The World as Sacrament

The Eucharistic Cosmology of St Maximus Confessor

Series: 

Author:
Daniel Heide
In The World as Sacrament, Daniel Heide offers a bold new interpretation of Maximus Confessor’s ontology and cosmology. Approaching Maximus through the hermeneutic lens of Neoplatonism, the author argues for a doctrine of creation ex deo joined with the cosmic incarnation of the One Logos as the many logoi, or principles of creation. The result is a striking vision of sacramentality. The world is gift, the self-impartation of God in and through the Logos – a eucharistic cosmology which finds its completion in the anaphoric return of the cosmos back into God, mediated by the human as hierarch. This is the cosmic liturgy of St Maximus Confessor, the onto-dialectic of procession and return whereby God offers the gift of His own supra-essential Being for the life of the world – a gift freely offered back by the creature in gratitude (eucharistia) culminating in deification.
Copyright Year:
2026
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-74889-7
Publication:
12 Jan 2026
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-74887-3
Publication:
12 Feb 2026
Cover The World as Sacrament

Prices from (excl. shipping):

€113.94€108.00 excl. VAT
Add to Cart
Daniel Heide, Ph.D. (McGill, 2022), is a research fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. He is a scholar of Patristics and Neoplatonism, with a focus on St Maximus Confessor, and is a member of the editorial team of Subsidia Maximiana (Brepols).
Acknowledgements Ix
Abbreviations

Introduction: the World as Sacrament

1 Creation as Divine Self-Impartation
 1 Introduction
 2 From Monarchy to Monotheism
 3 From Monotheism to Monarchic Logos
 4 Conclusion

2 A Transformation of Mediation
 1 Introduction
 2 Plotinus
 3 Proclus
 4 The Cappadocians
 5 Dionysius
 6 Maximus
 7 Conclusion

3 On Freedom and Necessity: Beyond the Polemics
 1 Introduction
 2 On Freedoms and Necessities
 3 Freedom in Necessity: Plotinus
 4 Necessity in Freedom: Maximus
 5 Conclusion: the Kenotic Freedom of God
 4 Creation Ex Nihilo: from Eternal to Temporal
 1 Introduction
 2 Plotinus and Proclus: De Aeternitate Mundi
 3 Philoponus: De Aeternitate Mundi Contra Proclum
 4 Maximus: Creation Ex Nihilo – from Eternal to Temporal
 5 Conclusion

5 Eucharistic Cosmology: the Logos as Christian Formal Principle
 1 Introduction
 2 Philosophical Precursors
 3 Maximus: the Logos as Christian Formal Principle
 4 Eucharistic Cosmology
 5 Conclusion

6 Ascent to the Kingdom
 1 Introduction
 2 A Threefold Logos
 3 The Human as Hierarch
 4 Virtue and Contemplation as Heavenly Synaxis
 5 Conclusion

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
This book will be of interest to university students and established scholars of Greek patristics, ancient philosophy, sacramental ontology, ecology, Eastern Orthodox theology, and the intersection of Neoplatonism and Christianity.
  • Collapse
  • Expand
Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
xii, 236 pp
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004748897

Manufacturer information:
Koninklijke Brill B.V. 
Plantijnstraat 2
2321 JC
Leiden / The Netherlands
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com