Byzantine Gospel

Maximus the Confessor (580–662), one of the towering figures of early Byzantine theology, occupies a place in the Greek patristic tradition comparable to that of Thomas Aquinas in the Latin West. His profound influence as a spiritual and theological master is evident in the vast space dedicated to him in the Philokalia. For Maximus, dogma and prayer were inseparable, and his unwavering defense of orthodox Christology—against the heresies of his time—was grounded in this deep unity of truth and contemplation. His fidelity brought suffering: persecution, mutilation, and exile, where he ultimately died a confessor of the faith.

This book traces the modern rediscovery of Maximus, beginning with the pioneering work of scholars such as Vittorio Croce, Pierre Piret, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Lars Thunberg, and Juan-Miguel Garrigues. Over the last decades, both Orthodox and Catholic theologians throughout Europe and North America have increasingly turned to Maximus’s insights, especially within Catholic–Orthodox dialogue. His theology has emerged as a key point of encounter between Eastern and Western Christian thought.

Aidan Nichols provides the English-speaking world with a clear and reliable guide to the major Maximus scholarship of the past twenty-five years. Through the lens of these specialists, he constructs a rich and multifaceted portrait of Maximus—both as a synthesizer of the Greek patristic tradition and as an original theologian whose “Byzantine Gospel” remains strikingly relevant. Alongside a concise biography and an outline of the history of Maximus studies, Nichols includes select primary texts to give readers a sense of the saint’s theological depth, originality, and spiritual brilliance.

About the Author

Aidan Nichols, O.P., is a member of the Dominican community at Blackfriars, Cambridge. One of the most prolific Catholic theologians writing in English today, he has authored numerous books on Eastern and Western theology, Church history, and the dialogue between Christian traditions.