Maximus the Confessor
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| Saint Maximus | |
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| Confessor, Theologian, Homologetes | |
| Born | c. 580, Constantinople or Palestine |
| Died | 13 August 662, exile in Georgia (Eurasia) |
| Venerated in | Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity |
| Canonized | pre-congregation |
| Feast | 13 August (Gregorian Calendar), 21 January or 13 August (Julian Calendar) |
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Saint Maximus the Confessor (also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus de Constantinople) (c. 580 – 13 August 662) was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he 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.
After moving to Carthage, Maximus studied several Neo-Platonist writers and became a prominent author. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported the Chalcedonian position that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. His positions eventually resulted in exile, soon after which he died. However, his theology was vindicated by the Third Council of Constantinople and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. His feast day is 13 August (or 21 January).
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[edit] Life
[edit] 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. Maximus was most likely born in Constantinople even though a biography written by his Maronite opponents has him born in Palestine.[1] Maximus was born into Byzantine nobility, as indicated by his position as the personal secretary to Heraclius.[2][3] For reasons unknown, Maximus left public life in 630, and took monastic vows at a monastery in Chrysopolis, a city across the Bosporus from Constantinople (also known as Scutari, the modern Turkish city of Üsküdar). In his years in Chrysopolis, Maximus was elevated to the position of Abbot of the monastery.[4]
When the Persian Empire 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 the Christological writings of Gregory of Nazianzus and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. It was also during his stay in Carthage that Maximus began his career as a theological and spiritual writer.[5] Maximus was also held in very high esteem by the exarch and the population as a holy man, ostensibly becoming an influential un-official political advisor and spiritual head in North Africa.
[edit] 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 to appease those whose Christology was declared heresy at Chalcedon. 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").
