Editing Maximus the Confessor (section)

===Involvement in Monothelite controversy===
[[Image:Hexagram-Constans II and Constantine IV-sb0995.jpg|left|thumb|300px|A silver ''[[Hexagram (currency)|hexagramma]]'' showing Constans II with his son. Constans II supported [[Monothelitism]], and had Maximus exiled for his refusal to agree to Monothelite teachings.]]
While Maximus was in Carthage, a controversy broke out regarding how to understand the interaction between the human and divine natures within the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|person]] of [[Jesus]]. This Christological debate was the latest development in disagreements that began following the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, and were intensified following the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451. The [[Monothelite]] position was developed as a compromise between the [[dyophysite|dyophysitists]] and the [[miaphysitism|miaphysists]], who believed dyophysitism is conceptually indistinguishable from [[Nestorianism]]. The Monothelites adhered to the [[Chalcedonian]] definition of the [[hypostatic union]]: that two natures, one divine and one human, were united in the person of Christ. However, they went on to say that Christ had only a divine will and no human will (Monothelite is derived from the Greek for "one will").

The Monothelite position was promulgated by [[Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople]] and by Maximus' friend and successor as the Abbot of Chrysopolis, [[Patriarch Pyrrhus of Constantinople|Pyrrhus]].<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=St. Maximus of Constantinople}}: "The first action of St. Maximus that we know of in this affair is a letter sent by him to Pyrrhus, then an abbot at Chrysopolis ..."</ref> Following the death of Sergius in 638, Pyrrhus succeeded him as Patriarch, but was shortly deposed owing to political circumstances. During Pyrrhus' exile from Constantinople, Maximus and the deposed Patriarch held a public debate on the issue of Monothelitism. In the debate, which was held in the presence of many North African bishops, Maximus took the position that Jesus possessed both a human and a divine will. The result of the debate was that Pyrrhus admitted the error of the Monothelite position, and Maximus accompanied him to Rome in 645.<ref>[[Philip Schaff]], ''History of the Christian Church'', Volume IV: Mediaeval Christianity. A.D. 590–1073 (online edition)[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc4.i.xi.vi.html §111], accessed 15 January 2007.</ref>

Maximus may have remained in Rome at [[San Saba, Rome|San Saba]],<ref>Sebastian Brock, "An Early Syriac Life of Maximus the Confessor", Analecta Bollandina 91 (1973): 318-319, 328.</ref> as he was present when the newly elected [[Pope Martin I]] convened the [[Lateran Council of 649]] at the [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|Lateran Basilica]] in Rome.<ref>"Maximus the Confessor", in ''The Westminster Dictionary of Church History'', ed. Jerald Brauer (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1971) ({{ISBN|0-664-21285-9}}). This is generally known as the First or Second [[Lateran Synod]], and is not recognized as an [[Ecumenical Council]].</ref> The 105 bishops present condemned Monothelitism in the official acts of the synod, which some believe may have been written by Maximus.<ref>For example, Gerald Berthold, "Maximus Confessor" in ''Encyclopedia of Early Christianity'', (New York:Garland, 1997) ({{ISBN|0-8153-1663-1}}).</ref> It was in Rome that Pope Martin and Maximus were arrested in 653 under orders from [[Constans II (Byzantine Empire)|Constans II]], who supported the Monothelite doctrine. Pope Martin was condemned without a trial, and died before he could be sent to the Imperial Capital.<ref>David Hughes Farmer, ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Saints'' (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1987) ({{ISBN|0-19-869149-1}}) p.288. This made Martin the last [[Bishop of Rome]] to be venerated as a martyr.</ref>