The Letters of St. Antony: Monasticism and the Making of a Saint

by Samuel Rubenson

â This book revolutionizes our understanding of the life and thought of the great anchorite father of the Egyptian desert. It is a signal contribution to our knowledge of Egyptian Christianity in the third and fourth centuries.â â Birger Pearson, Institute for Antiquity and Christianity Samuel Rubenson, by means of a fresh analysis of the letters of St. Antony, exposes the distortion of the picture of early Christian monks as unlettered and primitive. Rubenson describes the desert monasteries as centers of theological reflection in Egypt, showing how they combined the speculative philosophy of the Greeks and the biblical tradition. Included in this volume is a new translation of the letters themselves, which are shown to be authentic and an important source for the study of the desert fathers and the early monastic tradition. The later image of Antony is demonstrated to be influenced by church politics of the latter part of the fourth century. Samuel Rubenson is Associate Professor at Lund University, Lund, Sweden.>

260 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rubenson's careful presentation of these letters shows us a distinct alternative religious vision. In a period of power struggles in the new imperial church, we see a leader without the slightest ambition for authority over anyone. Amid the clamor of theological debate over Christ's divinity, we see Antony honoring every soul's divinity: "We are all created from one invisible essence, having a beginning but no end, thus, they who know themselves know that the essence of unity is immortal" (Letter VI, 84). Rubenson lets Antony speak for himself, always as one soul to another. Even before God he felt less a subject than a friend, saying with a smile, "I don't fear God. I love him." The book gives very little embellishment in praise of Antony. It just tries to offer a clear window on the man.

[Michelle Boulos]

for honesty’s sake, I skimmed / skipped the parts of authentication and went straight to the letters because this is a significantly better translation