John Cassian and the Reading of Egyptian Monastic Culture

83 Pages·074.29 MB·English

by  Steven D. Driver

CASSIAN AND THE REaorNG
JOHN
oF EcvprrAN MoNASTTcCurruRE
IJBR'ARY
bT JOHN'SS ENflNARY
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BruGHTON
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MEoTEVALH rsroRY AND Currunn
edited by
Francis G. Gentry
Professoro f German
PennsylvaniaS tateU niversity
A RourLnocr Srnrcs
Orunn Boors rN THrsS rnIrs
CaSSIAN AND THE
JOHN
1. ..AND THEN rHE ENO READING oF EcYPTIAN
'Wnr
Cour"
EarlyL atin ChristianI nterpretations
of the Openingo f tbe SeoenS eak MoNASTIC CULTURE
Douglasl ilfl.L umsden
2. TopocnapHmso r GrNorn n
MmnrE Hrcs GrnueN
AntHuRraN RorrlaNcr
AlexandraS terling-Hellenbrand
3. CHnrsrnN, SenecrN aNo GrNRr
nq Mrorrv,u FnrNcg Lrtenarunr,
Imaginationa nd CuhuralI nteraction
in tbeF rencbM i.ddleA ges
LynnTarte Ramey
4. \[ono OullrraRo
MedieoalP erspectiveosn tbeE ntry
StevenD . Driver
into Language
Corey Marvin
5. Jusrrca 8c THr Socrar CoNrrxt
or Eanrv Mroor-e HrcH GSRMIN
LrtenatunE
Roben G. Sullivan
6. MARRTAGFErc troNs rN Or-o Fru,NcH
Sncuran Nennerws, 1170-1250
A Critical Re-eoaluationo f the
Courtly LooeD ebates
Keith Nickolaus
7. Wsrnr TnouseoouRs
\TERE BISHoPS
TheO ccitaniao f Folc
of Marseille(c .1 150-1231)
Nichole M. Schulman
Routrrocr
Nrv Yonr & LoNoon
Published in2002by
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Copyright @2 002 by Steven D. Driver.
The author is grateful to PeetersP ublishers for permission to reprint portions of
"The Development of Jerome's Views on the Ascetic Life," Recbercheds e tbAologie
anciennee t mddi1oale, 1995; and to The American Benedictine Review, Inc. for Far from providing just a musty whiff of yesteryear, research in Medieval
permission to reprint portions of "From Palestinian Ignorance to Egyptian \fisdom: Studies enters the new century as fresh and vigorous as never before. Scholars
Jerome and Cassian on the Monastic Life," American Bmedictine Rettieu, 1997. representing all disciplines and generations are consistently producing works
of researcho f the highest caliber, utilizing new approachesa nd methodologies.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or udlized Volumes in the Medieval History and Culture series will include studies on
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approachest o medieval literature and culture.
Momentous changesh ave occurred in Medieval Srudies in the past thiny
10987654321 years in teaching as well as in scholarship. Thus the goal of the Medieval
History and Culture series is to enhance research in the field by providing
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data an outlet for monographs by scholars in the early stageso f their careerso n all
topics related to the broad scope of Medieval Studies, while at the same
Driver, StevenD ., 1964- time pointing to and highlighting new directions rhar will shape and define
John Cassiana nd the reading of Egyptian monastic culture / by Steven D. Driver. scholarly discourse in the future.
p. cm.- (Nledieval history and culture)
Includes biographical referencesa nd index. FrancisG . Gentry
ISBN 0-415-93668-3
1. Desen Fathers.2 . CassianJ, ohn, ca. 360-ca.435. I. Title. II. Studiesi n
medieval history and culture.
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Contents
Preface xiii
Introduction
1.J ohn Cassian 11
\7hat Can Be Known 12
IntriguingPossibilities 14
2. Stories and Histories of Early Egyprian Monasticism 21
The Story of ChristianM onasticism 21
A Revisiono fthe Story 24
ReadingE vagriusP onticus 35
rVestern
3. Perceptions of Egyptian Monasticism 45
The Liveso f Antony and Paul 45
Jerome'sE arly MonasticV ision 48
Jerome'sI nfluence 51
Apatheia andI npeccantia 53
4. Literary Structure and Monastic Praxis 6i
Appropriatingt he Selfi n the Text 65
Reading the Institutes 72
Readinga sM onasticP raxis S3
xt
xii Contents
5. Implication s for Praxis:A Reconsideratioonf the SolitaryL ife 91 Preface
Framing the Question 91
Anacboresisi n the Institutes 93
Piamun and John on the Solitary Life 98
Anachoresisa s Interioritv 101
6. Implications f.or Theoria: Reading, Interiority and the
Transfiguration of the Self 107
\flithdrawal and Interiority 107
Reading and Mystical Knowledge 109
Readinga nd the Interiorization of the Text 113
Readinga nd the Transfiguration of the Self I It
Readinga nd Egyptian Monastic Culture 117
Bibliography 121
This book begana s a dissenationu nder the supervisiono f J. N. Hillganh and
Robert Sinkewicz.I cannot sufficienrly rhank either gentlemanf or their warm
lndex 145 and enthusiastics upport of my entire graduatep rogram. Nor can I calculate
the many ways that gallons of coffee and hours of conversationi n the com-
mon room of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studiess hapedt he course of
my research and of this particular project. Among those who consumed that
coffee and spent those hours in conversation with me were Lisa Maugans
Driver, JamesG inther, Kimberly Rivers, David \X/iljer and Jeremy \?orthen.
I would also like to thank Columba Stewart, who read my dissertationw hile
he was completing his own study of Cassian'st heology and offered helpful
suggestions.
Since defending my dissertation in t995, I have received research suppoft
from the American Academy of Religion, Loyola College in Maryland, and
the Ecumenical Institute of Theology. Valparaiso University graciously
allowed me to delay the start of my presentp osition so thar I might complete
final revisions.T he support I have receivedh as enabledm e to presenrp apers
at the International Congress on Medieval Studies ar W'esrern Michigan
University, the International Conference on Patristic, Medieval, and
RenaissanceS tudies at Villanova University, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional
Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. I am grateful for the sugges-
tions and criticisms that I receiveda t those conferencesa nd, where possible,I
have attempted to addresst he concernsr hat were raised.I would also like to
thank the editors at Recherchedse tbdologiea ncimne et mddidoale,t he American
BenedictineR eaieto and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Press for
their suggestions when completing related articles and for allowing me ro
reprint revisedp ortions of those articlesi n this book.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife Lisa, whose love and encouragemenr
have enabledm e to complete what ar rimes seemeda n impossiblet ask.
xtrt
A note about translations:T he translationso f Cassiana re my own. At
times,I haveb eeng uidedi n theset ranslationsb y the English translationso f
BonifaceR amseya nd EdgarG ibson,a nd by the Frencht ranslationso f Euglne
Picherya ndJ ean-ClaudGe uy.
CnSSIAN AND THE
JOHN
RTADING oF EcYPTIAN
MoNASTIC CULTURE
Introduction
In the second decadeo f the fifth cenrury, Castor, the bishop of Apt, estab-
lished a monastery in his episcopals ee.H avingalready undertaken a monastic
vocation on his own, Castor sought a way of.l ife that could servea s a model
for himself and for his community.' There were alreadys everalm onasticc om-
munities in the surrounding region which could have provided such a model.
There were alsoa t L6rins and elsewherer udimentary rulesw hich Castor could
easily have adaptedt o govern his own fledgling community.' Nevertheless,
Castor rejectedt he exampleso f his countrymen and insteadl ooked to the East.
It would seemt hat Castor had acceptedt he widely held belief that only in the
East, and particularly in Egypt, was monasticismp ractisedi n its rruest form.
He therefore commissionedJ ohn Cassian,a recenr 6migr6 from the East and
an erstwhile resident of the Egyptian monastic communities of Nitria, Kellia
and Scetis,t o describet he fundamental principles of monastic life.' Cassian
respondedt o this commission with a serieso f books on the institutes of the
Egyptians and an elementary discussion of the discernment of thoughts.
Before he had even seent he Institutes, Castor commissioned Cassiana gain, this
time to relate the spiritual teachingso f the desert fathers.' At the behest of
Castor and others after him, Cassianw ould eventually complete twenty-four
dialogueso r Conferencese,a cho f which purporred to relate his conversations
with the elderso f the Egyptian desert.
To have earnedt hesec ommissions,C assianm ust have commandeds ignifi-
cant respect. He had already been allowed by Proculus, the bishop of
Marseilles,t o establishm onasteriesfo r both men and women in the city's envi-
rons.t The interest of castor and later patrons shows that Cassian'sr epuration
had spreadw ell beyond this pon. Cassian'sa uthority to reach,h owever, did
not come from his own reputation asm uch asi t did from his lengthy sojourn
among the desertf athers.C astor and the orhers wanred to hear the Egyptian
abbas, not cassian himself. cassian ostensibly accepted these limitaiions
and describedh is function as an aurhor as being nothing more than that of an
Introduction
I Introduction
organizera nd reporter. He promised that he would describeo nly what he had cassian'sd evaluation as a monastic historian has encouragedt he examina-
seen and experiencedw hile travelling among the Egyptians more than two tion of his writings in a new light. Guy himself describedC assiana sa thinker
decadese arlier and that he would introduce no innovations of his own' As of "remarkable originality and depth."'oH . O. \7eber and de Vogii6 looked
though to guaranteet his promise, Cassianc ast much of his teaching in the beyond the confines of the Delta region to examine the wide variery of
form of autobiographical dialogues in which he recorded the very words monastic writers who had helped to shapeh is theology." Perer Munz largely
the abbash ad spoken to him. avoided the question of Cassian'sm onasric roors and instead interpretedhis
For the most part, Cassianw as taken at his word. Vhile his contemporaries understanding of friendship and community according to the thought of
noted that some of his conferencesh ad more to do with western theological origen and cicero.'u orhers shifted the focus of study away from the envi-
debatest han with life in the Egyptian desert,C assianw as neverthelessre spect- ronment that formed cassiant o the one in which he wrote. Philip Rousseau,
ed as a witness to a long line of saintsw ho had surrendereda ll for the sakeo f for example, suggestedw ays in which the contemporary situatLn in Gaul
union with God.uF ifteen centuriesl ater, the first modern scholarst o examine influenced cassian's thought.'7 Paul christophe and more recently Robert
Cassiana lso took him at his word.' Vhile SalvatoreM arsili and M. Olphe- Markus examined cassian within the conrext of the growing christianization
Galliard noted that Cassian'sm onastict heology differed in somer espectsfr om of Gaul and the universal development of an ascetic,b icameralw orld-view."
that of his masters, his "historical account" went largely unchallenged.t Elizabeth clark has suggestedt hat cassian's thought should be examined
This credulity was panly due to ignoranceo f ancient Egyptian monastic life, under the rubric of "origenism," although shec autionst hat "origenist" musr
for much of the literary and archaeological evidence upon which we rely be understood to signify a set of theological presuppositionsm olded much
today was not available to earlier scholars. However, Cassian'sh istorical more by fourth-century debatet han by Origen's own wrirings."
accountw as also acceptedb ecauseo f modern expectationsa bout the nature of \fhile great strides have been made toward understanding Cassiana s a
autobiography. Cuthbert Butler, for example,f ound "it impossiblet o doubt monastict heologian, the increasedin reresti n particular aspecrso f his thought
the substantialt ruth of Cassian'sp icture of monastic life, based,a s it appears hasc reatedd ifficulties of its own. Sincei t is now acceptedt hat cassianw as nor
to be, upon the writer's personalo bservation."tC onsequently,s cholarst raced an historian, much lessa n "autobiographer,"a ny seriousc onsiderationo f the
Cassian'sit inerary, identified the saintsh e mentioned, and usedh is description autobiographical structure of his works has been largely abandoned.
of the lives and doctrines of the monks to fill out otherwise sketchy informa- Moreover, the Institutesh ave increasingly come to be ignored, for they are
tion about the origins of Egyptian monasticism.I f Cassians hould be shown to often regardeda sl ittle more than an amalgamationo f dispar ateliterary sources
err or to contradict other witnesses,i t would typically be dismisseda s an and an expansion of Evagrius Ponticus' teaching on the vices.'oS cholarly
inevitable lapsei n memory. interest hasi nsteadf ocusedo n the synthesiso f monastict heology that cassian
More recently, a greaterk nowledge of Egyptian monasticism and a closer developed inhis conferences.H is monastic works have been Cuiled to deter-
analysiso f Cassian'sc laims have led scholarst o question Cassian'sr ole as an mine where and how he addressedis suesr elevantt o patristic theology, monas-
historian. Owen Chadwick, for example,d emonstratedt hat Cassian'sa ccount tic spirituality or late ancient ascesis.M oreover, since Cassian'sm onastic
of the origin of Madns is inconsistent and cannot possibly be accurate.to works are no longer regardeda s "historical," rheir evident lack of any sysrem-
Adalbert de Vogi.i6n oted that Cassian'st wo different versions of the origins atic arrangementi s no longer as easily forgiven. Instead,t hey are now often
of monasticisma re more concernedw ith his monastict heology than with his- characterizeda sc ircular, repetitive,a nd disorganized.I n what he consideredt o
torical fact." In a sweepings urvey of Cassian'sh istorical claims,J ean-Claude be-an act of charity, owen chadwick suggestedth at cassian'sw ritings have
Guy effectively sounded the death knell for Cassiana s an historian by arguing sufferedf rom a disorganizede xemplarr arher rhan from a disorganizedm ind.r'
that his itinerary is unlikely at best, his topographical errors cannot be put . By examining particular topics or themes of cassian's monastic corpus,
down to mere lapsesi n memory, and his account of the anthropomorphite scholars have risked introducing "sysrems" of their own, crearing from its
controversy is one-sideda nd incomplete." Most importantly, Guy concluded seeminglyd isjointed parrs a theological srrucrure that cassian himielf would
that Cassianl ikely did not meet some of the abbasw hose acquaintenceh e not have recognized.A larmed by this trend, de vogii6 chargedt hat the analy-
claimed. Vhile the fictive aspect of Cassian's dialogues had long been sis of cassian'sm onasric teachingh as sufferedf rom the failure of scholarst o
acknowledged, Guy argued that some of the conferencesl ikely had not considera dequatelyi ts form and arrangement.T o demonstratet hat there is in
occurred at all. \7hile Guy did not deny the fundamental role that Cassian's tact a discernible structure or organization to cassian's writings, de vogii6
Egyptian experiencesh ad played in his formation, he assertedt hat Cassian's sketched a brief outline of the conferencest h^t suggestsa n alter.raiion between
choice of an autobiographicalf orm was little more than an attempt to invoke the discussiono f monastic theology and its p.acti-al application in the life of
the authority of a veneratedl ineageo f desertf athers.'' the reader." vhile he did not entirely discount the-validitv of a thematic