A Patristic Synthesis of the Word Enfleshed: The Christology of Maximus the Confessor

St. Maximus the Confessor (580–662) stands out among the Church Fathers as one of the last Christological martyrs. Maximus possessed one of the greatest minds of the Church’s first millennium. The greatest strength of Maximus’s Christology is that he presents a synthesis of all Christological contributions known to him while developing his own Christology of union in distinction. In order to flesh out his system of Christology, this essay works primarily with select works of Maximus’s, namely, the Small Theological and Polemical Works (Opuscula), the Ambigua, the Questions to Thalassius, and the Mystagogy. It will demonstrate that Maximus’s Christology bears the following four predominant signatures: it is patristic, Incarnational, composite, and cosmic. All four features are interrelated, particularly in Maximus’s theory of the λόγοι (logology), and all four hold significant sway over the whole of his doctrine. The essay concludes with a brief consideration of how the Ressourcement movement has benefitted Maximian studies.