Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World

Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World

by Richard Finn OP
Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World

Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World

by Richard Finn OP

Paperback

$37.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
    Choose Expedited Shipping at checkout for delivery by Wednesday, April 3
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Asceticism deploys abstention, self-control, and self-denial, to order oneself or a community in relation to the divine. Both its practices and the cultural ideals they expressed were important to pagans, Jews, Christians of different kinds, and Manichees. Richard Finn presents for the first 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, and wealth; what they meant by their behaviour; and how they influenced others in the Graeco-Roman world. Against this background, the book charts the rise of monasticism in Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, and North Africa, assessing the crucial role played by the third-century exegete, Origen, and asks why monasticism developed so variously in different regions.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780521681544
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: 07/02/2009
Series: Key Themes in Ancient History
Pages: 196
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Richard Finn OP is a Dominican friar and currently Regent of Blackfriars Hall at Oxford University, where he is a member of the Theology faculty and of the Classics faculty. He most recently published Almsgiving in the Later Roman Empire in 2006.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Pagan asceticism: cultic and contemplative purity; 3. Asceticism in Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism; 4. Christian asceticism before Origen; 5. Origen and his ascetic legacy; 6. Cavemen, cenobites, and clerics; 7. Conclusion.
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews