Early Asceticism and Monasticism

Estudio del ascetismo cristiano primitivo practicado por los padres y madres del desierto desde tres claves: configuración de una nueva subjetividad, creación de grupos sociales diferentes y creación de una cultura alternativa. Cada clave será comprendida desde una práctica engloblante: enkráteia, anajóresis y hesyquía con algunos de sus elementos más significativos:
ayuno, silencio y vigilias para la primera; pobreza, castidad/virginidad y destierro voluntario para la segunda; recuperación del paraíso perdido, lucha contra
el demonio y las pasiones, y vida sin pasiones para la tercera. Desde aquí se verá en qué medida pueden ayudarnos a nuestra realidad actual.

This text is the English translation of an article published in Romanian: "Lumina nevăzută a veșmântului slavei. Perspective biblice și teologice," in Isihasm și spiritualitate filocalică în teologia românească, ed. Daniel Lemeni (Sibiu: Astra Museum, 2021), pp. 30-51.

The paper discusses whether the neurological condition of autism could contribute to the emergence of rigorous religious practices in the ancient and late Antique Near East. Published in: Rollinger, R., and S. Fink (eds.), Conceptualizing Past, Present and Future. Melammu Symposia 9, pp. 521-539. Münster: Ugarit Verlag, 2018 (ISBN: 978-3-86835-299-3). https://www.ugarit-verlag.com/
See the comments by Christopher Badcock:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-imprinted-brain/201804/the-autism-asceticism-and-the-genius-the-monasteries

“Assembled as one”: the origins and early meaning of the term “Monk” in the East according to the documents from II to IV c. A.D. Part I: Evidence of Greek and Coptic sources, Bogoslovskii Vestnik, № 20-21, 2016

This article deals with the problem of identity and the origin of monasticism. To address this issue, the author applies a linguistic approach. He examines different contexts of the early use of the concept “Monk” according to Greek, Coptic and Syriac sources, in the dioceses of Egypt and Syria from the 2nd to the 4th century A.D. The article consists of two parts: in the  first part the Greek term μοναχός and its Coptic transliteration "nmonachos" in Egypt, as well as the Coptic term "oua ouwt" (“single one”) are analyzed. It is shown that the original use of the terms mentioned above reflects early Christian biblical understanding of the ascetic life with its imprint of a Semitic mentality. The author argues that the term “Monk” used in different Greek and Coptic documents is comparable to other concepts that describe the way of life of certain ascetics or ascetic groups during the Early Christian period.

While John Cassian and Vincent of Lérins are the best known of the so-called ‘semi-Pelagians’, there were other Gallic churchmen associated with this illustrious group. It was to Eucherius, the future bishop of Lyon and meanwhile a member of the Lerinian community, that John Cassian dedicated his second series of Conferences (Conf. XI to XVII). Some years later, in 428, Eucherius composed a short treatise De laude eremi, praising the monastic desert in biblical terms and relating it to the Lerinian monastery. It has been assumed that Eucherius has composed his De laude eremi in the tone of Cassian’s ascetic works. A close reading of Eucherius’ De laude eremi reveals indeed that the Lerinian author borrowed from Cassian certain elements of ascetic vocabulary as well as some thematic motifs. However, the established parallels prove to be incomplete. Their further analysis and an investigation into other themes reveal that Cassian’s and Eucherius’ concepts of monastic life are quite different: for Cassian, this is a harsh and constant fight against vices and demons, for Eucherius, this is a peaceful way where monks are guided by Christ and his sacraments. These observations invite broader considerations about the intentions of both authors and their attitude towards Gallic and Egyptian monasticism. Eucherius’ relation to Cassian’s writings appears thus to be rather independent. His figure adds therefore notably to the variety of the picture of Gallic ascetics in the first half of the 5th century and the theological climate in which the Augustinian controversy emerged.

“Assembled as one”: the origins and early meaning of the term “Monk” in the East according to the documents from II to IV c. A.D. Part II: Syriac sources

This article deals with the problem of identity and the origin of monasticism. To address this issue, the author applies a linguistic approach; he examines different contexts of the early use of the concept “Monk” according to Greek, Coptic and Syriac sources, in the dioceses of Egypt and Syria from the 2nd to the 4th century A.D. The Greek term μοναχός and its Coptic transliteration "monahos", as well as the Coptic term "oua ouwt" (“single one”), and the Syriac terms ihîdayâ and qyamâ are analyzed.

Finally, the phenomenon described by the term “monk” in the early Christian milieu, did not come from nowhere; originally it was part of a wider ascetic movement of the Early Church. This fact may modify the cherished notions regarding the origin of monasticism and its authentic identity. The phenomenon of monasticism in the Orthodox Church results from a long process of assimilation, unifcation and later interpretation of early Christian ascetic doctrines and experience during the Byzantine era.

The focus of the present paper is the terms θεωρία and ὀπτασία presented in the Greek text of Life of St Anthony the Great by St Athanasius of Alexandria and their translation representation in the Old Church Slavonic versions of the text. The terms are approached diachronically, i.e. through the history of Classical and post-classical Greek literature, thus providing the necessary cultural background for their usage and context. Each term, then, is commented in its exact attestation in the Life, providing also the corresponding translations and their wider context. The translation renderings are further analyzed in the perspective of the lexical material in the classical Old Church Slavonic corpus as well as with material from texts and sources, thus aiming at contextualizing them in a wider lexicological perspective.

Our study aims to undertake a brief biblical, hagiographic and patristic analysis of theophanies / Christophanies, in order to emphasize man’s ability to see God, as postulated by the Byzantine hesychast theology, a continuation of the spirituality of the old Desert Fathers. The created nature is able to approach the Unapproachable One. The Taboric theophany epitomizes the purpose for man’s creation: partaking of the divine life, achieving union with God through the divine energies or the grace – as it was achieved in the human and deified body of Christ. St Gregory Palamas stresses, however, that the divine Light is not perceptible through the senses, so cannot be contemplated by the physical eyes. In order to be granted this kind of sight, man has to undergo a spiritual transformation brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is how the three apostles were able to see the Taboric Light: «they were changed», St Gregory says, «and thus they became able to contemplate the very change» undergone by their senses (Homily XXXIV). The divine light is thus visible to the physical eyes of the body and was actually seen by the eyes of the Apostles during the Lord’s Transfiguration, though only briefly. Like St Basil, he invokes the beauty (κάλλος) of divine nature, the splendor and grace radiating from this light (reminding of St Irinaeus), which shone of Moses’ face and through which he spoke to God. St Macarios, too, states that the same light imprinted on Moses’ face now shines within the souls of the saints (Homily V, 10; cf. Tr. I, 3, 7). However, Moses simply bore or was granted this glory, while Christ possesses it from eternity. St Gregory identifies the divine Light with God’s energies, quoting the words of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian (Theophanes § 9).
According to St Gregory Palamas, the divine uncreated glory, the Heavenly Kingdom, and the divine splendor are one in God and His saints. He distinguishes two stages in the manifestation of the Taboric light: first on Christ’s Face, then as a shining Cloud. Dogmatic theology and mystical theology intersect and overlap in the description of the revelation of Christ’s divine glory, by which St Gregory closely follows the pattern κάθαρσις – φωτισμὸς – θέωσις. Direct contact with God involves partaking of the Triune divine energy, the glory or the grace of the infinite light which Adam lost at the Fall. Salvation means partaking of the divine energies, since – St Gregory Palamas adds – it is only the affluence of divine energies that enable the righteous to shine. The light that radiates is God’s energy or action ad extra, and is closely linked to ascetic life. Although the human person in its entirety (mind, soul and body) participates in this sight, the light so perceived completely transcends our created being. The unique, significant contribution brought by St Symeon the New Theologian was based on his own experience; namely, the fact that the divine Light can be actually contempled by the one who obeys his spiritual director. This light shines both from within, when it is contemplated by the heart (καρδία), and from without, when it is contemplated by the intellect (νοῦς). To St Symeon salvation is placed in relation to man’s thrist to see God’s light. This longing for the contemplation of the divine light is characteristic for the Christian mode of existence (τρόπος ὑπάρξεως). Therefore, «participating (μέθεξις) in the uncreated life and glory» and «contemplating (θέα) the glory» were to St Cyril of Alexandria interchangeable phra-ses, describing the life in the Kingdom of God. Reiterating the position of Saint Irenaeus, St John Chrysostom insisted on the anthropological implications of theophanies or Christophanies.
This is why salvation is not understood in the ethical sense, but as attainment of Christification. Christ reveals Himself to the world, a process where He is the central figure, holding the highest position. Every manifestation of God is in and through Christ. St Gregory Palamas stressed the Christocentric character of divine economy. Jacob named Peniel, that is, “the face of God”, the place of which he says: «I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved!» (Genesis 32, 30, KJV). Christ is called the Angel of God, Who talked to Moses in the burning bush, stating: «I am that I am». The 14th century hesychast doctrine was based on the awareness that man is called to engage in direct, unmediated communion with God even in this earthly life. True knowledge of God is granted to those who proved worthy of contemplating Christ in His glory, seeing God face to face, and partaking of His life. The ones who feel the divine grace in both soul and body are righteous persons, and if they retain this grace, their bodies are sanctified, and their remains become holy relics.
The distinction between φύσις and πρώσοπον, posited by St Athanasius of Sinai, led to the conclusion that face-to-face contemplation is the sight of the Person of the Incarnate Word. This sight of the luminous face of God as it turns to each man, the sight of the Transfigured Christ, acquires a theological structure in the teachings of St Gregory Palamas and the definitions of grace provided by the 14th-century councils. The light of His glory precedes the sight of His face, and He can only be seen in the light; living in grace is nothing else but “a progressive experience of the divine Light”. The radiance of divine grace, described by St Macarius of Egypt, shines forth from the face of the Son; it enlightened Paul’s mind although it blinded his eyes, for his body was unable to withstand the brilliance of this Light. This fire constitutes the divine energies, the “rays of godliness”. This light (φῶς) or rather illumination (ἕλλαμψις) can be described as the visible manifestation of divinity – God’s energies or His grace, beyond human comprehension or physical perception. United with the Light dwelling within us, the body participates in, or partakes of, the divine things, experiencing them as inward warmth or light. But the light of the Holy Trinity will shine eschatologically in the multitude of human hypostases, the divine fire within the hearts will resurrect the bodies and everything will become Light, being pervaded by this uncreated splendor.
According to Father Stăniloae, it is the Holy Spirit who leaves the “imprint” of God’s action on the human subjects and imprints Christ’s image on each man. The ascetics elevate this divine image they possess to the likeness to God, and to the deifying love. On their face is visible the light of Christ’s face. They receive the seal of divine beauty, as the psalm says: « lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us» (Ps 4, 9). This is the experience of plenitude of grace, an actual experience of the grace through the senses (πεῖρα ἀισθήσεως), an incessant feeling of the presence of grace, manifest in the contemplation of the divine light. The glory thus partaken of, radiates from the unique, divine-human Person, to Whom the body is not a hindrance. Ascetics are seen in Him by the Father who sees Christ “imprinted” onto them, in His sacrificial and resurrected state. In the face of Christ, the Father sees all those who believe in Him; His face reflects Christ’s care for each of them, while the face of every believer bears the image of Christ.
The concrete experience of the ineffable mystery is possible only if man is able to transcend any intellectual act, that is, become united with God beyond intellectual comprehension. This union is not the outcome of logical abstract thinking, but is achieved by means of a «visible theophany» (ὁρατῆς θεοϕανείας), that is, by man’s partaking of the divine light. Those who become sons of God, as «sons of the resurrection», will always be with the Lord (1 Tim 4, 16) and enjoy «His visible appearance» (τῆς ὁρατῆς αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας) and contemplate His radiance, like the disciples on the Lord’s Transfiguration. This «visible theophany», however, requires spiritualized senses – a doctrine that was unknown to the Antiochenes. Αἴσθησις is the empirical knowledge of God’s indwelling. This term also describes a subtle, dynamic experience of communion in grace, which responds to an ontological necessity of the soul. Empirical theology is tantamount to a mystical realism, transcending the barrier of con-cepts; the mind is filled empirically with the apophatic dimension, and receives «the One without form». The light of glory shines from the inside to the outside, as an irradiation of the presence of the divine light, in which the body shares, too.

The motif of God’s turning away his face still matters in theology as a direct aftermath of the horrors that the world experienced during WWII and also in the wake of the pro- motion of an excessive reading of theology, called kenotic. It even appears in unexpected places with no discernible association to the historical development of the Christian doctrine (Caputo, Žižek and C.S. Lewis). This book provides a historical supplement to current approaches and explores the way that late antique theology laid out the theoretical substratum on which modern approaches could anchor themselves. It presents the nuanced ways in which the motif of divine abandonment developed in late antiquity, displays the various threads of thought that theology pursued in different contexts (exegesis, Christology and ascetic desert literature) and raises three points: the extent to which parallel lines were drawn in late antique theology between the experiences of the bride in the Song of Songs, Jesus on the cross and the early ascetics; the normativeness of divine abandonment in early Chris- tian thought and its association to sinfulness; the possibility that late antique theology had introduced a Jesus-like ‘kind’ of abandonment.

‘If there is a virginity test, I will take it’, the protagonist Leukippe in the Achilleas Tatius’ novel Leucippe and Clitophon, written in the third quarter of the second century, declared to her mother who refused since she wished to avoid all the gossip and attention this would attract.  Life in the Mediterranean late antique world was far from easy; for our sensitive western standards that is.  And it must have been even harder for women that came from the lower classes.  Domestic violence,  rapes  and virginity tests seem to have been common.

Resumo: A Regula Isidori consiste numa regra monástica escrita pelo bispo hispânico Isidoro de Sevilha entre os anos 615 e 619. O nono capítulo do documento determinava que os monges se alimentassem apenas por ocasião da mesa comum. Contudo, alguns dos presentes na comunidade eram proibidos de participar da refeição coletiva; a outros, permitia-se que comessem fora do horário prescrito em situações excepcionais. Por fim, a Regula Isidori estabelecia a distribuição de funções específicas concernentes ao preparo e realização da mesa comum. O objetivo do presente artigo é analisar o papel da comensalidade no estabelecimento de uma hierarquia e na organização das relações sociais no mosteiro. Palavras-chave: Comensalidade; Regra monástica; Isidoro de Sevilha. Abstract: The Regula Isidori consists in a monastic rule written by the Hispanic bishop Isidore of Seville between the years of 615 and 619. The ninth chapter of the document stipulated that the monks fed only when the common table was being held. However, some of those in the community were forbidden to participate in the collective meal; the other, were allowed to eat outside the prescribed period of time in exceptional situations. Finally, the Regula Isidori established the distribution of specific functions concerning the preparation and accomplishment of the common table. The goal of this article is to analyze the role of commensality in the constitution of a hierarchy and in the organization of social relations at the monastery

The Roman world in which Christianity would achieve domination had strictly circumscribed gender roles which therefore required the performance of particular gendered behaviors. Ascetics in Roman Egypt would, in this sense, reject their assigned genders in favor of the holiness of an ungendered ideal. By taking on the characteristics of the opposite gender, many of these ascetics aimed at the negation of their own allocated genders. All of this occurred within the context of a simple Roman gender hierarchy in which men were at the top as complete human beings and women below them, assumed to be inferior. However, inspired by Origen, some desert ascetics seem to have added a new category: a divine, genderless ideal which they placed at the apex of their hierarchy as the ultimate telos. Using Judith Butler’s theory of gender as performance, this article argues that the desert fathers and mothers, as part of their ascetic program, performed aspects of the opposite of their assigned genders, negating those genders and thus coming ever closer to an ungendered ideal of holiness.

It is well known that early Christian monks were frequently involved in acts of religious violence against pagans and Jews. Against this background, the article focuses on two passages from Ps.-Macarius the Egyptian and Isaac of Nineveh which presuppose loving and respectful attitude towards representatives of other religions on personal level. Suggestions about historical and literary contexts and current significance of this evidence are provided.

Power relationships are often clearly defined within religious places. In some cases, even the place itself may be given the authority to “act” as the agent on those attempting to earn religious merit. However, the fact that a building is given such agency does not preclude the exercise of power between the people involved. How and why is such agency and authority bestowed upon a place and on behalf of whom? In other words, who benefits from the conferral of power upon a place?
Although it does not concern a sacred place per se, Michel Foucault’s study of Bentham’s Panopticon provides a useful theoretical model from which to view the intersection of power and place. In Foucault’s analysis, the value of the Panopticon, a prison model in which all individual cells and their inmates can be viewed overtly or secretly by an authority at all times, is that the inmates remain in a “state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power.”  In fact, the mere knowledge that the inmate may be under surveillance makes the actual exercise of that power superfluous; the inmate will, in a sense, police himself.  Thus, the inmate “inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection.”  A group of Christian ascetics in Egypt formed a monastic system which, while architecturally nothing like the Panopticon, ultimately served the same purpose by convincing younger monks to regulate their own behavior within cells imbued with what they believed to be the superior guiding power of their monastic elders.

The Origenist Controversy between the institutional Church and a group of Egyptian desert monks began in 399 C.E. The monks had gradually gained prestige among laypeople and independence from church hierarchy by voluntarily living ascetic lives in the desert, outside the legal and ideological boundary of both society and the church. That church leaders saw this group as a threat to church hegemony is evident from the many examples of bishops literally kidnapping desert monks and forcing them to become clergy, a clear attempt to co-opt the status of the beloved monks. However, the independence of the monks from the institutional church is equally evident in the number of examples of the monks fleeing from the urban priesthood to return to the solace of the desert.
While the conflict over the ideas of Origen, an early church father, was apparently theological in nature, it would seem from accounts written soon after, that the bishop who started the dispute had more political ends in mind.  This conflict and its historical consequences are clear examples of Robert Sack’s theory of territoriality, specifically his definition of the concept as a means of control and his enumeration of the tendencies territoriality provokes.  Using Sack’s theory, I will argue that Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, created a controversy by staking out contentious theological territory solely in order to gain power over the physical and conceptual territory of the monks and reify the power of the church over against that of the independent ascetics. The Origenist Controversy was ultimately a territorial dispute.

This article examines the thirteen passages in the writings of Ephrem the Syrian that treat the episode of Moses' transfiguration, described in Ex. 34,27-35.  Analysis of Ephrem's vocabulary and imagery reveals that he uses the passage in several inter-related ways throughout the course of his literary career.  Despite their differences, his interpretations tend to follow a consistent pattern, namely, that Moses appears as the paradigm of the ascetic wisdom-seeker, and that the light that he received was either a mark of his heavenly wisdom or the 'food' of wisdom itself.  In his earlier writings, Ephrem focuses on the detail of Moses' fasting and tends to see Moses' transfiguration as evidence of his association with the divine realm in the pursuit of wisdom.  He takes the glory-light as the food of divine wisdom, often presented in seemingly Eucharistic language.  His later writings, while not denying Moses' quasi-divine status, tend to focus on other aspects of the story: the fear of the Israelites and the veil on Moses' face.  In this connection, Moses' experience appears not only as a paradigm for the ascetic pursuit of wisdom, but also for an appropriate epistemological distance from God.  Thus, while Moses' transfiguration remains a paradigm for the ascetic pursuit of wisdom and heavenly contemplation, it also serves as a model for appropriate theological inquiry.  At the end of his life, Ephrem unites many of these themes in a final treatment of the episode.

L’article se propose d’examiner la manière dont un même thème biblique, à savoir l’Exode, pouvait être traité dans les écrits de deux auteurs contemporains, qui vivaient dans le même cadre monastique et appartenaient au même espace géographique : Jean Cassien (Conférences) et Eucher de Lyon (Eloge du désert). A travers l’interprétation, fort différente, des événements de l’Exode, se dessinent deux visions de la vie monastique, et dans un sens plus large, de la vie chrétienne. ----------------------

The article seeks to examine the way the same biblical theme – the Exodus story – could be treated in the writings of two contemporary authors living in the same monastic milieu and in the same geographical area: John Cassian (The Conferences) and Eucherius of Lyon (In Praise of the Desert). Their different interpretation of the Exodus’ events testifies to two different visions of monastic, and in a broader sense of Christian, life.

Syrian monasticism has often been judged by its extremes, with Symeon the Stylite as the prime example of someone leaving the human world behind to reach for God. In this interpretation, hagiographical renderings seem only to underline an opposition between sacred and civil spheres, between the cells of the ascetics and human society. With this article, however, I wish to call such a conclusion into question with the help of one of the more well-known textual sources about Symeon and the other Syrian ascetics, Theodoret's Philotheos Historia (PH). My aim is to examine how different ascetic environments are displayed in the PH, to see if and how they are related to longstanding ideas and ideals about civilization. My concern is therefore not so much the historical places (or circumstances) of the ascetics as Theodoret's literary presentations of monastic space. In the end, I will suggest a "one-space-model", where I will argue that the different locations of ascetics are exhibited along a graded scale, which situates them differently between the poles of human and divine realms, and that there is room for moving in both directions. In fact, the evolution of the monastic movement in Syria is depicted as an ongoing civilization in the PH.

این نوشته کوششی نظری است برای طرح یک مُدل در شناخت نگاه زیبایی‌شناسانه غرب به تاریخ سیاسی خاورمیانه. در توضیح مفاهیم پایه‌ای متن از اندیشه‌های فیلسوف محافظه‌کار بریتانیایی، ادموند برک درباره پیوند زیبایی‌شناسی و سیاست بهره گرفته می‌شود. نمونه‌ای که بررسی می شود طبعاً درباره تاریخ معاصر ایران است. درونمایه اصلی متن این است که نوع مواجهه غرب (و به‌ویژه اروپا) با جمهوری اسلامی هم خاستگاه امروزین دارد و هم ریشه‌هایی چه‌بسا کهن‌تر داشته باشد.