Desert Christians An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism,9780195162226

Desert Christians An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism

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ISBN13: 9780195162226
ISBN10: 0195162226
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2004-06-17
Publisher(s): Oxford University Press
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Summary

In this book, William Harmless provides an accessible introduction to early Christian monastic literature from Egypt and beyond. He introduces the reader to the major figures and literary texts, as well as offering an up-to-date survey of current questions and scholarship in the field. The text is enhanced by the inclusion of chronologies, maps, outlines, illustrations, and bibliographies. The book will not only serve as a text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on early Christianity, the Desert Fathers, and Christian asceticism, but it should stimulate further research by making the fruits of recent scholarship more readily and widely available.

Author Biography


William Harmless, S.J. is Professor of Theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. From 1996 to 2003, he held the Thomas E. Caestecker Chair of the Liberal Arts at Spring Hill College. He has been a member of the Society of Jesus since 1978 and is the author of Augustine and the Catechumenate (1995). His research on early monasticism has appeared in the journals Theological Studies, Church History, and Studia Patristica.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations xxi
A Note on the Notes and Bibliographies xxiii
Part I. The World of Early Monasticism
1. Roman Egypt
3(22)
Alexandria
4(3)
The Gift of the Nile
7(4)
Early Egyptian Christianity
11(6)
Monasticism in Egypt: Leaders, Writers, and Texts
17(3)
Notes
20(1)
Bibliography
21(3)
APPENDIX 1.1. Papyrus: Women and Monasticism
24(1)
2. Patriarchs, Councils, and Controversies: 300-451
25(32)
Alexander, Arius, and the Council of Nicaea
25(8)
Athanasius
33(4)
Theophilus
37(1)
Cyril and the Council of Ephesus
38(3)
Dioscorus and the Council of Chalcedon
41(2)
Notes
43(1)
Bibliography
44(4)
APPENDIX 2.1. The Creed of the Council of Nicaea (325)
48(2)
APPENDIX 2.2. Texts from the Council of Ephesus (431)
50(3)
APPENDIX 2.3. The Definition of the Council of Chalcedon (451)
53(4)
Part II. Antony and Pachomius
3. The Life of Antony: Text and Context
57(28)
The "Wrath" of 356
57(3)
A Physician For Egypt
60(8)
Audience, Sources, and Genre
68(6)
Notes
74(2)
Bibliography
76(2)
APPENDIX 3.1. The Letters of Saint Antony
78(4)
APPENDIX 3.2. The Letters ofAmmonas
82(3)
4. The Lift of Antony: Themes and Influence
85(30)
Christ's Victory over Demons
85(3)
God Enfleshed, Humanity Deified
88(5)
The Politics of Orthodoxy
93(4)
Antony in the Latin West
97(3)
Notes
100(3)
Bibliography
103(2)
APPENDIX 4.1. Jerome, The Life of Paul of Thebes
105(3)
APPENDIX 4.2. The Many Faces of Antony
108(3)
APPENDIX 4.3. Did Athanasius Really Write the Life of Antony?
111(4)
5. Pachomius
115(52)
The Sources
116(2)
Early Career
118(4)
The Koinonia
122(10)
Later Career
132(4)
Theodore and Horsiesius
136(5)
Notes
141(7)
Bibliography
148(3)
APPENDIX 5.1. The Versions of the Life of Pachomius
151(2)
APPENDIX 5.2. The Letters of Pachomius
153(2)
APPENDIX 5.3. The Letter of Ammon
155(3)
APPENDIX 5.4. The Testament of Horsiesius
158(2)
APPENDIX 5.5. Did the Nag Hammadi Library Belong to the Pachomians?
160(7)
Part III. The Desert Fathers
6. The Apophthegmata Pat rum: Text and Context
167(26)
Abba Antony
167(2)
The Collections: Alphabetical and Systematic
169(2)
"Abba, Give Me a Word"
171(2)
Scetis
173(7)
Notes
180(3)
Bibliography
183(4)
APPENDIX 6.1. The Many Languages of Desert Literature
187(4)
APPENDIX 6.2. Macarius the Egyptian, Letter to the Sons of God
191(2)
7. The Apophthegmata Patrum: Portraits
193(34)
Abba Macarius the Egyptian
194(2)
Abba John the Little
196(7)
Abba Moses the Ethiopian
203(3)
Abba Poemen
206(5)
Notes
211(4)
Bibliography
215(2)
APPENDIX 7.1. The Famous and Not-So-Famous of the Alphabetical Collection
217(3)
APPENDIX 7.2. The Virtues of Abba Macarius the Great
220(2)
APPENDIX 7.3. The "Tree of Obedience"
222(2)
APPENDIX 7.4. Zacharius of Sakha, Encomium on the Life of John the Little
224(3)
8. The Apophthegmata Patrum: Themes
227(48)
Hesychia
228(1)
The Manifestation of Thoughts
229(3)
The Demon of Lust
232(4)
Anger
236(2)
Blessed Are the Sorrowful
238(3)
Visions
241(3)
Scripture
244(4)
From Oral Word to Written Text
248(3)
Notes
251(4)
Bibliography
255(3)
APPENDIX 8.1. The Systematic Collections of the Apophthegmata Patrum
258(3)
APPENDIX 8.2. Paul of Tamma, On the Cell
261(2)
APPENDIX 8.3. Concerning Thoughts (Peri Logismon)
263(2)
APPENDIX 8.4. Isaiah of Scetis, Asceticon
265(5)
APPENDIX 8.5. The Ethiopic Collectio Monastica
270(5)
9. The Histories
275
Nitria
279(2)
Kellia
281(1)
Other Sites
282(2)
Portraits: The Lausiac History
284(6)
Signs and Wonders: The History of the Monks in Egypt
290(9)
Notes
299(4)
Bibliography
303(2)
APPENDIX 9.1. The Coptic Palladiana
305(6)
Part IV. Monastic Theologians
10. Evagrius Ponticus: Ascetical Theory
311(34)
The Desert Calligrapher
312(4)
The Art of the Chapter
316(6)
The Eight Evil Thoughts
322(5)
Combat with Demons
327(3)
Notes
330(3)
Bibliography
333(6)
APPENDIX 10.1. Evagrius's Number Symbolism
339(3)
APPENDIX 10.2. Evagrius Ponticus, Sententiae ad Virginem
342(3)
11. Evagrius Ponticus: Mystical Theology
345(28)
Mapping the Journey to God
345(5)
Pure Prayer
350(4)
Cosmology
354(5)
The Origenist Controversy
359(5)
Notes
364(3)
Bibliography
367(1)
APPENDIX 11.1. A Glossary of Evagrian Spirituality
368(2)
APPENDIX 11.2. Evagrius Ponticus, Skemmata
370(3)
12. John Cassian 373 Cassian the Silent
373(44)
The Institutes
378(8)
The Conferences
386(3)
Purity of Heart
389(3)
Unceasing Prayer
392(6)
Map Making
398(5)
Notes
403(5)
Bibliography
408(2)
APPENDIX 12.1. Sulpicius Severus, Life of Martins of Tours
410(2)
APPENDIX 12.2. Eucherius of Lyons, In Praise of the Desert
412(5)
Part V. Reflections
13. Monastic Origins: Perspectives, Discoveries, and Disputed Questions
417(54)
Antony and the Apotaktikoi
418(5)
Pachomius and the Melitians
423(2)
Monasticism outside Egypt: Syria, Cappadocia, and Palestine
425(10)
Monasticism outside Christianity: The Manichees
435(5)
Monasticism Underreported: Virgins, Widows, and Ammas
440(5)
Monasticism Overlooked: Shenoute of Atripe
445(3)
Notes
448(5)
Bibliography
453(6)
APPENDIX 13.1. Papyrus: Earliest Use of the Word "Monk"
459(1)
APPENDIX 13.2. Papyrus: Melitian Monasticism
460(2)
APPENDIX 13.3. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, The Religious History
462(2)
APPENDIX 13.4. Manichees in Egypt: New Discoveries
464(2)
APPENDIX 13.5. Monks Despised: Ancient Views
466(2)
APPENDIX 13.6. Monks Despised: Edward Gibbon
468(3)
Afterword 471(4)
Index 475

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