In 1941, when Hans Urs von Balthasar published his monograph on Maximus’s Cosmic Liturgy, few theologians in the West had more than a passing familiarity with the thought of Maximus the Confessor (580-662). Nearly a century later, scholarship on Maximus is thriving, with new monographs and articles being published every year. If you believed that Maximus’ thought was only relevant for the understanding of Eastern Christian theology, this volume will show that, in fact, Maximus’ vision had a major impact on the whole arc of Western thought, from the Latin Middle Ages to the present. Far from a marginal, late-antique thinker, Maximus is key figure in the development of Christian theology, straddling the divide between East and West.
Thomas Cattoi holds the William and Barbara Moran Chair in Early Christian theology and Interreligious Relations at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)in Rome, where he works on Eastern Christian theology and spirituality and Buddhist-Christian dialogue. His last work is Seeking Wisdom, Embracing Compassion: A Philokalic Commentary on Tsong kha pa’s Great Treatise (Brill, 2025).
Kevin M. Clarke is Dean of the Institute for Lay Ministry and Associate Professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. He has translated Maximus the Confessor’s Small Theological and Polemical Works, the Dispute with Pyrrhus, and the Chapters on Love. He has published numerous peer-reviewed essays and is the associate editor of Patristic Theology.
This work is primarily of interest to scholars and graduate students of theology, as well as academic institutes and libraries. It is relevant for scholars of late antiquity and for anyone interested in historical theology and the development of systematic thought in the West.