Word in the Desert : Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism
The growing scholarly attention in recent years to the religious world of late antiquity has focused new attention on the quest for holiness by the strange, compelling, often obscure early Christian monks known as the desert fathers. Yet until now, little attention has been given to one of the most vital dimensions of their spirituality: their astute, penetrating interpretation of Scripture. Rooted in solitude, cultivated in an atmosphere of silence, oriented toward the practical appropriation of the sacred texts, the desert fathers' hermeneutic profoundly shaped every aspect of their lives an
eBook, English, 1993
New edition View all formats and editions
Oxford University Press, New York, 1993
Church history
1 online resource (353 pages)
9780195359411, 0195359410
1027205825
Abbreviations; Author's Note; I: The Desert Hermeneutic in Its Setting; 1 Introduction: Toward a Desert Hermeneutic; 2 Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Late Antiquity; 3 The Sayings of the Desert Fathers; II: Approaches to the Word in the Desert; 4 The Use of Scripture in the Desert; 5 Words and Praxis; III: The Word Realized; 6 Eschatology, Penthos, and the Struggle against Evil; 7 Renunciation, Freedom from Care, and the Recovery of Paradise; 8 The Humble Way of Christ; 9 The Commandment of Love; Epilogue Appendix: Biblical Texts Cited in Cotelier's Greek Text and in Modern Translations of the SayingsSelected Bibliography; Index of Biblical Citations; OLD TESTAMENT; NEW TESTAMENT; General Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; V; W; X; Z