The Wisdom of the Desert

Wisdom of the Desert
James O. Hannay
Preface
This little book is neither a critical examination of the earlier egyptian
monastic literature nor an historical account of the movement. It is
nothing more than an attempt to appreciate the religious spirit of the
first Christian monks. I do not know of any other similar attempt,
though an exceedingly interesting study of the hermit life will be found
in E. Lucius' Das Mšnchische Leben des vierten und fŸnften
Jahrhunderts in der Beleuchtung seiner Vertreter und Gšnnor.
The collection of stories and sayings which I have translated,
sometimes very freely, must be regarded merely as an anthology culled
from the "meadows" of the literature of the desert life. There is much
more which is worthy of a place in our devotional literature, and which,
I hope, may in, the future be arranged and translated by men more fitted
for the task than I am. I acknowledge gratefully the assistance I have
received from two friends -- Miss Bloxham and the Rev. C. S. Collins
-- whose sympathy with things that are high and holy has been a
constant help to me in my work.
I have further to acknowledge the very great kindness of Father
Andrew, S.D.C., who designed the drawings which both adorn this
volume and interpret the spirit of the hermits' teaching.
After the MS. of this book was in the publishers' hands I received,
through the kindness of Professor Zšckler, of Greifswald, a copy of his
recently published Die Tugendlehre des Christentums The work is of
great importance for anyone engaged in the study of the ethics of
monasticism, but I have not felt myself obliged to modify anything I
have written. Professor Zšckler's point of view and his object are
entirely different from mine. He is scientific; I hope only to suggest

devotional thought.
In the course of my Introduction I allude to the want of a critical study
of the Apophthegmata. I am now informed by Dom E. C. Butler,
O.S.B., that such a work is being prepared by AbbŽ Nau, and will soon
be published in the Patrologia Orientalis by Firmin-Didot (Paris).
J. O. H.
Westport, Ireland, 1904
Introduction I
EVERY kind of effort after good has found sympathy and help in
Christianity. Nothing is more wonderful and nothing more suggestive
of His divinity than the way in which the words and example of the
Master have been found adaptable to the ideals which have possessed
the souls of men in different ages and under various circumstances.
There was a time when men were impelled to search for and express
truth, the eternal truth of the nature and property of the Deity Himself.
At that time the life of Christ presented itself primarily as a revelation.
He set forth, under the conditions of time and space, the mysterious
God whose seat is amid clouds and darkness, and yet who baffles
human inquiry chiefly by the garment of impenetrable light in which
He has decked Himself. In another age the religious spirit took a lower
flight and allowed its activities to be dominated by a political
conception. Whole generations spent themselves in the effort to realize
upon earth a veritable kingdom of God. To these men Christ appeared
as a monarch, whose will it was their ambition to realize perfectly. The
people crowded below the altar steps, and the priests from above
proclaimed, pointing the Lord to them, "Behold your King." He was,
indeed, conceived of as very different from any earthly king. His crown
was of thorns, His throne was a cross, His glory was humiliation. Yet it
was essentially as a King that they conceived of Him. He was the Ruler
of a visible kingdom, the Head of a hierarchy of governors, the
promulgator of a polity and laws. For men of yet another generation
religion found itself in the aspiration after personal liberty. Fear and
ignorance had tyrannised over the earth -- fear, the daughter of

superstition; ignorance, superstition's handmaid. Minds which dared to
question and doubt lived under a perpetual menace. Above all, the great
tyrant was sin. Its fetters grew heavier on men's limbs, and checked the
effort after progress. Then men came to think of Christ as a great
liberator; their souls responded to the call, " Christ shall make you
free." Since then the central point of religion has shifted again. In our
time men no longer look to Christ to teach them truth. We have lost
sight hopelessly of "the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces" of
the city of God upon earth. The naked individualism of the reformation
period offers an inadequate view of life. We are inclined to doubt about
the very existence of such a thing as liberty. We have discovered in
Christianity a great incentive to philanthropy. Christ