This lecture explores the ontological and cosmological vision of St Maximus the Confessor, focusing on his conception of the world as sacrament and the development of a distinctly eucharistic cosmology. Drawing my forthcoming monograph, I trace Maximus’ understanding of being as grounded in divine reality, arguing that creation is not a self-sufficient entity but a sacred theophany—an expression of God’s own transcendent being.

In doing so, I situate Maximus within the broader philosophical tradition, highlighting his continuity with Neoplatonic thinkers such as Plotinus and Proclus, while emphasizing his uniquely Christian transformation of these ideas. Central to this transformation is the doctrine of creation ex deo—understood as creation from God according to the Logos as Christian formal principle.

In light of contemporary ecological and philosophical concerns, I argue that Maximus’ sacramental worldview offers a compelling response to the modern disenchantment of nature, proposing a renewed theological framework for understanding creation as sacred gift.

Daniel Heide is a scholar in religious studies / theology whose research focuses on the ontology, metaphysics, and cosmology of the Christian tradition, especially in relation to patristic and medieval authors. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from McGill University (2022), and prior to that completed an MA in Classics at Dalhousie University. His recent dissertation is The World as Sacrament: The Eucharistic Ontology of Maximus Confessor. Heide’s work engages deeply with patristic theology, particularly the thought of Maximus the Confessor, as well as themes such as creation, personhood, and the eucharistic cosmos. He has published on topics including Maximus’ doctrine of creation ex nihilo, anthropological hierarchies, and the relation between divine and created reality. Currently, Heide is a research fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade.