After centuries of relative obscurity in the West, Maximus the Confessor finally received his due recognition through the remarkable scholarly efforts of numerous theologians during the resourcement of the twentieth century. The lack of critical editions and the notorious complexity of Maximus' Greek certainly marred some early efforts to recover his thought. Yet, thanks to such luminaries as H.V. von Balthasar, W. Volker, and L. Thunberg, the vision of this great ascetic, theologian, and martyr has become the object of a growing number of studies and the inspiration for modern approaches to speculative theology.
Many scholars dedicated their efforts toward a general analysis of Maximus' methodology and the identification of his sources. Others concentrated upon the most important areas of his thought: his struggle against a form of "Origenism" in the monastic communities; his spirituality and ascetic doctrine; and his Christology and Trinitarian theology, in conjunction with his adherence to Chalcedonean/neo-Chalcedonian doctrine, and his involvement in the monothelite and monoenergist controversies.