Robert
Kirschner, "The Vocation of Holiness in Late Antiquity,"
Vigiliae Christianae 38 (1984), 105-24.
This article examines pagan
philosophers, Christian ascetics, and rabbinic sages in late antiquity.“The phenomenon of the holy man in the third and fourth
centuries marked a … pronounced shift of perception, from the individual still
within society to the stranger removed from, and claiming to transcend entirely,
the social structure of the ancient city” (p. 105).These men shunned traditional ways of life and attracted
seekers with their denial of carnal pleasures and their search for spiritual
awareness.Although these holy men
were “in the world but not of it,” they still had a social role, as they
would often be called upon to be mediators of lawsuits, tribal disputes, and the
like.
Rather than preach about holiness, the
holy man of late antiquity lived a peculiar life that would draw certain
disciples by its very nature; “a pattern, not a legislator” (p.112) was this
“spiritual athlete.”Disciples
would observe the master’s behavior, his demeanor, his every nuance to attain
his holiness.“Consequently,
whatever he taught was revelation, and whatever he did was implementation” (p.
113).The holy man mediated not
only between rival tribes, but the implication is that he also could span the
natural and the spiritual as well, mediating between God and Man.
