THE SPIRITUAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF JOHN CASSLAN JINHAKIM Submitted in accordancewith the requirements for the degreeof Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Theology and Religious Studies October2OO2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where referencehas been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Abstract THE SPIRITUAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF JOHN CASSIAN PHD THESIS SUBMITTED BY J114HAKIM This thesis is an investigation into the spiritual anthropology of John Cassian, who composed two monastic works, the Institutes and the Conferences.Although Cassian transmits the teachings of the Egyptian desert fathers living in the later fourth century, many polemical mind-sets, from his Latin contemporaries to modem critics, have not been able simply to accept his delivery with a spirit of respect and support. In his texts, the doctrine of free will and grace has been judged to be Semi-Pelagian through the viewpoint of Augustinian orthodoxy. Moreover, since Salvatore Marsili's comparative study in the 1930s, it has been accepted that Cassian's ascetic theology depended heavily on the writings of Evagrius Ponticus. Thus, the authenticity of his texts has been obscured for over fifteen hundred years in the West. Consequently, they have been regarded as second-class materials in the primitive desert monastic literature. This thesis re-examines the above settled convictions, and attempts to defend Cassian'srepeated statements that he wrote what he had seen and heard in the desert. As the two assertions both relate to anthropological issues, the thesis investigates Cassian's spiritual anthropology-, human created nature, the Fall, its results, salvation, perfection, free will and grace. Chapter I uses as the context Cassian'slife and the monastic setting of Gaul that had an influence on his works. Chapter II explores a literary feature of his writings and identifies the authenticity of Cassian'stexts in comparison with the desert monastic literature. Here, the thesis argues against the dominant assumption of his dependenceon Evagrius'works and reveals that Cassian was not a transmitter of the Evagrian schemata. Chapter III focuses on the instructions of created human nature in Cassian's texts and establishes that they were derived from the Alexandrian and the desert theological tradition, not that of the Evagrian Origenist. Chapter IV deals with the Fall and its effect on human nature. In the process, the thesis verifies that ConferencesXIII does not offer an alternative to the Augustinian teachings on grace, but reflects the doctrinal milieu within the Alexandrian theology, which was to be regarded as Semi-Pelagian in the eyes of later Augustinianism. Chapter V presents soteriology in Cassian'sworks, in which all related texts show the Eastern synergistic tendencies regarding grace and free will as cooperating harmoniously with each other for salvation. Overall, the thesis asserts that distinctive divergences and inconsistencies among the speakers in treating each theme serve to verify the authenticity of Cassian'sAbbas. The thesisconcludes that Cassianwas, indeed, the most notabletransmitter of oral and lived Egyptian monastic theology to the West, as he claimed. Acknowledgments ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the years, I have accumulateddebts in very many ways to a number of people. It is now a pleasureto finally acknowledgethem. The thesis has been prepared under the supervision of Dr. James Ginther, to whom I owe a large debt of thanks and gratitude. My researchwould not have been possible without his encouragementand his willingness to give me much spaceto think freely about Cassian,and his enthusiastic responseto my unusual suggestion.Professor Nigel Biggar, as my more recent supervisor, also provided much neededguidance in the final stagesof preparation of this thesis. I am grateful to the Rev. ProfessorJohn A. McGuckin for giving spiritual guidanceand considerableinspiration on Greek theology and spirituality in my year of study on the Master's programme. Specialacknowledgement must be made of two fellow researchstudents at the Schoolof Theology and Religious Studies at LeedsUniversity; Miss SuzannePaul for her encouragementand help with Latin, and Mrs. Alison Yeungfor her unfailing assistance and generousreading of the thesis during the final year of my study. I would also like expressmy gratitude to members of the academicand secretarial staff at the Schoolof Theology and Religious Studies at LeedsUniversity for their assistanceand hospitality. I would like to reiterate my thanks to the congregationand co-ministers of Sheffield Korean Church for their love and prayers for me. My special thanks are extendedto Dr. Dongik Lee and Rev.Joseph K. Kong for their sincere and heartfelt support in love. Much gratitude and appreciation must be expressedto the Rev. Dr. Sungi Bang in the BusinessMinistry Institute for his suggestionto me to study abroad and for his constant encouragement. I am especiallyindebted to both of my families in Korea for their support in every way, and to my wife, Bokim Choi, who gaveconstant support in many different forms. Finally, I would like to dedicatethis thesis to my father with my love, who passedaway two years to the day before it was submitted. Contents CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ............................................................................................................................ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... Chapter 1. Introduction I ........................................................................................................... 1.1 Introductory Matter 1 ................................................................................................... 1.2 The Life Times Cassian 9 and of ................................................................................. 1.2.1 Cassian'sEarly Life 11 ...................................................................................... Cassian's Life in Bethlehem Nile Delta 12 1.2.2 Monastic and the ........................... 1.2.3 Cassian'sMonastic Life in Scete 26 .................................................................. 1.2.4 Cassian'sActivities in Constantinople Rome 35 and ........................................ 1.2.5 Cassian'sLife in Marseilles 37 .......................................................................... 1.3 SouthernGallic before Cassian'sArrival 40 Monasticism .......................................... Chapter 2. UnderstandingCassian's Monastic Texts 52 ........................................................... 2.1 Historical Context in Latin Monastic Literature 53 ..................................................... 2.2 The Literary Character Cassian'sTexts 57 of .............................................................. 2.2.1 Sources 58 .......................................................................................................... 2.2.2 Style 62 ............................................................................................................... 2.3 The Authenticity Cassian'sTexts 65 of ....................................................................... Historia Monachomm Cassian'sTexts 69 2.3.1 The Apophthegmata,the and ......... Teachings Cassian'sTexts 76 2.3.2 Evagrius Ponticus's and .................................... 2.3.2.1 The Monk's Clothing 79 ......................................................................... 2.3.2.2 logismoi 81 and apathela......................................................................... 2.3.2.3 89 prakfiki and theologiW ...................................................................... 2.3.2.4 Prayer 91 .................................................................................................. 2.3.3 The Context ConferenceXIII 98 of ................................................................... 2.4 Conclusion Chapter2 100 of ........................................................................................ Contents iv Chapter 3. Nature Before Fall in Cassian'sTexts 102 The View of Human the ...................... 3.1 From Irenaeus Athanasius 104 to ................................................................................. 3.2 The Desert Fathers Evagrius 113 and .......................................................................... Adaptation Evagrian Origenism 123 3.3 The Obstaclesto the of ...................................... Nature before Fall in Cassian'sTexts 131 3.4 Human the ................................................. 3.4.1 ConferencesV Abba Serapion 131 of ............................................................... 3.4.2 ConferencesVII VIII Abba Serenus 132 and of ................................................ ConferencesXI-XIII Abba Chaeremon 136 3.4.3 of .................................................. 3.5 Conclusion Chapter3 138 of ........................................................................................ Chapter4. The View Fall Human Nature Fall in Cassian'sWorks 140 of the and after the .... 4.1 The Fall its Results 141 and ......................................................................................... 1.1Institutes XII Cassian 141 of ............................................................................. 4.1.2 ConferencesV Abba