View source for Maximus the Confessor

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{short description|Christian monk, theologian, scholar and saint (c. 580 - 662)}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name=Maximus the Confessor
|birth_date={{Circa|580}}
|death_date={{death date|662|8|13|df=y}}
|feast_day=13 August ([[Western Christianity]])<br> 21 January ([[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine Christianity]])
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br>[[Anglican Communion]]<br>[[Lutheranism]]
|image=Athonite Fresco Icon of Saint Maximos the Confessor 2.jpg
|caption=Athonite Fresco [[Icon]] of Saint Maximos the Confessor
|birth_place=[[Haspin|Hisfiyya]], [[Syria Prima]], [[Byzantine Empire]]<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Allen | first1 = Pauline | last2 = Neil | first2 = Bronwen | title = The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor| publisher = Oxford University Press| year = 2015 |page=20| isbn = 978-0-19-967383-4 }}</ref><br>or<br>[[Constantinople]], Byzantine Empire
|death_place=[[Tsageri]]
|titles=Confessor and [[Theologian]]
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=[[Pre-Congregation]]
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
|major_shrine=
|module={{Infobox theologian
| embed              = yes
| notable_works      = ''Mystagogy''
| tradition_movement = [[Apophatic theology]]
| main_interests     = [[Theological anthropology]], [[asceticism]]
| notable_ideas      = [[Dyophysitism]]
}}
}}
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar|expanded=figures}}
'''Maximus the Confessor''' ({{langx|el|Μάξιμος ὁ [[:wikt:ομολογητής|Ὁμολογητής]]|Maximos ho Homologētēs}}), also spelled '''Maximos''',<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Palmer | first1 = G.E.H. | last2 = Warr | first2 = P.S.K. | title = The Philokalia Volume II| publisher = Faber and Faber| year = 1981 |page=48| isbn = 0-571-15466-2 }}</ref> otherwise known as '''Maximus the Theologian''' and '''Maximus of Constantinople''' ({{Circa|580}} – 13 August 662), was a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[monk]], [[theologian]], and scholar.

In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Heraclius]]. 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]], [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], [[Iamblichus]], and [[Proclus]]. When one of his friends began espousing the [[Christology|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 (philosophy)|will]]. Maximus is [[veneration|venerated]] in both the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] 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]] in present-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. However, his theology was upheld by the [[Third Council of Constantinople]] and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. His title of "[[Confessor of the Faith|Confessor]]" means that he suffered for the Christian faith, but was not directly [[martyr]]ed. His feast day is 13 August in the [[Western Church]] and 21 January in the [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine Christianity]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Maximus-the-Confessor |title=St. Maximus the Confessor |last=Petruzzello |first=Melissa |date=2023 |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=2023-06-29}}</ref>

==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.<ref>The following account is based on the lengthy tenth-century biography catalogued as BHG 1234 and printed in Migne's Patrologia Graeca (90, 68A1-109B9). In recent years, however, this account has been called into question on the basis of new scholarly research. The author, or rather compiler, of BHG 1234 turns out to have used one of the biographies of Theodore the Studite (BHG 1755) to fill the gaps in the information he had on Maximus (See W. Lackner, Zu Quellen und Datierung der Maximosvita (BHG<sup>3</sup> 1234), in Analecta Bollandiana 85 [1967], p. 285-316). The information the compiler of BHG 1234 did have he drew from the passions extant at the time, in which nothing is said about Maximus' early years (See B. Roosen, Maximi Confessoris Vitae et Passiones Graecae. The Development of a Hagiographic Dossier, in Byzantion 80 [2010], forthcoming). On the basis of mostly internal evidence from Maximus' writings, C. Boudignon advocates a Palestinian birth for Maximus instead (See C. Boudignon, Maxime le Confesseur était-il constantinopolitain?, in B. Janssens – B. Roosen – P. Van Deun [ed.], Philomathestatos. Studies in Greek and Byzantine Texts Presented to Jacques Noret for his Sixty-Fifth Birthday [= Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 137], Leuven – Paris – Dudley, MA, 2004, p. 11-43; and id., Le pouvoir de l'anathème ou Maxime le Confesseur et les moines palestiniens du VIIe siècle, in A. Camplani – G. Filoramo, Foundations of Power and  Conflicts of Authority in Late-Antique Monasticism. Proceedings of the International Seminar, Turin, 2–4 December 2004 [= Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 157], Leuven – Paris – Dudley, MA, 2007, p. 245-274). If this is true, it confirms the value of the Maronite biography, even though it is clearly anti-Maximian.</ref> 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 Church|Maronite]] biography describes Maximus, could have ascended by the age of thirty to be the [[Protasekretis|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,<ref name="Constas">{{cite book | last = Constas | first = Nicholas |editor= Nicholas Constas| title = On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua, Volume 1| publisher = Harvard University Press, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library Series, Volume 28| location = Cambridge, MA | year = 2014 | isbn = 978-0-674-72666-6 }}</ref> 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 (comes excubitorum)|Philippicus]] in [[Üsküdar|Chrysopolis]], a city across the [[Bosporus]] from Constantinople. Maximus was elevated to the position of [[Hegumen|abbot]] of the monastery.<ref name="cathency">{{CathEncy| wstitle =St. Maximus of Constantinople| title =St. Maximus of Constantinople |author=  M. Gildas| first = | last = | authorlink = }} ''"This great man was of a noble family of Constantinople."''</ref>

When the [[Sasanian Empire|Persians]] conquered [[Anatolia]], Maximus was forced to flee to a monastery near [[Carthage]]. It was there that he came under the tutelage of [[Sophronius of Jerusalem|Saint Sophronius]], and began studying in detail with him the [[Christology|Christological]] writings of [[Gregory of Nazianzus]] and [[Pseudo-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.<ref>The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy. ed A H Armstrong Cambridge 1967. p 492</ref> Maximus continued his career as a theological and spiritual writer during his lengthy stay in Carthage.<ref name="Berthold">{{cite book | last = Berthold | first = George C.|editor= Everett Ferguson| chapter=Maximus Confessor|title = Encyclopedia of Early Christianity | publisher = Garland Publishing| location = New York | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-8153-1663-1 }}</ref> Maximus was also held in high esteem by the [[exarch of Africa|exarch]] [[Gregory the Patrician|Gregory]] and the eparch [[George (eparch)|George]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Pringle | first=Denys | title=The Defence of Byzantine Africa from Justinian to the Arab Conquest: An Account of the Military History and Archaeology of the African Provinces in the Sixth and Seventh Century | location=Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher=British Archaeological Reports | year=1981 | isbn=0-86054-119-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DIjAQAAIAAJ | page= 46}}</ref>

===Involvement in Monothelite controversy===
[[Image:Hexagram-Constans II and Constantine IV-sb0995.jpg|left|thumb|300px|A silver ''[[Hexagram (currency)|hexagramma]]'' showing Constans II with his son. Constans II supported [[Monothelitism]], and had Maximus exiled for his refusal to agree to Monothelite teachings.]]
While Maximus was in Carthage, a controversy broke out regarding how to understand the interaction between the human and divine natures within the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|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 [[dyophysite|dyophysitists]] and the [[miaphysitism|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").
[[File:Maximus the Confessor (mosaic).jpg|thumb|left|Mosaic of Saint Maximos from the [[Nea Moni of Chios]]]]
The Monothelite position was promulgated by [[Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople]] and by Maximus' friend and successor as the Abbot of Chrysopolis, [[Patriarch Pyrrhus of Constantinople|Pyrrhus]].<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=St. Maximus of Constantinople}}: "The first action of St. Maximus that we know of in this affair is a letter sent by him to Pyrrhus, then an abbot at Chrysopolis ..."</ref> 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.<ref>[[Philip Schaff]], ''History of the Christian Church'', Volume IV: Mediaeval Christianity. A.D. 590–1073 (online edition)[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc4.i.xi.vi.html §111], accessed 15 January 2007.</ref>

Maximus may have remained in Rome at [[San Saba, Rome|San Saba]],<ref>Sebastian Brock, "An Early Syriac Life of Maximus the Confessor", Analecta Bollandina 91 (1973): 318-319, 328.</ref> as he was present when the newly elected [[Pope Martin I]] convened the [[Lateran Council of 649]] at the [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|Lateran Basilica]] in Rome.<ref>"Maximus the Confessor", in ''The Westminster Dictionary of Church History'', ed. Jerald Brauer (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1971) ({{ISBN|0-664-21285-9}}). This is generally known as the First or Second [[Lateran Synod]], and is not recognized as an [[Ecumenical Council]].</ref> The 105 bishops present condemned Monothelitism in the official acts of the synod, which some believe may have been written by Maximus.<ref>For example, Gerald Berthold, "Maximus Confessor" in ''Encyclopedia of Early Christianity'', (New York:Garland, 1997) ({{ISBN|0-8153-1663-1}}).</ref> It was in Rome that Pope Martin and Maximus were arrested in 653 under orders from [[Constans II (Byzantine Empire)|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.<ref>David Hughes Farmer, ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Saints'' (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1987) ({{ISBN|0-19-869149-1}}) p.288. This made Martin the last [[Bishop of Rome]] to be venerated as a martyr.</ref>

===Trial and exile===
Maximus' refusal to accept Monothelitism caused him to be brought to the imperial capital of [[Constantinople]] to be tried as a [[Heresy|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 [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|in Egypt]] and [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|North Africa]], which he rejected as slander.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Walter Kaegi|author-link1=Walter Kaegi|title=Muslim Expansion and Byzantine Collapse in North Africa|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521196772|page=87|edition=illustrated}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Hans Urs von Balthasar|author-link1=Hans Urs von Balthasar|title=Cosmic Liturgy: The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor|date=2003|publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=9780898707588|page=40}}</ref>
[[File:44-manasses-chronicle.jpg|thumb|[[Constans II]] (left) having Maximus beaten for refusing to accept [[Monothelitism]]. Miniature from the 12th century [[Manasses Chronicle]].]]
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.<ref>Gerald Berthold, "Maximus Confessor" in ''Encyclopedia of Early Christianity'', (New York:Garland, 1997) ({{ISBN|0-8153-1663-1}}).</ref> Maximus was then exiled to the [[Lazica]] or [[Colchis]] region of modern-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and was cast in the fortress of Schemarum, perhaps Muris-Tsikhe near the modern town of [[Tsageri]].<ref>George C. Berthold (1985), ''Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings'', p. 31. Paulist Press, {{ISBN|0-8091-2659-1}}.</ref> He died soon thereafter, on 13 August 662.<ref>For example, see [http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/saintm96.htm Catholic Forum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625134928/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm96.htm |date=2007-06-25 }}. The injuries Maximus sustained while being tortured and the conditions of his exile both contributed to his death, causing Maximus to be considered a martyr by many.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xq8DujoXVOoC&pg=PA40|title=Maximus the Confessor and his Companions: Documents from Exile|last1=Allen|first1=Pauline|last2=Neil|first2=Bronwen|date=2003-01-16|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191583421|pages=40|language=en}}</ref> The events of the trials of Maximus were recorded by [[Anastasius Bibliothecarius]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qthjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58|title=Maximus the Confessor: Jesus Christ and the Transfiguration of the World|last=Blowers|first=Paul M.|date=2016-02-04|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780191068805|pages=58|language=en}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[Image:Maksim ispovednik.jpg|thumb|285px|''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.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgF9DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA352|title=Great Events in Religion: An Encyclopedia of Pivotal Events in Religious History [3 volumes]|last=Herrin|first=Hans|date=2016-11-28|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781610695664|editor-last=Curta|editor-first=Florin|pages=352|language=en|chapter=Maximus the Confessor and the Monothelite controversy|editor-last2=Holt|editor-first2=Andrew}}</ref>

Maximus is among those Christians who were venerated as [[saint]]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.<ref>For example, from the biography provided by the [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100249 Orthodox Church in America]: "Three candles appeared over the grave of St Maximus and burned miraculously. This was a sign that St Maximus was a beacon of Orthodoxy during his lifetime, and continues to shine forth as an example of virtue for all. Many healings occurred at his tomb."</ref>

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.<ref>The Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints (Prot. Num. VAR. 7479/14) considers the Pope's declaration in ''Spe Salvi'' an informal one.</ref>

==Theology==
{{Neoplatonism}}
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 [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena|John Scotus Eriugena]] at the request of [[Charles the Bald]].<ref name = CE>{{CathEncy|wstitle=St. Maximus of Constantinople}}</ref>

The Platonic influence on Maximus' thought can be seen most clearly in his [[theological anthropology]]. Here, Maximus adopted the Platonic model of [[Neoplatonism#Ideas|exitus-reditus]] (exit and return), teaching that humanity was made in the [[Imago Dei|image of God]], and the purpose of salvation is to restore us to unity with God.<ref>"Maximos, St., Confessor" in the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F.L. Cross (London: Oxford Press, 1958) ({{ISBN|0-19-211522-7}}). One sees this especially in Maximus' ''Mystagogy'' and ''Ambigua''.</ref> This emphasis on [[divinization (Christian)|divinization]] or ''[[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|theosis]]'' helped secure Maximus' place in Eastern theology, as these concepts have always held an important place in Eastern Christianity.<ref>"Maximus the Confessor" in Michael O'Carroll, ''Trinitas: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity'' (Delaware:Michael Glazier, Inc, 1987) ({{ISBN|0-8146-5595-5}}).</ref>

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.<ref name = CE/> 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.<ref>"Maximos, St., Confessor" in the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F.L. Cross (London: Oxford Press, 1958) ({{ISBN|0-19-211522-7}}).</ref> Furthermore, in his works Maximus the Confessor argued the unconditionality of the divine incarnation.<ref name="Radosavljević_1975">Hieromonk Artemije Radosavljević, Τὸ Μυστήριον τῆς Σωτηρίας κατὰ τὸν Ἅγιον Μάξιμον τὸν Ὁμολογητήν. Αθήνα, 1975. English version: Bishop Artemije  Radosavljević [http://www.synodinresistance.org/pdfs/2009/03/26/20090326aGiatiEnsB7%20Folder/20090326aGiatiEnsB7.pdf 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... [The mystery of salvation according to St. Maximos the Confessor] (Athens: 1975), pp. 180–196</ref>

Regarding salvation, Maximus, like [[Origen]] and [[St. Gregory of Nyssa]], has been described as a proponent of ''[[apocatastasis]]'' or [[universal reconciliation]], the idea that all rational souls will eventually be redeemed.<ref>"[http://www.theandros.com/glossary.html Apokatastasis] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20060620083238/http://www.theandros.com/glossary.html |date=2006-06-20 }}" ''Theandros: An Online Journal of Orthodox Christian Theology and Philosophy''. Accessed 12 August 2007.  {{CathEncy|wstitle=Apocatastasis}}</ref> While this claim has been disputed,<ref>Hans Urs von Balthasar, ''Cosmic Liturgy: The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor'' (Ignatius Press, 2003), 355–356. {{ISBN|0-89870-758-7}}.</ref> others have argued that Maximus shared this belief in [[universal reconciliation]] with his most spiritually mature students.<ref>{{citation |first=John C. |last=Médaille |url=http://www.medaille.com/hope.htm |title=The Daring Hope of Hans Urs Von Balthasar |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020626234845/http://www.medaille.com/hope.htm |archive-date=26 June 2002 |access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref>

==Reception==
In [[Eastern Christianity]], Maximus has always been influential.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8kNlh8AeEUC&pg=PA333|title=The Philokalia: Exploring the Classic Text of Orthodox Spirituality|last1=Bingaman|first1=Brock|last2=Nassif|first2=Bradley|date=2012-08-23|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=9780195390261|pages=333}}</ref> A number of his works are included in the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[Philokalia]]'', a collection of some of the most influential [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christian]] writers.<ref name=":1" />

==Writings==

* ''[[Ambigua ad Iohannem]]'' ("Difficult Passages Addressed to John")<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB83DwAAQBAJ&pg=PR15|title=Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher|last1=Mitralexis|first1=Sotiris|last2=Steiris|first2=Georgios|last3=Podbielski|first3=Marcin|last4=Lalla|first4=Sebastian|date=2017-09-18|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781498295581|pages=xv–xvi|language=en}}</ref> <!-- PG91 1061A-1417C -->
* ''[[Ambigua ad Thomam]]'' ("Difficult Passages Addressed to Thomas")<ref name=":0" /> <!-- 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")<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbDqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PR19|title=The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor|last1=Allen|first1=Pauline|last2=Neil|first2=Bronwen|date=2015-03-26|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191655258|pages=xix|language=en}}</ref><!-- PG90 1177-1185 -->
* ''[[Capita de caritate]]'' ("Chapters on Charity")<ref name=":0" /><!-- 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. -->
*''[[Computus ecclesiasticus]]'' ("Ecclesiastical Computation")<ref name=":">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbDqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PR19|title=The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor|last1=Allen|first1=Pauline|last2=Neil|first2=Bronwen|date=2015-03-26|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191655258|pages=35|language=en}}</ref><!-- PG90 1177-1185 -->
* ''[[Disputatio cum Pyrrho]]'' ("Dispute with Pyrrhus")<ref name=":0" /> <!-- PG91 288-353  – anti-monotholete treatise in conversation with [[Patriarch Pyrrhus of Constantinople]] -->
* ''[[Epistulae I–XLV]]'' ("[[Epistles]] 1–45")<ref name=":0" /> <!-- PG91 364-649 -->
* ''[[Expositio orationis dominicae]]'' ("Commentary on the Lord's Prayer")
* ''[[Expositio in psalmum LIX|Expositio in Psalmum LIX]]'' ("Commentary on Psalm 59")<ref name=":0" />
* ''[[Liber Asceticus]]'' ("On the Ascetic Life")<ref name=":0" /> <!-- – A discussion on the monastic rule of life. -->
* ''[[Mystagogia]]'' ("Mystagogy")<ref name=":0" /><!-- 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")<ref name=":2" />
* ''[[Opuscula theologica et polemica]]'' ("Small Theological and Polemical Works")<ref name=":2" /><!-- PG91 9-285 -->
* ''[[Quaestiones et dubia]]'' ("Questions and Doubtful Passages")<ref name=":0" />
* ''[[Quaestiones ad Thalassium]]'' ("Questions Addressed to Thalassius")<ref name=":0" /><!-- – A lengthy exposition on various Scriptural texts. This was later translated by [[Eriugena]]. -->
* ''[[Questiones ad Theopemptum]]'' ("Questions Addressed to Theopemptus")<ref name=":2" />
* ''[[Testimonia et syllogismi]]'' ("Testimonies and Syllogisms")<ref name=":2" />

'''Attributed texts'''
* ''Scholia (Maximus the Confessor)'' – 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]].<ref>Cosmic liturgy: the universe according to Maximus the Confessor – Page 393 [[Hans Urs von Balthasar]] 1961 English translation 2003</ref>
* ''[[Life of the Virgin (Biography)|Life of the Virgin]]'' – earliest complete biography of Mary, the mother of Jesus.<ref>Stephen J. Shoemaker, trans., [http://yalepress.yale.edu/YupBooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300175042 ''Maximus the Confessor, The Life of the Virgin: Translated, with an Introduction and Notes''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522034014/http://yalepress.yale.edu/YupBooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300175042 |date=2012-05-22 }} (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012) ({{ISBN|0300175043}}); [http://commonwealmagazine.org/maximus%E2%80%99s-mary Maximus's Mary], by Sally Cuneen, ''Commonweal Magazine'', 4 December 2009</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title="A New Date-List of the Works of Maximus the Confessor" in The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor|author1=Jankowiak, M.|author2=Booth, P.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-19-967383-4|location=Oxford|pages=72–3}}</ref>

'''Collections'''
{{refbegin}}
*''Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality)''. Ed. George C. Berthold. Paulist Press, 1985. {{ISBN|0-8091-2659-1}}.
*''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. {{ISBN|0-88141-249-X}}.
*''St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic Life, The Four Centuries on Charity (Ancient Christian Writers)''. Ed. Polycarp Sherwood. Paulist Press, 1955. {{ISBN|0-8091-0258-7}}.
*''Maximus the Confessor (The Early Church Fathers)'' Intro. & Trans. Andrew Louth. Routledge, 1996. {{ISBN|0-415-11846-8}}
*''Maximus the Confessor and his Companions (Documents from Exile) (Oxford Early Christian Texts)''. Ed. and Trans. Pauline Allen, Bronwen Neil. Oxford University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-19-829991-5}}.
*''On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua: Volume I, Maximos the Confessor''. Ed. and Trans. Nicholas Constas. London: Harvard University Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-674-72666-6}}.
*''On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua: Volume II, Maximos the Confessor''. Ed. and Trans. Nicholas Constas. London: Harvard University Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-674-73083-0}}.
*''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. {{ISBN|978-0-571-15466-1}}.
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author1=Allen, Pauline |author-link1= Pauline Allen |author2=Neil, Bronwen |title=The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rHqBgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967383-4}}
*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. {{ISBN|0-89870-758-7}}.
*Cooper, Adam G. ''The body in St Maximus Confessor: Holy Flesh, Wholly Deified''. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford University Press, 2005.  {{ISBN|0-19-927570-X}}.
*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 (2012)[http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/view/13971/2771]
*Louth, Andrew. ''Maximus the Confessor''. The Early Church Fathers Series. Routledge, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0415118460}}.
*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. {{ISBN|960-7217-72-1}}.
*Mitralexis, Sotiris. ''[https://wipfandstock.com/ever-moving-repose.html Ever-Moving Repose: A Contemporary Reading of Maximus the Confessor's Theory of Time]''. Veritas. Cascade, 2017. {{ISBN|9781532607035}}.
*Mitralexis, Sotiris, Georgios Steiris, Marcin Podbielski, Sebastian Lalla. ''[https://wipfandstock.com/maximus-the-confessor-as-a-european-philosopher.html Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher]''  Veritas. Cascade, 2017. {{ISBN|9781498295581}}.
*Nichols, Aidan. ''Byzantine Gospel: Maximus the Confessor in Modern Scholarship''. T. & T. Clark Publishers, 1994. {{ISBN|0-567-09651-3}}.
* Hieromonk Artemije Radosavljević, Τὸ Μυστήριον τῆς Σωτηρίας κατὰ τὸν Ἅγιον Μάξιμον τὸν Ὁμολογητήν. Αθήνα, 1975. English version: Bishop Artemije Radosavljević [http://www.synodinresistance.org/pdfs/2009/03/26/20090326aGiatiEnsB7%20Folder/20090326aGiatiEnsB7.pdf 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... [The mystery of salvation according to St. Maximos the Confessor] (Athens: 1975), pp.&nbsp;180–196
*Thunberg, Lars. ''Microcosm and Mediator: The Theological Anthropology of Maximus the Confessor.'' Second Edition. Open Court, 1995. {{ISBN|0-8126-9211-X}}
*Tollefsen, Torstein Theodor. ''The Christocentric Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor''. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-19-923714-2}}.
*Törönen, Melchisedec. ''Union and Distinction in the Thought of Maximus the Confessor''. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0199296118}}
*{{cite book |last=Tympas |first=G. C. |date=2014 |title=Carl Jung and Maximus the Confessor on Psychic Development |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-62517-3 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|el|Μάξιμος ο Ομολογητής|Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής}}
* [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/maximus.asp Selected works] of Saint Maximus Confessor
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=St. Maximus of Constantinople}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070625134928/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm96.htm Maximus Confessor] in the Catholic Forum
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100249 Maximus Confessor] in the Orthodox Church in America
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_0580-0662-_Maximus_Confessor.html Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]
* [http://commonwealmagazine.org/maximus%E2%80%99s-mary Summary of Maximus' biography of Mary (mother of Jesus)] by Commonweal magazine
* [https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Maximus_the_Confessor Uploaded online academic papers on Maximus the Confessor]
* [https://www.academia.edu/12555165/A_New_Date-List_of_the_Works_of_Maximus_the_Confessor Marek Jankowiak, Phil Booth, A New Date-List of the Works of Maximus the Confessor]

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