RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Maurice
Maximus Confessor
minus issued an edict against all the Christian clergy, but it was practically disregarded, Sulpicius Severus mentioning only the occasional application of torture during this reign. In Rome the bishop Pontianus and the priest Hippolytus were banished, while Origen, who was a special object of the emperor's hatred on account of his relations with the household of Alexander Severus, found refuge in the home of Juliana, a Christian woman. In Pontus and Cappadocia the persecution was more severe, but there it was inspired rather by popular anger at the Christians because of an earthquake, than by the imperial decree. Although the persecution of Maximinus was in itself unimportant, it was the first systematic, general attack upon the new faith. He was the first to recognize the importance of the Christian hierarchy and to seek to annihilate it, thus furnishing a precedent for Valerian and Diocletian. His precise motive is difficult to determine; he gave no worship to the Greco- Roman deities, and possibly the persecution was due simply to the desire of Maximinus to strengthen his position so far as possible, and to prevent any Christian rebellion against himself. (G. UHLHORNf.)
Bibliography: The subject is covered from the secular side in the works on the history of Rome of the period, and on the Christian side in those on the history of the Church of that time. See also literature under Persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire. Reference may be made here to Gorres, in ZWT, iv., 1876; J. C. L. Gieseler, Church History, ed. H. B. Smith, i. 177, New York, 1868; B. Aubis, Les Chretiens dans I'empire romain, pp. 418-460, Paris, 1881; K. J. Neumann, Der romische Staat und die allgemeine Kirche, i. 210 sqq., Leipsic, 1890; Schaff, Christian Church, ii. 59.
MAXIMUS CONFESSOR.
I. His Life.
Early Life and Success (§ 1). Later Life, Trials, and Death (§ 2). II. His Writings.
Exegetical Works on Scripture and the Fathers
(§1). Dogmatic and Polemical Writings (§ 2). Ethical, Ascetic, and Other Works (§ 3). III. His Theology.
The Component Elements (§ 1). His Christology (§ 2). His Mysticism (§ 3).
I. His Life: Maximus, usually known as the Confessor, was the leading representative of the orthodox doctrine against the Monothelites of the seventh century. He was born in Constantinople about 580; d. at Shemari, on the shore of the Black Sea, Aug. 13, 662. He came of a distinguished family, and received an excellent i. Early education after the ideals of the time. Life and Of delicate constitution and quiet- Success, loving temperament, he seems at first to have been inclined to a life of contemplation and study, but was called away from it for a time to a political career. The Emperor Heraclius (610-641) summoned him to court and made him his first secretary. When he exchanged this position for the monastic state is uncertain. He entered the monastery of Chrysopolis at what is now Scutari, and before long became abbot. Soon after the beginning of the Monothelite controversy, when the monk Sophronius stood forth as the champion of orthodoxy against Cyrus, patriarch
of Alexandria, Maximus was in that city and received the stimulus which led him to devote himself to combating Monothelitism. In a series of treatises and letters he defended the Chalcedonian orthodoxy as to the two natures and the two wills of Christ against both Monophysites and Monothelites, as well as against the imperial efforts at compromise. It was through his influence that North Africa became the headquarters of the orthodox party after the death of Heraclius. On the accession of Constans II. (642-668), the patriarch of Constantinople, Pyrrhus, was forced to flee on account of participation in the intrigues of Martina, the widow of Heraclius, and took refuge in North Africa, where the prefect, Gregory, was a strong supporter of Maximus; and there took place, probably at Carthage in 645, the disputation between Pyrrhus and Maximus which is one of the most remarkable documents in the history of the controversy. Maximus was victorious, and followed up his triumph energetically. The bishops of North Africa and the adjacent islands held a synod in 646 to condemn Monothelitism, and requested Pope Theodore to confirm their decision. Maximus went to Rome with Pyrrhus, who abjured his errors before the pope, and was recognized as rightful patriarch of Constantinople. Maximus was the soul of this apparently formidable coalition, which, however, soon fell to pieces. Gregory fell the next year in battle with the Mohammedans; Pyrrhus retracted his recantation, and made his peace with the emperor. In 648 appeared the Typus, a decree of Constans forbidding under heavy penalties any discussion of the question of one or two wills. Maximus, still in Rome, was again the most active spirit in opposition to this, denying the emperor's right to interfere in dogmatic questions and declaring the language of the document irreconcilable with the creeds of the Church. He determined the new pope, Martin I., to call the Lateran synod of 649, and inspired its decision unhesitatingly condemning Monothelitism and the imperial decree.
Maximus spent several years in Rome in a monastery, actively engaged in work for his cause, and thoroughly imbued with the hierarchical and dogmatic views of the Roman see. 2. Later Life, He was finally arrested by the emper- Trials, and or's orders and taken to Constantinople Death. where all endeavors were made to induce him to accept the Typus, but without avail. In the winter of 654-655 his first formal trial took place before the privy council in the imperial palace. The opening charges were political — of hatred of the emperor, responsibility for the loss to the Mohammedans of Egypt and North Africa, participation in the revolt of Gregory, and the like. There were further charges of Origenistic heresy, and some based on his dealings with Pyrrhus in Africa and Rome. Maximus was able to justify himself on most of the counts, but refused to hold communion with the church of Constantinople as having departed from "the four holy synods." He rejected a compromise formula, and declared that peace could be attained only by the emperor's withdrawing the Typus. Fresh proceedings were conducted on May 18, 655, by representatives of
Maximus Confessor