Imitation, Knowledge, and the Task of Christology in Maximus the Confessor

Maximus the Confessor's career was turbulent, encompassing spiritual teaching, asceticism, contemplation, and Christological debate. Luke Steven's study explores how imitation is central to his knowledge, shaping his earlier ascetic and spiritual works and his later dogmatic Christological method. It provides a deep assessment of his forebears, insights into his thought, and an unprecedented focus on his rhetoric and method.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 231 pages
Publication date: 25 November 2021
Publisher: James Clarke & Co Ltd

Maximus the Confessor lived in a tumultuous historical era, engaging in doctrinal reflection and possessing a loud and influential voice that led him on a journey of traveling and writing throughout the Mediterranean. He was a multifaceted individual, serving as a spiritual teacher, ascetic, contemplative, polemicist, dogma creator, Christologian, and rhetorician. In this comprehensive study, Luke Steven explores the dual aspects of Maximus's life and writings, demonstrating how imitation plays a central role in his epistemology. This enduring philosophy is evident in his earlier ascetic and spiritual works and becomes particularly prominent in his later Christological writings, serving as the means by which he communicates, persuades, and brings people to understand and encounter Jesus Christ, who possesses both divine and human natures. This multifaceted study provides a deep assessment of Maximus's forebears, offers new insights into the underlying assumptions of his thought, and focuses on the rhetoric and method employed in his christological writings, making it an unprecedented exploration of his intellectual legacy.

ISBN-13: 9780227177525