Monasteries and the care of souls in late antique Christianity : cognition and discipline / Paul C. Dilley, University of Iowa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dilley, Paul, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Monastic and religious life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 350 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Summary:

In Monasteries and the Care of Souls in Late Antique Christianity, Paul C. Dilley explores the personal practices and group rituals through which the thoughts of monastic disciples were monitored and trained to purify the mind and help them achieve salvation. Dilley draws widely on the interdisciplinary field of cognitive studies, especially anthropology, in his analysis of key monastic 'cognitive disciplines', such as meditation on scripture, the fear of God, and prayer. In addition, various rituals distinctive to communal monasticism, including entrance procedures, the commemoration of founders, and collective repentance, are given their first extended analysis. Participants engaged in 'heart-work' on their thoughts and emotions, which were understood to reflect the community's spiritual state. This book will be of interest to scholars of early Christianity and the ancient world more generally for its detailed description of communal monastic culture and its innovative methodology.

Contents:

Evaluating postulants

Discerning motivation I: status and vocation

Discerning motivation II: trials of commitment

Cognitive disciplines

Scriptural exercises and the monastic soundscape: writing on the heart

Learning the fear of God

Prayer and monastic progress: from demonic temptation to divine revelation

Collective heart-work

The lives (and minds) of others: hagiography, cognition, and commemoration

Shenoute and the heart of darkness: rituals of collective repentance.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 30 Aug 2017).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-87747-7

1-316-87969-0

1-316-88006-0

1-316-88043-5

1-316-88191-1

1-316-87509-1

OCLC:

1024283566