ICONSI. Maximus Confessor1. The Lord's Uniqueness: God is the only way to come to the true knowledge; He is the only explanation forthe creation. Without His light, we are in complete darkness.2. God, the Richness of the Poor:Left to his own ressources, man is unable to think in a spiritual way, he is amen of flesh, not yet freed from passions and matter. God is the only Light, the true Intelligence. He is theCause and end of all beings, He is the meaning behind all things, supreme Being, who is all in all beings.3. The Church, Image and Figure of God and the World: 1. The Church is an image of God because she realizesthe same union of the faithful with God as exists between God and the creatures: all are different, but all arealso united in their nature of being creatures, t.i., in their relation of dependance towards the Creator. Thechurch unites men of different nations, cultures, etc. by the faith. They are united, but remain distinct one fromanother. They are not "confused", but "fused" by their common relation with God, with Christ, universal Head,and with the Spirit, universal principle of sanctification.2. The Church is an image of the world because she contains both, unity and diversity, as exists in the creation:some creatures are spiritual, some are material. The Church is human, on earth, but also heavenly. Both areparts of an unit, both are the same reality; but their way of being is different: one is in principles, another infigures, images.3. The Church is an image of the material world because, like a Church, she has a sanctuary, heaven, and anave, the earth.4. The Church is an image of man because like a man, she has a soul: the sanctuary; a mind: the altar, a body:the nave.5. The Church is an image of the soul because like the soul, she has an intellectual faculty (mind) withcontemplative power, and a vital faculty (reason) with active power. Both powers bear the same image, God,but in different ways: the mind by contemplation in ineffable silence ...