The Philokalia Vol. 1-IV faber & faber [1979-1995]

'God is one, unoriginate, incomprehensible, possessing completely the total potentiality of being, altogether excluding notions of when and how, inaccessible to all, and not to be known through image by any creature.' ST. MAXIMOS THE CONFESOR [Vol. II, PG. 114]

This is how St. Maximos starts his Centuries on Theology and the INCARNATE DISPENSATION of the Son of God. In a similar introduction St. Thomas Aquinas opens his summa contra gentiles by stating that God Himself cannot be known, but by way of remotion we can know what he is not' tha tis, by removing all that he is not, we can peer into the scriptures revelation and contemplate the beauty of who he has revelaed Himslf to be; Aquinas relies upon sacred scripture as a rule, just as Pseudo-Dionysius did in the opening paragraph of the Divien Names, as the only way in which God can be gazed upon, in faith, and in darkness of revelation. Both in teh natural order of reason and in the supernatural order of Divein Revelation, Maximos puts forth these stepping stones to the reality of God in order to set a foundation for Theological thinking in the Divine Dispensation and to reveal the Son of God.

He says He is One, since Unity and simplicity is part of God's nature, 'God is Spirit.' Even Augustine opens his great book , the Confession, extolling the greatness fo God by naming his essential attributes.' As the Catholic Church teaches, 'all the Divine Attributes are identical among themselves and with the Divine Essence.' Now, the Theotokos, she bore this Sacred Humanity in her womb and gave birth to Him, the WORD. So seeing this WORD leap down from Heaven within her womb at the OVERSHADOWING of the HOLY SPIRIT was the INCARNATION. Who could comprehend this 'God form God, Light form Light, True God from TRue God, ' taking flesh adn living among us, so much so that St. John could say, 'what our eyes have seen and our hands have touched, the Word of life.' So MAximos says, 'incomprehensible' to signify that every created intrellect or intellection cannot encompass what is above it, but only from afar contemplate the reality that has been revelaed in jesus Christ 'as in a darkly mirror.'

IP CRL