Purity of Heart in Early Ascetic and Monastic Literature

Purity of Heart in Early Ascetic and Monastic Literature PDF Author: Harriet Luckman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
These essays honor the memory of Juana Raasch, O.S.B. (1927-1974), one of the first Benedictine women in America to consider the subject of early monasticism by returning to the texts and sources of the early ascetical movements. A student of classical languages as well as monasticism, she researched in particular the subject of "purity of heart" in early Christian texts. Her work is a valuable resource for those interested in monastic movements or in patristic studies.

Purity of Heart in Early Ascetic and Monastic Literature

Purity of Heart in Early Ascetic and Monastic Literature PDF Author: Harriet Luckman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
These essays honor the memory of Juana Raasch, O.S.B. (1927-1974), one of the first Benedictine women in America to consider the subject of early monasticism by returning to the texts and sources of the early ascetical movements. A student of classical languages as well as monasticism, she researched in particular the subject of "purity of heart" in early Christian texts. Her work is a valuable resource for those interested in monastic movements or in patristic studies.

Desert Christians

Desert Christians PDF Author: William Harmless
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199883041
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 877

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the fourth century, the deserts of Egypt became the nerve center of a radical new movement, what we now call monasticism. Groups of Christians-from illiterate peasants to learned intellectuals-moved out to the wastelands beyond the Nile Valley and, in the famous words of Saint Athanasius, made the desert a city. In so doing, they captured the imagination of the ancient world. They forged techniques of prayer and asceticism, of discipleship and spiritual direction, that have remained central to Christianity ever since. Seeking to map the soul's long journey to God and plot out the subtle vagaries of the human heart, they created and inspired texts that became classics of Western spirituality. These Desert Christians were also brilliant storytellers, some of Christianity's finest. This book introduces the literature of early monasticism. It examines all the best-known works, including Athanasius' Life of Antony, the Lives of Pachomius, and the so-called Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Later chapters focus on two pioneers of monastic theology: Evagrius Ponticus, the first great theoretician of Christian mysticism; and John Cassian, who brought Egyptian monasticism to the Latin West. Along the way, readers are introduced to path-breaking discoveries-to new texts and recent archeological finds-that have revolutionized contemporary scholarship on monastic origins. Included are fascinating snippets from papyri and from little-known Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopic texts. Interspersed in each chapter are illustrations, maps, and diagrams that help readers sort through the key texts and the richly-textured world of early monasticism. Geared to a wide audience and written in clear, jargon-free prose, Desert Christians offers the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to early monasticism.

Path of the Purified Heart

Path of the Purified Heart PDF Author: Laura Dunham
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1610978749
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book Here

Book Description
Path of the Purified Heart traces the classic Christian spiritual journey toward transformation into the likeness of Christ in a unique, fascinating way. Drawing on the voices of wise elders from the past and present, Dunham illumines the common path all Christians and spiritual seekers may take toward union with God. Through the motifs of the liturgical year and the labyrinth, the author weaves in her own journey on this path during her "year of purification."

The Cappadocian Mothers

The Cappadocian Mothers PDF Author: Carla D. Sunberg
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 0227176901
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Cappadocian Fathers had great influence on the church of the fourth century, having brought their passion for Christ and theological expertise to life in their ministry. Their work was not devoid of influence, including that of their immediate family members. Within their writings we uncover the lives of seven women, the Cappadocian Mothers, who may have had more influence on the theology of the church than previously believed. As the Cappadocians wrestle with the Christianization of the concept of deification, we find the women in their lives becoming models for their theological understanding. The lives of the women become points of intersection in the kenosis-theosis parabola. Not only are the Cappadocian Mothers uncovered in the texts, but they become models of an optimistic theology of restoration for all of humanity without constraint of gender.

To Live for God Alone

To Live for God Alone PDF Author: Mark O'Keefe
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 0879075910
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
What does it mean to live for God alone? “Prefer nothing to the love of Christ”; “My God and my all”; “God alone suffices”—these statements from the saints express the single desire that unified their hearts and gave direction to their lives. “God alone” was the constant theme of Saint Rafael Arnaiz (1911–1938), the expression of the search for God that informs any monastic vocation. Saint Rafael was profoundly and thoroughly a monk, even though ill health repeatedly forced him to leave the monastery, and he was never formally professed. With his single-hearted love for Christ and for the Blessed Virgin, he faithfully walked a path of trials and suffering that matured his faith, sharpened his longing, taught him to wait and to hope in God, and opened his heart to love. To Live for God Alone invites the reader into the compelling story of Rafael’s personal journey and into his penetrating insight into the cross and the Christian vocation.

Exhortation to the Monks by Hyperechios

Exhortation to the Monks by Hyperechios PDF Author:
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
ISBN: 1649033699
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 229

Get Book Here

Book Description
Hyperechios's Exhortation to the Monks for the first time in English translation Hyperechios is a little-known monk of the fourth to fifth centuries, who is thought to have lived in Roman Palestine, possibly coastal Sinai. He wrote the Exhortation to the Monks, 160 short sayings, much like the apophthegmata, or sayings of the desert fathers and mothers, but also structurally very different—most of the sayings are two lines of poetry that offer instruction. The Exhortation, and early Christian monastic writings in general, teach that a spiritual life requires a life of training and practice, individually and as a neighbor and friend within one’s community. This volume studies Hyperechios’s Exhortation to better understand the moral and spiritual values in a fourth to fifth-century Christian monastic community, while reflecting also on how these are contemporary with the modern day. Drawing on modern works by scholars and placing the Exhortation in conversation with contemporary writers on the spiritual life, Tim Vivian begins with an introduction about Hyperechios, his location, the text, then a lengthy reflection on spiritual matters. He follows this with an English-language translation of the Exhortation and the Greek text, both accompanied by footnotes that offer biblical and patristic cross-references. Exhortation to the Monks by Hyperechios will be of interest to scholars and general readers of early Christianity, early monasticism, and Christian spirituality, both ancient and contemporary.

The Pelagian Controversy

The Pelagian Controversy PDF Author: Stuart Squires
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532637837
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 473

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Pelagian Controversy (411-431) was one of the most important theological controversies in the history of Christianity. It was a bitter and messy affair in the evening of the Roman Empire that addressed some of the most important questions that we ask about ourselves: Who are we? What does it mean to be a human being? Are we good, or are we evil? Are we burdened by an uncontrollable impulse to sin? Do we have free will? It was comprised by a group of men who were some of the greatest thinkers of Late Antiquity, such as Augustine, Jerome, John Cassian, Pelagius, Caelestius, and Julian of Eclanum. These men were deeply immersed in the rich Roman literary and intellectual traditions of that time, and they, along with many other great minds of this period, tried to create equally rich Christian literary and intellectual traditions. This controversy--which is usually of interest only to historians and theologians of Christianity--should be appreciated by a wide audience because it was the primary event that shaped the way Christians came to understand the human person for the next 1,600 years. It is still relevant today because anthropological questions continue to haunt our public discourse.

The Church and the Library

The Church and the Library PDF Author: Dean Papademetriou
Publisher:
ISBN: 0972466118
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 449

Get Book Here

Book Description


Augustine and Nicene Theology

Augustine and Nicene Theology PDF Author: Rene Barnes
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
ISBN: 0227179927
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 349

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this collection of essays, Michel Rene Barnes offers a new reading of the character and development of Latin Trinitarian theology in the fourth and fifth centuries. Although Augustine is the principal focus, he is treated here as an inheritor of an earlier Latin tradition. Antecedent theologians, most notably including Marius Victorinus, are given a revised interpretation, and Augustine himself is explored from multiple angles. At every turn, developments in Augustine's thought are shown to be a response to the anti-Nicene theologies of the period. Most significantly, this view decries the modern 'systematic' tendency to engage with Augustine only though a simplified version of late-nineteenth-century categories. This accusation invites the question of how far modern theology can actually engage with Patristic theology at all, but Barnes offers a way forward.

Engaging the Spirit

Engaging the Spirit PDF Author: Robert Boak Slocum
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725239507
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book Here

Book Description
"For too long the Holy Spirit has tended to be either disregarded or the object of fanatical exclamation in the life of the church, especially in western Christianity," writes general editor Robert Boak Slocum in his introduction to this stimulating collection of eighteen essays from a broad spectrum of noted authors. "The essays in this collection give attention to many ways of the Spirit's life and activity--for salvation and healing, for making Christ present in our lives and in the church, for empowering our prayers and liturgies, for our inspiration and gifting, for transformation of the way we live, for the redemption of the world and the ultimate coming of God's kingdom, for the unity of our relationships with each other and God. . . . As we recognize the Spirit's activity in our traditions and doctrines, our prayers and liturgies, and in all aspects of the life we live, we may be better attuned to the leading of the Spirit into the future of faith and our life in God." Engaging the Spirit was first published as a special Summer 2001 edition of the Anglican Theological Review, and is dedicated to the late Charles P. Price, theologian and professor at Virginia Seminary. A posthumously published essay by Dr. Price is a fitting and unique addition to the collection.