released 9/18/2026
In this July 2026 lecture, Justin Johnson argues that the anthropology and ontology of St. Maximus the Confessor provide a “user-friendly Augustinian framework” to teach literature. St. Maximus, Johnson says, embraced many teachings of St. Augustine and expounded upon them, with a focus on human dynamism and the natural longing for God that resides in each human being. St. Maximus understood sin primarily in terms of a missing of the mark — a disordered love — that often results in idolatry. He emphasizes the grace of God in pricking our consciences with guilt to lead us back to him. Johnson shows how these anthropological and theological ideas can frame — even implicitly — studies on literature, from Homer to Dante to Dostoevsky to even Existentialist authors like Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus.
The full title of this lecture is “Innovation or Revolution: Ontology, Anthropology, and Literary Study in St. Maximus the Confessor.” It is provided courtesy of the CiRCE Institute.
59 minutes
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