The problem of the objectivity of human conceptions of god in the theology of St. Maxim of the confessor by the example of Amb. 19 and Quaest. ad thalas. 59 (part 1)

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the problem of the objectivity of human conceptions of God is dealt with in the theology of St. Maximus the Confessor. To resolve this problem, the first part of the article offers an analysis of Ambigua 19 of St. Maximus the Confessor, where the saint considers three kinds of prophetic visions: «day imagination» (ἡ ἡμερινή φαντασία), «truthful vision in the night» (νυκτὸς ἀψευδὴς ὄψις), «an imprint made on the governing power» (τύπωσις τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ). The analysis of Ambigua 19 is accompanied by a parsing of the concepts of «imagination» (φαντασία) and «mind» (νοῦς) in the context of the anthropology of St. Maximus the Confessor. The direct appeal to the analysis of Ambigua 19 is preceded by an examination of the philosophical and theological foundations of the problem of the objectivity of human conceptions of God. The analysis has shown that in all the above kinds of prophetic visions the prophet does not perceive from outside any sensual symbols, images, sounds or spoken words created by God. But in the «day imagination» and the «truthful vision in the night» God Himself influences the prophet’s «imagination» (φαντασία) and «forms» (διατυποῖ) in him a «representation» (φάντασμα) of Himself or of the revelation He communicates. In communicating Divine revelation, God influences not only the «imagination» (φαντασία) of the unreasonable soul, but also the «mind» (νοῦς), that is the governing power, in which He Himself also forms a certain «imprint» (τύπωσις) corresponding to the aims of Divine revelation.