Maximus the Confessor: Jesus Christ and the Transfiguration of the World (Christian Theology in Context)

Review

"Transfiguration of the World, published in Oxford University Press on 2016, is not only an useful tool for the monastic space, where the mystical aspect and the doctrinaire one are very important (and they are very well presented inside his approach), but also for the theologians from the academic space, philosophers and historians who want to find more about the presented topic or to go deeper in the complex history of Byzantine space of the 7th century." -- Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Studia Monastica "this book offers not only a splendid overview of Maximus in context and Maximus studies in general, but also offers up a wonderfully fresh re-reading and re-telling of Maximus by a seasoned master." -- Marcus Plested, Journal of Ecclesiastical History"Blowers' portrait is a corrective to modern accounts that neglect the influence of his monastic theological milieu and their sources. While no stranger to protoscholastic precision and at times clearly possessing the grand vision of an Aquinas, Maximus is first and foremost a monk on a quest to align his will with the ground of his being and all being, namely the Logos. This shift in focus for understanding Maximus' spiritual pedagogy is the primary contribution of the monograph. Its impact is therefore primarily on modern appropriations of historical theology, but it is also an outstanding guide for introducing Maximus in pedagogical settings."--Samuel Pomeroy, Modern Theology

About the Author

Paul M. Blowers holds the Ph.D. in patristics and early Christian studies from the University of Notre Dame, and since 1989 has taught church history and historical theology at Emmanuel Christian Seminary in Johnson City, Tennessee, where he is currently the Dean E. Walker Professor of Church History. He is principally a scholar of Greek and Byzantine patristics, and particularly of the theology of Maximus the Confessor, but he has also taught broadly in the field of church history and Christian thought. He is a Past President of the North American Patristics Society and is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Early Christian Studies. Author, editor, or translator of six books in early church history, he has published numerous journal articles.