“THE ASCETIC LIFE[...]: [...]The development is simple and springs directly from the nature of Christian life, particularly as the monk seeks to achieve it. It is above all the quest of salvation, that is, the Lord’s purpose is His Incarnation. It i by making this purpose our own and by fulfilling the commandments that we shall be saved, deified. [...]THE FOUR CENTURIES ON CHARITY[...]: [...]The form is that of gnomic or sententious literature[...]. Both the number 100 and the number of the centuries are significant: the first as a perfect number referring directly to the One, God; the other, in our case 4, as representing the four Gospels, whose commandment is that of love. This latter point Maximus himself notes in his preface. He also gives the reason for the sententious form: concision, facilitating the work of memory, that the monk may have a store of pithy sayings on which he may ruminate and develop at leisure[...].” —“Introduction”
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION Prefatory I. Life Theological position at the outset Progress to and Establishment in Africa Relations with Imperial Governors Monothelite Controversy: the ‘Psephos’ Monothelite Controversy: the ‘Ecthesis’ Crisis: the Affair of Pyrrhus Roman Activity Arrest and Trials II. Doctrine a. God The Triune God b. Man God and the World The Constitution of the World and of Man The Composite Nature of Man Freedom Man—Adam c. Deification Agents of Deification: The Church The Sacraments Asceticism and its Technique Prayer and Contemplation Charity The Maximian Synthesis III. Special Introduction a. The Ascetic Life b. The Four Centuries on Charity TEXT The Ascetic Life The Four Centuries on Charity: Prologue Century I Century II Century III Century IV NOTES Bibliography Notes on the Introduction on The Ascetic Life on The Four Centuries on Charity INDEX
Item Number: BKPP296C Publication Data: New York, NY/Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 1955 Format: hardcover Number of Pages: viii + 284 Dimensions (l × w × h): 22.2 cm × 14.6 cm × 2.5 cm ISBN: 0‒8091‒0258‒7
