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, pas\u00adsion, and joy. It is called pleasure, insofar as it is the consummation of all natural strivings (for this is the mean\u00ading of pleasure). It is called passion, insofar as it is an ecstatic power, elevating the passive recipient to the state of an ac\u00adtive agent, as in the examples given above of air permeated by light, and iron suffused with fire. These examples, drawn from nature, demonstrate persuasively that there is no higher summit of transformation for created be\u00adings apart from that in which their natural elements remain inviolate. It is, finally, called joy for it encounters nothing opposed to it, for they say that joy neither remembers for\u00ad mer sorrows, nor fears the possibility of any future satiety, in the way that pleasure fears the inevitable consequence of pain<\/p>\n
— Ambiguum 7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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, pas\u00adsion, and joy. It is called pleasure, insofar as it is the consummation of all natural strivings (for this is the mean\u00ading of pleasure). It is called passion, insofar as it is an ecstatic power, elevating the passive recipient to the state of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[47,110],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-maximus-the-confessor","tag-contemplation","tag-passion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22138,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/john-of-damascus-exposition-of-the-orthodox-faith-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":0},"title":"John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith II","author":"Nemo","date":"December 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On Paradise For our Creator, God, did not intend us to be burdened with care and troubled about many things, nor to take thought about, or make provision for, our own life. But this at length was Adam\u2019s fate: for he tasted and knew that he was naked and made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "John of Damascus"","block_context":{"text":"John of Damascus","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/john-of-damascus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":369,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/clement-of-alexandria-faith-and-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":1},"title":"Clement Of Alexandria: Faith And Reason","author":"Nemo","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Everything that is contrary to right reason is sin. Accordingly, therefore, the philosophers think fit to define the most generic passions thus: lust, as desire disobedient to reason; fear, as weakness disobedient to reason; pleasure, as an elation of the spirit disobedient to reason. If, then, disobedience in reference to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Clement of Alexandria"","block_context":{"text":"Clement of Alexandria","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/clement-of-alexandria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1317,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/lactantius-on-the-spiritual-significance-of-the-works-and-sufferings-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":2},"title":"Lactantius On the Spiritual Significance of the Works and Sufferings of Christ","author":"Nemo","date":"January 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Works of Christ [Those divine works which He performed] had a figurative meaning and great significance, and power, which had weight both for the present, but also for the future. [Christ] opened the eyes of the blind, and gave light to those who did not see; and by this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lactantius"","block_context":{"text":"Lactantius","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/lactantius\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":604,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/philo-on-abraham\/","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":3},"title":"Philo: On Abraham","author":"Nemo","date":"March 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Man and the World For it cannot be that while in yourself there is a mind appointed as your ruler which all the community of the body obeys and each of the senses follows, the world, the fairest, and greatest and most perfect work of all, of which everything else\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philo of Alexandria"","block_context":{"text":"Philo of Alexandria","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/philo-of-alexandria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":676,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/clement-of-alexandria-mystery-of-the-eucharist\/","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":4},"title":"Clement of Alexandria: Mystery of the Eucharist","author":"Nemo","date":"January 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The holy Apostle Paul says, preserving the prophetic and truly ancient secret from which the teachings that were good were derived by the Greeks: \u201cHowbeit we speak wisdom among them who are perfect; but not the wisdom of this world, or of the princes of this world, that come to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Clement of Alexandria"","block_context":{"text":"Clement of Alexandria","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/clement-of-alexandria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22292,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/ambrose-on-heavenly-glory-of-the-saints\/","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":5},"title":"Ambrose: On Heavenly Glory of the Saints","author":"Nemo","date":"December 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe heavens,\u201d it is said, \u201cdeclare the glory of God.\u201d When this Psalm is read, it occurs to one that not so much the material elements as the heavenly merits seem to offer praise worthy of God ... 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