Description
This course is a brief guided tour of some of the spiritual practices (or exercises) developed by early Christians. Such exercises were for them potent technologies, powerful bearers of Christian wisdom, and arguably the primary form of self-care in antiquity. A wide variety of practices will be discussed, but we will pay particular attention to what was done with scripture, prayer, liturgy, food, and community. Rather than emphasizing what early Christians believed, we will examine how they believed what they did and how those beliefs became for them a way of life in the world. Authors read include passages from the Desert Fathers, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. John Cassian, Origen of Alexandria, and Evagrius. Special attention will be given to how retrieving such practices can contribute to a robust comtemporary Christianity.