Gott vor dem Sein. Ansätze einer „Proontologie“ bei Johannes von Skythopolis, Maximus Confessor und Meister Eckhart

Abstract

The present article focuses on the idea that divine nature is prior to being. This idea was first articulated in John of Scythopolis’s commentary on Pseudo-Dionysius. It was adopted by Maximus Confessor and re-used in Meister Eckhart’s first Quaestio Parisiensis. The main tenet of this idea is that, if God is the origin of being, he must be more fundamental than being. Thus, being cannot be identical to divine nature. The conclusion that can be drawn from the discussion of this idea is that the importance that has been traditionally attached to the "Exodusmetaphysik" must be reconsidered, and that the pre-ontological conception of divine nature constitutes an autonomous tradition in Christian thought.