Caleb P.
Athanasius’ Life of Antony is a short hagiography of Antony of Egypt written around 356. The major theme of this hagiography is asceticism. It begins with the early years of Antony’s life which showed the readers that even when he was a young boy he was not concerned with worldly pleasures or luxuries. When he was 18 or 20 his parents died and he had to care for his younger sister, but while he was at church he heard Jesus telling the rich man to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor and so Antony did just that (369). He found pious virgins to raise his sister and then he left his village in search of disciplined ascetics to imitate. He traveled around to different ascetics learning from them and admiring different aspects of each, but especially noticing their piety towards Christ and their love for one another. He gave himself to praying continuously and memorizing the scriptures. Antony then left everyone and moved deep into the Egyptian desert where he lived in a hole for 20 years. His friends would bring him bread, as he only ate bread, salt and water. During his time there he fought demons and fleshly desires and was victorious over them all. He had people coming to be his disciples to learn how to live the ascetic life from him. High ranking military officers, judges, and lay people came to him to ask for wisdom and for healing. Antony’s life of asceticism made him famous in the Christian world and provided an example for people to imitate.
This hagiography by Athanasius was popular and influential for the lives of monks, nuns, and pious lay people (Lynch 197). Because of the great detail given to Antony’s life the hagiography provided a great template for people who wanted to live the ascetic lifestyle. Athanasius also did a good job using scripture to provide reasons why Antony did the things he did. This bolstered the argument for asceticism by showing that Antony was truly living scripture. The results of living the scriptures caused Antony to become basically deified once he left the hole that he was in for 20 years. The lure of being almost like God after living this way for two decades would be powerful and encourage people to give up their current lifestyle and adopt the ascetic one. The degree to which Antony is venerated and glorified in this hagiography is striking because even though Jesus is also mentioned as God, it seems as if Antony has become equal to him. There was also a lot of mention of the “heretical Arians” and schismatic groups, showing Athanasius’ disdain for those heretical groups and his promotion of the ascetic lifestyle for those people who want to be holy.
Athanasius’ Life of Antony is a short hagiography of Antony of Egypt written around 356. The major theme of this hagiography is asceticism. It begins with the early years of Antony’s life which showed the readers that even when he was a young boy he was not concerned with worldly pleasures or luxuries. When he was 18 or 20 his parents died and he had to care for his younger sister, but while he was at church he heard Jesus telling the rich man to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor and so Antony did just that (369). He found pious virgins to raise his sister and then he left his village in search of disciplined ascetics to imitate. He traveled around to different ascetics learning from them and admiring different aspects of each, but especially noticing their piety towards Christ and their love for one another. He gave himself to praying continuously and memorizing the scriptures. Antony then left everyone and moved deep into the Egyptian desert where he lived in a hole for 20 years. His friends would bring him bread, as he only ate bread, salt and water. During his time there he fought demons and fleshly desires and was victorious over them all. He had people coming to be his disciples to learn how to live the ascetic life from him. High ranking military officers, judges, and lay people came to him to ask for wisdom and for healing. Antony’s life of asceticism made him famous in the Christian world and provided an example for people to imitate.
This hagiography by Athanasius was popular and influential for the lives of monks, nuns, and pious lay people (Lynch 197). Because of the great detail given to Antony’s life the hagiography provided a great template for people who wanted to live the ascetic lifestyle. Athanasius also did a good job using scripture to provide reasons why Antony did the things he did. This bolstered the argument for asceticism by showing that Antony was truly living scripture. The results of living the scriptures caused Antony to become basically deified once he left the hole that he was in for 20 years. The lure of being almost like God after living this way for two decades would be powerful and encourage people to give up their current lifestyle and adopt the ascetic one. The degree to which Antony is venerated and glorified in this hagiography is striking because even though Jesus is also mentioned as God, it seems as if Antony has become equal to him. There was also a lot of mention of the “heretical Arians” and schismatic groups, showing Athanasius’ disdain for those heretical groups and his promotion of the ascetic lifestyle for those people who want to be holy.