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Theologian · Patristic

St. Maximus the Confessor

c. 580–662 · Byzantine theology (Chalcedonian synthesis)

Saint Byzantine

Confessor; his tongue and right hand were cut off for refusing Monothelitism; feast 13 August (West) and 21 January (East).

Imperial secretary turned monk, who with Pope St. Martin I defended the two wills of Christ against the emperor's Monothelite compromise and died in exile for it. His Ambigua, Chapters on Love and Mystagogy weave Dionysius, the Cappadocians and Chalcedon into a cosmic vision: all things created through their logoi in the Logos, man as the priest who unites the divisions of the world, Christ's human will freely consenting to the Father, and deification as the end of creation.

Why he matters: The Third Council of Constantinople (681) vindicated him; he is the greatest Byzantine theologian, the East's answer to Origenism, a witness to the Roman primacy, and the Father in whom East and West most clearly meet (he even reconciled the Filioque language of Rome with the Greek tradition).

Reading

  • The Four Hundred Chapters on Love
    St. Maximus the Confessor · Begin here; in the Philokalia and the Classics of Western Spirituality.
    Journal
  • The Church's Mystagogy
    St. Maximus the Confessor · What the Liturgy means.
    Journal
  • Maximus the Confessor
    Andrew Louth · Introduction with translations of key Ambigua.
    Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error
I

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology
Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology
How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing
Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing
Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes
Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes
Do natures and essences really exist? Realism
Nominalism Realism
God's essence and His energies Essence–energies distinction
Essence–energies distinction Absolute simplicity
How should we speak of God? Apophatic (negative) way
Apophatic (negative) way Cataphatic (analogical) way
Is 'being' said of God and of creatures in the same sense? Analogy of being
Analogy of being Univocity of being
How does creation speak of God? A book of signs and vestiges
Natures studied in their own right A book of signs and vestiges
II

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Between
Rationalism Fideism
Where does knowledge begin? Illumination and innate ideas
Senses and abstraction Illumination and innate ideas
Is truth objective? Objective truth
Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth
Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium
Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium
How should Scripture be read? Critical reductionism
Critical reductionism Fundamentalist literalism
What is theology for? A wisdom ordered to loving
A science ordered to knowing A wisdom ordered to loving
Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized
A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized
III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul
Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul
Is the body really you? Body–soul unity
Dualism Body–soul unity
Are you free? Free will
Determinism Free will
How fallen is human nature? Basically good
Totally depraved Basically good
Does nature desire God? Natural desire for the vision of God
Pure nature Natural desire for the vision of God
The body and its desires Contempt for the flesh
Contempt for the flesh Desire as its own law
Marriage, sex and the body's meaning Given by nature and grace
Given by nature and grace Defined by consent and identity
What is suffering for? A share in the Cross
An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross
IV

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law
Relativism Natural law
Why is the good good? Eternal law (intellectualism)
Divine command (voluntarism) Eternal law (intellectualism)
Are some acts always wrong? Intrinsically evil acts
Consequentialism Intrinsically evil acts
Rules or character? Morality of virtue and beatitude
Morality of obligation Morality of virtue and beatitude
What is conscience? Conscience bound to truth
Autonomous conscience Conscience bound to truth
In doubtful cases Rigorism
Rigorism Laxism
What is happiness? Beatitude in God
Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God
What is heaven's happiness, at its heart? The will's love and enjoyment of God
The intellect's vision of God The will's love and enjoyment of God
V

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How does grace move the will? Molinist
Thomist (Bañezian) Molinist
How are we made right with God? Infused, transforming grace
Forensic imputation Infused, transforming grace
What is salvation for? Deification
Pardon and escape Deification
Hell and hope Between
The many are lost All will be saved
Would the Word have become flesh had Adam not sinned? Christ was willed first (absolute primacy)
Christ came to redeem sinners Christ was willed first (absolute primacy)
Where does your eye rest in Christ: His divinity or His humanity? The eternal Word made flesh
The eternal Word made flesh The man Jesus of Nazareth
VI

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Church and state Social kingship of Christ
Laicism Social kingship of Christ
Where does authority come from? Authority from God
Social contract Authority from God
Reform or tradition? Guided by tradition
Remake by reason Guided by tradition
May a Christian take up the sword? Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence
Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty
VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

Liturgical development Receive and develop organically
Reconstruct and innovate Receive and develop organically
Icons and images Veneration of images
Iconoclasm Veneration of images
The way of prayer Stillness and the Jesus Prayer
Stillness and the Jesus Prayer Discursive meditation
The procession of the Holy Spirit Between
From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
The office of Peter Universal and immediate primacy
Conciliarism Universal and immediate primacy
What do the sacraments do? Efficacious ex opere operato
Signs only Efficacious ex opere operato
When the Pope speaks Every word binds
Resist and judge Every word binds
What are the Eastern Catholic Churches? Sister Churches with their own rights and theology
Rites of the one Roman Church Sister Churches with their own rights and theology
Contemplation or action? Contemplation: the one thing needful
Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy Contemplation: the one thing needful

A profile of your philosophical and theological leanings, measured against the settled teaching of the Catholic Church, East and West. It is a tool for examination and reading, not an instrument of judgment.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.