Textual Disorder in the Letters of St Antony: An Analysis and Partial Reconstruction

Abstract

The recent revival of interest in the Letters of St Antony has greatly enriched our understanding of early monasticism. The seminal work of Samuel Rubenson and the judicious refining of his conclusions by those like Graham Gould have brought a new appreciation for the ‘founder of, monasticism’ and the milieu from which became and in which he practised his ascetic life. Based on Antony's epistles, Rubenson made a strong case for the education and intellectual sophistication of Antony. Nonetheless, it is difficult to ignore the impression of confusion in certain parts of the Letters. Moreover there remains something tantalising about these works, not least the unique sections on Arius in Letter IV and on baptism in the second half of Letter VII. Through an analysis of these two epistles and their context in the collection. I hope to show first that the evidence of confusion represents not lack of clarity in the thought of Antony, but rather textual confusion in the epistles themselves; and secondly, that there is good reason to propose the reunification of these two ‘halves’ (IV and the latter part of VII) into a single, original, letter.