Maximus the Confessor’s Chapters on Love. Text, Theology, and Reception

Papers Collected on the Occasion of the Budapest Colloquium on Saint Maximus, 3-4 February 2022

Alexis Léonas, Vladimir Cvetković, Daniel Heide (eds)

Pages: approx. 364 p.
Size:156 x 234 mm
Illustrations:3 b/w

Language(s):English, French, Latin
Publication Year:2026

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ISBN: 978-2-503-62380-1
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This volume is the first to focus exclusively on St. Maximus’ Chapters on Love. Its approach is multidisciplinary, bringing together theological, philosophical, and history‑of‑ideas perspectives.

Subject(s)

BIO

Vladimir Cvetković is a Research Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade.
Daniel Heide is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade.
Alexis Léonas is Associate Professor at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary.

Summary

The Chapters on Love (Capita de caritate) is a significant work of St. Maximus the Confessor that has, until now, not been the focus of sustained scholarly investigation. This volume presents a new English translation and offers a fresh vantage point on the theological vision of this major Christian thinker, illuminating his distinctive synthesis of the Gospel’s teaching on love with a deep and sophisticated engagement with Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy. As the first volume to unite scholars from diverse academic traditions, it represents a pioneering effort to explore both the message and the historical reception of this foundational work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. New English Translation
(Kevin Clarke)

II. Theology, philosophy and hermeneutics

1. Karolina KOCHAŃCZYK-BONIŃSKA & Bogna KOSMULSKA (Warsaw)
A Century of Research on Maximus the Confessor’s Centuries on Love. Reflections on Maximian Tradition and Studies

2. Aleksandar DJAKOVAC (Belgrade)
Love as an Eschatological Mode of Existence in St. Maximus the Confessor

3. Torstein Theodor TOLLEFSEN (Oslo)
The Meaning of Dispassion in St Maximus’ Teaching on Spiritual Development

4. Claire CACHIA OSB (Angers)
La lecture du sermon sur la montagne (Mt 5-7) dans les Centuries sur la
charité de Maxime le Confesseur

5. Miklós VASSÁNYI (Budapest)
The „Ontological Prayer” and its Potential Sources in Maximus’ Capita de caritate

6. Pascal MUELLER-JOURDAN (Angers)
A propos de la justice comme compréhensive de toutes les vertus.
Examen du chapitre 7 anonyme dit „des disciples d'Evagre”

III. Reception

1. Vladimir CVETKOVIĆ (Belgrade-Göttingen)
Maximus the Confessor’s Chapters on Love 2.26-28: A Source of the Essence-Energy Distinction for Athonite Slavonic Monks

2. Péter BARA (Szeged)
Cerbanus Cerbano: the Latin translator of Maximos the Confessor’s Chapters on Charity

3. Gábor BOROS (Budapest)
The divine love becoming secular: Maximus the Confessor to Spinoza and further

IV. Appendix
Klára KISDI & Alex LEONAS (Budapest)
Vincentius Obsopoeus’ Latin version of the Chapters on Love (1531). Introductory note and text