The theology of time of St. Maximus the Confessor and the causal mechanics of N. A. Kozyrev (1908-1983)

The article examines the theology of time of St. Maximus the Confessor in comparison with the so-called causal mechanics of the astronomer N. A. Kozyrev (1908-1983). In the teachings of St. Maximus, there are two categories of temporality: καιρός, responsible for discrete, finite, perishable time, and αἰὼν (“century”), reflecting time directed toward eternity, preserving, renewing, and life-giving the world. In the causal mechanics of N. A. Kozyrev, there is a concept of the passage of time, “the density of time,” the idea that time brings energy into the world (primarily into the stars) and renews it. The theology of aeon of St. Maximus the Confessor and the theory of time of N. A. Kozyrev have significant similarities in the idea of time as a certain active principle, organizing the processes of this world and creating cause-and-effect relationships, renewing and life-giving the world, possessing its own “course”, that is, energy, possessing its own density, like “obese”, “densified” logoi. A number of spiritual processes, in particular intuition, are associated with time, organizing cause-and-effect relationships.