The Iconic Ontology of St. Maximus the Confessor

Abstract

St. Maximus the Confessor claims that the logos of created beings represents their essence as an icon. This claim gives us the opportunity to understand the term essence as a dynamic reality, and not as a given static. Essence is not something that the being is, but what it is supposed to be. The idea of icon is herein present as ultimately ontological. The icon is no mirror of reality, but rather its eschatological realization. That which will be uncovers the truth of the being. This way, St. Maximus founded a dynamic ontology, which is a fundamental step away from the Hellenic heritage. The equalization of the essence of beings and the icon is only possible in an Eucharistic view of the world, wherein the Eucharist represents in an iconic way the presence of the eschatological truth in history.