‘Foretelling the Mystical Eucharist’: Maximus the Confessor and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed

Abstract

The monk and theologian, Maximus the Confessor (580–662), made creative use of the Creed in several contexts. First, he demonstrated that Nicaea’s authoritative statement remained a dynamic source of theological development within the contemporary controversies of monophysitism, monoenergism, and monthelitism. Second, he made use of the Creed during his imperial trial in order to defy the Emperor’s ban on discussing the two activities and wills of Christ. Finally, he offered an original interpretation of the Creed within the context of the Holy Synaxis, in which the profession of faith forms the faithful for the future Mystical Eucharist. Maximus therefore provides significant approaches to the Creed that may inspire contemporary preaching and practice.