Abstract

A complete text of the seven Letters attributed to St. Antony the Great by St. Jerome in 392 was re-discovered in 1955 at St. Catherine's Monastery, Mt. Sinai. The discovery of the Letters fuelled an ongoing debate concerning Antony. Is he in fact the illiterate and pious desert monk of popular imagination, or is he perhaps, as the Letters suggest, a much more sophisticated theologian acquainted with the Alexandrian theological tradition? This thesis argues that St. Antony's theological thought was both innovative and highly original. It relies upon the figure of Antony represented in the texts most closely associated with his life: the biography by St. Athanasius, the sayings recorded in the Apophthegmata patrum , and the Letters . Its focus is primarily the theology of the Letters , in particular their use of Scripture. Strikingly, while the Letters suggest Antony's familiarity with Egyptian theology's Origenian heritage, he nowhere unequivocally cites any patristic sources. His only source is Scripture. Through a consideration of his use of Scripture in Athanasius' biography and in the sayings, this thesis will uncover Antony's original use and exegesis of Scripture as it appears in his Letters . I proceed in three parts. First, I consider the texts and contexts informing our knowledge of Antony. Second, I offer a reading of the theology of Antony's Letters . Third, I examine the theology of Scripture that appears in Antony's biography, sayings and Letters