OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES General Editors Gillian Clark Andrew Louth THE OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES series includes scholarly volumes on thethought and historyof the early Christian centuries. Cov- ering awide range of Greek, Latin, and Oriental sources, the books areof interesttotheologians,ancienthistorians,andspecialistsintheclassicaland Jewishworlds. Titlesintheseriesinclude: GregoryofNyssaandtheGraspofFaith Union,Knowledge,andtheDivinePresence MartinLaird(2004) TheSuVeringoftheImpassibleGod TheDialecticsofPatristicThought PaulL.Gavrilyuk(2004) CyrilofAlexandriaandtheNestorianControversy TheMakingofaSaintandofaHeretic SusanWessel(2004) TheByzantineChrist Person,Nature,andWillintheChristologyofStMaximustheConfessor DemetriosBathrellos(2004) TheDoctrineofDeiWcationintheGreekPatristicTradition NormanRussell(2004) TheBodyinStMaximustheConfessor HolyFlesh,WhollyDeiWed AdamG.Cooper(2005) TheAsketikonofStBasiltheGreat AnnaM.Silvas(2005) MariusVictorinus’CommentaryonGalatians StephenAndrewCooper(2005) AsceticismandChristologicalControversyinFifth-CenturyPalestine TheCareerofPetertheIberian CorneliaB.Horn(2006) MarcellusofAncyraandtheLostYearsoftheArianControversy325–345 SaraParvis(2006) TheIrrationalAugustine CatherineConybeare(2006) ClementofAlexandriaandtheBeginningsofChristianApophaticism HennyFiska˚ Ha¨gg(2006) TheChristologyofTheodoretofCyrus AntiocheneChristologyfromtheCouncilofEphesus(431)totheCouncil ofChalcedon(451) PaulB.Clayton,Jr.(2006) EthnicityandArgumentinEusebius’PraeparatioEvangelica AaronP.Johnson(2006) TRADITION AND THEOLOGY IN ST JOHN CASSIAN A. M. C. CASIDAY 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein OxfordNewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto WithoYcesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork (cid:1)A.M.C.Casiday2007 Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2007 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublishingData Casiday,Augustine. TraditionandtheologyinStJohnCassian/A.M.C.Casiday. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN–13:978–0–19–929718–4(alk.paper) ISBN–10:0–19–929718–5(alk.paper) 1. Cassian,John,ca.360-ca.435. 2. Churchhistory—Primitiveandearlychurch, ca.30–600. I. Title. BR1720.C3C372006 271.0092—dc22 2006027548 TypesetbySPIPublisher,Pondicherry PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby BiddlesLtd.,King’sLynn,Norfolk ISBN0–19–929718–5 978–0–19–929718–4 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 FOR MY WIFE AND CHILDREN ‘˚Æd ˚Æ(cid:1)(cid:1)ØÆ(cid:2)(cid:3)F (cid:4)(cid:3)F (cid:5)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:4)(cid:3)(cid:7) ŒÆ(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:8)Æ(cid:2)...’ Anonymous,‘IambsontheSayingsoftheHolyFathers’,l.28(ed. G. C. Amaduzzi, Anecdota litteraria ex mss codicibus eruta (Rome: Fulgonio,1773):28) This page intentionally left blank Preface Though the monastic writings of St John Cassian have been endur- ingly popular, his reputation (not least as a theological author) has been seriously compromised. The present work begins with an evaluation of conventional ideas about Cassian and, Wnding them seriously Xawed, oVers the Wrst sustained attempt at re-reading Cassian’s works without deference to the categories of outdated polemics. SpeciWc attention is called to theChristological aspects of Cassian’s monastic anthropology. Throughout, reference is made to Cassian’s contemporaries—both well-known Wgures like Augustine of Hippo, Evagrius Ponticus, Vincent of Le´rins, and Nestorius, and lesser-known Wgures such as Prosper of Aquitaine, Valerian of Cimiez, and Paul of Tamma—in order to oVer an analysis of Cassian’s writings and their signiWcance that is unencumbered by anachronism. Acknowledgements This book is based on my doctoral thesis (University of Durham, DepartmentofTheology,2002).Whilstwritingthethesis,Ireceived support from the Overseas Research Council, in the form of an Overseas Research Studentship; from the University of Durham and the Department of Theology, in the form of a grant from the Dean’sFund,aDeBuryScholarshipandanEvansScholarship;from twoanonymousdonationsadministeredbyFr.J.Trenham;andfrom the Virginia H. Farah Foundation, in the form of a generous grant. This was administered by His Grace, the Rt Revd Basil (Essey), Bishop of Wichita and the Diocese of Mid-America of the Antio- chian Christian Archdiocese of North America. Sayedna Basil has been unstinting in his support of my work, and his encouragement has been invaluable. It was my great privilege to carry out my doctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Louth. I havealsobeneWtedinwayspastcountingfromanumberofscholars, friends and colleagues: Rt Revd Dr Kallistos (Ware); Prof. Gerald Bonner;Prof.PeterBrown;RevdFrGabrielBunge,OSB;Prof.Patout Burns;RevdFr.ConstantinChirila;RevdDrAdamCooper;DrMary B. Cunningham; Dr Carol Harrison; Prof. C. T. R. Hayward; Ms Anastasia Neubauer; Dr Glenn Peers; Revd Prof. Mark Sheridan, OSB; Revd Dr Tim Vivian; Dr Stuart Weeks; and certainly not least,DrMikaTo¨ro¨nen.AdamandMikainparticular werethebest comradesapersonwritingathesiscouldhopefor,andIlearntagreat dealfromthemboth. Aftercompleting my thesis, I had the good fortune towork for a year as a post-doctoral research associate in the University of Cam- bridge’sDepartmentofAnglo-Saxon,NorseandCeltic,contributing to the Fontes Anglo-Saxonici project. My colleagues in the depart- ment were unfailingly gracious and hospitable to the patrologist in their midst. In addition to fostering my Xedgling interests in the circulation of Cassian’s works in the British Islesand in the monas- ticism of the Anglo-Saxon period, they also allowed me ample time to revise and expand the thesis (which, given access to the Special Acknowledgements ix Collections at the University Library, was an extraordinary oppor- tunity). I would be remiss if I failed to thank by name Professors D.N.DumvilleandS.D.Keynes,DrRosalindLove,andMissLaura Hill. The Wnal revisions to this script were, in the event, made back in DurhamTheology,whereIcurrentlyholdaLeverhulmeEarlyCareer Fellowship. My greatest debt is owed to my family, especially to my long- suVering wife, Rachel, who has endured countless boring sessions upon asking how my work was going, and to our children, Helen, Beata, Anthony, and Alexander whose very presence constantly reminds me that there is more to life than books. To them this bookislovinglydedicated. 28February2005, TheOrthodoxfeastof StCassiantheRoman, Durham