Pachomius Outside the Shadow of the Vita Antonii
The earliest prologue to the Life of Pachomius constructs the apostle Paul as an exemplary father and argues that Pachomius conforms to such a Pauline model. Prologues composed later make no such comparison but cite Antony as the model ascetic before turning to the narration of Pachomius's life...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2018]
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 2018, Volume: 111, Issue: 4, Pages: 516-540 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Vita sancti Pachomii
/ Athanasius, Alexandrinus, Heiliger 295-373, Vita Antonii
/ Paul Apostle
/ Example
/ Asceticism
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality HC New Testament KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity KCA Monasticism; religious orders |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The earliest prologue to the Life of Pachomius constructs the apostle Paul as an exemplary father and argues that Pachomius conforms to such a Pauline model. Prologues composed later make no such comparison but cite Antony as the model ascetic before turning to the narration of Pachomius's life. This paper follows the Pauline thread of the earliest prologue by examining the use of the figure Paul and Pauline literature in the surviving Vitae. I argue that certain narratives cast Pachomius's legacy after a Pauline prototype. Paul's ascent to paradise in 2 Corinthians 12 and Paul's survey of torments in the Apocalypse of Paul are rewritten in some of the Coptic and Arabic Vitae as episodes in Pachomius's life. This use of Paul as a prototype for ascetic hagiography creates a vision of ascetic holiness incompatible with that constructed in the Life of Antony. Other narratives in the Pachomian Vitae, however, construct Pachomius after an Antonian prototype and reflect ascetic ideals promoted in the Life of Antony. The paper closes with reflections on possible historical circumstances for the shift from a Pauline model of asceticism to an Antonian one in the composition of Pachomian Vitae. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816018000251 |