Rdxfbgrtj

Saint Maximus
Icon of St. Maximus
Confessor, theologian, homologetes
Born	c. 580 Ḥeṣfin, Golan Heights[1] or Constantinople
Died	(662-08-13)13 August 662 Tsageri, present-day Georgia
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Lutheranism
Canonized	Pre-congregation
Feast	13 August (Gregorian Calendar), 21 January or 13 August (Julian Calendar)

Part of a series on the
Eastern Orthodox Church
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia
Overview
Structure Theology (History of theology) Liturgy Church history Holy Mysteries View of salvation View of Mary View of icons
Background Crucifixion / Resurrection / Ascension of Jesus Christianity Christian Church Apostolic succession Four Marks of the Church Orthodoxy
Organization Autocephaly Patriarchate Ecumenical Patriarch Episcopal polity Clergy Bishops Priests Deacons Monasticism Degrees of monasticism
Autocephalous jurisdictions Constantinople Alexandria Antioch Jerusalem Russia Serbia Romania Bulgaria Georgia Cyprus Greece Poland Albania Czech lands and Slovakia America Ukraine
Ecumenical councils Seven Ecumenical Councils: First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Other important councils: Quinisext Council Constantinople IV Constantinople V Jassy Jerusalem (Synod of) Constantinople
History Church Fathers Pentarchy Byzantine Empire Christianization of Bulgaria Christianization of Kievan Rus' Great Schism Russia Ottoman Empire North America Moscow–Constantinople schism 1996 2018
Theology History of Eastern Orthodox theology (20th century (Neo-Palamism)) Apophaticism Chrismation Contemplative prayer Essence vs. Energies Hesychasm Holy Trinity Hypostatic union Icons Metousiosis Mystical theology Nicene Creed Nepsis Oikonomia Ousia Palamism Philokalia Phronema Sin Theosis Theotokos Differences from the Catholic Church Opposition to the Filioque Opposition to papal supremacy
Liturgy and worship Divine Liturgy Divine Services Akathist Apolytikion Artos Ectenia Euchologion Holy Water Iconostasis Jesus Prayer Kontakion Liturgical entrances Liturgical fans Lity Memorial service Memory Eternal Omophorion Orthodox bowing Orthodox marriage Praxis Paraklesis Paschal greeting Paschal Homily Paschal troparion Prayer rope Prosphora Russian bell ringing Semantron Sign of the cross Sticheron Troparion Vestments Use of incense
Liturgical calendar Paschal cycle 12 Great Feasts Other feasts: Feast of Orthodoxy Intercession of the Theotokos The four fasting periods: Nativity Fast Great Lent Apostles' Fast Dormition Fast
Major figures Athanasius of Alexandria Ephrem the Syrian Basil of Caesarea Cyril of Jerusalem Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa John Chrysostom Cyril of Alexandria John Climacus Maximus the Confessor John of Damascus Theodore the Studite Kassiani Cyril and Methodius Photios I of Constantinople Gregory Palamas
Other topics Architecture Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs Orthodox cross Saint titles Statistics by country
v t e

Part of a series on
Neoplatonism
Reconstructed bust believed to represent Plotinus
Concepts Theory of Forms Form of the Good Demiurge Henosis Microcosm and macrocosm Nous Arche Logos Hypostasis
Works Enneads De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum Liber de Causis The Consolation of Philosophy De divisione naturae
People Plato Ammonius Saccas Plotinus (disciples) Origen Porphyry Iamblichus Julian the Apostate Sallustius Hypatia Plutarch of Athens Macrobius Augustine of Hippo Syrianus Proclus Pseudo-Dionysius Damascius Simplicius of Cilicia Boethius Maximus the Confessor Johannes Scotus Eriugena Al-Farabi Solomon ibn Gabirol Isaac the Blind Thierry of Chartres Gemistus Pletho Marsilio Ficino Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Giordano Bruno Cambridge Platonists
Related topics Platonism (in the Renaissance) Platonic Academy Middle Platonism Kabbalah Spirituality Druze Allegorical interpretations of Plato Plato's unwritten doctrines Neoplatonism and Christianity / Gnosticism
Philosophy portal
v t e

Maximus the Confessor (Greek: Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής), also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople (c. 580 – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar.

In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. However, he gave up this life in the political sphere to enter into 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, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported an interpretation of the Chalcedonian formula on the basis of which it was asserted that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic 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 August 13, 662, in Tsageri in present-day Georgia. However, his theology was upheld by the Third Council of Constantinople and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. It is highly uncommon among the saints that he has two feast days: 13 August and 21 January. His title of "Confessor" means that he suffered for the Christian faith, but was not directly martyred. The Life of the Virgin, the only extant copy of which is in a Georgian translation, is commonly, albeit mistakenly, attributed to him, and is considered to be one of the earliest complete biographies of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

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.^[2] 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 biography describes Maximus, could have ascended by the age of thirty to be the Protoasecretis 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,^[3] 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 in Chrysopolis, a city across the Bosporus from Constantinople (later known as Scutari, the modern Turkish city of Üsküdar). Maximus was elevated to the position of abbot of the monastery.^[4]

When the Persians conquered Anatolia, Maximus was forced to flee to a monastery near Carthage. It was there that he came under the tutelage of Saint Sophronius, and began studying in detail with him the Christological writings of Gregory of Nazianzus and Dionysius the Areopagite. 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^[5]. Maximus continued his career as a theological and spiritual writer during his lengthy stay in Carthage.^[6] Maximus was also held in very high esteem by the exarch Gregory, the eparch George^[7] and the population as a holy man, ostensibly becoming an influential unofficial political advisor and spiritual head in North Africa.

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 of Jesus. This Christological debate was the latest development in disagreements that began following the First Council of Nicaea in 325, and were intensified following the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Monothelite position was developed as a compromise between the dyophysitists and the miaphysists, who believed dyophysitism is conceptually indistinguishable from Nestorianism. The Monothelites adhered to the Chalcedonian definition of the hypostatic union: 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"), which led some to charge them with Apollinarian monophysitism.

A silver hexagramma showing Constans II with his son. Constans II supported Monothelitism, and had Maximus exiled for his refusal to agree to Monothelite teachings.

The Monothelite position was promulgated by Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople and by Maximus' friend and successor as the Abbot of Chrysopolis, Pyrrhus.^[8] 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.^[9] However, on the death of Emperor Heraclius and the accession of Emperor Constans II, Pyrrhus returned to Constantinople and recanted of his acceptance of the Dyothelite ("two wills") position.

Maximus may have remained in Rome, because he was present when the newly elected Pope Martin I convened the Lateran Council of 649 at the Lateran Basilica in Rome.^[10] The 105 bishops present condemned Monothelitism in the official acts of the synod, which some believe may have been written by Maximus.^[11] 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.^[12]

Trial and exile

Maximus' refusal to accept Monothelitism caused him to be brought to the imperial capital of Constantinople 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, which he rejected as slander.^[13][14]

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.^[15] Maximus was then exiled to the Lazica or Colchis region of modern-day Georgia and was cast in the fortress of Schemarum, perhaps Muris-Tsikhe near the modern town of Tsageri.^[16] He died soon thereafter, on 13 August 662.^[17] The events of the trials of Maximus were recorded by Anastasius Bibliothecarius.

Legacy

Maximus the Confessor and His Miracles. An early 17th-century Stroganov school icon from Solvychegodsk.

Along with Pope Martin I, Maximus was vindicated by the Third Council of Constantinople (the Sixth Ecumenical Council, 680–681), which declared that Christ possessed both a human and a divine will. With this declaration Monothelitism became heresy, and Maximus was posthumously declared innocent of all charges against him.

Maximus is among those Christians who were venerated as saints 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.^[18] In the Roman Catholic Church the veneration of Maximus began prior to the foundation of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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's not clear if the Pontiff intended to nominate Maximus 'Doctor of the Church' or to say that he already was one.^[19]

Theology

As a student of Pseudo-Dionysius, Maximus was one of many Christian theologians who preserved and interpreted the earlier Neo-Platonic philosophy, including the thought of such figures as Plotinus and Proclus. Maximus' work on Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite was continued by John Scotus Eriugena at the request of Charles the Bald.^[20]

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, and the purpose of salvation is to restore us to unity with God.^[21] This emphasis on divinization or theosis helped secure Maximus' place in Eastern theology, as these concepts have always held an important place in Eastern Christianity.^[22]

Christologically Maximus insisted on a strict dyophysitism, 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.^[20] 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.^[23]
Furthermore, in his works Maximus the Confessor argued the unconditionality of the divine incarnation.^[24]

Regarding salvation, Maximus has been described as a proponent of apocatastasis or universal reconciliation, the idea that all rational souls will eventually be redeemed, like Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa.^[25] While this claim has been disputed,^[26] others have argued that Maximus shared this belief in universal reconciliation with his most spiritually mature students.^[27]

Reception

Maximus' work was translated by the 9th-century Irish philosopher and mystical theologian Johannes Scotus Eriugena. In Eastern Christianity, Maximus has always been influential. The Eastern theologians Symeon the New Theologian and Gregory Palamas are seen as intellectual heirs to Maximus. Further, a number of Maximus' works are included in the Greek Philokalia, a collection of some of the most influential Orthodox Christian writers.

Writings

• 
  Ambigua ad Iohannem (Difficult Passages Addressed to John) PG91 1061A-1417C


• 
  Ambigua ad Thomam (Difficult Passages Addressed to Thomas) PG91 1032-1060 – Both the Ambigua to John and Thomas are explorations of difficult passages in the works of Pseudo-Dionysius and Gregory of Nazianzus, focusing on Christological issues. This also was later translated by Eriugena.


• 
  Capita XV (Fifteen Chapters) PG90 1177-1185


• 
  Capita de caritate (Centuries on Love) PG90 959-1082 - Work in the ascetic style of the 'century', where groups of one hundred short sayings are used as meditations during prayer.


• 
  Capita theologica et oeconomica (Chapters on Theology and the Economy) PG 90 1084-1173 - A work in the ascetic style of the 'century', where groups of one hundred short sayings are used as meditations during prayer.


• 
  Disputatio cum Pyrrho (Dispute with Pyrrhus) PG91 288-353 – anti-monotholete treatise in conversation with Patriarch Pyrrhus of Constantinople
  


• 
  Epistulae (Letters) PG91 364-649


• 
  Expositio orationis dominicae (Commentary on the Lord's Prayer)


• 
  Expositio in psalmum LIX(Commentary on Psalm 59)


• 
  Liber Asceticus (On the Ascetic Life) - a discussion on the monastic rule of life.


• 
  Mystagogia (Mystagogy) PG91 658-718 – A commentary and meditation on the Eucharistic liturgy.


• 
  Maximi Epistola ad Anastasium monachum discipulum (Letter of Maximus to Anastasius the Monk and Disciple)


• 
  Opuscula theologica et polemica (Small Theological and Polemical Works) PG91 9-285


• 
  Quaestiones et dubia (Questions and Doubtful Passages)


• 
  Quaestiones ad Thalassium (Questions Addressed to Thalassius) – a lengthy exposition on various Scriptural texts. This was later translated by Eriugena.


• 
  Questiones ad Theopemptum (Questions Addressed to Theopemptus)


• 
  Testimonia et syllogismi (Testimonies and Syllogisms)

Attributed Texts

• 
  Scholia – 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 (1940, 1961) attributing some of the Scholia to John of Scythopolis.^[28]
  


• 
  Life of the Virgin – earliest complete biography of Mary, the mother of Jesus.^[29] 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. ^[30]
  

References

Further reading

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Maximus the Confessor

• 
   Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής
  


• 
  Selected works of Saint Maximus Confessor


• 
   Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Maximus of Constantinople". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  


• 
  Maximus Confessor in the Catholic Forum


• 
  Maximus Confessor in the Orthodox Church in America


• Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes


• 
  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