Tertullian: Divine Passions

What would be said, if, when you thought the doctor necessary, you were to find fault with his instruments, because they cut, or cauterize, or amputate, or tighten; whereas there could be no doctor of any value without his professional tools?… Your conduct is equally unreasonable, when you allow indeed that God is a judge, but at the same time destroy those operations and dispositions by which He discharges His […]

Read more

Maximus the Confessor: Passion in Contemplation

This state, which is brought about by the contemplation of God and the enjoyment of the gladness that follows it, has rightly been described as pleasure, pas­sion, and joy. It is called pleasure, insofar as it is the consummation of all natural strivings (for this is the mean­ing of pleasure). It is called passion, insofar as it is an ecstatic power, elevating the passive recipient to the state of an […]

Read more