Durham E-Theses The Symbolics of Death and the Construction of Christian Asceticism: Greek Patristic Voices from the Fourth through Seventh Centuries ZECHER, JONATHAN,L How to cite: ZECHER, JONATHAN,L (2011) The Symbolics of Death and the Construction of Christian Asceticism: Greek Patristic Voices from the Fourth through Seventh Centuries , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3247/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Symbolics of Death and the Construction of Christian Asceticism: Greek Patristic Voices from the Fourth through Seventh Centuries Jonathan L. Zecher Department of Theology and Religion Durham University Submitted for the qualification of Doctor of Philosophy 2011 ABSTRACT The Symbolics of Death and the Construction of Christian Asceticism: Greek Patristic Voices from the Fourth through Seventh Centuries Jonathan L. Zecher This thesis examines the role which death plays in the development of a uniquely Christian identity in John Climacus’ seventh-century work, the Ladder of Divine Ascent and the Greek ascetic literature of the previous centuries. I argue that John Climacus deploys language of death, inherited from a range of Greek Christian literature, as the symbolic framework within which he describes the ascetic lifestyle as developing a Christian identity. This framework is expressed by thee ascetic practice of ‘memory of death’ and by practices of renunciation described as ‘death’ to oneself and others. In order to understand Climacus’ unique achievement in regard to engagement with death it is necessary first to situate the Ladder and its author within the literature of the Greek ascetic tradition, within which Climacus consciously wrote. In the Introduction I develp ways Climacus draws on and develops traditional material, while arguing that it must be treated and interpreted in its own right and not simply as his ‘sources.’ I then examine the vocabulary of death and the lines of thought opened up in the New Testament. Chapter One argues that the memory of death plays an important role in Athanasius’ Vita Antonii. Chapter Two surveys material from the fifth- and sixth-century Egyptian and Palestinian deserts in which memory and practice of death are deployed in a wider variety of ways and are increasingly connected to ascetics’ fundamental understanding of self and salvation. Chapter Three examines the sixth-century Quaestiones et Responsiones of Barsanuphius and John of Gaza in which further elaboration of the same thematic is discernible. Chapter Four concludes this thesis with a sustained reading of John Climacus’ Scala Paradisi in which the various thematics centring on memory and practice of death are synthesized into the existential framework and practical response, respectively. 1 COPYRIGHT DECLARATION The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. AUTHOR’S DECLARATION This work has been submitted to the University of Durham in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It is my own work and none of it has been previously submitted to the University of Durham or in any other university for a degree. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations................................................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................................................11 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................12 I. The Place of the Study...........................................................................................................................16 II. Tradition and the Individual Monk.....................................................................................................31 III. The Shape of the Present Study............................................................................................................37 IV. The Vocabulary of Death......................................................................................................................42 1. Vita Antonii..........................................................................................................................................................56 I. A Rule in Narrative................................................................................................................................58 II. The New Man and the Old Enemy......................................................................................................65 III. Life, Death, and Ascent.........................................................................................................................72 IV. Daily Dying.............................................................................................................................................81 2. Heirs of the Desert..............................................................................................................................................86 I. Living Toward Death............................................................................................................................88 II. Living Beyond Death.............................................................................................................................97 III. The Living Death..................................................................................................................................107 IV. Ambivalence.........................................................................................................................................122 3. The Great Old Men of Gaza............................................................................................................................128 I. The Memory of Death and the Virtue of Tears................................................................................131 II. Ages in Opposition and Continuity..................................................................................................138 III. The Limit of Death...............................................................................................................................144 IV. Practicing Death in Gaza.....................................................................................................................149 V. Ambiguity and Crucifixion.................................................................................................................171 4. The Ladder of Divine Ascent............................................................................................................................178 I. The Ladder and its Author.................................................................................................................180 II. The Quest for Unity.............................................................................................................................185 III. The Temporal and Iconic Framework of the Ascetic Life..............................................................196 IV. The Ascetic Life as Death and Resurrection.....................................................................................222 V. Imitating Christ in Death<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<234 Conclusion: John Climacus’ Achievement<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.239 Bibliography.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.<<...243 3 ABBREVIATIONS Primary Sources AP Apophthegmata Patrum Alphabeticon Referenced as ‘Name #’. Editio princeps in PG 40:71-440, and supplemented by Guy, J.-C., Recherches sur la tradition grecque des Apophthegmata Patrum, Subisidia Hagiographica 36 (Brussels: Société des bollandistes, 1984), 19-36; ET Ward, Benedicta (trans.), The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, CS 59 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1975). Anonyma Referenced as ‘N #’. Editio princeps in Nau, F., ‘Histoires des solitaires chrétien’, in Revue d’orient chrétien: 12 (1907), 48-68, 171-81, 393-404; 13 (1908), 47-57, 266-83; 14 (1909), 357-79; 17 (1912), 204-11, 294-301; 18 (1913), 137-46. ET of N 1-132 in The World of the Desert Fathers: Stories and Sayings From the Anoymous Series of the Apophthegmata Patrum, trans. Columba Stewart, SLG (Oxford: SLG Press, 1986); ET of N 133 – 393 in Wisdom of the Desert Fathers, trans. Benedicta Ward, SLG (Oxford: SLG Press, 1984). Systematica Guy, J.C. (ed. and trans.), Les Apophtegmes des Pères: collections systèmatique, 3 vols., SC 387, 474, 498 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1993-2005).