Benjamin John’s Reviews > Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism > Status Update

The fathers can seem at times like angelic beings, full of boundless goodness and compassion. But simultaneously it also seems like the would be a little unbearable to interact with on a human level, constantly “on”, always in their mode of doing things. I guess if you do that you get to the supreme level of one liners.

The brief but impactful sayings are quite startling, really bring up the adjective Christlike in my mind. Short and often mundane in their events, but with such clarity. I can only imagine what it would have been like to receive such a word from a person you immensely respected and put on such a pedestal.

Peeling back the layers to go further into detail of how exactly a life such as this functions; not just as a biography or a lesson, but a multifaceted teaching about theology.

I have read a bit of the acts, including the apocryphal ones and they do contain miraculous deeds, but I can’t remember if they, as is noted, stress the human flourishing in quite the same way, the physical and spiritual attainment.

A nice dive into the specific literary characteristic and the models which they relate to. The biblical (particularly Christ) as a model occurred to be as the Life of Antony was summarised, but there are a few other similar but distinct ideas around approach to the subject as well as format.

Does well to summarise the very squabbling nature of early Christianity and how many factors influence it: various intellectual disagreements, the ebbing and flowing of political power, factional attacks, key personalities. I partially knew this but it is fascinating how key Egypt was in these disputes and goes to show how different a world it was than we might imagine it, deeply connected to the European continent.

A nice summary of Egypt at the time to make way for the details to come. Frankly his casual and more professional approach is a welcome reprieve from the end of Mephistopheles by Russell. It’s going to be a nice read to approach a topic without all that bitterness, seeking to understand a topic without having to get so personal offended about everything. Personal is good, but not when it feels so venomous.