Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Desert A City: A Study Of Antony The Great’S Life, Hanyang Chen

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper attempts to provide an insight of asceticism and its development in Egypt through the literal work Athanasius's Life of Antony. It sets out to explain how the peculiar geography and environment in Egypt contributed to the development of asceticism and how the practices of St. Antony reflected the contemporary ideas on soul and body.

This Is The Way: Christian Asceticism Alive In The Star Wars Universe, David Allen Osb

Obsculta

This article is a creative reflection on how the Desert Fathers, especially St. Antony, could be compared in a pastoral way to the Jedi Masters found in the Star Wars Film and Television Canon.

The Necessity Of Monastic Asceticism: A Case For Retrieval In Contemporary Evangelicalism, Greg Peters

Essays

No abstract provided.

A Wali’S Quest For Guidance; The Islamic Genealogies Of The Seh Mlaya, Verena Meyer

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

The Seh Mlaya is a narrative tradition of Sunan Kalijaga’s conversion and becoming a wali that is well-known for its drawing on pre-Islamic narrative and discursive legacies. In this article, I explore the Islamic genealogies of the narrative as told in a Surakarta manuscript (RP 333). I argue that the author uses the verse narrative to articulate two prominent, yet seemingly opposed, intellectual and spiritual traditions in Islamic Java and the relation between them: the speculative and ecstatic teachings of the Sufi lineage of the Syattariyah on the one hand, and Ghazālī’s work with its emphasis on obedience and the …

Right Seeing: Means And End In Patristic Monastic Lives, Jason Horstman

Obsculta

Right seeing is a central motif in the biographical Lives of Saints Antony and Macrina. ‘Right seeing’, used here to signify the alignment of one’s vision with truth, is manifest variously as ‘the discernment of spirits’, as firmly hopeful trust in the revelation of the divine, and as perceiving the world from the divine perspective. Manifest in these ways, right seeing is both a guide for ascetic training the telos of which is union with God, and it is the fruit of that very union with God unto which askesis aspires.

The Wilderness Experience: Imitatio Christi And The Demonic Encounters Of Italian Holy Women Of The Quattrocento, Amy Huesman

Doctoral Dissertations

During the fifteenth century, when Christian spirituality had become increasingly feminized, a number of women in the northern and central regions of the Italian peninsula chose to embrace fully the vita apostolica, and certain of them led lives of such austere piety in imitatio Christi that they were later deemed worthy of beatification or canonization. They were sante vive—living saints—revered for their miraculous powers and regarded as agents of the divine. These women took vows as nuns or associated themselves with a religious order as tertiaries, and they dedicated themselves to strict lives of prayer, extreme fasting, and …

Between The Judean Desert And Gaza: Asceticism And The Monastic Communities Of Palestine In The Sixth Century, Austin Mccray

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation focuses on the religious culture of Christian monasticism in sixth-century Palestine. Rather than see the monastic communities of the Judean Desert, just to the east of Jerusalem, and those around Gaza as two independent monastic regions, as much scholarship has done, the dissertation focuses on the common threads that can be seen in the monastic teachings and idealized ascetic practices in the literature of the area. This dissertation reveals ways to redefine the boundaries between the monastic communities of Palestine during the sixth century as well as emphasizes the continuities between the monks of the Judean Desert and …

Asceticism In World Religious Traditions, Gulnora Khudayberganova

The Light of Islam

A comparative approach to the study of the phenomenon of asceticism within the framework of the teachings of world religions allows individuals to view the internal features and hidden sections of the ascetic experience (as is) and the mood in them as a state of society. The ascetic phenomenon, which has existed in the life of society since ancient times, has become an important and sometimes dominant factor in social development. In the twenty-fist century it is impossible not to notice the rapid growth of countless associations, organizations, groups and individuals, which directly or indirectly reflct the attachment to the …

Tired: A Reflection On Asceticism And The Value Of Quantitative Assessment, Frances Dean

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

I have spent a lot of time thinking this past year and a half about the relationship between asceticism and success. As a mathematics student and a collegiate athlete, I have far too often gotten caught up in the pursuit of objective standards. This chase has left me burnt out and broken. Existential philosophy has been my greatest asset in discerning the true purpose of asceticism. I reflect on this journey and the nature of assessment in this short reflection.

Socio-Philosophical Aspects Of The Senusite Movement In North Africa, Azam Mamurov

The Light of Islam

The great imam and reformer seyyid Muhammad bin ‘Ali al-Senusi was born in Algeria and is a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Received an excellent upbringing and education. He devoted all his knowledge and life experience to a noble cause: improving and reforming the hard and poor life of the simple Arab people. This is the period when European countries (France, Italy, etc.) began occupation actions against the underdeveloped Arab countries of North Africa. In 1830, the French captured Algeria - the homeland of Muhammad ‘Ali al-Senusi, and in 1881 the …

John The Solitary's Epistle To Marcianus: Edition, Translation, And Analysis, Ethan K. Laster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an edition, translation, and analysis of the heretofore unpublished Epistle to Marcianus, an early fifth-century letter attributed to Mar John the Solitary of Apamea. Mar John has long remained a somewhat shadowy figure in Syriac studies, given the complexities of his writings, confusion about what texts should be attributed to him, and his condemnation as a heretic by later Syriac writers. However, scholars have recently begun suggesting that Mar John was in fact quite influential in the development of Syriac ascetic theology. The Epistle to Marcianus (EpMar) considers the passion of lust, which is …

Spiritual Struggle And Gregory Of Nyssa’S Theory Of Perpetual Ascent: An Orthodox Christian Virtue Ethic, Stephen M. Meawad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project utilizes virtue ethics as an especially suitable lens by which to develop an Orthodox Christian ethical model generally. At the same time, virtue ethics carries with it some complexities that are in turn mitigated by the particulars of this Orthodox model—spiritual struggle and perpetual progress, or epektasis. Spiritual struggle in this project, which ultimately shifts the emphasis from virtue’s acquisition to its pursuit, is defined as the exertion of effort in all conceivable dimensions—physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual—with intent to attain a semblance of, knowledge of, and intimacy with Jesus Christ in community, for God …

Ascetical Practice And Ignatian Pedagogy For Sustainability: Tools For Teaching Sustainable Living, James Leighter, John O'Keefe

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Inspired by Laudato Sí, we outline an application of the Ignatian Pedagogy for Sustainability to our course, Sustainable Practice: The Examined Life. We describe the development of the course in the context a new undergraduate program in the College of Arts and Sciences at Creighton University. In the course, we draw from the notion of ascetical practice, an approach for students as they strive for incorporating more sustainable practices into their daily living. We concentrate on four domains of asceticism: attention, sustenance, materials, and energy. Additionally, we argue that mindfulness through meditation is a necessary activity for students pursuing …

In Coelestibus: The Spiritual Combat Of Onésime Lacouture, S.J., Jack Lee Downey

Religion Faculty work

This paper examines the history of Lacouturisme, a retreat movement founded by the Jesuit retreat leader Onésime Lacouture (d.1951), in Québec and the United States. Based on a redaction of the Ignatian Exercises, Lacouture’s ascetic theology was especially popular among Canadien seminarians, until it was subject to formal censure—based both on questions of orthodoxy and its apologists’ pugilistic iconoclasm. “The retreat” migrated southward, largely under the stewardship of Pittsburgh diocesan priest John Hugo (1911–85), and became deeply critical in the spiritual formation of Dorothy Day. Lacouturisme signaled an upswell of enduring Christian debates, such as the relationship between nature and …

John The Solitary's Homily On The Poor In Spirit: Edition And Translation, Daniel Robert Marolf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines an early fifth-century homily by John the Solitary of Apamea on Matthew 5:3, which I have called Homily on the Poor in Spirit. Mar John wrote the homily to other monks, arguing for the importance of renunciation and voluntary poverty in the life of a monk and exhorting them to develop this practice in their own lives. Although he is understood to be a prominent and influential author during his time, Mar John has received relatively little attention by modern scholarship. Neither an edition nor a translation of the Homily on the Poor in Spirit has …

Haven: Asceticism, Spiritual Formation, And Youth Ministry, Brandon Pierce

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This essay reflects upon the application of a field of scholarly study—ascetic theology— to a ministerial context: youth ministry. The goal here is to offer an example of and reflections upon the application of a personal scholarly interest to ministerial contexts.

The essay begins with an assessment of the ministry context, illustrating the problems that demanded attention and solution. It then outlines the sociological and theological theories of asceticism that informed the proposed solution. Having discussed the foundational context and ideas, the next section describes in detail the proposed solution named "Haven" and elaborates on the ascetic theory behind it. …

Fullness Of Life: Historical Foundations For A New Mysticism By Margaret R. Miles, Philip Novak

Philip Novak

"When in his poem 'Among School Children' W. B. Yeats spoke of that place where 'the body is not bruised to pleasure soul,' he unwittingly pointed to a task that has lately engaged the energies of a number of scholars of Christianity: how to revalorize the body in the Christian tradition and rescue it from its status as the spiritually detrimental half of human being. Margaret Miles, a professor of historical theology at Harvard Divinity School, has responded to this task with scholarship, style and insight." ~ from the article

Moral Saints, Hindu Sages, And The Good Life, Christopher G. Framarin

Comparative Philosophy

Roy W. Perrett argues that the Hindu sage, like the western moral saint, seems precluded from pursuing non-moral ends for their own sakes. If he is precluded from pursuing non-moral ends for their own sakes, then he is precluded from pursuing non-moral virtues, interests, activities, relationships, and so on for their own sakes. A life devoid of every such pursuit seems deficient. Hence, the Hindu sage seems to forsake the good life. In response, I adapt a reply that Vanessa Carbonell offers in the context of the moral saint. The Hindu sage might pursue non-moral virtues, interests, activities, relationships, and …

St. Jerome's Narnia: Transformation And Asceticism In The Desert And Beyond The Wardrobe, John Gavin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Compares “two exercises in Christian myth-making”—C.S. Lewis’s Narniad and The Life of Paul the Hermit, the earliest work of the ascetic St. Jerome. Both are entertaining, and even whimsical at times, and feature communication with intelligent animals and a restoration of Paradise. Both also feature characters who model the value of asceticism and the solitary contemplative life.

Mary's Fertility As The Model Of The Ascetical Life In Ephrem The Syrian's Hymns Of The Nativity, Michelle Weedman

Dissertations (1934 -)

My thesis is that Ephrem uses Mary's pregnancy in his Hymns on the Nativity both as a model for the ascetical life and as a way of explaining, theologically, what it means to be a Christian ascetic. For Ephrem, Mary is the first to have her body transformed through the union of Christ and humanity, a transformation that prefigures both the resurrected body and the common Christian experience of Christ prior to that. Thus, the fact that Mary was physically pregnant is theologically significant for Ephrem. Mary's personal and free response to God's invitation uniquely illustrates that the transformative experience …

Shugendo Now, Jonathan Thumas

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Shugendo Now (2010) directed by Jean-Marc Abela and Mark Patrick McGuire.

Resurrecting The Martyrs: The Role Of The Cult Of The Saints, A.D. 370-430, Collin Garbarino

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the late fourth and early fifth centuries Christians actively sought to reimagine the persecutions of the pre-Constantinian era by keeping the memory of the martyrs alive. The cult of martyrs became one tool for navigating present difficulties and establishing a source of legitimacy. As a valuable connection with the past, the cult of martyrs enabled Christian communities to build identity, and bishops could use it to promote the Christianization of the empire. In spite of the cult's widespread popularity, churches imputed widely disparate meanings to the cult. The cult's function in a particular locale was often shaped by that …

In Search Of The Ooey Gooey Good, Lauren Ashley Clay

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores ideas of everydayness, the mundane, and the repetitive emptiness of consumer culture. It looks at the malaise that plagues everyday life and examines several attempts throughout history to break from its grips which revolve around a search for a more ideal state. This research includes utopias of modernism, the transcendental, the communal living of Shakers and Early Christians, ascetic monks and The Desert Fathers. These ideas have shaped my studio practice as I construct installations based on worlds which allude to the eternal, the otherworldly, and the fragility of our physical world when compared to more eternal …

Asceticism, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Origen could not be a more profoundly influential--if not sometimes enigmatic--figure when considered in conjunction with the controversial and puzzling historical phenomenon that is now called "asceticism," the English term that is the usual (all too flat) translation of the astonishingly multivalent Greek term askesis.

Book Review: Reading Renunciation: Asceticism And Scripture, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Call Of The Desert: Purity Of Heart And Power In Early Christian Monasticism, Douglas E. Christie

Theological Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Jerome On Virginity: An Analysis Of St. Jerome's Position On Consecrated Virginity And Celibacy And Their Relation To Marriage, Daniel Kempin

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

How and why Jerome came to be a champion of this cause is a story in itself, and his own accounts of his personal experience are often emotional and dramatic. Of greater significance, however, is the theological legacy to which Jerome contributed by his strong emphasis on Christian celibacy, particularly consecrated virginity. In this paper I will investigate Jerome's position on Christian celibacy and virginity, including the influences that contributed to his position, in order to identify the theological implications that were a part of his position, and to discuss briefly the exegesis with which he supported his position.

Book Review: Geoffrey Galt Harpham, The Ascetic Imperative In Culture And Criticism, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

This is a book review.

The Ascetic Impulse In Ancient Christianity, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

"It is important to understand ... that the difference between the non-elites (the weak) and the elites in Corinth is not that between a world-rejecting ethic (the 'weak') on the one hand and a world-embracing ethic (the pneumatic elites) on the other. Clearly, both groups shared the imperative to renounce the world; the fact of membership in this new social group, the Jesus movement at Corinth, suggests as much,"

In spite of the long and impressive legacy of scholarship in New Testament and Christian origins and the exacting critical attention to the texts of the earliest Christians, it remains unclear …

The Ascetic Impulse In Early Christianity: Some Current Methodological Challenges, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

As a student of New Testament and Christian Origins, thus, of the earliest period in the history of early Christianity, I come to the study of asceticism very much in the middle, forced from the beginning to address methodological issues. Very little attention has been paid to asceticism by those scholars who deal with the earliest texts and periods; it is as though the phenomenon did non exist in the first three centuries of the common era. The bulk of the literature on asceticism comes from those scholars whose expertise is in the fourth centuries and beyond. Such literature rarely …