Maximus the Confessor

Maximus the Confessor, also known as Maximus the Theologian or Maximus of Constantinople, was a Christian monk, theologian and Neoplatonic scholar who lived from about 580 to 662. He began his career as a civil servant and aide to the Byzantine emperor Heraclius before entering monastic life, having studied the Platonic dialogues, the works of Aristotle and later Neoplatonic commentators such as Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus. When a friend began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, supporting an interpretation of the Chalcedonian formula that Jesus had both a human and a divine will; he was persecuted for this position, and following a trial his tongue and right hand were mutilated. He was then exiled and died on 13 August 662 in Tsageri, in present-day Georgia. His theology was later upheld by the Third Council of Constantinople, and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death; his title of Confessor means he suffered for the Christian faith without being directly martyred. He is venerated in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.