Concepts of “Union”, “Absorbtion” and “Deification” in the Mysticism of St. Maximus the Confessor

Abstract

In this article the author deals with the concepts of “union”, “absorbtion” and “deification” in the mysticism of St. Maximus the Confessor. It has been demonstrated that the way of spiritual ascent consists of three interrelated stages: “practical philosophy”, “natural contemplation”, and “mystical theology”. The last stage, denoted by Maximus by various names (such as “mystical theology”, “theological wisdom”, “theological mystagogy”, “mystical contemplation” etc.), means the knowledge of God by experience, which has both cataphatic-gnostic and apophatic-mystical aspects. The first is represented by the knowledge of the Divine Trinity, or illumination of mind, which comes directly from God; the second one is based on the fundamental incomprehensibility of the substance of God. This involves the experience of mystical states of the “union above intellection”, “absorbtion”, and “deification”. The first signifies an ecstatic state of mind when all its mental activities cease, it undergoes “simplification” and reaches its union with God in complete ignorance. Its consequence is the concept of a complete “absorbtion” of the soul by God. Such a state is viewed as the complete “deification” of human being, when it becomes all that God is by grace, except identity in substance. In this state, saints completely loose their human features and obtain the energy of God alone