The role of death in the Ladder of divine ascent and the Greek ascetic tradition / Jonathan L. Zecher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zecher, Jonathan L.

Series:

Oxford early Christian studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

John, Climacus, Saint, active 6th century. Scala Paradisi.

John.

Christian life--Orthodox Eastern authors.

Christian life.

Fathers of the church.

Physical Description:

xviii, 252 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

The Ladder of Divine Ascent, the work of an otherwise shadowy figure, John Climacus (meaning "of the Ladder"), abbot of St. Catherine's, Sinai (ca. 579-649 CE), is one of the most popular and enduring classics of Greek ascetic spiritual direction. Hailed as the great synthesis of early ascetic writings, the Ladder presents a spirituality self-consciously rooted in the literary and theological tradition of the Desert Fathers and the Great Old Men of Gaza. Despite its incredible popularity among monastic and lay readers, the Ladder is virtually unknown in scholarship. In this work, Jonathan L. Zecher offers a sustained study of the Ladder's spiritual vision, which is contextualized within an equally sustained genealogical survey of Climacus' own tradition. The Ladder is built up through the "memory of death," a term referring to admonitions of early authors to remember one's inevitable but unknowable death and to contemplate the divine judgment which would follow to cultivate particular ascetic, Christian, lifestyles in their readers. In the literature before Climacus, every aspect of the "memory of death" varied considerably, but Climacus draws these together in the Ladder so that death and the judgment which follows define a symbolic framework within which monks reflect on their past and approach the future. Climacus also took up metaphorical practices of dying to oneself and others to craft an idea of spiritual progress in the imitation of Christ taking into account failure and frailty. At the heart of this study is the abiding question of how tradition forms, and in the Ladder is an outstanding example of how unflinching fidelity to tradition results in a creative, synthetic achievement. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 John of Sinai and the Quest for Unity 29

The Ladder's Author, John of Sinai 29

The Quest for Unity 36

Running toward Death 50

2 Biblical and Philosophical Foundations 52

The Biblical Vocabulary of Death 63

Philosophical Practices: Death and Remembrance 63

3 The Life of Antony: Embracing Death on the Ascent to God 80

A Rule in Narrative 81

The New Man and the Old Enemy 85

The Continuity of Life and Death 91

Daily Dying 95

4 The Desert Fathers: "Like a body whose soul has departed" 103

Imagining Death and Judgment 103

Living Beyond Death: Opposition of the Ages 111

Living in Death 122

Ambivalence 136

5 The Great Old Men of Gaza: Learning to Die through Obedience 143

The Memory of Death as Judgment 145

The Mortal Self and the Limit of Death 153

Practicing Death in Gaza 162

Ambiguity and Crucifixion 175

6 The Ladder of Divine Ascent: Death Makes the Christian 182

The Temporal and Iconic Framework of the Ascetic Life 183

The Ascetic Life as Death and Resurrection 207

Imitating Christ through Death 218

Conclusion: John Climacus' Achievement 224

The Parts and the Whole 224

The Gift of Tradition 225.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-248) and index.

ISBN:

9780198724940

0198724942

OCLC:

907102582