The ladder of prayer and the ship of stirrings: the praying self in late antique east Syrian Christianity

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

"Doubts about sacrifices, prayers, fate, and providence in the second- to fifth-century Mediterranean world produced new concepts of individual prayer for Christians and non-Christians alike. The Ladder of Prayer and the Ship of Stirrings explores the discourse on the praying self as an ascetic way of life, as an aspect of interiority, and as a path to the divine in Late Antique Eastern Christianity. It deals with the transposition of Greek ascetic literature -- mainly the writings of Evagrius Ponticus, Abba Isaiah, Mark the Monk, and the Apophthegmata patrum -- into East Syrian thought, and its assimilation with indigenous features. Specifically, the book probes the emergence of different sorts of prayer as a pivotal part of the profound religious shifts and cultural developments that unfolded in Late Antique Eastern Christianities. The chronological scope of this study ranges from the second- to fifth-century cultural world of sophists and philosophers, Iamblicus, Porphyry and Proclus, up to the East Syrian mystical authors in the fifth-eighth centuries, among them John of Apamea, Isaac of Nineveh, Dadisho' Qatraya, Shem'on d-Taybutheh, John of Dalyatha, and Joseph Hazzaya. The book presents how these figures incorporated this literary legacy into their teachings and melded it with indigenous Syriac spirituality."--Back cover.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLeuven; Paris; Bristol, CT
Number of pages270
StatePublished - 2019

Publication series

NameLate Antique History and Religion
PublisherPeeters
Volumevolume 22

ULI publications

  • uli
  • Apostolic Church
  • Catholic Church -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600
  • Christian literature, Early -- Syriac authors -- History and criticism
  • Christianity -- Early church, ca. 30-600
  • Church history -- Early church, ca. 30-600
  • Church history -- History -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
  • Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
  • Church, Apostolic
  • Early Christianity
  • Early church -- Church history Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
  • Fathers of the church, Syriac
  • Prayer -- Oriental Orthodox churches
  • Prayer -- Orthodox Eastern Church
  • Primitive Christianity
  • Primitive and early church
  • Rome -- Church history
  • Self -- Religious aspects -- History -- To 1500
  • Syriac Christians -- Religious life
  • Syriac Fathers of the church
  • Syrian churches -- Doctrines -- History
  • היסטוריה של הכנסיה -- 30-600, הכנסיה הפרימיטיבית והקדומה
  • تاريخ الكنيسة -- الكنيسة البدائية والمبكرة، 30-600 للميلاد

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