A review by ajmaese
On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ: Selected Writings by St. Maximus the Confessor

5.0

Patristic christology meets its apex in Maximus’ theology. Both creative and visionary, critically building upon the earlier tradition, what kind of mind could masterly synthesize such thought? Like Barth, we have in Maximus’ theology a ‘cathedral of the mind,’ albeit delivered in a more concise manner. We live in the watershed. Cosmological in scope, the whole of Maximus’ theological project turns on the incarnation and, like a fractal, everything is touched, nothing left unshifted. Maximus’ scriptural exegesis scrapes against the grain of modern methods and interpretation, but if one can recognize the principles by which he operates, the coherence of his thought is something to behold. It remains for those who would like to retain the substance, scope, and vision of his chalcedonian christology to see if it is even possible to uphold the edifice without its foundation.