Description
What did dreams mean to Egyptian Christians of the first to the sixth centuries? Alexandrian philosophers, starting with Philo, Clement and Origen, developed a new approach to dreams that was to have profound effects on the spirituality of the medieval West and Byzantium. Their approach, founded on the principles of Platonism, was based on the convictions that God could send prophetic dreams and that these could be interpreted by people of sufficient virtue. In the fourth century, the Alexandrian approach was expanded by Athanasius and Evagrius to include a more holistic psychological understanding of what dreams meant for spiritual progress. The ideas that God could be known in dreams and that dreams were linked to virtue flourished in the context of Egyptian desert monasticism. This volume traces that development and its influence on early Egyptian experiences of the divine in dreams.
Explores the significance of dreams in early Christian Egypt, using sources from Philo and Origen to Athanasius and early monks.
About the Author
Bronwen Neil is Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and Research Fellow of the University of South Africa. She is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor (2015), Collecting Early Christian Letters (Cambridge, 2015) and A Companion to Gregory the Great (2013). Doru Costache is Senior Lecturer in Patristic Studies at St Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Theological College in Sydney and Honorary Associate of Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney. He is co-author of S tiint a s i Teologie: Preliminarii pentru Dialog (2001) and co-editor of Well-Being, Personal Wholeness and the Social Fabric (2017). Kevin Wagnew is Lecturer in Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. He has been the principal convenor of the Theology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium series of conferences and is the lead editor of the accompanying book series.
Reviews
'This volume is based on meticulous research in the primary Christian, Jewish, and classical traditions and on deep engagement with the secondary sources ... Recommended.' M. M. Hawkins, Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9781108481182
Author Bronwen Neil
Format Hardback
Page Count 222
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 440g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 16mm
Explores the significance of dreams in early Christian Egypt, using sources from Philo and Origen to Athanasius and early monks.
About the Author
Bronwen Neil is Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and Research Fellow of the University of South Africa. She is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor (2015), Collecting Early Christian Letters (Cambridge, 2015) and A Companion to Gregory the Great (2013). Doru Costache is Senior Lecturer in Patristic Studies at St Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Theological College in Sydney and Honorary Associate of Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney. He is co-author of S tiint a s i Teologie: Preliminarii pentru Dialog (2001) and co-editor of Well-Being, Personal Wholeness and the Social Fabric (2017). Kevin Wagnew is Lecturer in Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. He has been the principal convenor of the Theology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium series of conferences and is the lead editor of the accompanying book series.
Reviews
'This volume is based on meticulous research in the primary Christian, Jewish, and classical traditions and on deep engagement with the secondary sources ... Recommended.' M. M. Hawkins, Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9781108481182
Author Bronwen Neil
Format Hardback
Page Count 222
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 440g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 16mm
