Wandering, begging monks : spiritual authority and the promotion of monasticism in late antiquity / Daniel Caner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Caner, Daniel.

Series:

Transformation of the classical heritage ; 33.

The Transformation of the classical heritage ; 33

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monastic and religious life--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Monastic and religious life.

Messalians.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (343 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

An apostolic lifestyle characterized by total material renunciation, homelessness, and begging was practiced by monks throughout the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Such monks often served as spiritual advisors to urban aristocrats whose patronage gave them considerable authority and independence from episcopal control. This book is the first comprehensive study of this type of Christian poverty and the challenge it posed for episcopal authority and the promotion of monasticism in late antiquity. Focusing on devotional practices, Daniel Caner draws together diverse testimony from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and elsewhere-including the Pseudo-Clementine Letters to Virgins, Augustine's On the Work of Monks, John Chrysostom's homilies, legal codes-to reveal gospel-inspired patterns of ascetic dependency and teaching from the third to the fifth centuries. Throughout, his point of departure is social and cultural history, especially the urban social history of the late Roman empire. He also introduces many charismatic individuals whose struggle to persist against church suppression of their chosen way of imitating Christ was fought with defiant conviction, and the book includes the first annotated English translation of the biography of Alexander Akoimetos (Alexander the Sleepless). Wandering, Begging Monks allows us to understand these fascinating figures of early Christianity in the full context of late Roman society.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Wandering in the Desert and the Virtues of Manual Labor

2. Apostolic Wanderers of Third-Century Syria

3. In Support of "People Who Pray": Apostolic Monasticism and the Messalian Controversy

4. Apostle and Heretic: The Controversial Career of Alexander the Sleepless

5. Hypocrites and Pseudomonks: Beggars, Bishops, and Ascetic Teachers in Cities of the Early Fifth Century

6. Monastic Patronage and the Two Churches of Constantinople

Epilogue

Appendix: The Life of Alexander Akoimētos

Select Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-309) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780520928503

0520928504

9781597349840

1597349844

OCLC:

475929196