Athanasius: The Life of Antony of Egypt by Albert Haase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Voices from the past can be like a bucket of cold water awakening us to realities to which our own age renders us oblivious. Reading Athanasius, particularly in this vivid paraphrase is like that. Part of this is the subject matter for most of this work, the life of Antony. Antony was a desert monastic–holy but hardly tame. Most striking in Athanasius narrative on Antony is his spiritual combat with demonic beings. Were it not for the wisdom and discernment Antony shows elsewhere, one might think him a bit deranged. Yet perhaps this reflects our own obliviousness to the spiritual powers and that they may lull us with subtleties and not need to attack directly. Here is one quote from Antony that gives a sense of this (and of Haase’s paraphrasing):
“If you really had guts and power, only one of you would have come. But since the Lord has conquered you, you had to gang up on me like schoolyard bullies. In reality, your bark is worse than your bite….If you really have guts and power, then come on and have at me! But if you are a wuss, why disturb me? For faith in our Lord is the strongest of defenses and the best of weapons.”(p.33)
We also see in Antony the combination of the interior spirituality of the desert with the ability to minister with insight with both individuals and groups where necessary. Antony’s life is an account of the physicality of spiritual formation as he deals with lust, fasting, physical suffering and more and how facing these dependent upon Christ can immeasurably deepen our love for God.
The book also includes several shorter pieces by Athanasius. The letter to Ammoun gives pastorally wise counsel to a young man about the normal physical excretions of the body (including nocturnal emissions) and that since God made the body, these are not evil or unclean but normal and good. The letter to Dracontius challenges one fleeing a call to the bishopric to courage and obedience. And the fragment of Festal Letter 19 is an important piece of evidence from the early fourth century to the already forming consensus of the church on the canon of scripture.
The book includes a study guide for reflection or discussion, and an annotated bibliography on the works of Athanasius–all in 128 pages!
“Voices from the past can be like a bucket of cold water awakening us to realities to which our own age renders us oblivious.” – Love this sentence!
Thanks!