Polemic Writings of Saint Maximus the Greek: Theological and Literary-Сritical Aspects

Abstract

The article examines the polemical writings of Saint Maximus the Greek as an integral literary phenomenon of Russian spiritual literature of the sixteenth century. Particular attention is paid to genre forms, rhetorical strategies, and the features of the author’s style. It is demonstrated that polemics in the works of Maximus the Greek functions not only as a response to the dogmatic and ideological challenges of the period, but also as a stable principle of textual organization, determining composition, language, and the authorial image. The analysis is based on the texts published in the Indrik edition (2008), as well as on contemporary studies by Russian and international scholars.