TY  - BOOK
AU  - Wortley,John
TI  - An introduction to the Desert Fathers
SN  - 9781108481021
AV  - BR190 .W675 2019
U1  - 271.009/015 23
KW  - Desert Fathers
KW  - Monasticism and religious orders
KW  - Egypt
KW  - History
KW  - Early church, ca. 30-600
N1  - Includes bibliographical references and index; Desert Fathers -- Beginnings -- Becoming a monk -- Impediments to progress -- The object of the exercise -- Prayer -- Discretion -- Work -- Eating and drinking -- Hospitality and neighbourliness -- Women in the desert -- Literacy -- Heresy -- The Pachomian experiment
N2  - "Christian monasticism emerged in the Egyptian deserts in the fourth century AD. This introduction explores its origins and subsequent development and what it aimed to achieve, including the obstacles that it encountered, for the most part making use of the monks' own words as they are preserved (in Greek) primarily in the so-called Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Mainly focussing on monastic settlements in the Nitrian desert (especially at Sc©®t©®), it asks how the monks prayed, ate, drank and slept, as well as how they discharged their obligations both to earn their own living by handiwork and to exercise hospitality. It also discusses the monks' degree of literacy, as well as women in the desert and Pachomius and his monasteries in Upper Egypt. Written in straightforward language, the book is accessible to all students and scholars, and anyone with a general interest in this important and fascinating phenomenon"--
ER  -