An Introduction to the Desert Fathers

John Wortley

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781108576154
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Religion

Christian monasticism emerged in the Egyptian deserts in the fourth century AD. This introduction explores its origins and subsequent development and what it aimed to achieve, including the obstacles that it encountered; for the most part making use of the monks' own words as they are preserved (in Greek) primarily in the so-called Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Mainly focussing on monastic settlements in the Nitrian Desert (especially at Scêtê), it asks how the monks prayed, ate, drank and slept, as well as how they discharged their obligations both to earn their own living by handiwork and to exercise hospitality. It also discusses the monks' degree of literacy, as well as women in the desert and Pachomius and his monasteries in Upper Egypt. Written in straightforward language, the book is accessible to all students and scholars, and anyone with a general interest in this important and fascinating phenomenon.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Glossary
• Notes on the Text
• List of Abbreviations
• Maps
• Chapter 1 Desert Fathers
• Chapter 2 Beginnings
• Chapter 3 Becoming a Monk
• Chapter 4 Impediments to Progress
• Chapter 5 The Object of the Exercise
• Chapter 6 Prayer
• Chapter 7 Discretion
• Chapter 8 Work
• Chapter 9 Eating and Drinking
• Chapter 10 Hospitality and Neighbourliness
• Chapter 11 Women in the Desert
• Chapter 12 Literacy
• Chapter 13 Heresy
• Chapter 14 The Pachomian Experiment
• Notes on the Sources
• Bibliography
• Index