St. Maximus the Confessor's "Questions and Doubts"

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Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501755358
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis St. Maximus the Confessor's "Questions and Doubts" by : Saint Maximus the Confessor

Download or read book St. Maximus the Confessor's "Questions and Doubts" written by Saint Maximus the Confessor and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-15 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despina D. Prassas's translation of the Quaestiones et Dubia presents for the first time in English one of the Confessor's most significant contributions to early Christian biblical interpretation. Maximus the Confessor (580–662) was a monk whose writings focused on ascetical interpretations of biblical and patristic works. For his refusal to accept the Monothelite position supported by Emperor Constans II, he was tried as a heretic, his right hand was cut off, and his tongue was cut out. In his work, Maximus the Confessor brings together the patristic exegetical aporiai tradition and the spiritual-pedagogical tradition of monastic questions and responses. The overarching theme is the importance of the ascetical life. For Maximus, askesis is a lifelong endeavor that consists of the struggle and discipline to maintain control over the passions. One engages in the ascetical life by taking part in both theoria (contemplation) and praxis (action). To convey this teaching, Maximus uses a number of pedagogical tools including allegory, etymology, number symbolism, and military terminology. Prassas provides a rich historical and contextual background in her introduction to help ground and familiarize the reader with this work.

The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor

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Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191655252
Total Pages : 600 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor by : Pauline Allen

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor written by Pauline Allen and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662) has become one of the most discussed figures in contemporary patristic studies. This is partly due to the relatively recent discovery and critical edition of his works in various genres, including On the Ascetic Life, Four Centuries on Charity, Two Centuries on Theology and the Incarnation, On the 'Our Father', two separate Books of Difficulties, addressed to John and to Thomas, Questions and Doubts, Questions to Thalassius, Mystagogy and the Short Theological and Polemical Works. The impact of these works reached far beyond the Greek East, with his involvement in the western resistance to imperial heresy, notably at the Lateran Synod in 649. Together with Pope Martin I (649-53 CE), Maximus the Confessor and his circle were the most vocal opponents of Constantinople's introduction of the doctrine of monothelitism. This dispute over the number of wills in Christ became a contest between the imperial government and church of Constantinople on the one hand, and the bishop of Rome in concert with eastern monks such as Maximus, John Moschus, and Sophronius, on the other, over the right to define orthodoxy. An understanding of the difficult relations between church and state in this troubled period at the close of Late Antiquity is necessary for a full appreciation of Maximus' contribution to this controversy. The editors of this volume aim to provide the political and historical background to Maximus' activities, as well as a summary of his achievements in the spheres of theology and philosophy, especially neo-Platonism and Aristotelianism.

Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher

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Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1498295584
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (982 download)

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Book Synopsis Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher by : Sotiris Mitralexis

Download or read book Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher written by Sotiris Mitralexis and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-09-18 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of Maximus the Confessor’s thought has flourished in recent years: international conferences, publications and articles, new critical editions and translations mark a torrent of interest in the work and influence of perhaps the most sublime of the Byzantine Church Fathers. It has been repeatedly stated that the Confessor’s thought is of eminently philosophical interest. However, no dedicated collective scholarly engagement with Maximus the Confessor as a philosopher has taken place—and this volume attempts to start such a discussion. Apart from Maximus’ relevance and importance for philosophy in general, a second question arises: should towering figures of Byzantine philosophy like Maximus the Confessor be included in an overview of the European history of philosophy, or rather excluded from it—as is the case today with most histories of European philosophy? Maximus’ philosophy challenges our understanding of what European philosophy is. In this volume, we begin to address these issues and examine numerous aspects of Maximus’ philosophy—thereby also stressing the interdisciplinary character of Maximian studies. Contributors include: Fr. Maximos Constas, Justin Shaun Coyle, Vladimir Cvetković, Natalie Depraz, Demetrios Harper, Michael Harrington, Georgi Kapriev, Karolina Kochańczyk-Bonińska, Nicholas Loudovikos, Andrew Louth, John Panteleimon Manoussakis, Michail Mantzanas, Smilen Markov, Sotiris Mitralexis, Marcin Podbielski, Dionysios Skliris, Georgios Steiris, Stoyan Tanev, Torstein Theodor Tollefsen, Jordan Daniel Wood

The Christocentric Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor

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Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191608068
Total Pages : 254 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

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Book Synopsis The Christocentric Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor by : Torstein Tollefsen

Download or read book The Christocentric Cosmology of St Maximus the Confessor written by Torstein Tollefsen and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-08-07 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: St. Maximus the Confessor (580-662), was a major Byzantine thinker, a theologian and philosopher. He developed a philosophical theology in which the doctrine of God, creation, the cosmic order, and salvation is integrated in a unified conception of reality. Christ, the divine Logos, is the centre of the principles (the logoi ) according to which the cosmos is created, and in accordance with which it shall convert to its divine source. Torstein Tollefsen treats Maximus' thought from a philosophical point of view, and discusses similar thought patterns in pagan Neoplatonism. The study focuses on Maximus' doctrine of creation, in which he denies the possibility of eternal coexistence of uncreated divinity and created and limited being. Tollefsen shows that by the logoi God institutes an ordered cosmos in which separate entities of different species are ontologically interrelated, with man as the centre of the created world. The book also investigates Maximus' teaching of God's activities or energies, and shows how participation in these energies is conceived according to the divine principles of the logoi. An extensive discussion of the complex topic of participation is provided.

St. Maximus the Confessor

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781684931743
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (317 download)

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Book Synopsis St. Maximus the Confessor by : St Maximus the Confessor

Download or read book St. Maximus the Confessor written by St Maximus the Confessor and published by . This book was released on 2023-10-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: St. Maximus the Confessor (1955) is a collection of theological works by the 1st-century monk St. Maximus, as well as interpretation by Polycarp Sherwood, an American Benedictine scholar from the 20th century. Including both The Ascetic Life and The Four Centuries on Charity by St. Maximus, as well as detailed research into the life and beliefs of the monk by Sherwood, this work includes both source material and commentary. The work begins with Life by Sherwood, a deep exploration into the life and theistic beliefs of St. Maximus. Born in 580 CE, Maximus enjoyed an education that prepared him for imperial service. He fulfilled this goal early in his career, serving as first secretary to the Byzantine emperor Heraclius. But he soon withdrew to monastic asceticism at Chrysopolis, seeking a routine of solitude and thought. Throughout his life, he traveled across the Byzantine Empire, including present-day Turkey, Crete, and parts of Africa, clarifying his position on important theological issues and writing his many works. Eventually, he was drawn into one of the great Christian controversies of the day-the nature of Christ's will. Maximus supported the Chalcedonian interpretation, which stated that Christ had both a human and a divine will. This was in contrast to the Monothelite position, accepted as canon at the time, which held that Christ had both a divine and human nature, but only a divine will. For this belief, Maximus was persecuted. Eventually, his tongue was cut out and his right hand cut off, so he could no longer speak or write his "heresy." He was then exiled to modern-day Georgia, where he died after just a few weeks. He was soon after vindicated and his position was upheld by the Third Council of Constantinople just 18 years after his death. It wasn't long before he was venerated as a saint. The next section, Doctrine, is also by Sherwood, and it explores St. Maximus' views on the nature of God as "goodness itself," the nature of man as a composite of body and soul, and on the salvation and deification of man through the works of Christ and asceticism. Next, we reach the works of St. Maximus himself. The first, The Ascetic Life, is a question-and-answer book in which a young brother asks an old wise man about the Christian life and the nature of Christ. In the old man's simple words, "...the purpose of the Lord's becoming man was our salvation." The old man answers the young brother's questions about the nature of Christian love, forsaking attachment to the worldly, and how to devote oneself entirely to God. Finally, the book concludes with The Four Centuries on Charity, also by St. Maximus. This collection of aphorisms is organized into four separate "centuries," or collections of one hundred. Kept short to aid in memorization and providing subjects for prayer, these sayings were presented to a Father Elpidius for his reading and benefit. The sayings range from the simple ("Happy is the man who is able to love all men equally") to the more complex ("Of the passions, it happens that some belong to the irascible, some to the concupiscible part of the soul. But both are moved by means of the senses.") Through study and prayer, St. Maximus hoped that these aphorisms would help the reader to live a Christ-like charity and grow closer to God. A work for study and reflection, this collection of St. Maximus' writings and Polycarp Sherwood's research and interpretation illuminates the beauty of God's love and the peace of a life of charity and forgiveness.

Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher

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Author :
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1498295592
Total Pages : 415 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (982 download)

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Book Synopsis Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher by : Sotiris Mitralexis

Download or read book Maximus the Confessor as a European Philosopher written by Sotiris Mitralexis and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-09-18 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of Maximus the Confessor's thought has flourished in recent years: international conferences, publications and articles, new critical editions and translations mark a torrent of interest in the work and influence of perhaps the most sublime of the Byzantine Church Fathers. It has been repeatedly stated that the Confessor's thought is of eminently philosophical interest. However, no dedicated collective scholarly engagement with Maximus the Confessor as a philosopher has taken place--and this volume attempts to start such a discussion. Apart from Maximus' relevance and importance for philosophy in general, a second question arises: should towering figures of Byzantine philosophy like Maximus the Confessor be included in an overview of the European history of philosophy, or rather excluded from it--as is the case today with most histories of European philosophy? Maximus' philosophy challenges our understanding of what European philosophy is. In this volume, we begin to address these issues and examine numerous aspects of Maximus' philosophy--thereby also stressing the interdisciplinary character of Maximian studies.

The Filioque

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195372042
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis The Filioque by : A. Edward Siecienski

Download or read book The Filioque written by A. Edward Siecienski and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-03 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ed Siecinski examines how the Church has viewed the procession of the Holy Spirit throughout its history, beginning with the Trinitarian controversies of the early Christian centuries. The first comprehensive study of the key controversy separating the Eastern and Western churches.

Maximus the Confessor

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199673942
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (996 download)

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Book Synopsis Maximus the Confessor by : Paul M. Blowers

Download or read book Maximus the Confessor written by Paul M. Blowers and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study contextualizes the achievement of a strategically crucial figure in Byzantium's turbulent seventh century, the monk and theologian Maximus the Confessor (580-662). Building on newer biographical research and a growing international body of scholarship, as well as on fresh examination of his diverse literary corpus, Paul Blowers develops a profile integrating the two principal initiatives of Maximus's career: first, his reinterpretation of the christocentric economy of creation and salvation as a framework for expounding the spiritual and ascetical life of monastic and non-monastic Christians; and second, his intensifying public involvement in the last phase of the ancient christological debates, the monothelete controversy, wherein Maximus helped lead an East-West coalition against Byzantine imperial attempts doctrinally to limit Jesus Christ to a single (divine) activity and will devoid of properly human volition. Blowers identifies what he terms Maximus's "cosmo-politeian" worldview, a contemplative and ascetical vision of the participation of all created beings in the novel politeia, or reordered existence, inaugurated by Christ's "new theandric energy." Maximus ultimately insinuated his teaching on the christoformity and cruciformity of the human vocation with his rigorous explication of the precise constitution of Christ's own composite person. In outlining this cosmo-politeian theory, Blowers additionally sets forth a "theo-dramatic" reading of Maximus, inspired by Hans Urs von Balthasar, which depicts the motion of creation and history according to the christocentric "plot" or interplay of divine and creaturely freedoms. Blowers also amplifies how Maximus's cumulative achievement challenged imperial ideology in the seventh century-- the repercussions of which cost him his life -- and how it generated multiple recontextualizations in the later history of theology.

The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor

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Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191655260
Total Pages : 600 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor by : Pauline Allen

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor written by Pauline Allen and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662) has become one of the most discussed figures in contemporary patristic studies. This is partly due to the relatively recent discovery and critical edition of his works in various genres, including On the Ascetic Life, Four Centuries on Charity, Two Centuries on Theology and the Incarnation, On the 'Our Father', two separate Books of Difficulties, addressed to John and to Thomas, Questions and Doubts, Questions to Thalassius, Mystagogy and the Short Theological and Polemical Works. The impact of these works reached far beyond the Greek East, with his involvement in the western resistance to imperial heresy, notably at the Lateran Synod in 649. Together with Pope Martin I (649-53 CE), Maximus the Confessor and his circle were the most vocal opponents of Constantinople's introduction of the doctrine of monothelitism. This dispute over the number of wills in Christ became a contest between the imperial government and church of Constantinople on the one hand, and the bishop of Rome in concert with eastern monks such as Maximus, John Moschus, and Sophronius, on the other, over the right to define orthodoxy. An understanding of the difficult relations between church and state in this troubled period at the close of Late Antiquity is necessary for a full appreciation of Maximus' contribution to this controversy. The volume provides the political and historical background to Maximus' activities, as well as a summary of his achievements in the spheres of theology and philosophy, especially neo-Platonism and Aristotelianism.

Maximus the Confessor

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191068802
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Maximus the Confessor by : Paul M. Blowers

Download or read book Maximus the Confessor written by Paul M. Blowers and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-04 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study contextualizes the achievement of a strategically crucial figure in Byzantium's turbulent seventh century, the monk and theologian Maximus the Confessor (580-662). Building on newer biographical research and a growing international body of scholarship, as well as on fresh examination of his diverse literary corpus, Paul Blowers develops a profile integrating the two principal initiatives of Maximus's career: first, his reinterpretation of the christocentric economy of creation and salvation as a framework for expounding the spiritual and ascetical life of monastic and non-monastic Christians; and second, his intensifying public involvement in the last phase of the ancient christological debates, the monothelete controversy, wherein Maximus helped lead an East-West coalition against Byzantine imperial attempts doctrinally to limit Jesus Christ to a single (divine) activity and will devoid of properly human volition. Blowers identifies what he terms Maximus's "cosmo-politeian" worldview, a contemplative and ascetical vision of the participation of all created beings in the novel politeia, or reordered existence, inaugurated by Christ's "new theandric energy". Maximus ultimately insinuated his teaching on the christoformity and cruciformity of the human vocation with his rigorous explication of the precise constitution of Christ's own composite person. In outlining this cosmo-politeian theory, Blowers additionally sets forth a "theo-dramatic" reading of Maximus, inspired by Hans Urs von Balthasar, which depicts the motion of creation and history according to the christocentric "plot" or interplay of divine and creaturely freedoms. Blowers also amplifies how Maximus's cumulative achievement challenged imperial ideology in the seventh century—the repercussions of which cost him his life-and how it generated multiple recontextualizations in the later history of theology.

A Eucharistic Ontology

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781935317081
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis A Eucharistic Ontology by : Nikolaos Loudovikos

Download or read book A Eucharistic Ontology written by Nikolaos Loudovikos and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Ascetic Life

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Publisher : Paulist Press
ISBN 13 : 9780809102587
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (25 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ascetic Life by : Saint Maximus (Confessor)

Download or read book The Ascetic Life written by Saint Maximus (Confessor) and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1955 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ascetic Life is a dialogue between a young novice and an old monk on how to achieve the Christian life. The Four Centuries is a collection of aphorisms.

The Oxford Handbook of Dionysius the Areopagite

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192538802
Total Pages : 753 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (925 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Dionysius the Areopagite by : Mark Edwards

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Dionysius the Areopagite written by Mark Edwards and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-02-25 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Handbook contains forty essays by an international team of experts on the antecedents, the content, and the reception of the Dionysian corpus, a body of writings falsely ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of St Paul, but actually written about 500 AD. The first section contains discussions of the genesis of the corpus, its Christian antecedents, and its Neoplatonic influences. In the second section, studies on the Syriac reception, the relation of the Syriac to the original Greek, and the editing of the Greek by John of Scythopolis are followed by contributions on the use of the corpus in such Byzantine authors as Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite, Niketas Stethatos, Gregory Palamas, and Gemistus Pletho. In the third section attention turns to the Western tradition, represented first by the translators John Scotus Eriugena, John Sarracenus, and Robert Grosseteste and then by such readers as the Victorines, the early Franciscans, Albert the Great, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Dante, the English mystics, Nicholas of Cusa, and Marsilio Ficino. The contributors to the final section survey the effect on Western readers of Lorenzo Valla's proof of the inauthenticity of the corpus and the subsequent exposure of its dependence on Proclus by Koch and Stiglmayr. The authors studied in this section include Erasmus, Luther and his followers, Vladimir Lossky, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Jacques Derrida, as well as modern thinkers of the Greek Church. Essays on Dionysius as a mystic and a political theologian conclude the volume.

Ever-Moving Repose

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Author :
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN 13 : 0227176847
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (271 download)

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Book Synopsis Ever-Moving Repose by : Sotiris Mitralexis

Download or read book Ever-Moving Repose written by Sotiris Mitralexis and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sotiris Mitralexis offers a contemporary look at Maximus the Confessor’s (580–662 CE) understanding of temporality, logoi, and deification, through the perspective of contemporary philosopher and theologian Christos Yannaras, as well as John Zizioulas and Nicholas Loudovikos. Mitralexis argues that Maximus possesses both a unique theological ontology and a unique threefold theory of temporality: time, the Aeon, and the radical transformation of temporality and motion in an ever-moving repose. With these three distinct modes of temporality, a Maximian theory of time can be reconstructed, which can be approached via his teaching on the logoi and deification. In this theory, time is not merely measuring ontological motion, but is more particularly measuring a relationship, the consummation of which effects the transformation of time into a dimensionless present devoid of temporal, spatial, and generally ontological distance — thereby manifesting a perfect communion-in-otherness. In examining Maximian temporality, the book is not focussing on only one aspect of Maximus’ comprehensive Weltanschauung, but looks at the Maximian vision as a whole through the lens of temporality and motion.

Maximus Confessor

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Author :
Publisher : Paulist Press
ISBN 13 : 9780809126590
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (265 download)

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Book Synopsis Maximus Confessor by : Saint Maximus (Confessor)

Download or read book Maximus Confessor written by Saint Maximus (Confessor) and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1985 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume includes a translation of four spiritual treatises of Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), plus an account of his trial. Included are The Four Hundred Chapters of Love, Commentary on the Lord's Prayer, Chapters on Knowledge, The Church's Mystagogy, and Trial of Maximus.

God's Many-Splendored Image

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Author :
Publisher : Baker Academic
ISBN 13 : 080103471X
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis God's Many-Splendored Image by : Verna E. F. Harrison

Download or read book God's Many-Splendored Image written by Verna E. F. Harrison and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2010-06 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fresh approach to theological anthropology applies patristic wisdom to contemporary discussions of what it means to be human.

The Unity of Christ

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Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300183267
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis The Unity of Christ by : Christopher A. Beeley

Download or read book The Unity of Christ written by Christopher A. Beeley and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-25 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No period of history was more formative for the development of Christianity than the patristic age, when church leaders, monks, and laity established the standard features of Christianity as we know it today. Combining historical and theological analysis, Christopher Beeley presents a detailed and far-reaching account of how key theologians and church councils understood the most central element of their faith, the identity and significance of Jesus Christ. Focusing particularly on the question of how Christ can be both human and divine and reassessing both officially orthodox and heretical figures, Beeley traces how an authoritative theological tradition was constructed. His book holds major implications for contemporary theology, church history, and ecumenical discussions, and it is bound to revolutionize the way in which patristic tradition is understood.