From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gnomic will
(
Greek
:
Θ?λημα γνωμικ?ν, θ?λησι γνωμικ?
) is an
Eastern Christian
theological notion meaning spontaneous individual aspiration and movement of the mind.
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Overview
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This notion belongs of
St Maximus the Confessor
.
The term 'gnomic' derives from the Greek
gnome
, meaning 'inclination' or 'intention'. Within Orthodox theology, gnomic willing is contrasted with natural willing. Natural willing designates the movement of a creature in accordance with the principle (
logos
(
Greek
:
λ?γο?
)) of its nature towards the fulfilment (
telos
(
Greek
:
τ?λο?
),
stasis
(
Greek
:
στ?σι?
)) of its being. Gnomic willing, on the other hand, designates that form of willing in which a person engages in a process of deliberation culminating in a decision.
Within the theology of St Maximus, which was endorsed by the
Sixth Ecumenical Council
in condemning
monothelitism
,
Jesus Christ
possessed no gnomic will. St Maximus developed this claim particularly in his
Dialogue with Pyrrhus
. According to St Maximus, the process of gnomic willing presupposes that a person does not know what they want, and so must deliberate and choose between a range of choices. However, Jesus Christ, as both man and the Second Person of the
Holy Trinity
, possessed complete congruence of His two wills, the divine and the human. Therefore, St Maximus reasoned, Christ was never in a state of ignorance regarding what he wanted, and so never engaged in gnomic willing.
Aristotle
, a major philosophical influence on Maximus, in comparing the works of Nature with those of a human worker, had also declared that any process of deliberation, far from indicating superior intellect, is a sign of our weakness.
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