St. Maximus the Confessor

[minasoliman]

Hello,

I'm very interested in Christological research, and one of the people I am interested in reading is St. Maximus the Confessor. I only read what he wrote about from monachos.net, but I would like to read his works himself.

Doing a simple bn or amazon search is not easy since I do not know what to buy among EO sources. What titles should I like for to read his material?

Thank you and God bless.

Xrictoc anecti!

 

[Maximus]

Hello,

I'm very interested in Christological research, and one of the people I am interested in reading is St. Maximus the Confessor. I only read what he wrote about from monachos.net, but I would like to read his works himself.

Doing a simple bn or amazon search is not easy since I do not know what to buy among EO sources. What titles should I like for to read his material?

Thank you and God bless.

Xrictoc anecti!

Sadly, a lot of St. Maximus' works exist only in Greek and have not yet been translated into English.

Here is a good one that may be just what you're looking for.

Here is another real good one.

 

[minasoliman]

Oh wow! Excellent!

Thank you very much.

God bless you.

 

[Maximus]

Oh wow! Excellent!

Thank you very much.

God bless you.

Glad to be of help.

God bless you, too.

 

[minasoliman]

Hey, I was just wondering.

I did an amazon search and I found this:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0571154662/qid=1121874638/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/103-2524139-4575811?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Philokalia Volume two...

Would it contain more of St. Maximus's Christological thoughts?

And are there any known efforts today in translating all his work to be added (for example) to the Early Church Fathers volumes, such as the Opuscula and the Ad Thalassia and his letters?

And has anyone read this:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/081269211X/ref=pd_rhf_p_4/103-2524139-4575811?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

Supposedly, I read in one source that this is the most known complete description of the thought and theology of St. Maximus.

God bless.

 

[Marjorie]

I strongly second the link that Maximus gave to On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ. That book blew my mind. St. Maximus, pray for us!

In IC XC,
Marjorie

 

[minasoliman]

Dear Marjorie,

Yes, indeed, it is a great book. I took Maximus' suggestion and got it. I also am looking forward to reading the Disputation with Pyrrhus as well.

But when I got that book, I was saddened that this is all they translated, and especially, then only provided for one Opusculum of St. Maximus, while wishing I can get my hands on the other Opuscula. So I'm trying to get more of St. Maximus' writings as possible or at least something that represents the fullness of his thought and theology.

I do like St. Maximus' meticulous writing style. He shows a true carefulness in teaching Orthodoxy and I find him well influenced from holy fathers of all backgrounds, and particularly interesting is the influence of my personal favorites, St. Athanasius and St. Cyril.

God bless.

 

[VickiY]

Search at St. Vladimir's Seminary bookstore website...

 

[prodromos]

Looks like you're just going to have to learn Greek

 

[prodromos]

BTW, there is such a vast amount of theological works available in Greek, I've heard it said that if it was translated there would never be a need for anyone else to write anything. There are people trying to get stuff translated but it requires a bit more than knowledge of Greek and English to adequately translate much of this material.

On another note, some of you will be pleased to know that volume 2 of Elder Cleopas, "The Truth of Our Faith" will be being published fairly soon. Peter Heers, who translated the first book, is now Fr Peter Heers and consequently has many more duties which don't allow him the freedom to spend time translating as he would wish. Thankfully he has been able to distribute some of the workload to other volunteers.

John

 

[Maximus]

minasoliman -

It might interest you to know that St. Maximus the Confessor wrote works countering the views of Severus of Antioch, whom St. Maximus considered the original fount of the Monothelite controversy (although Severus died in the early days of it).

I am preparing to move across country, and all my books are currently packed in boxes, so I cannot give you anything more than that.

A good general treatment of St. Maximus' works is The Cosmic Liturgy:The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor.

 

[minasoliman]

Dear Maximus,

I realize that St. Maximus opposed St. Severus, although I come to see based on reading both their works and some secondary sources on the essence of their theologies that they seem to be saying the same thing.

I even read that St. Maximus defended St. Dionysius's "theandric will" and even had some monergistic tendencies in the book "On the Cosmic Mystery."

Thank you for the suggestion on the book.

God bless you.

 

[Maximus]

Dear Maximus,

I realize that St. Maximus opposed St. Severus, although I come to see based on reading both their works and some secondary sources on the essence of their theologies that they seem to be saying the same thing.

I even read that St. Maximus defended St. Dionysius's "theandric will" and even had some monergistic tendencies in the book "On the Cosmic Mystery."

Thank you for the suggestion on the book.

God bless you.

I'm sure you are also aware that we do not regard Severus as a saint. In fact, he was anathematized by the Orthodox Fathers at more than one ecumenical council.

To speak of St. Maximus as having "monergistic[sic] tendencies" is libelous and unjustified.

Evidently St. Maximus did not think he and Severus were "saying the same thing."

 

[minasoliman]

Sigh! Yes, I'm very aware.

Thank you for stressing that fact.

God bless.

 

[choirfiend]

Oh please, use some respect when addressing each other, which could include using the terms of respect that one would use with the others's saints. We're not in the habit of writing just "Francis of Assisi." You dont have to recognize one to be respectful. You two are the only ones who seem to be enthralled with debate between the traditions, so why dont you take it somewhere else? Go to the "Arena," whatever that is. I, for one, am sick of seeing "monophysite" no matter where it is.

 

[Maximus]

Sigh! Yes, I'm very aware.

Thank you for stressing that fact.

God bless.

I would do the same if a Nestorian appeared and made a reference to "St. Nestorius."

 

[Marjorie]

Oh please, use some respect when addressing each other, which could include using the terms of respect that one would use with the others's saints. We're not in the habit of writing just "Francis of Assisi."

Well... that is a bit of a different case, as St. Francis was never anathematized by an Orthodox council. But I agree that respect should be used.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

 

[Maximus]

Oh please, use some respect when addressing each other, which could include using the terms of respect that one would use with the others's saints. We're not in the habit of writing just "Francis of Assisi." You dont have to recognize one to be respectful. You two are the only ones who seem to be enthralled with debate between the traditions, so why dont you take it somewhere else? Go to the "Arena," whatever that is. I, for one, am sick of seeing "monophysite" no matter where it is.

I guess you have a problem with the Orthodox Fathers, then.

Francis of Assisi has never been anathematized by an ecumenical council, nor did he spend his time arguing and proselytizing for a dangerous error.

If you had been in this forum a bit longer, you would know that it is regularly subject to argumentative posts from Non-Chalcedonians.

I would also suggest that if you do not like such exchanges, avoid threads in which they occur.

You might also try following your own generous advice.

 

[Maximus]

Well... that is a bit of a different case, as St. Francis was never anathematized by an Orthodox council. But I agree that respect should be used.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

Respect does not include referring to Severus of Antioch as a saint.

That is not respect; it is prevarication.

 

[Marjorie]

Respect does not inlcude referring to Severus of Antioch as a saint.

That is not respect; it is prevarication.

That's what I was saying. Unlike St. Francis, Severus was condemned by a council so we should not call him a saint. But respect for other human beings should be used. I wasn't criticizing you, just making a distinction in response to what choirfiend said.

In IC XC,
Marjorie