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Key Themes in Ancient History
Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World
Asceticism deploys abstention, self-control & -denial, to order oneself or a community in relation to the divine. Both its practices & the cultural ideals they expressed were important to pagans, Jews, Christians of different kinds & Manichees. Richard Finn presents for the 1st time a combined study of the major ascetic traditions, which have been previously misunderstood by being studied separately. He examines how people abstained from food, drink, sexual relations, sleep & wealth; what they meant by their behavior; & how they influenced others in the Graeco-Roman world. Against this background, the book charts the rise of monasticism in Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria & N. Africa, assessing the crucial role played by the 3rd-century exegete, Origen, & asks why monasticism developed so variously in different regions.
194 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
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October 11, 2018قرأت ما يقارب الخمسين صفحة ولا أجد متعة في استئناف البقية!
ربما لأن الكتاب يزخر بالفلاسفة ومدارسهم الفلسفية، ناهيك عن الحقبة الزمنية المنتمين إليها ظاناً الكاتب أن من يقرأ كتابه على إطلاع جيد تأريخياً وفلسفياً قبيل الميلاد وأوائله وبما أني لا أمتلك تلك الخلفية الكافية كان من الصعب أن أستوعب صفحة واحدة على حدة .
ربما لأن الكتاب يزخر بالفلاسفة ومدارسهم الفلسفية، ناهيك عن الحقبة الزمنية المنتمين إليها ظاناً الكاتب أن من يقرأ كتابه على إطلاع جيد تأريخياً وفلسفياً قبيل الميلاد وأوائله وبما أني لا أمتلك تلك الخلفية الكافية كان من الصعب أن أستوعب صفحة واحدة على حدة .
June 14, 2022
إن انتصار المسيح على إغراءات الشيطان عن طريق الصيام في الصحراء ، جعلنا ندرك كيف أن الشياطين ينهزمون عن طريق الصلاة والصوم
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وكان الصوم هو البداية فحسب ، حيث تتبعه عملية تطهير ثانية ، وهي التخلص الأوسع من عواطفنا الشهوانية الكثيرة
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كتاب جميل للمهتم بموضوع الزهد والتصوف في العالم القديم.
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وكان الصوم هو البداية فحسب ، حيث تتبعه عملية تطهير ثانية ، وهي التخلص الأوسع من عواطفنا الشهوانية الكثيرة
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كتاب جميل للمهتم بموضوع الزهد والتصوف في العالم القديم.
August 27, 2014
The purpose of this book is to broadly trace the pagan, Jewish and Christian sources of ascetic theory and practice up through the mid-fifth century CE. In so doing, the reader is made aware of how various and radically contextualized such self-disciplinary practices were. Thus, while a Cynic might engage in public masturbation or fornication in order to overcome subservience to public opinion, and a Jew might enforce conjugal sex as a duty, a Christian might eschew such behavior, even the very thought of it, by means of castration. Yet, during the same periods and in the same places, some pagans, such as certain professed “Pythagoreans”, endorsed continence; some Jews, such as the more observant Essenes, did likewise; and some Christians, such as some of the “Gnostics”, engaged in shameless Edenic eroticism. While such extremes are mentioned, the author's focus, apparently based on the evidences of mainstream values and practices, is on the “voluntary abstention for religious reasons from food and drink, sleep, wealth, or sexual activity”--in other words, on what became common forms of asceticism under the Christian hegemony developed towards the end of the period under consideration. Indeed, this, the late antique development of Christian asceticism, its roots and expressions, is the focus of his study.
Despite the emphasis on Christianity which occupies two-thirds of the text, Finn does do some justice to the complexity of the ancient Mediterranean world. For him there is no normative Christianity, nor Judaism, nor paganism. Each was complex. Each, often along multiple streams, shifted course, merging and dividing. Each interacted, both internally with its variants, and externally with the others, these interactions taking various forms in different places and at different times. Thus Philo, Clement or Origen could be at once influenced by pagan philosophy and by their own ostensible religious confessions; thus Augustine could migrate through the worlds of Neoplatonism and Manichaeism to end as a North African bishop of a, regionally considered, minority Christian sect.
Our view of antique asceticism is, of course, restricted by our sources. First, the very ability to read and write, to have access both to literature and to literary audiences, tends already towards a distorting cosmopolitanism. We don't know much directly, and certainly not objectively by any modern standards, of actual popular practices and beliefs. Second, the filters of language, of cultural prejudice, and of political history have favored some testimonies, some texts, over others. Barring the rare archaeological find, for instance, what we know about “Gnosticism” was, until recently, almost exclusively through its most interested opponents. Third, given the constraints of the author's own expertise and avowedly limited purposes, very little attention is paid to the contributions made from outside the Graeco-Roman world.
The limitation of sources result also in the limitations of this study. Finn's is a literary approach, his book filled with textual references and notes. He is weak on pertinent archaeological, geographical and environmental evidences; pays scant attention to psychology, no attention to ethnobotany; and avoids most inferences which may be intelligently made about relevant sociological and economic factors in those areas of the ancient world he discusses.
All of this notwithstanding, Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World will serve as an introduction to the topic accessible to advanced undergraduate religion majors and seminarians.
Despite the emphasis on Christianity which occupies two-thirds of the text, Finn does do some justice to the complexity of the ancient Mediterranean world. For him there is no normative Christianity, nor Judaism, nor paganism. Each was complex. Each, often along multiple streams, shifted course, merging and dividing. Each interacted, both internally with its variants, and externally with the others, these interactions taking various forms in different places and at different times. Thus Philo, Clement or Origen could be at once influenced by pagan philosophy and by their own ostensible religious confessions; thus Augustine could migrate through the worlds of Neoplatonism and Manichaeism to end as a North African bishop of a, regionally considered, minority Christian sect.
Our view of antique asceticism is, of course, restricted by our sources. First, the very ability to read and write, to have access both to literature and to literary audiences, tends already towards a distorting cosmopolitanism. We don't know much directly, and certainly not objectively by any modern standards, of actual popular practices and beliefs. Second, the filters of language, of cultural prejudice, and of political history have favored some testimonies, some texts, over others. Barring the rare archaeological find, for instance, what we know about “Gnosticism” was, until recently, almost exclusively through its most interested opponents. Third, given the constraints of the author's own expertise and avowedly limited purposes, very little attention is paid to the contributions made from outside the Graeco-Roman world.
The limitation of sources result also in the limitations of this study. Finn's is a literary approach, his book filled with textual references and notes. He is weak on pertinent archaeological, geographical and environmental evidences; pays scant attention to psychology, no attention to ethnobotany; and avoids most inferences which may be intelligently made about relevant sociological and economic factors in those areas of the ancient world he discusses.
All of this notwithstanding, Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World will serve as an introduction to the topic accessible to advanced undergraduate religion majors and seminarians.
December 13, 2011
Overall, a good and easy to read survey on the different ascetic ideas and practices at the dawn of Christianity. It draws on a wealth of sources, including recent scholarship on Jewish and pagan asceticism, and does a good job of staying aware of the limitations of relying too heavily on literary sources as a source on actual social realities.
The author convincingly argues that early Christian ascetics were mainly influenced by Judaic rather than rather than Hellenistic conceptions of asceticism, but this changes with the overwhelming influence of Origen, who introduces ideas derived from Hellenistic philosophy. Although ascetic dietary and sexual practices among early Christians are connected to the Jewish tradition, the book neglects to place them also within the wider context of the religious life of the ancient Mediterranean. Dietary and social taboos were commonplace, it was the significance and meaning of such restrictions that differed one cult from the other.
The author convincingly argues that early Christian ascetics were mainly influenced by Judaic rather than rather than Hellenistic conceptions of asceticism, but this changes with the overwhelming influence of Origen, who introduces ideas derived from Hellenistic philosophy. Although ascetic dietary and sexual practices among early Christians are connected to the Jewish tradition, the book neglects to place them also within the wider context of the religious life of the ancient Mediterranean. Dietary and social taboos were commonplace, it was the significance and meaning of such restrictions that differed one cult from the other.
May 12, 2012
I really enjoyed this. For a survey it is tight, well-thought out and tells one narrative really well without sliding into a homogenization of diversity of practice and thought on asceticism. I especially appreciated the hinging on Origen as the architect of early Christian asceticism, it is a view I share and don't see often. Finn elucidates well the perennial tension of asceticism between the elite champion and the everyday Christian and notes how asceticism was differently practiced but still springs from the same fountain of exegesis and anthropological vision. This is a great book for those who are interested in asceticism...and it's short. Brevity is indeed a virtue!
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