Daniel Haynes (ed.), A Saint for East and West.

Maximus the Confessor's

Contribution to Eastern and Western Christian Theology, Andrew Louth
(introd.). Eugene, OR, Cascade Books 2019, 308 p., paperback, ISBN: 978-1-
62032-200-0.

The literature on Maximus the Confessor seems to have doubled in volume

over the past few years. The creative work of this outstanding author of the post-
Chalcedonian era has proved to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration for
researchers. Although Maxim's literary heritage is relatively small (two volumes in
Migne's Patrologia Graeca) and for a long time his works were known only as part
of various anthologies, in the twentieth century this author was rediscovered and
recognized as perhaps the greatest thinker of Byzantium.
The collection A Saint for East and West. Maximus the Confessor's
Contribution to Eastern and Western Christian Theology is the materials of a
seminar held as part of the XVI International Conference on Patristic Studies at the
Oxford University (9-11 August 2011) and is called the same as the seminar was
called.
The publication of the book from the seminar is eight years away. This
incredibly long period is the main drawback of the collection, which, however, is
more than redeemed by the magnificent pleiad of authors. Nevertheless, over the
course of eight years, many new works on Maxim have appeared, including the
collection`s authors, but this fact, with rare exceptions, was left without the
attention of the compiler of the bibliography. Misprints and/or the absence of
diacritics in Greek quotations are also frequent, which could have been avoided
with more careful editorial work.

The collection opens with a foreword by publisher Daniel Haynes, an

introduction by Andrew Louth, followed by three parts (I. Reception and Influence
(chapters 1-3); II. Anthropology, Christology, and Spirituality (chapters 4-7); III.
Ontology and Metaphysics (chapters 8-14), where each chapter belongs to a
separate author. Most of the chapters/acticles are devoted to the philosophical
problems considered by Maxim: issues of moral philosophy and the concept of
will, logic, understanding the relationship between God and the cosmos.
1. An article by Adrian Guiu (3-30) examines the influence of Maxim's
thought on John Eriugena. In particular, Guiu believes that the fivefold divisions of
being (described, in particular, in the Timothy Ware's article on page 71), proposed
by the Confessor in Ambig. 41, formed the basis for Eriugena's Periphyseon.
2. Edward Siecienski (31-49) again raises questions that have been discussed
in detail by Jean-Claude Larchet and others, namely the relationship of Maximus
to the filioque and the papal primacy. Unlike his predecessors, Siecienski believes
that the reverence with which Maximus relates to the Holy See is explained by the
fact that in the era of dominant Monothelitism, Rome managed to preserve
Orthodoxy, which earned the respect of the Confessor.
3. Christophe Erismann (50-65) views Maximus as a philosopher and
theologian and emphasizes the importance of his work in the history of logic in
early Byzantine philosophy. The author pays special attention to the issue of
universals, considering two theories of Maxim: 1) theory of logoi: 2) theory of
universals properly speaking. Since the former has already been studied in detail
by Torstein Tollefsen, Erismann focuses on the latter, in which universals are
ontologically dependent on the particular, as well as the influence that Maximus
had on subsequent theological thought of Byzantium, in particular on John
Damascus.
4. In the article Timothy Kallistos (Ware) (69-84), dedicated to the imitation
of Christ according to Maximus the Confessor, are examined such key terms for
understanding the theology of Maximus as imitation (μίμησις), kenosis (κένωσις),
as well as the concept of endless progress developed by Gregory of Nyssa
( ἐπέκτασις). The goal of imitation is to achieve "an ever-moving stability"
(ἀεικίνητος στάσις is the term of Maxim himself).
5. Adam Cooper (85-101), using the example of Maxim's interpretation of
the Gethsemane Prayer, examines his doctrine of freedom of choice, focusing on
the controversy with Livio Melina.
6. David Bradshow (102-114) also raises the issue of will, examining all the
nuances that describe the act of will and how we make choices. The author points
to the dependence of Maximus on Aristotle and Nemesius of Emesa, and also
describes innovations introduced by Maxim in the context of the dispute with the
Monothelites, such as the distinction between natural and gnomic will.
7. Luis Granados (115-133) examines the Christology of Maximus in a
pneumatological aspect and points to the key term describing the relationship of
the Persons of the Trinity – synergy.
8. Melchisedec Törönen (137-141), in his very short article, points out the
reasons why the metaphysics of Maximus cannot be equated with neoplatonic
metaphysics.
9. Rowan Williams (142-148), arguing with Nikolaos Loudovikos and
Christoph Schneider about the ontology of Maxim, pays special attention to the
concept of eros.
10. John Milblank (149-203) in the most voluminous article in the collection
describes the relationship of Christianity with (neo)Platonism and, in discussions
with Rowan Williams and David Bradshow, comes to the paradoxical conclusion
that Thomas Aquinas turned out to be more Byzantine than Gregory Palamas in
distinguishing divine energies/activities.
11. Nikolaos Loudovikos (204-222) continues the comparison of the
theology of Maximus the Confessor and Thomas Aquinas again in the context of
distinguishing between divine logoi and actions.
12. The article by Torstein Tollefsen (223-230) is devoted to the question of
exactly how deification occurs, which of the twelve types of unity is most suitable
for describing how exactly a person becomes one with God.
13. Vladimir Cvetković (231-244) speaks of three ways of participating in
divine being: participation in logoi, participation in the Church as the body of
Christ, and participation in God through likeness.
 14. According to Joshua Lollar (245-259), the culmination of philosophy for
Maxim is natural contemplation: "to partake of the world in natural contemplation
is to partake of Christ, and to partake of Christ is to partake of the substance of all
things".
Since most of the authors are not only personally acquainted with each other,
but also thoroughly read the work of colleagues, a transcript of its discussion at the
seminar would be a good addition to each article. However, the implementation of
this idea could postpone the publication of the book for several more years.