Ascetic culture : essays in honor of Philip Rousseau

Ascetic Culture honors Philip Rousseau’s pathbreaking work on early Christian asceticism in a series of essays exploring how quickly the industrious and imaginative practitioners of asceticism, from the early fourth through the mid-fifth century, adapted the Greco-Roman social, literary, and religious culture in which they had been raised. Far from rejecting the life of the urban centers of the ancient world, they refined and elaborated that life in their libraries, households, and communities. The volume begins with a discussion of Egyptian monastic reading programs and the circulation of texts, especially the hugely influential Life of Antony. A second group of essays engages the topic of disciplinary culture in ascetic spaces such as the monastery, the household, and the city. A third group focuses on the topic of imaginary landscapes and ascetic self-fashioning. Ascetic Culture concludes by surveying the scholarly study of asceticism over the last one hundred and fifty years, arguing that previous generations of scholars have regarded asceticism either as a product of the inner dynamism of early Christianity or as a distortion of its earliest aims. Together, the contributors recognize, reflect upon, and extend the themes explored in Rousseau’s work on early Christianity’s ascetic periphery—a region whose inhabitants reflect in various ways the aspirations of their religion, from the daily to the otherworldly. "Ascetic Culture: Essays in Honor of Philip Rousseau is a significant resource for scholars and students interested in the study of Christianity in late antiquity. It offers a fascinating collection of investigations into early Christian ascetic rhetoric and practice as well as ample self-reflection on contemporary scholarly interpretation of primary source data. In so doing, the authors honor Philip Rousseau's major contributions to the field." —Stephen J. Davis, Yale University. This collection honors Philip Rousseau’s pathbreaking work on early Christian asceticism in a series of essays exploring how quickly the industrious and imaginative practitioners of asceticism, from the early fourth through the mid-fifth century, adapted the Greco-Roman social, literary, and religious culture in which they had been raised. Far from rejecting the life of the urban centers of the ancient world, they refined and elaborated that life in their libraries, households, and communities. The volume begins with a discussion of Egyptian monastic reading programs and the circulation of texts, especially the hugely influential Life of Antony. A second group of essays engages the topic of disciplinary culture in ascetic spaces such as the monastery, the household, and the city. A third group focuses on the topic of imaginary landscapes and ascetic self-fashioning. The book concludes by surveying the scholarly study of asceticism over the last one hundred and fifty years, arguing that previous generations of scholars have regarded asceticism either as a product of the inner dynamism of early Christianity or as a distortion of its earliest aims. Together, the contributors recognize, reflect upon, and extend the themes explored in Rousseau’s work on early Christianity’s ascetic periphery - a region whose inhabitants reflect in various ways the aspirations of their religion, from the daily to the otherworldly Pachomius And The Mystery Of The Letters / Joel Kalvesmaki -- Writing Rules And Quoting Scripture In Early Coptic Monastic Texts / Janet A. Timbie -- The Life Of Antony In Egypt / Malcolm Choat -- Apologetics Of Asceticism: The Life Of Antony And Its Political Context / Samuel Rubenson -- The Memory Palace Of Marcellinus: Athanasius And The Mirror Of The Psalms / Georgia Frank -- From The Pillar To The Prison: Penitential Spectacles In Early Byzantine Monasticism / Daniel F. Caner -- Cassian, Cognition, And The Common Life / Catherine M. Chin -- Gender, Eros, And Pedagogy: Macrina's Pious Household / Virginia Burrus -- Waiting For Theodosius, Or, The Ascetic And The City: Gregory Of Nazianzus On Maximus The Philosopher / Susanna Elm -- Remembering For Eternity: The Ascetic Landscape As Cultural Discourse In Early Christian Egypt / James E. Goehring -- Xeniteia According To Evagrius Of Pontus / Robin Darling Young -- Adam, Eve, And The Elephants: Asceticism And Animality / Patricia Cox Miller -- The Consolation Of Nature: Fields And Gardens In The Preaching Of John Chrysostom / Blake Leyerle -- Adolf Harnack And The Paleontological Layer Of Church History / Claudia Rapp -- From East To West: Christianity, Asceticism, And Nineteenth-century Protestant Professors In America / Elizabeth A. Clark. Edited By Blake Leyerle And Robin Darling Young. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 347-389) And Index. Religion and Theology / Patristics Contents 8 Abbreviations 12 Introduction 16 Part I: Books as Guides 24 Chapter 1: Pachomius and the Mystery of the Letters 26 Chapter 2: Writing Rules and Quoting Scripture in Early Coptic Monastic Texts 44 Chapter 3: The Life of Antony in Egypt 65 Chapter 4: Apologetics of Asceticism 90 Chapter 5: The Memory Palace of Marcellinus 112 Part II: Disciplines and Arenas 140 Chapter 6: From the Pillar to the Prison 142 Chapter 7: Cassian, Cognition, and the Common Life 162 Chapter 8: Gender, Eros, and Pedagogy 182 Chapter 9: Waiting for Theodosius, or The Ascetic and the City 197 Part III: Landscapes (with Figures) 214 Chapter 10: Remembering for Eternity 216 Chapter 11: Xeniteia According to Evagrius of Pontus 244 Chapter 12: Adam, Eve, and the Elephants 268 Chapter 13: The Consolation of Nature 284 Part IV: Founding the Field 308 Chapter 14: Adolf Harnack and the Paleontological Layer of Church History 310 Chapter 15: From East to West 330 Select Publications of Philip Rousseau 357 Bibliography 362 Contributors 405 Index 408