Description
Book SynopsisOrigins of Eastern Christian Mysticism asserts that the thinkers between Basil of Caesarea and Symeon the New Theologian were important mainly for their role in the formation of Hesychasm, a fourteenth-century mystical movement in the Eastern church. The book surveys previous research on Proto-Hesychasm and sets forth eight Hesychastic trends in its practitioners: monasticism, dark and light mysticism, and an emphasis on the heart, theosis, the humanity of Christ, penthos, and unceasing prayer.
Theodore Sabo integrates detailed and carefully researched accounts of the lives and thought of the foundational figures of Hesychasm into a compelling narrative of the movement's origins. The Cappadocian fathers established monasticism as the predominant milieu of Proto-Hesychasm and emphasized both theosis and dark mysticism. Dark mysticism would come into conflict with the light mysticism of their contemporary Pseudo-Macarius, but both currents wo
Table of Contents
Preface – Introduction – The Hesychasts: Beginning at the End – Basil the Great – Gregory of Nazianzus – Gregory of Nyssa: The Divine Darkness – Pseudo-Macarius: Towards the Hesychastic Light – Macarius’ Epigones – Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite – Maximus the Confessor – Isaiah of Scetis – The School of Gaza – John Climacus – Isaac of Nineveh – The Circle of John Climacus – Symeon the New Theologian – Symeon’s Circle – Conclusion – Chronology – Glossary of Semitic Words.
