Blackwell Reference Online

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[xiii.d] The world in which the Christian gospel was first preached already knew the ascetic lifestyles of Cynic and Stoic philosophers, of the Egyptian priesthoods and, at least by repute, of the Indian ‘gymnosophists’. Moral uprightness and austerity of life were respected as marks of virtue and self-control, signs of excellence of character. Christian preaching, too, emphasized the importance of an ordered, morally upright and self-disciplined life; it called the believer to die in Christ to this world and to look to the Kingdom of God and the coming judgement. Not surprisingly, individuals and communities responded to this preaching by taking up an ascetic style of life. Ascetic practice has several functions: training in control of the appetites and passions; training in detachment; training in awareness of transience and mortality; training in the appreciation of the divine benevolence; expiation for wrongs done; healing from the effects of sin; identification with the Passion and death of Christ; preparation for a new state of life.Monasticism was greatly influenced by asceticism; indeed, the two versions of the Rule of St Basil, generally thought of as a handbook for monks, are probably rather a guide for ascetics living a common life. The monasticism of the Desert fathers was strongly ascetic. Stylites and dendrites fasting and praying on pillars or in trees were visible ... log in or subscribe to read full text