1st Edition

John Cassian and the Reading of Egyptian Monastic Culture

By Steven D. Driver Copyright 2002
    166 Pages
    by Routledge

    166 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book examines the method of meditative reading encouraged by John Cassian (c. 360-435) in his ascetic writings, the bulk of which are fictive dialogues that purportedly record the instruction he had received from Egyptial Christian monks. This instruction was at its core an interactive experience, depending upon both the discernment of the master and diligent application of instruction by the student. Driver examines Cassian's understanding of the act of reading and suggests the implications of this for Cassian's monastic teaching and it interprets Cassian's method of reading in light of contemporary discussions of reading and the self.

    Preface
    Introduction
    John Cassian
    Stories and Histories of Early Egyptian Monasticism
    Western Perceptions of Egyptian Monasticism
    Literary Structure and Monastic Praxis
    Implications for Praxis: A Reconsideration of the Solitary Life
    Implications for Theoria: Reading, Interiority and the Transfiguration of the Self
    Bibliography

    Biography

    Steven D. Driver