Late Patristic Period · AD 500–850
Maximus the Confessor
c. 580–662 · Early Church · Byzantine East
A Byzantine monk and theologian who suffered exile for opposing the teaching that Christ had only one will.
Major contributions
Christology, divine and human wills
- Defended Christ’s human and divine wills.
- Developed influential accounts of spiritual growth and the relation of creation to God.
Theological positions
Modern labels do not always describe historical writers precisely.
- Christology
His opposition to monothelitism affirms both a human and a divine will in Christ.
Major writings
- Ambigua
- Questions to Thalassius