Book contents
- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings
- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings
- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Texts and Translations
- Abbreviations
- Series Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I The Council of Chalcedon and Its Reception
- Part II Christological Perspectives after Constantinople II
- 20 Emperor Justin II, The Second Henotikon
- 21 Gregory the Great, Selections from his Homilies
- 22 Gregory the Great, Letters 1.24, 10.21, and 11.52
- 23 Anonymous Apology for Narsai
- 24 Babai the Great, On the Union 9 and 17
- 25 Sophronius of Jerusalem, Synodical Letter 1.6 and 3.1–17
- 26 Ekthesis of Emperor Heraclius
- 27 Maximus the Confessor, Ambiguum 31 to John
- 28 Maximus the Confessor, Ambiguum 5 to Thomas
- 29 Maximus the Confessor, Opusculum 3
- 30 Maximus the Confessor, Opusculum 6
- 31 Maximus the Confessor, Opusculum 7
- 32 Typos of 647/8
- 33 Acts of the Lateran Synod (October 649): Selected Proceedings and the Synodal Definition
- 34 Acts of the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681): Selected Proceedings and the Synodal Definition
- 35 John of Damascus, On Composite Nature against the Leaderless
- 36 John of Damascus, On the Faith against the Nestorians
- 37 John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 57–58
- Suggestions for Further Reading
- Scriptural Index
28 - Maximus the Confessor, Ambiguum 5 to Thomas
from Part II - Christological Perspectives after Constantinople II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2022
- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings
- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings
- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Texts and Translations
- Abbreviations
- Series Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I The Council of Chalcedon and Its Reception
- Part II Christological Perspectives after Constantinople II
- 20 Emperor Justin II, The Second Henotikon
- 21 Gregory the Great, Selections from his Homilies
- 22 Gregory the Great, Letters 1.24, 10.21, and 11.52
- 23 Anonymous Apology for Narsai
- 24 Babai the Great, On the Union 9 and 17
- 25 Sophronius of Jerusalem, Synodical Letter 1.6 and 3.1–17
- 26 Ekthesis of Emperor Heraclius
- 27 Maximus the Confessor, Ambiguum 31 to John
- 28 Maximus the Confessor, Ambiguum 5 to Thomas
- 29 Maximus the Confessor, Opusculum 3
- 30 Maximus the Confessor, Opusculum 6
- 31 Maximus the Confessor, Opusculum 7
- 32 Typos of 647/8
- 33 Acts of the Lateran Synod (October 649): Selected Proceedings and the Synodal Definition
- 34 Acts of the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681): Selected Proceedings and the Synodal Definition
- 35 John of Damascus, On Composite Nature against the Leaderless
- 36 John of Damascus, On the Faith against the Nestorians
- 37 John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 57–58
- Suggestions for Further Reading
- Scriptural Index
Summary
Ambiguum 5 to Thomas is a work of Maximus that stems from his early involvement in the monoenergist controversy discussed in the introduction to Ambiguum 31 to John. In 634 or 635 Maximus undertook interpretations of four key passages in Gregory of Nazianzus (Ambigua 1–4 to Thomas) and one key passage in a letter of pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (Ambigua 5 to Thomas). Maximus had already written a much longer series of expositions on difficulties (hence the name “Ambigua”) in Gregory of Nazianzus’s works (Ambigua 6–71 to John). In those he used puzzling passages to develop far-reaching theologies of creation, incarnation, and deification. In the Ambigua to Thomas Maximus exploits the same genre to refute monoenergist positions. Thomas was a monk, but that is all we can say with any certainty of the treatises’ addressee.
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- The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings , pp. 480 - 491Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022