Revelation and passion in Saint Maximus the Confessor

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance of spiritual status for understanding God’s revelation, aiming in particular to highlight the role of passion in the writings of Saint Maximus the Confessor. Revelation is a dynamic and progresive process which implies both Divine Logos and human being. The apprehension of Revelation is conditioned by the spiritual state and progress of the person. In this movement, passion has an essential role, acting as a veil which covers or reveals the mystery. God makes Himself known in direct proportion with human deification. Human deification is also a dynamic process which implies action, will and good disposition; in other words an ascetic progress. The person is not simply a neutral recipient of a proportionate revelation, but a continual and progressive movement from flesh to spirit, from praxis to theoria in co-operation with divine intiative.