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The present article represents an analysis of some texts from the work of Maximus the Confessor De vards difficilibus locis. The reason, which led Maximus to write the above work, was his intention to render theologically reliable some ambiguous texts by two writers. This endeavor took place in a period when a heretical monotheistic sect had come to the foreground and a systematic attempt was made by its followers to establish their beliefs in the Christian Orthodox Church. Indeed it was in the first half of the 71 century that the Monenergist danger threatened the Christian Church since the sect which bore its name tried to use the teaching of Gregory the Theologian and to incorporate it into its own doctrine. It was in this theological climate that the Archbishop of Cyzikos sent a letter to Maximus requesting his written comments regarding the texts in question, because Maximus had already expressed his views on this issue during a previous visit to Cyzikos. Maximus accepted this offer and so he earned the distinction of becoming a defender of Orthodoxy, while at the same time he defined precisely his position against the newly established sects of Monenergism ([tovoevEQY@ITLGR6g) and Monotheletism ([tovoOFX'qT,rtos).
It is in this same work that Maximus also examined Origen's views regarding the creation of man. It should be noted, however, that Maximus did not embark on a polemic against the Origenist positions, but rather tried to expose their doctrinal basis as theologically unfounded using solid evidence) The tentative manner in which Maximus tried to approach the Origenist standpoint has been seen by some scholars as an inclination on his part towards an adoption of Origenism and accordingly it has been suggested that Maximus' works exhibit influences from the Alexandrian theologian. With regard to this issue, however, P. Sherwood maintained that a careful analysis would prove otherwise. In other words, it would make clear that in fact Maximus' views and arguments contain a radical and systematic refutation of Origenism.
Origen argued, by means of recasting the early Plato in familiar Christian terms, that there was in the divine region an original unity of rational entities which was interrupted due to their own choices. These entities, he argued were imprisoned by God in bodies as...