Theological Term of the Week: Maximus the Confessor

Maximus the Confessor
A Greek monk and father of the Eastern church who was persecuted for his opposition the false view of Monothelites, who taught that Jesus had only one will. He lived from 673–735.1

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 356: 

Why did [Maximus] get so worked up about [the Monothelite position]? The answer actually lies in his overwhelming concern for the doctrine of salvation. The human will, Maximus pointed out, is the source of sin, the very seat of our corruption that needs to be rescued, sanctified and healed. Therefore, if there is to be salvation for our fallen wills, the Son of God had to take up a human will into Himself in the incarnation. The only way our wills can become holy is by receiving holiness from the perfectly holy human will of Christ the God-man. But the Monotheletes were saying that Christ has no human will. Where, then, asked Maximus, does the sanctification of our sinful wills come from? .  .  . It is essential to our salvation, Maximus insisted, that the divine person of the Logos took up a human will … .

Learn more:

1. Ligonier Ministries: The Lone Monk
2. 5 Minutes in Church History: Maximus the Confessor
3. Christian History: Eastern Orthodoxy: A Gallery of Impact Pray-ers (The second section features Maximus the Confessor.) 

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Columba
• Cyril of Alexandria
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory the Great
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Origen
• Patrick
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian
• Venerable Bede, The

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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