Meet the O.G. Monk - St Antony of Egypt

Depending on the circles you keep, Monasticism is seen as an archaic and best-forgotten aspect of the church’s history or as a bastion of the true devotees of Jesus. However you perceive it, the influence and pervasiveness of monasticism are alive and well even across denominational lines. One reason for this may be due – in no small part – to the lives of those who pioneered this model of Christian living, those individuals who did not benefit from an established Rule of Life or an extant roadmap to guide them in their lifestyle of consecration. It is one such figure, St Antony of Egypt, that this article centres on. His life, contributions to monastic living, and the development of orthodox theology is on display for the reader. Maybe you're aware but uninitiated concerning monasticism and St Anthony, maybe you've grown dreary with the pace and superficial clamour of life. Maybe you're a seminary student looking to gain insight into the lives of early monks, or perhaps you're merely perusing the internet for inspiration to slow down, pursue simply living and friendship with God - wherever you're at, I hope you enjoy the read.

Intro to Monasticism

The word ‘monasticism’ comes pre-loaded with a million and one notions and preconceptions. Ancient men and women adorned in robes, farming or tending the brewery for 8 hours a day, and the rest spent in prayer. Or maybe the word conjures a picture of an old, bearded man sitting atop a mountaintop in a desert chanting a mantra and preaching to a group of gathered apprentices. Whatever picture your imagination summons, monasteries are a well-known, albeit long-forgotten, aspect of society today.

It’s no secret that contemporary life’s pace is unrelenting, and it comes as no surprise that individual spirituality has not been exempt from this. However, in such a world, the discipline of monasticism may be more relevant than ever before.

• Monasticism is an antidote to the busyness of life

• Monasticism trades knowledge about God for knowledge of God

• Monasticism exchanges externally motivated fear and control for internal wisdom & peace

• Monasticism helps curb impure motives for communion with God

There is a richness available to us today through the discipline of monasticism; so, where better to begin than with an individual credited with being the Father of Monasticism, one of the earliest recognisable monks, St Antony of Egypt. Lean in as we explore his story, experiences, and contributions to monasticism across the millennia.

We’ll be exploring the life of Antony through the following sources. Life of Antony attributed to St Athanasius, an early church father, St Antony’s Letters, some early church fathers and commentators on the impact of monasticism today. The Life of Antony is a key primary source in studying Antony’s life. However, we need to be aware of the style and intent of St Athanasius in the composition of his work. Athanasius is anxious to preserve his friend and mentor. Still, we would benefit from being cautious of the rhetorician at work here, the oft-exiled bishop in the city of Alexandria. He was gifted with a flair for the dramatic and a motive to evangelise a pagan culture, using rhetorical techniques to tell a story of his mentor as an uneducated Egyptian peasant who fo­ught off demons and could charm animals. The Life of Antony is commonly classified as hagiography, rather than a genre comparable to modernist historiographical or biographical work. While Life of Antony is an important work, its reliability must be measured alongside its genre and composition as well as its author’s aim. Regardless of its ultimate intent, as David Wright put it, ‘Athanasius’s biography was not only a bestseller in its day but a book that made people stop and think—and act’ (Wright 1999, 64). It is undeniable that the work has had an enormous impact on monasticism for centuries and even influenced Augustine, which we explore later in this article.

Early Life

Athanasius tells us Antony was born in Egypt in a village called Coma around 251 A.D. (Meyer 1950, 18). He was a Copt – a descendant of ancient Egyptians – raised by his parents, with whom he likely attended a Coptic church. Antony’s parents died early on in his life, and he was left to care for his sister, with a relatively sizeable inherited fortune sustained by large amounts of land. Sources reveal that shortly after this tragedy came the first significant turning point of Antony’s life. Antony heard a reading of the Gospel of Matthew in a church.

‘Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’

This episode displays a conviction that is core to monasticism and, more broadly, a key challenge to those who wish to follow Jesus. In the case of the young man of this parable, Turner (2008, 198) suggests that devotion to wealth is preventing him from loving God and, as such, his neighbour. In contrast to the young man, Antony responds with obedience, carrying with it an ultimate, divine joy. For the earliest disciples, following Christ entailed enduring the hardships brought about by this call. So, Antony sold his remaining possessions keeping only enough to place his sister into care (Gonzalez, 2010, 1962) and set off into another nearby town in the desert to join an elderly man in his community who had already embraced a life of aestheticism. Antony stayed with him, engaging in a monastic lifestyle that taught him how to pray, fast, and labour for his now minimal needs.

Many might criticise Antony for the desertion of his only sister. However, considering the socio-economic status of young Coptic women and their now precariously meagre prospects, this was a small mercy by Antony. An opportunity to be cared for and have a life, which in Antony’s eyes would be better than resulting in a life like that of the young man who could not live without wealth. Athanasius tells us that Antony was later tormented by demonic forces who would condemn him for this choice (Meyer, 1950, 22) – this could indicate that it was not an easy decision for him. Antony and his sister reunited later, and she was a great leader within her own monastic community.

Life as a Monk

As Antony grew, he was well-loved by those he did share, an albeit small community with; he continued to seek after God and deny his flesh. However, the spiritual turmoil he endured was tremendous. One needs only to explore early Renaissance artwork to see the impact of Antony’s tales. One such instance is a piece by famed Alsatian engraver and painter Martin Schongauer. It displays Antony, serene and calm whilst demonic creatures attack him. Antony underwent such immense demonic attacks; he eventually relocated to some tombs that were quite far from the village where he lived. He was so aggrieved by demons that he was left beaten and weak as if he’d been physically attacked. He received a vision after a particularly gruelling affair, alluded to in Letter VI by Antony. Athanasius describes to us this vision (Meyer, 1950, 28) in which the Lord speaks comfort to Antony, reassuring him of his presence.

The Temptation of St Anthony (Schongauer) C. 1480-90. Engraving. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Toward the middle of his life, Antony visited the city of Alexandria. The modern-day equivalent of London or New York. The reason for Antony’s visit? For the defence of martyrs under the persecution of Maximinus. Antony joined several other monks to provide comfort and support to them. Many individuals saw monasticism as a purer and more faithful expression of their faith in lieu of any opportunity for martyrdom. For Antony and his fellow wanderers, this was an opportunity to declare their fealty to Jesus. Against Antony’s valiant attempts, he was overlooked by the governor of the court. Antony returned to the desert after this disappointing visit but withdrew deep into the Inner Mountain – incidentally, you can visit a monastery built in his commemoration in Ras Gharib today.

Antony’s second trip to Alexandria came within that same decade. Antony was proclaimed as a sympathiser to the Arians due to his renown for holy living and closeness to God. He heard that he was being lumped in the same theological camp as those who would declare the logos to be a creature, the firstborn of all creation – yet still a creature. This theological point was cause for Antony to descend the mountain and confront the Arian accusation in Alexandria. Athanasius tells us that he ‘denounced the Arians, saying that their heresy was the last of all and a forerunner of the Antichrist (Meyer, 1950, 78). Rejecting this notion was key to understanding Antony’s own soteriology, which followed that of Romans 8:32. (Rubenson, 1995, 227). ‘According to His great love, and spared not His only-begotten Son for the salvation of us all, but delivered Him up for our sins (Rom. 8:32 [ESV]). The Son or logos was eternally begotten, co-eternal with the father, not merely a creature. It was Antony’s theological eloquence that earned him the name Antony the Great. (Harmless, 2004, 96).

Antony returned to the Inner Mountain, and after a while, he received a premonition of his impending death. So, he sought out two monastic disciples who were instructed to join him and wait until his death. Upon its arrival in 356, they were to bury him and keep his grave a secret. His final lesson is, ‘keep up the discipline, keep vigilant watch over thoughts, and, above all, shun schismatics and heretics.’ (Harmless, 2004, 68).

So, the great and influential life of St Antony was over, but his legacy and impact on early Christianity and monasticism had hardly begun.

His Influence

Antony’s influence was immense. While it is clear he was not the first person to pursue a monastic lifestyle, he certainly was among the most influential. Today, his letters are extant, converted into a “rule of life”, typical of ascetic figures whose lives people wished to imitate. This life led to Athanasius writing his work, which we’ve explored in this article, Life of Antony. Originally composed in Greek, it quickly received a translation into Latin and began promulgating through the Mediterranean.

This work made its way into the hands of two Roman officials in Trier, whose story made its way to the ears of Ponticianus, an African court official, who in turn shared it with Augustine. Augustine later remembered the immediacy of Antony’s response to the word of the Lord, only it was not Matthew’s gospel Augustine had on hand, but Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. This revelation prompted a conversion from Augustine that was wedded to the aesthetic life of discipline and devotion to God, establishing a theological legacy that would last for the next 2000 years and beyond.

Antony’s life and its ensuing impact on monasticism in the early church period were dramatic. His life & letters, like many monastic figures of his time, were immortalised and used to emulate the life that he had led. In the Benedictine Rule, monastic precepts promulgated by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century, you can find a famous example of this in the Benedictine Rule.

Early monasticism endured through figures like Pachomius, who was considered the founder of cenobitic monasticism. A monasticism where people would live in communities, practising prayer and working together (Ferguson,2013, 229). It has yielded an enormous legacy of monastic schools like that of Basil of Caeserea and the previously mentioned Benedict of Nursia. Basil worked to establish communal monasteries that integrated monks back into the greater church and their surrounding communities. Eventually, this led to monks being given a unique opportunity to weigh in on developing Christian theology. Although, at times, this could lead to a type of theological elitism, where monks might be tempted to use violence to achieve doctrinal endorsement (Gonzalez, 2010, 165).

Monasticism continued to flourish throughout the centuries, finding revival in the 6th century under the Benedictine Order and in the 12th as Franciscan and Dominican Orders emerged. Monasticism even underwent a global resurgence in the 20th century. People and communities sought to reprioritise their spiritual life, simplify and purify their relationship to God, and relocate themselves into a community of kindred individuals. Peter Maurin, the founder of the Catholic Workers Movement, spoke of a vision for society that was ‘so old it looks new.’ This vision is what monasticism offers and aptly surmises its legacy today.

I finish as I began this article. Monasticism offers an antidote for life’s ailments. It confounds fear and replaces it with contentment. It defies superficial knowledge of Jesus, exemplified by a radical way of living in exchange for deep commitment. The example of Antony’s life and commitment to Christ and orthodoxy cannot be overstated; while not perfect, Antony achieved a life of discipline and friendship with God. He learned to trust and depend on God for everything yet maintained a connection to the communities he developed. We, too, ought to be thankful for figures like Athanasius, who brought us his life through his influential work. Of which John Chrysostom wrote, (In Matthaeum hom. 8.5, 57.88–89) ‘By reading his Life, they would learn precisely “what sort of lifestyle Christ’s laws demand.”

Bibliography

Athanasius, and Robert T. Meyer. 1950. The Life of Saint Antony. Westminster, MD: Newman Press.

Ferguson, Everett, John D. Woodbridge, and Frank A. James. 2005. Church History. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

González, Justo L. 2010. The Story of Christianity. NY: Harper One.

Harmless, William. 2004. Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

John Chrysostom, George Prevost, and Frederic Field. 1893. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, On the Gospel of St. Matthew. London: A.D. Innes.

Rubenson, Samuel, and Anthony. 1995. The letters of St. Antony: monasticism and the making of a saint. MI: Fortress Press.

‘The Life-Changing “Life of Antony” | Christian History | Christianity Today’. n.d. Accessed 11 January 2021. https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-64/life-changing-life-of-antony.html.

Turner, David L. 2008. Matthew. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.