On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ: Selected Writings from St. Maximus the Confessor (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press "Popular Patristics" Series) Paperback – December 31, 2003

I am new to Maximus the Confessor and so I’ll just say that his writings are complex, beautiful, and sometimes crazy. I have really been challenged by this book, especially Ambiguum 7, and honestly, I’ve had to seek guidance in prayer on these writings. I don’t mean that in a negative way, just wanting to be guided to truthfulness. The introduction is fairly helpful, if not completely necessary, and pay attention to the footnotes for some commentary.

For St Maximus the cosmic mystery of Jesus Christ is nothing less than the deification of the cosmos. St Maximus will develop this argument with the Logos/logoi construction. In other words, the principles of creation (e.g., logoi) find their arche, their unifying principle in the Person of Jesus Christ. They participate proportionally in God (54).The larger argument of this work is a running commentary on St Gregory of Nazianzus. St Gregory is refuting neo-Origenists who posit a bodily pre-fall. While few people today worry about Origenism, and many of St Maximus' and St Gregory's arguments will seem academic, the arguments do provide an interesting snapshot of early Christian interpretation. Simply, St Maximus interprets St Gregory to say that Christian theology teaches BECOMING ' MOVEMENT ' REST. Thus, it is impossible for a creature who has reached beatitude (full rest) to fall.At all times St Maximus remains doggedly committed to Chalcedonian orthodoxy. For him the whole mystery of Christ is the hypostatic union of humanity and divinity (123). Christ is the beginning, middle, and end of all creation. For him incarnation is salvation. It is the lens through which to interpret the beginning and goal of the universe (33).At the end St Maximus deals with the monothelite controversy. Christ's prayer in the garden affirms both a human will and a divine will. Even though the human will seeks perfect concordance with the divine will, this no way negates the real human will of Christ. If Christ doesn't have a full human will, then Christ isn't fully man. If Christ isn't fully man, salvation was not achieved.EVALUATIONThis is one of those great books that redefine reality. That is not a light claim. For the Incarnation has changed the very structure of reality. If everything is held together in Christ (Col. 1:16-20), and the Logos has assumed flesh/matter, then does this not suggest a dynamic interplay between reality and divine? (Of course, we reject pantheism and our comments in no way suggest that.) This is one of those books that needs to be read at least four or five times. The pressing scientific and theological issues cannot be really appreciated on the first three readings. Andrew Louth's introduction is world class and raises a number of pressing scientific and philosophical issues to the believer. The reader is encouraged to read and meditate on St Maximus' work while consulting the physics and alternative history of Joseph Farrell (who has also written on St Maximus) at the same time.

Profound. Had to go back a re-read some parts due to my limited understanding, but highly recommend.

If you are familiar with reading Patristics in English, you are aware of how awkward the word usage and sentence structure can be. This particularly work is especially well-executed. In Ambiguum 7, understanding a bit about Origen and the statements that led to his anathematization is beneficial. Ultimately, it is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in this subject matter.

On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ is aptly titled. To understand it, you have to remove yourself from modern materialistic explanations of the universe. For Maximus, the rational key to understanding the universe is the person of Jesus Christ. Faith is not a feeling or a leap into the dark, but the necessary effect of the incomprehensibility of God; since man has access only to this cosmos, faith is the means of accessing the truth of what lies beyond.It’s hard for the contemporary reader to imagine a world where Jesus Christ is not primarily a comforter or savior but is actually the means by which we understand the universe.But, if you really believe that Jesus is God then it makes sense that the fulcrum of all history—even the history of the universe—is his time on earth.In short, Maximus’s cosmos is a different world; a one almost incomprehensible to modern sensibilities. But I do recommend it to all interested in the history of Western civilization.

This book offers quite a few insights into good Catholic theology as well as explanations for different passages in the Bible and different ways in understanding them. Fantastic read

Tough to read, but excellent