The Early Church by Morwenna Ludlow

Author:Morwenna Ludlow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857735591
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Saints and the City

(FOURTH TO FIFTH CENTURIES)

It has often been a matter of discussion among many people as to which monk

was the first to inhabit the desert. Some, going back further into the past,

have ascribed the beginning to the blessed Elijah and to John [the Baptist]. …

Others, whose opinion is commonly accepted, claim that Antony was the firstaffirm to this day

to undertake this way of life. … Amathas and Macarius, Antony’s disciples

… affirm to this day that a certain Paul of Thebes was the originator of the

practice … of the solitary life.1

So Jerome began his life of Paul the Hermit. According to this, Paul went into the desert during the persecutions of Decius and Valerian – i.e. at some point in the 250s – but it is clear from Jerome’s account that although Paul was supposedly ‘the originator of the practice … of the solitary life’, he was adapting a routine of spiritual discipline and self-denial that had already been current in Christian circles for many years. This kind of practice is known as asceticism, from the Greek askesis (practice, training). The ascetics themselves traced their way of life back to Christ’s disciples who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, sold their possessions in order to share the proceeds with the poor and who then shared all their goods (Acts 4.32–5).2 A popular form of asceticism for women – living a life of prayer and self-denial within the parental home – was popularly traced back to the early life of Mary, the mother of Christ, and to various early Christian disciples.3

The popular stories about the beginnings of asceticism and their very practical concerns – money, food and sex – may seem very distant from the theological debates discussed in the previous chapters. But Athanasius, the Cappadocians and Ephrem were deeply involved with the development of asceticism in the fourth century and their concern is evident in their writings. Athanasius, for example, is credited with the Life of Antony of Egypt which became swiftly famous and was translated into several languages, including Latin and Syriac. Even if he was not the author, he certainly gained much of his support from Egyptian monks. Basil wrote some guidelines for life in a monastic community.4 Both Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus wrote pieces encouraging Christians to imitate Christ and take up an ascetic lifestyle, and Nyssa’s Life of Macrina is one of the most engaging accounts of fourth-century Christian ascetic life. Interestingly, becoming an ascetic did not seem necessarily to involve joining a monastery or becoming a solitary monk or nun: the Cappadocians and Ephrem seem to have been concerned to encourage other forms of ascetic discipline, including ones within the family and even within marriage.

It is this fact that points us towards the heart of the fourth-century enthusiasm for the ascetic life: ultimately, asceticism was not about the following of a certain set of rules; instead, it was the choice of a life devoted to God and the pursuit of that life in a way which presented as few distractions as possible.

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