The Analogy of Love: St. Maximus the Confessor and the Foundations of Ethics

by Demetrios Harper

The Analogy of Love examines the ethical dimensions of St Maximus the Confessor's theological synthesis in order to retrieve an authentically Christian sense of virtue. Demetrios Harper considers the legacy of Immanuel Kant for contemporary approaches to morality, which tend to see morals as abstract imperatives divorced from the flow of human existence. Against this background, he argues that Maximus provides us with the alternative of a quintessentially Christian approach to one in which love constitutes the core of both ontology and morals, enabling the gathering of the splintered parts of human nature into a single, consubstantial whole, initiating them into the cosmic Ecclesia of Christ.

Unknown Binding

Published September 1, 2018

About the author

Demetrios Harper is an Assistant Professor of Moral Theology and Church History at Holy Trinity Seminary, NY, a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Winchester, UK, and was the 2018-19 Byzantine Studies Post-doctoral Fellow at the Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame. His research interests are varied but focus especially on philosophical theology, ethics, and patristics, and he has authored several articles and book chapters on topics related to both philosophical and theological ethics. Most notable among his recent publications is his monograph "The Analogy of Love: St Maximus the Confessor and the Foundations of Ethics" (SVS Press, 2019), and his anthology "Christos Yannaras: Philosophy, Theology, Culture" (Routledge, 2018), which he co-edited with Andreas Andreopoulos. To view Harper's portfolio of work, please visit reubendemetriosharper.academia.edu.

Reviews

[Jonathan]

A spectacular overview of the theology and ethics of St Maximus. Also a comparison of his theology/ethics to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, as well as potential Origenist trends in the Eastern Orthodox Church and "personalist" theologians, such as John Zizioulas. Being fairly new to Maximus, I found this to be a challenging yet approachable book and the author's commentary on Maximus’ writings to be insightful and illuminating. Highly recommended.