Maximus the Confessor ( el, Μάξιμος ὁ
Ὁμολογητής), also spelt Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
,
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, and scholar.
In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to the
Byzantine Emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
. He gave up this life in the political sphere to enter the monastic life. Maximus had studied diverse schools of philosophy, and certainly what was common for his time, the Platonic dialogues, the works of Aristotle, and numerous later Platonic commentators on Aristotle and Plato, like
Plotinus
Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neop ...
,
Porphyry,
Iamblichus
Iamblichus (; grc-gre, Ἰάμβλιχος ; Aramaic: 𐡉𐡌𐡋𐡊𐡅 ''Yamlīḵū''; ) was a Syrian neoplatonic philosopher of Arabic origin. He determined a direction later taken by neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of ...
, and
Proclus
Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor ( grc-gre, Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers ...
. When one of his friends began espousing the
Christological
In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Di ...
position known as
Monothelitism
Monothelitism, or monotheletism (from el, μονοθελητισμός, monothelētismós, doctrine of one will), is a theological doctrine in Christianity, that holds Christ as having only one will. The doctrine is thus contrary to dyothelit ...
, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported an interpretation of the
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...
formula on the basis of which it was asserted that
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
had both a human and a divine
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
. Maximus is
venerated
Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etym ...
in both the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
Churches. He was eventually persecuted for his Christological positions; following a trial, his tongue and right hand were mutilated.
He was then exiled and died on 13 August 662, in
Tsageri
Tsageri ( ka, ცაგერი, ''Cageri'') is a town in Georgia, located in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region in the west of the country and serving as an administrative center of the homonymous district.
Tsageri is located at 475 m abo ...
in present-day
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. However, his theology was upheld by the
Third Council of Constantinople
The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical ...
and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. It is highly uncommon among the saints that he has two
feast days
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...
: 13 August and 21 January. His title of "
Confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.[martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...]
ed.
Life
Early life
Very little is known about the details of Maximus' life prior to his involvement in the theological and political conflicts of the Monothelite controversy. Numerous Maximian scholars call substantial portions of the Maronite biography into question, including Maximus' birth in Palestine, which was a common seventh century trope to discredit an opponent. Moreover, the exceptional education Maximus evidently received could not have been had in any other part of the Byzantine Empire during that time except for Constantinople, and possibly Caesarea and Alexandria. It is also very unlikely that anyone of low social birth, as the
Maronite
The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...
biography describes Maximus, could have ascended by the age of thirty to be the
Protoasekretis of the Emperor Heraclius, one of the most powerful positions in the Empire. It is more likely that Maximus was born of an aristocratic family and received an unparalleled education in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, etc. It is true, however, that Maximus did not study rhetoric as he himself notes in the prologue to his Earlier Ambigua to John,
to which his lack of high stylistic by Byzantine standards attests. Nevertheless, for reasons not explained in the few autobiographical details to be gleaned from his texts, Maximus left public life and took
monastic vows at the monastery of
Philippicus
Philippicus ( la, Filepicus; el, Φιλιππικός, Philippikós) was Byzantine emperor from 711 to 713. He took power in a coup against the unpopular emperor Justinian II, and was deposed in a similarly violent manner nineteen months later. ...
in
Chrysopolis, a city across the
Bosporus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...
from Constantinople. Maximus was elevated to the position of
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
of the monastery.
[ ''"This great man was of a noble family of Constantinople."'']
When the
Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
conquered
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, Maximus was forced to flee to a monastery near
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
. It was there that he came under the tutelage of
Saint Sophronius, and began studying in detail with him the
Christological
In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Di ...
writings of
Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...
and
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' or ...
. According to I P Sheldon Williams his achievement was to set these doctrines into a framework of Aristotelian logic, which both suited the temper of the times and made them less liable to misinterpretation. Maximus continued his career as a theological and spiritual writer during his lengthy stay in Carthage.
Maximus was also held in high esteem by the
exarch
An exarch (;
from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.
In the late Roman Empire and ea ...
Gregory and the eparch
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
.
Involvement in Monothelite controversy
While Maximus was in Carthage, a controversy broke out regarding how to understand the interaction between the human and divine natures within the
person
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...
of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. This Christological debate was the latest development in disagreements that began following the
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.
This ecumenical council was the first effort ...
in 325, and were intensified following the
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bith ...
in 451. The
Monothelite position was developed as a compromise between the
dyophysitists and the
miaphysists, who believed dyophysitism is conceptually indistinguishable from
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...
. The Monothelites adhered to the
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...
definition of the
hypostatic union
''Hypostatic union'' (from the Greek: ''hypóstasis'', "sediment, foundation, substance, subsistence") is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one h ...
: that two natures, one divine and one human, were united in the person of Christ. However, they went on to say that Christ had only a divine will and no human will (Monothelite is derived from the Greek for "one will").
The Monothelite position was promulgated by
Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople
Sergius I ( el, Σέργιος Α΄, ''Sergios I'' ; d. 9 December 638 in Constantinople) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 610 to 638. He is most famous for promoting Monothelite Christianity, especially through the ''Ecthesi ...
and by Maximus' friend and successor as the Abbot of Chrysopolis,
Pyrrhus. Following the death of Sergius in 638, Pyrrhus succeeded him as Patriarch, but was shortly deposed owing to political circumstances. During Pyrrhus' exile from Constantinople, Maximus and the deposed Patriarch held a public debate on the issue of Monothelitism. In the debate, which was held in the presence of many North African bishops, Maximus took the position that Jesus possessed both a human and a divine will. The result of the debate was that Pyrrhus admitted the error of the Monothelite position, and Maximus accompanied him to Rome in 645.
Maximus may have remained in Rome, because he was present when the newly elected
Pope Martin I
Pope Martin I ( la, Martinus I, el, Πάπας Μαρτίνος; between 590 and 600 – 16 September 655), also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to his death 16 September 655. He served as Pope Theodore I's ...
convened the
Lateran Council of 649
The Lateran Council of 649 was a synod held in the Basilica of St. John Lateran to condemn Monothelitism, a Christology espoused by many Eastern Christians. The Council did not achieve ecumenical status in either East or West, but represented the ...
at the
Lateran Basilica
The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...
in Rome. The 105 bishops present condemned Monothelitism in the official acts of the synod, which some believe may have been written by Maximus. It was in Rome that Pope Martin and Maximus were arrested in 653 under orders from
Constans II, who supported the Monothelite doctrine. Pope Martin was condemned without a trial, and died before he could be sent to the Imperial Capital.
Trial and exile
Maximus' refusal to accept Monothelitism caused him to be brought to the imperial capital of
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
to be tried as a
heretic in 658. In Constantinople, Monothelitism had gained the favor of both the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople. Maximus stood behind the Dyothelite position and was sent back into exile for four more years. During his trial he was accused of aiding the Muslim conquests
in Egypt and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, which he rejected as slander.
![44-manasses-chronicle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/44-manasses-chronicle.jpg)
In 662, Maximus was placed on trial once more, and was once more convicted of heresy. Following the trial Maximus was tortured, having his tongue cut out, so he could no longer speak his rebellion, and his right hand cut off, so that he could no longer write letters. Maximus was then exiled to the
Lazica
Lazica ( ka, ეგრისი, ; lzz, ლაზიკა, ; grc-gre, Λαζική, ; fa, لازستان, ; hy, Եգեր, ) was the Latin name given to the territory of Colchis during the Roman/Byzantine period, from about the 1st centur ...
or
Colchis
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia (country), Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians a ...
region of modern-day
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and was cast in the fortress of Schemarum, perhaps Muris-Tsikhe near the modern town of
Tsageri
Tsageri ( ka, ცაგერი, ''Cageri'') is a town in Georgia, located in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region in the west of the country and serving as an administrative center of the homonymous district.
Tsageri is located at 475 m abo ...
. He died soon thereafter, on 13 August 662. The events of the trials of Maximus were recorded by
Anastasius Bibliothecarius
Anastasius Bibliothecarius or Anastasius the Librarian (c. 810 – c. 878) was ''bibliothecarius'' (literally "librarian") and chief archivist of the Church of Rome and also briefly a claimant to the papacy.
Early life
He was a nephew of Bis ...
.
Legacy
Along with Pope Martin I, Maximus was vindicated by the
Third Council of Constantinople
The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical ...
(the Sixth
Ecumenical Council
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...
, 680–681), which declared that
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
possessed both a human and a divine will. With this declaration Monothelitism became heresy, and Maximus was posthumously declared innocent.
Maximus is among those Christians who were venerated as
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s shortly after their deaths. The vindication of Maximus' theological position made him extremely popular within a generation after his death, and his cause was aided by the accounts of miracles at his tomb.
Maximus is one of the last men to be recognized by both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches as a Father of the Church. In the encyclical ''Spe Salvi'' (2007), Pope Benedict XVI called Maximus 'the great Greek doctor of the Church', although it is not clear if the Pontiff intended to nominate Maximus 'Doctor of the Church' or to say that he already was one.
Theology
As a student of
Pseudo-Dionysius
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum' ...
, Maximus was one of many Christian theologians who preserved and interpreted the earlier
Neo-Platonic
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ide ...
philosophy, including the thought of such figures as
Plotinus
Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neop ...
and
Proclus
Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor ( grc-gre, Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers ...
. Maximus' work on Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite was continued by
John Scotus Eriugena
John Scotus Eriugena, also known as Johannes Scotus Erigena, John the Scot, or John the Irish-born ( – c. 877) was an Irish Neoplatonist philosopher, theologian and poet of the Early Middle Ages. Bertrand Russell dubbed him "the most ...
at the request of
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...
.
The Platonic influence on Maximus' thought can be seen most clearly in his
theological anthropology. Here, Maximus adopted the Platonic model of
exitus-reditus (exit and return), teaching that humanity was made in the
image of God
The image of God (; ) is a concept and theological doctrine in Christianity, as well as in Judaism. This concept is a foundational aspect of Christian and Jewish understandings of human nature. It stems from the primary text in Genesis 1:27, which ...
, and the purpose of salvation is to restore us to unity with God. This emphasis on
divinization
Divinization may refer to:
* Apotheosis, the glorification of a subject to divine level
* Divinization (Christian)
In Christian theology, divinization ("divinization" may also refer to ''apotheosis'', lit. "making divine"), or theopoesis or ...
or ''
theosis'' helped secure Maximus' place in Eastern theology, as these concepts have always held an important place in Eastern Christianity.
Christologically Maximus insisted on a strict
dyophysitism
In Christian theology, dyophysitism (Greek: δυοφυσιτισμός, from δυο (''dyo''), meaning "two" and φύσις (''physis''), meaning "nature") is the Christological position that two natures, divine and human, exist in the person of ...
, which can be seen as a corollary of the emphasis on ''theosis''. In terms of salvation, humanity is intended to be fully united with God. This is possible for Maximus because God was first fully united with humanity in the incarnation.
[ If Christ did not become fully human (if, for example, he only had a divine and not a human will), then salvation was no longer possible, as humanity could not become fully divine. Furthermore, in his works Maximus the Confessor argued the unconditionality of the divine incarnation.][Hieromonk Artemije Radosavljević, Τὸ Μυστήριον τῆς Σωτηρίας κατὰ τὸν Ἅγιον Μάξιμον τὸν Ὁμολογητήν. Αθήνα, 1975. English version: Bishop Artemije Radosavljevi]
Why Did God Become Man? The Unconditionality of the Divine Incarnation. Deification as the End and Fulfillment of Salvation According to St. Maximos the Confessor
— Source: Τὸ Μυστήριον... he mystery of salvation according to St. Maximos the Confessor(Athens: 1975), pp. 180–196
Regarding salvation, Maximus, like Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
and St. Gregory of Nyssa, has been described as a proponent of ''apocatastasis
In theology, apocatastasis () is the restoration of creation to a condition of perfection. In Christianity, it is a form of Christian universalism that includes the ultimate salvation of everyone—including the damned in hell and the devil. The ...
'' or universal reconciliation
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation (also called universal salvation, Christian universalism, or in context simply universalism) is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ul ...
, the idea that all rational souls will eventually be redeemed. While this claim has been disputed, others have argued that Maximus shared this belief in universal reconciliation
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation (also called universal salvation, Christian universalism, or in context simply universalism) is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ul ...
with his most spiritually mature students.
Reception
In Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
, Maximus has always been influential. A number of his works are included in the Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
''Philokalia
The ''Philokalia'' ( grc, φιλοκαλία, lit=love of the beautiful, from ''philia'' "love" and ''kallos'' "beauty") is "a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters" of the mystical hesychast tr ...
'', a collection of some of the most influential Eastern Orthodox Christian writers.
Writings
* '' Ambigua ad Iohannem'' ("Difficult Passages Addressed to John")
* '' Ambigua ad Thomam'' ("Difficult Passages Addressed to Thomas")
* ''Capita XV
Capita plc, commonly known as Capita, is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London.
It is the largest business process outsourcing and professional services company in the United K ...
'' ("Fifteen Chapters")
* '' Capita de caritate'' ("Chapters on Charity")
* '' Capita theologica et oeconomica'' (Chapters on Theology and the Economy)
* '' Disputatio cum Pyrrho'' ("Dispute with Pyrrhus")
* '' Epistulae I–XLV'' (" Epistles 1–45")
* '' Expositio orationis dominicae'' ("Commentary on the Lord's Prayer")
* '' Expositio in Psalmum LIX'' ("Commentary on Psalm 59")
* '' Liber Asceticus'' ("On the Ascetic Life")
* '' Mystagogia'' ("Mystagogy")
* '' Maximi Epistola ad Anastasium monachum discipulum'' ("Letter of Maximus to Anastasius the Monk and Disciple")
* '' Opuscula theologica et polemica'' ("Small Theological and Polemical Works")
* '' Quaestiones et dubia'' ("Questions and Doubtful Passages")
* '' Quaestiones ad Thalassium'' ("Questions Addressed to Thalassius")
* '' Questiones ad Theopemptum'' ("Questions Addressed to Theopemptus")
*'' Testimonia et syllogismi'' ("Testimonies and Syllogisms")
Attributed texts
* ''Scholia
Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...
'' – commentary on the earlier writings of Pseudo-Dionysius. The original edition in Latin of Balthasar Corderius (Antwerp 1634) attributes all of the Scholia to Maximus, but the authorship has been questioned with Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar (12 August 1905 – 26 June 1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered an important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. He was announced as his choice to become a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, b ...
(1940, 1961) attributing some of the Scholia to John of Scythopolis
John Scythopolita (ca. 536–550), also known as "the Scholasticus", bishop of Scythopolis in Palestine, where Beit She'an is today, was a Byzantine theologian and lawyer adhering to neo-Chalcedonian theology.
He is famous for several works (l ...
.
* ''Life of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the ...
'' – earliest complete biography of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is an attributed work and now believed not to be by Maximus the Confessor. Jankowiak and Booth argue that "none of Maximus' characteristic preoccupations appear in the ''Life'', and in turn none of the ''Life' ''s central themes appear in the fleeting Marian reflections contained within his genuine corpus". They also write that there is no Greek manuscript witnessing the text, no evidence that any key thinkers who draw on Maximus were aware of the ''Life' ''s existence and that no record of the ''Life'' as a work exists prior to the second half of the tenth century.
Collections
*''Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality)''. Ed. George C. Berthold. Paulist Press, 1985. .
*''On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ: Selected Writings from St. Maximus the Confessor (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press "Popular Patristics" Series)''. Ed. & Trans Paul M. Blowers, Robert Louis Wilken. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2004. .
*''St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic Life, The Four Centuries on Charity (Ancient Christian Writers)''. Ed. Polycarp Sherwood. Paulist Press, 1955. .
*''Maximus the Confessor (The Early Church Fathers)'' Intro. & Trans. Andrew Louth. Routledge, 1996.
*''Maximus the Confessor and his Companions (Documents from Exile) (Oxford Early Christian Texts)''. Ed. and Trans. Pauline Allen, Bronwen Neil. Oxford University Press, 2004. .
*''On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua: Volume I, Maximos the Confessor''. Ed. and Trans. Nicholas Constas. London: Harvard University Press, 2014. .
*''On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua: Volume II, Maximos the Confessor''. Ed. and Trans. Nicholas Constas. London: Harvard University Press, 2014. .
*''The Philokalia: The Complete Text compiled by St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of Corinth: Volume II''. Ed. and Trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos Ware. London: Faber and Faber, 1981. .
References
Further reading
*
*Baldi, Diego. ''Conrad Gesner, i Loci Communes dello pseudo Massimo Confessore e la Melissa del monaco Antonio'' in Bibliothecae.it 3.1 (2014)
* Balthasar, Hans Urs (von). ''Cosmic Liturgy: The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor''. Ignatius Press, 2003. .
*Cooper, Adam G. ''The body in St Maximus Confessor: Holy Flesh, Wholly Deified''. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford University Press, 2005. .
*Lauritzen, Frederick. ''Pagan energies in Maximus the Confessor: the influence of Proclus on the Ad Thomam 5'' in Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies 52.2 (201
*Louth, Andrew. ''Maximus the Confessor''. The Early Church Fathers Series. Routledge, 1996. .
*Loudovikos, Nikolaos, Protopresbyter. ''He Eucharistiake Ontologia: Ta Eucharistiaka Themelia Tou Einai, Hos En Koinonia Ginnesthai, Sten Eschatologike Ontologia Tou Hagiou Maximou Tou Homologete''. Published in Greek. Translated Title: ''Eucharistic Ontology: The Eucharistic Fundaments of Being as Becoming in Communion, in the Eschatological Ontology of St. Maximus the Confessor''. Ekdoseis Domos, Athens, Greece, 1992. .
*Mitralexis, Sotiris.
Ever-Moving Repose: A Contemporary Reading of Maximus the Confessor's Theory of Time
'. Veritas. Cascade, 2017. .
*Mitralexis, Sotiris, Georgios Steiris, Marcin Podbielski, Sebastian Lalla.
' Veritas. Cascade, 2017. .
*Nichols, Aidan. ''Byzantine Gospel: Maximus the Confessor in Modern Scholarship''. T. & T. Clark Publishers, 1994. .
* Hieromonk Artemije Radosavljević, Τὸ Μυστήριον τῆς Σωτηρίας κατὰ τὸν Ἅγιον Μάξιμον τὸν Ὁμολογητήν. Αθήνα, 1975. English version: Bishop Artemije Radosavljevi
Why Did God Become Man? The Unconditionality of the Divine Incarnation. Deification as the End and Fulfillment of Salvation According to St. Maximos the Confessor
— Source: Τὸ Μυστήριον... he mystery of salvation according to St. Maximos the Confessor(Athens: 1975), pp. 180–196
*Thunberg, Lars. ''Microcosm and Mediator: The Theological Anthropology of Maximus the Confessor.'' Second Edition. Open Court, 1995.
*Tollefsen, Torstein Theodor. ''The Christocentric Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor''. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford University Press, 2008. .
*Törönen, Melchisedec. ''Union and Distinction in the Thought of Maximus the Confessor''. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford University Press, 2007.
*
External links
*
Selected works
of Saint Maximus Confessor
*
in the Catholic Forum
Maximus Confessor
in the Orthodox Church in America
* ttp://commonwealmagazine.org/maximus%E2%80%99s-mary Summary of Maximus' biography of Mary (mother of Jesus)by Commonweal magazine
Uploaded online academic papers on Maximus the Confessor
Marek Jankowiak, Phil Booth, A New Date-List of the Works of Maximus the Confessor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximus The Confessor
580 births
662 deaths
7th-century Byzantine people
7th-century Byzantine writers
7th-century Christian mystics
7th-century Christian saints
7th-century Christian theologians
7th-century philosophers
Byzantine Christian mystics
Byzantine saints
Byzantine theologians
Christologists
Patristic mystics
People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
People convicted of heresy
Saints from Anatolia
Philokalia