heal these defects of character.’ So these monks had dedicated their lives to the pursuit of the perfect self just as the Greeks had – it’s just that they differed in their understanding of what the ‘perfect self’ was and how you should get it. For the Greeks, the inherently valuable individual strove to become perfect in order to win prizes, fame and boons for the community. The Christians had taken that struggle and turned it inwards. For them, it wasn’t about Olympic glory or being the greatest potter, or the highest leaper of bulls, it was about a continual battle – with prayer,
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