Frontier Orthodoxy is doing a great (I'd go so far as to say invaluable) series on St. Maximus the Confessor. Below is the first of the series. More can be found here.
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Since August 13th is not only the leave-taking of the Feast of the Transfiguration, but also a day on which St. Maximos the Confessor is commemorated (in addition to the normal observation on January 21), I thought I would start a short series of posts on St. Maximos the Confessor. Essentially, I will be covering and discussing different things in random order, so if there is some order to this when all is said and done, thank God, not me. If there is not, you know from the start I had no conscious intentions of it
The first thing that I thought I’d mention today can be found in Joshua Starr, “St. Maximos and the Forced Baptism at Carthage in 632,” Byzantinisch-neugriechische Jahrbücher16 (Athens, 1939): 192-196.
As many of you may already know, Emperor Heraclius decreed the forced baptism of Jews and Samaritans (yes, the Samaritans had a larger population back then). What you might not know is that St. Maximos the Confessor was in Carthage during this time (where such a decree was enforced) and reacted strongly against it. It may not surprise us, given St. Maximos’ emphasis on free will, but perhaps others may be surprised as often the Church is criticized for using “baptism by the sword.” St. Maximos wrote to St. Sophronios (at that time a monk, but soon to be patriarch of Jerusalem) complaining about this. Starr provides the Greek text (taken from Devreesse) and a translation. I thought I’d highlight the following quote:
“I hear that his has taken place throughout the Roman realm, wherefore I am terror-stricken and I tremble on account of it. I am concerned first lest this great divine sacrament be desecrated by being prsented as an agreeable doctrine to persons unprepared for the faith. Secondly, I see them in spiritual peril, for at bottom they retain the bitter root of their ancestral lack of faith and thus cut themslves off from the light of grace–lest having sunk more deeply into the darkness of unbelief they become subject to a condemnation many times more severe. Thirdly, I bear in mind the rebellion predicted by the Apostle [2 Thessalonians 2:3]” (Starr, 195). The saint also gives another reason, that he fears this will lead to apocalyptic interpretations of an “undisputed sign of the end” (ibid.).
Later, the Seventh Ecumenical Council and Gregorios Asbestas would condemn such actions more strongly.
The first thing that I thought I’d mention today can be found in Joshua Starr, “St. Maximos and the Forced Baptism at Carthage in 632,” Byzantinisch-neugriechische Jahrbücher16 (Athens, 1939): 192-196.As many of you may already know, Emperor Heraclius decreed the forced baptism of Jews and Samaritans (yes, the Samaritans had a larger population back then). What you might not know is that St. Maximos the Confessor was in Carthage during this time (where such a decree was enforced) and reacted strongly against it. It may not surprise us, given St. Maximos’ emphasis on free will, but perhaps others may be surprised as often the Church is criticized for using “baptism by the sword.” St. Maximos wrote to St. Sophronios (at that time a monk, but soon to be patriarch of Jerusalem) complaining about this. Starr provides the Greek text (taken from Devreesse) and a translation. I thought I’d highlight the following quote:
“I hear that his has taken place throughout the Roman realm, wherefore I am terror-stricken and I tremble on account of it. I am concerned first lest this great divine sacrament be desecrated by being prsented as an agreeable doctrine to persons unprepared for the faith. Secondly, I see them in spiritual peril, for at bottom they retain the bitter root of their ancestral lack of faith and thus cut themslves off from the light of grace–lest having sunk more deeply into the darkness of unbelief they become subject to a condemnation many times more severe. Thirdly, I bear in mind the rebellion predicted by the Apostle [2 Thessalonians 2:3]” (Starr, 195). The saint also gives another reason, that he fears this will lead to apocalyptic interpretations of an “undisputed sign of the end” (ibid.).
Later, the Seventh Ecumenical Council and Gregorios Asbestas would condemn such actions more strongly.
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