A REVIEW OF THE MOST RECENT CRITICAL TEXT AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION

For bringing to us the metaphysical vision of Maximus the Confessor about the Incarnation of Christ in a scholarly, rigorous and yet accessible form, Janssens and Lollar are owed our hearty thanks. Lollar in particular has much more to offer Maximus scholars as he presses on to translate the lengthy Ambigua to John. Although critical work on the Greek text of these Difficulties still awaits definitive accomplishment, he will gain much needed help from existing translations in other languages by Stǎniloae (Romanian), Moreschini (Italian), and Ponsoye (French). Translation deserves to be honoured as an intellectual and theological vocation in its own right, with its own dignity and value. Yet as Maximus continues to attract an exploding academic following, such translations not only offer a first level of theological interpretation, but also provide us all with a vital touch-stone by which to judge the worth of the ever widening pool of secondary publications.