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Though the monastic writings of St John Cassian have been enduringly popular, his reputation (not least as a theological author) has been seriously compromised. This book begins with an evaluation of conventional ideas about Cassian and, finding them seriously flawed, offers the first sustained attempt at re-reading Cassian's works for their theological significance. Specific attention is called to the Christological aspects of Cassian's monastic anthropology. Throughout, reference is made to Cassian's contemporaries — both well-known figures like Augustine of Hippo, Evagrius Ponticus, Vincent of Lérins, and Nestorius, and lesser-known figures such as Prosper of Aquitaine, Valerian of Cimiez, and Paul of Tamma — in order to offer an analysis of Cassian's writings and their significance that is unencumbered by anachronism.

The ascetic tracts of 7th century writer Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian) provide a wealth of material to better understand early Christian asceticism. The study focuses on the role of the body in various ascetic techniques, such as fasting, vigils and prayer, and on the way the ascetic relates to the society. For Isaac, the ascetic is to function as something like an icon, an image that showed the world the reality of God's Kingdom already in this life, by clearly indicating the difference between God's ways and men's. The study reviews the scholarly discussion on asceticism and early monasticism of the last three decades, and then proceeds to analyse the texts of Isaac to reveal an emphasis on asceticism as a practice that is at the same time performative, transformative and bodily. This contrasts with the long‐established conception of asceticism as based on a negative view of the body. Isaac displays a profound understanding of the way body and soul are related, demonstrating how the body can be used to transform the personality of the ascetic, and to communicate the change to the world, without the use of words. By giving a thorough overview of Isaac's ascetic thinking, the study brings Isaac's fresh perspective to bear on an important, yet often overlooked, aspect of the Christian tradition, showing that asceticism is and important ecclesiological theme and that a theology of asceticism should be a political theology.

This book investigates how Syon Abbey responded to the religious turbulence of the 1520s and 1530s. It examines the eleven books three brothers — William Bonde, John Fewterer, and Richard Whitford — had printed during this period and argues that the Bridgettines used vernacular printing to engage with religious and political developments that threatened their understanding of orthodox faith. Through these works — and their some twenty-six editions — the Abbey presented itself as part of the vanguard of the Church, fighting heterodoxy with a three-fold commitment to reformed spiritual leadership, vernacular theology and the spiritual education of the laity. It used its printed books to augment inferior parochial instruction; bolster orthodox faith and contradict evangelical argument; resist Henry VIII's desire for ecclesiastical supremacy; and defend the monastic way of life. The book has three principal aims. First, to continue the debate about the nature of late medieval Catholicism by directing attention to one community that publicly proclaimed a very specific Catholic identity in the early sixteenth century that was not uncritical of traditional religion. Second, to highlight the dynamic nature of that identity. Although Syon energetically contested its opponents' claims to a ‘Catholic’ identity and insisted on its own ability to rigidly define heresy, it took advantage of the fluidity of religious identity in this period to forge a public image which might bolster lay faith in traditional religion. This identity was in continuous dialogue with evangelicalism and far from static. Third, to emphasise the importance and dynamism of conservative vernacular theology in this period: it's capacity to recognize, and engage with, the lay desire for spiritual self-determination, while responding robustly to threats to traditional religion.

This book examines the attempt by the 5th-century ascetic writer John Cassian to influence and shape the development of Western monasticism. The book's close analysis of Cassian's earliest work (The Institutes) focuses on his interaction with the values and preconceptions of a traditional Roman elite, as well as his engagement with contemporary writers. By placing The Institutes in context, the book demonstrates just how revolutionary this foundational work was for its time and milieu.

Christianity and monasticism have flourished in Upper Egypt from as early as the fourth century until the present day. The contributors to this volume, international specialists in Coptology, examine various aspects of Coptic civilization along the Nile Valley, from Nag Hammadi (associated with the famous discovery of Gnostic papyri), through Luxor and Coptos, and south to Esna, over the past 1700 years, looking at Coptic religious history, tradition, language, heritage, and material culture in the region through texts, art, architecture, and archaeology.

Christianity and monasticism have flourished along the Nile Valley in the Sohag region of Upper Egypt from as early as the 4th century until the present day. Chapters examine various aspects of Coptic civilization in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag over the past 1700 years. Many of the studies center on the person and legacy of the great Coptic saint, Shenoute the Archimandrite (348–466 ce), looking at his preserved writings, his life, his place in Pachomian monasticism, his relations with the patriarchs in Alexandria, and the life in his monastic system. Other studies deal with the art, architecture, and archaeology of the two great monasteries that he founded, and the archaeological and artistic heritage of the region.

Wadi al-Natrun, a depression in the Western Desert of Egypt, is one of the most important centers for the development and continued thriving of the Coptic monastic tradition. Christianity and monasticism have prospered there from as early as the fourth century until the present day, when four major monasteries still flourish. In this book international specialists in Coptology examine various aspects of Coptic civilization in Wadi al-Natrun over the past 1,700 years. The studies center on aspects of the history and development of monasticism in Wadi al-Natrun, as well as the art, architecture, and archaeology of the four existing and numerous former monasteries of the region.

Using the life and writings of Cyril III Ibn Laqlaq, 75th patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, along with a variety of Christian and Muslim chroniclers, this study explores the identity and context of the Christian community of Egypt and its relations with the leadership of the Ayyubid dynasty in the early thirteenth century. The book introduces new scholarship that illuminates the varied relationships between medieval Christians of Egypt and their Muslim neighbors. Demonstrating that the Coptic community was neither passive nor static, the book discusses the active role played by the Copts in the formation and evolution of their own identity within the wider political and societal context of this period. In particular, it examines the boundaries between Copts and the wider Egyptian society in the Ayyubid period in three “in-between spaces”: patriarchal authority, religious conversion, and monasticism.

Written both for the non‐specialist and for the specialist seeking a survey of the subject and wishing to know something of a Church that was one of the main vitalizing forces in the East Roman Empire. It attempts: to trace the mediaeval history of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire (c.600–1453)—a formative period for the Church—in terms of challenge and response; to outline the organization of the Byzantine Church, indicating its essential role in the imperial polity and in Christendom; and finally to suggest the way in which its members tried to achieve what was, and still is, the heart of Orthodoxy, i.e. the gradual theosis or deification of each individual Christian. The short introduction to the book is preceded by a list of rulers (Byzantine Emperors), popes, and patriarchs of Constantinople. Part I is the main part of the book, and discusses the landmarks in ecclesiastical affairs within the Empire as well as the creative influence exercised on the Slavs and the increasing contacts with westerners, particularly after 1204. It is arranged in eight chapters that address successive periods of development of the Church. Part II gives a brief account of the structure of the mediaeval Orthodox Church, its officials and organization, its monasticism, the development of the eucharist and the liturgical year, and the spirituality of laity, monks, and clergy.

A study of the theological achievement of St John Damascene, set in its historical context. John Damascene was born between 650–75 in Damascus and died in or near Jerusalem about 750. His early life was spent as civil servant under the Umayyad caliphate, the rest as a monk in one of the monasteries of the Palestinian Desert. Palestinian monasticism had acquired a reputation of support for the Christian orthodoxy defined by the church councils of the Byzantine Empire, a reputation that it retained after the Middle East passed from the Byzantines to the Arabs. John Damascene is the most notable representative of this tradition. The bulk of the book explores in detail John's understanding of Christian Orthodoxy, as set out principally in his three‐part Fountain Head of Knowledge. This includes the logical tools needed to argue theologically, set out in the first part, the Dialectica, an understanding of the nature and variety of heresy, in the second part, On Heresies, which includes the first Christian reflection on the new religion of Islam, and an exposition of Christian doctrine, in the third part, On the Orthodox Faith, which was to become immensely influential for all later Christianity, both East and West. Three final chapters discuss John's understanding of Christian art (icons), developed in opposition to Byzantine iconoclasm, his preaching, for which he was famous in his lifetime, and his enormous contribution to Byzantine liturgical poetry, especially the canon. A final chapter draws the threads together by means of a comparison between John Damascene and his nearly exact contemporary in the West, the Venerable Bede.

This book explores the remarkable spiritual and theological legacy of the fourth-century Macarian writings. The anonymous author of the writings (commonly referred to as Macarius-Symeon, Pseudo-Macarius, or simply Macarius) had a decisive influence on the shaping and development of the Christian ascetic and mystical tradition. The book offers the first attempt at a broad-based analysis of the character of that influence, standing not only as an exploration of the writings themselves but also of the nature of the Christian tradition itself. Part I (‘The Background’) offers an introduction to the Macarian writings, sketching their nature and character, examining their historical and theological context, and re-evaluating the complex question of the relationship between Macarius and the Messalian tendency. Part II (‘The Legacy’) discusses in detail the nature of his theological and spiritual legacy in the later Christian tradition, focussing on the work of Mark the Monk, Diadochus of Photice, Abba Isaiah, and Maximus the Confessor. Mark and Diadochus, both anti-Messalian writers, are shown to be substantially indebted – something that further underlines the untenability of the facile, but nonetheless once fashionable, identification of Macarius-Symeon as a Messalian. The Macarian influence on the Asceticon of Abba Isaiah is palpable, if not profound, while in the great Byzantine synthesis of Maximus that influence is both substantial and thoroughgoing. In this way the book traces the journey of the Macarian writings from the border zone between orthodoxy and heresy, between Greek and Syriac thought-worlds, into the mainstream Christian tradition.

This book examines the dynamic interplay between scripture and society. Kling traces the story of how specific biblical texts have at different times emerged to be the inspiration of movements that have changed the course of history. He selects eight specific texts (sometimes a single verse, other times a selection of verses or chapters, even books) and demonstrates how each shaped the direction of Christian history. These texts include the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19: 16–22) as an inspiration for Anthony and the beginnings of monasticism; the “Petrine text” (Matthew 16:18) as the basis for the papacy; the centrality of the Song of Songs in medieval Christendom, particularly as interpreted through the mystical leanings of Bernard of Clairvaux; Romans 1:17 and its influence upon Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation; Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, embraced by Anabaptists as a call to radical discipleship, including pacifism; the varied applications of the exodus motif and Moses figures in African-American history, from slavery to Martin Luther King to liberation theology; the Book of Acts with its references to the outpouring of the Spirit and speaking in tongues as the basis for the rise of modern Pentecostalism; and Galatians 3:28, which has been adopted by feminists as a rallying cry for women’s ordination. Kling’s study demonstrates that scripture has functioned in a dialectical interplay of influences; texts have shaped history and history has shaped the interpretation of texts. Specifically, texts have functioned in at least five ways: (1) as transforming agents to another way of thinking and acting, believing and behaving; (2) as recreated meaning, undergoing multiple interpretations and applications; (3) as comprehending sources, drawing other biblical texts into their thematic orbit; (4) as hermeneutical keys unlocking the essential meaning in or resolving tensions within scripture; and (5) as secondary justifications, legitimizing after the fact to support existing historical realities.