘Christocentric cosmology’ describes precisely the contents of his conception. God's Logos (the Word, Christ) contains the principles (divine ideas, logoi ) according to which a well‐ordered cosmos is created, and in accordance with which the cosmos returns (converts) to its origin. In accordance with these principles the created world participates in divine activity ( ... More

St Maximus the Confessor (580–662) is an influential Byzantine thinker. The book is a study of the basic features of his thought, his philosophical theology or metaphysics. The term ‘Christocentric cosmology’ describes precisely the contents of his conception. God's Logos (the Word, Christ) contains the principles (divine ideas, logoi ) according to which a well‐ordered cosmos is created, and in accordance with which the cosmos returns (converts) to its origin. In accordance with these principles the created world participates in divine activity ( energeia , power, perfections), and the return (conversion) is the way from participation in being to participation in eternal well‐being or deification. Man is created as microcosm and mediator. Through his human nature, the incarnate Logos transforms the created totality and makes human beings able to participate in the redemptive movement. Maximus develops in a precise way the tension between God's transcendence and immanence. His philosophical theology makes it possible in the modern age to develop a conception of ecological theology and even to appreciate the modern concept of human rights.