Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian

Philip Rousseau

Description

In his Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian, first published in 1978, Philip Rousseau presents a survey of asceticism in the western church until about 400, including a selective study of Jerome, and then, moving into the fifth century, a reading of Sulpicius and Cassian. Rousseau explores such societal changes as the eventual triumph of the coenobitic movement and its growing effect within the church, not least on the episcopate. He focuses primarily on the development among ascetics of a certain concept of spiritual authority; on the attraction of that concept for a wider audience; and on its enduring formulation within a literary tradition of great influence. For this second edition, Rousseau has supplied a new introduction, with extensive bibliographical references, that charts the ways in which scholarship on early Christian asceticism has developed since his compelling and influential original argument.

For this second edition, Rousseau has supplied a new introduction with extensive bibliographical references in which he charts the ways in which scholarship on early Christian asceticism has developed since his compelling and influential original argument.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Philosophie et théologie
• John Cassian
• General officer
• Martin of Tours
• Monasticism
• Jerome
• Christianity
• General
• History

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268091736
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 18 Mo

Extrait

Ascetics, Authority, and the Church
Rousseau
in the Age of Jerome and Cassian
Ascetics, Authority, and the Church
in the Age of Jerome and Cassian, Second Edition
Philip Rousseau Ascetics, Authority,
In his Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian, first
published in 1978, Philip Rousseau presents a survey of asceticism in the western and the Church in church until about 400, including a selective study of Jerome, and then, moving
into the fifth century, a reading of Sulpicius and Cassian. Rousseau explores
such societal changes as the eventual triumph of the coenobitic movement and
its growing effect within the church, not least on the episcopate. He focuses the Age of Jerome
primarily on the development among ascetics of a certain concept of spiritual
authority; on the attraction of that concept for a wider audience; and on its s e c o n d
enduring formulation within a literary tradition of great influence. E d i t i o nand CassianFor this second edition, Rousseau has supplied a new introduction, with
extensive bibliographical references, that charts the ways in which scholarship
on early Christian asceticism has developed since his compelling and
influential original argument.
Philip Rousseau is Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Early
Christian Studies, and Director, Center for the Study of Early Christianity,
Catholic University of America.
Reviews of the first edition:
“A scholarly, well-documented and extremely interesting work. . . . [A] most
valuable contribution towards understanding the ascetic movement in late
antiquity.” —Journal of Theological Studies
“Rousseau captures an essential turning point in the history of western
spirituality and shows how the influence of eastern ideas made the crucial difference.”
—Classical World
“Ascetics, Authority, and the Church is preeminently a book about literature in its
historical setting; a skillful demonstration of how the creation of a written
tradition . . . was central to the process of bridging the gap between the charismatic
power of the holy man and the settled monastic community, of preserving the
essential tradition of spiritual authority through changing patterns of ascetic
life.” —Journal of Roman Studies

university of notre dame press • notre dame, in 46556 • undpress.nd.edu
Cover art: Coptic (Sahidic) parchment of Ephesians 1:6 (8th–9th
century), Institute of Christian Oriental Research, The Catholic
University of America (with permission). Photo of Deir al-Madina,
Ancient Egyptian worker’s town near the Valley of Kings at Luxor,
Egypt. Hathor. Courtesy of istockphoto.com, rchphoto.
Cover design by James F. Brisson Philip Rousseau
Rousseau Cover.indd 1 3/25/10 2:50 PMASCETICS, AUTHORITY,
AND THE CHURCH ASCETICS, AUTHORITY,
AND THE CHURCH
In the A e of g
Jerome and Cassian
SECOND EDITION
PHILIP ROUSSEAU
Universit of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana ww
Copyright © 1978, 2010 by Philip Rousseau
Paperback printed in 2010 by the University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
.undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
First edition published in 1978 by Oxford University Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congess Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rousseau, Philip.
Ascetics, authority, and the church in the age of Jerome and Cassian /
Philip Rousseau. - [2nd ed.J
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-268-04029-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-I0: 0-268-04029-X (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Asceticism-History-Early church, ca. 30-600. 2. Monastic and
religious life-History-Early ca. 30-600. 3. Authority­
Religious aspects-Christianity. I. Title.
BV5023.R68 2010
248.4'709015-dc22
2010008789
0 The paper in this book meets the gidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources. AILEEN, HUBERT,
and ROGER V
CONTENTS
Introduction to the Second Edition lX
Abbeviations XXXVl
Introduction 1
PART ONE: THE DESERT
I. Discovering the Desert Fathers
1. Contemporary Judgements 9
2. The Evidence Today 11
II. Masters and Disciples
1. The Dialogue 19
2. The Basis of Authorit 21
III. The Growth of Ascetic Society
1. From Hermit to Coenobite 33
2. Power within the Community 49
I Ascetics in the Church 56
The Written Word 68
PART TWO: WESTERN BEGINNINGS
I. Exiles and Pilgrims 79
II. Ascetic Literature 92
PART THREE: JEROME
I. Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome 99
II. Letters from Bethlehem 114
III. Jerome on the Priesthood and Episcopate 125
I. Jerome's Lives 133 viii CONTENTS
PART FOUR: MARTIN OF TOURS
I. A Bishop and his Biographer
1. Sulpicius the Disciple 143
. Martin the Master 2 148
II. An Apostle in Gaul 152
III. Martin's Audience 161
PART FIVE: CAS SIAN
I. An Exile in Reverse 169
II. Hermits or Coenobites? 177
III. Adapting Egypt to the West 183
IV. Authority
1. The Decline of the Charismatic Master 189
2. Discipleship within the Communit 194
V. Monks and the World
1. The Monastic Elite 199
2. Wealth and Patronage, 205
3. A Pastoral Role 212
VI. Cassian the Writer
1. Books 221
2. The Church as a Monastery: Cassian's De Incarnatione 227
3. The Thirteenth Conference: Portrait of an Abbot 231
Epilogue: the Next Generation 235
APPENDICES
I. Greek, Coptic, and Latin Lives of Pachomius 243
II. Greek and Latin Versions of the Historia Monachorum
and the Life of Antony 248
III. The Monastic Teachig of Evagrius of Pontus 251
IV. Cassian's Dependence on Oral Tradition: Some Examples
Bibliogaphy
Index
257
273
254 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION
More than thirty years after publication, it is useful to lay
out the chronology of the original enterprise and to assess
where it did and did not lead. Ascetics, Authorty, and the Church
in the Age oj Jerome and Cassian was published in 1978, but I
changed very little the text of the doctoral thesis upon which it
was based (defended in March 1972); it was essentially ready for
publication by the end of 1973. Indeed, important components
of the argument had already been published towards the end
of 1971,1 and the frst version of the book itself was completed
just a few weeks later. Subsequent delay was related only to the
series in which the book eventually appeared. Meanwhile, I pub­
lished two short pieces on eastern ascetics in 1972 and 1974 and
a paper on Cassian in 1975.2
I think it is important not to imagine in retrospect that such
a pattern of research was predictable. The steps taken seemed
rational enough at the time. I wanted (this was in 1968) to ex­
plore the western aftermath of Augustine's career, so vividly and
so recently disclosed in Peter Brown's biography; attention to
Possidius and Prosper of Aquitaine was obviously necessary; and
Prosper led me back to Cassian. It was at that point that my
curiosit took a new turn, and Ijourneyed to Egypt via the Con­
Jerences. As a result, the western churchmen with whom I had
planned to spend my thesis years took on a surprisingly "east­
ern" appearance.
It is also important to recognize the company I was keeping a
a student. Some people are lucky in their moment, and I was
certainly lucky in mine. In addition to Peter Brown, I shared a
"late Roman" enthusiasm with classicists such asJohn Matthews
and Timothy Barnes and with medievalists such as Patrick
Wormald and Alfred Smyth. We pursued our interests in a world
1 "The Spiritual Authority of the 'Monk-Bishop.'" Full references, including
those alluded to in the text, are provided in the additional bibliography at the end of
this introduction.
2 "Blood-Relationships among Early Eastern Acetics," "The Formation of Early
Ascetic Communities," and "Cassian, Contemplation, and the Coenobitic Life." x INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION
dominated by giants of the centuryaldo Momigliano,
Richard Southern, and Ronald Syme. Geoffrey de Sainte Croix,
Michael Wallace Hadrill, and Karl Leyser were familiar fgures.
I was also blessed with friends in the world inspired by Isaiah
Berlin, president of my own college (this book is dedicated to
them and still recalls for me their style, sensitivity, and affec­
tion). None of this says much about me personally, but it speaks
volumes about the formation of a scholarly movement­
interdependent, inventive, and tolerant. I often felt slightly odd
and out of place in this vibrant circle-indeed, my ancient asce­
tic acquaintances wee odd companions at the seminar table in
those days; but I always knew that, if I talked about them with
what clarity I could muster and with respect for the disciplinar y
skills and interests of others, my immediate colleagues would
fnd a common interest in those apparently fringe fgures of
the Mediterranean world. Few of us anticipated how soon our
own inquiries would make them central players on the late an­
tique stage.
By the time Ascetics appeared in 1978, I had begun work
on a second book, Pachomius. Published in 1985 but completed
by 1982, Pachomius represented my frst m�or misgiving about
the argument of Ascetics itself-namely, its relative neglect of
the Pachomian material taken as a whole. This new and nar­
rower focus was to be significant, since it weaned me from the
Latin West, made me appreciate more fully the riches of Egypt,
and developed my understanding of the Greek East in general.
If, moreover , I had known more in the early 1970s about what
was afoot in Upper Egypt after Pachomius' death (in the era of
Shenoute of Atripe), I would almost certainly have modifed my
assessment of ascetic authority and its wider impact.
Pachomius had its own shortcomings. The book overlooked
major points that we now appropriately associate with the name
of James Goehring (as I admit in the preface to the later paper­
back edition). Goehring published his work on the Letter of
Ammon only shortly after my Pachomius frst appe