To Maximus

Epistula ad Maximum

The end of the letter (after chapter 3) is lost in the scan text used.

1Athanasius tells Maximus that he answers reluctantly, and that those who mock the crucified must learn that he is the Lord of glory.
2Athanasius answers those who doubt Christ's Godhead and those who say the Word merely came upon a holy man, by Thomas's confession and the signs at the cross.
3Athanasius explains that the Word became man by the Father's good pleasure, not by the course of nature, and showed both what belongs to the body and what belongs to the Godhead.

About this work

Author: Athanasius of Alexandria
Attribution: authentic · Generally accepted as Athanasius's.
Standing: Honoured by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. Honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.
Older English translation: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 4 (1892) (public domain, at CCEL; for comparison: our translation is made from the original first and checked against it afterwards)
Date: ca. 371 (approximate)
Written at: Alexandria, Egypt (probable)
Language: Greek
Genre: letter
Reference system: chapter, as in Migne and NPNF
SBL abbreviation: Ep. Max.Not yet checked
Clavis: CPG (number not yet checked)
Text from: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 26 (Paris: Migne, 1857), Epistula ad Maximum (reprinting the Benedictine edition of B. de Montfaucon, Paris, 1698) (Printed edition in the public domain; OCR transcription of public-domain page images)
Critical editions: Hans-Georg Opitz et al., eds., Athanasius Werke, vol. 2 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1935–) (cited, not reproduced)