In the patristic and medieval periods, the trilogy of biblical books ascribed to Solomon (i.e.,Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) was understood to be a symbolic unity encompassing both the tripartite division of Greek philosophy and the ‘three stages’ of the soul’s mystical ascent to union with God. Reflection on these books unfolded around a series of complex interrelationships between scriptural hermeneutics, philosophical theology, ascetic practice, and mystical experience.
This course explores key themes of Christian spirituality and development across the three stages: purification, illumination, and mystical union; the role of asceticism, the nature of knowledge, the structure of the world, and union with God.
Course Details
The course will meet for 5 sessions starting February 23rd, 2022. All sessions will meet in person at AAI (14 Arrow Street, Cambridge MA). A syllabus is available here.
The seminar is free for attendees and is open to undergraduate, graduate students, and young professionals in the greater Boston area.
WHo should Attend?
The course is open to undergraduates, grad students, and young professionals.
How can I Register?
All interested individuals can register by clicking on the button to your left, please register by February 13th.
Led by Fr. Maximos Constas
Fr Maximos is Professor of Patristics and Orthodox Spirituality. A summa cum laude graduate of Holy Cross (1987), he completed his PhD in Patristics and Historical Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (1993), after which he taught at Hellenic College and Holy Cross (1993-1998). In the fall of 1998, he was invited to join the faculty of Harvard Divinity School, where he was Professor of Patristics and Orthodox Theology from 1998-2004. Responding to a life-long calling to the monastic life, he resigned his position at Harvard and was tonsured a great-schema monk at the Holy Monastery of Simonopetra, where he lived from 2004-2011. He was subsequently invited by Archbishop Demetrios to return to Holy Cross, where he has been an outstanding teacher, rigorous academic mentor, and prolific scholar. His publications include five books, more than fifty articles (many of them of monograph-length), and a dozen translated volumes. His current research project is a first-ever critical edition and English translation of the Life of the Virgin by the tenth-century Byzantine writer John Geometres.