Maximus the Confessor Book

In Andrew Louth's introduction to the texts in this volume, he notes that Anna Comnena, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I and the historian of her father's reign, had expressed surprise that her mother was reading Maximus the Confessor, complaining that his writing made Anna's head swim because it was so difficult. I have to admit that I feel much the same way in reading these works of Maximus. Some of the problem is that there are texts which are trying to explicate the problems in other texts of other Greek Fathers (St. Gregory Nazianzus especially), but part of the problem is that they are hard to read. Mind you, I also suspect that Anna Commnena's mother's answer that she needed to read a bit more deeply to appreciate Maximus is equally true of me.

That said, even if I frankly didn't understand the texts of Maximus featured here, Andrew Louth's introduction was worth the price of admission. Louth has the gift of explaining extremely difficult theology in such a clear and concise manner that it makes one go and hunt up the works that he describes. And, after reading these works, I understand much better how great an achievment that is.