Yale University Library Research Guides: Early Christianity and Patristics: Monasticism

Introduction to Monasticism

Monasticism: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen J. Davis history of monasticism, from earliest evidence for it, and the different types which have developed from antiquity to the present day. Online available.
An Introduction to the Desert Fathers by John Wortley This introduction explores its origins and subsequent development and what it aimed to achieve, including the obstacles that it encountered; making use of the monks' own words as they are preserved (in Greek) primarily in the so-called Sayings of the Desert Fathers. focussing on monastic settlements in the Nitrian Desert (especially at Scêtê).
Desert Christians : an introduction to the literature of early monasticism by William Harmless scholarship on monastic origins. Included are snippets from papyri and Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopic texts. Interspersed are illustrations, maps, and diagrams that help readers sort through the key texts. Geared to a wide audience and written in clear, jargon-free prose, Online available.

The Nag Hammadi Codices and Late Antique Egypt by Hugo Lundhaug ; Lance Jenott situate the Nag Hammadi Codices and their texts in the context of late antique Egypt, treating such topics as Coptic readers and readings, the difficulty of dating early Greek and Coptic manuscripts, scribal practices, the importance of heavenly ascent, asceticism, and instruction in Egyptian monastic culture. explore the relationship of the texts to the Origenist controversy and Manichaeism
The Monastic Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices by Hugo Lundhaug; Lance Jenott examine the provenance of the Nag Hammadi Codices and defend the view that they were produced and read by Christian monks of Upper Egypt in the fourth and fifth centuries.
Monastic Education in Late Antiquity by Lillian I. Larsen situate monasticism within a trajectory of educational and institutional frameworks, documents the degree to which monastic structures emerged in close alignment with urban, literate society, and retain established affinity with classical rhetorical and philosophical school traditions.

The Emergence of Monasticism : from the Desert Fathers to the early Middle Ages by Marilyn Faherty Dunn placing its development against the dynamic of both social and religious change. cover the formative period of medieval monasticism. attention to the contribution of women to ascetic and monastic life.
Western Monasticism Ante Litteram: The spaces of early monastic observance by Hendrik W. Dey et al. physical contours of monastic topographies, natural and constructed, are fundamental to an understanding of how early monks went about defining the parameters of their everyday lives, their modes of religious observance, and their interactions with the larger world around them.
Monasteries and the Care of Souls in Late Antique Christianity by Paul C. Dilley explores the personal practices and group rituals through which the thoughts of monastic disciples were monitored and trained to purify the mind and help them achieve salvation.

Inquiry about the Monks in Egypt by Rufinus monks from Rufinus of Aquileia's monastery on the Mount of Olives made a pilgrimage to Egypt to visit locally renowned monks and monastic communities. reads like a book of miracles that depicts the great fourth-century Egyptian monks as prophets and apostles similar to those in the Bible. introduction and annotations situate the work in its literary, historical, religious, and theological contexts.
The "Anonymous" Sayings of the Desert Fathers by John Wortley edited and translated into English. Richer in Tales than the 'Alphabetic' collection to which this is an appendix (both to be dated c.AD 500). Online available.
More Sayings of the Desert Fathers by John Wortley almost 2500 in number. A further six hundred items in six languages translated alongside an Introduction and brief notes
The Lausiac History by Palladius of Aspuna Online available.