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59-711: In Christian literature it is usually known as Scetis ( Σκήτις in Hellenistic Greek ) or Skete ( Σκήτη , plural Σκήτες in ecclesiastical Greek ). It is one of the three early Christian monastic centers located in the Nitrian Desert of the northwestern Nile Delta . The other two monastic centers are Nitria and Kellia . Scetis, now called Wadi El Natrun, is best known today because its ancient monasteries remain in use, unlike Nitria and Kellia which have only archaeological remains. The desertified valley around Scetis in particular may be called

118-568: A communal church and facilities, but enclosed walls and watchtowers developed over time and in response to raids from desert nomads. Nitria, Kellia, and Scellis also experienced internal fractures related to doctrinal disputes in Egypt . At its peak the place contained 700 monasteries. The monasteries flourished during the Muslim conquest of Egypt (639–642), but in the eighth and ninth centuries taxation and administration concerns led to conflicts with

177-564: A discourse collected in the Philokalia on Abba Philimon, a Desert Father. Hesychast prayer was a meditative practice that was traditionally done in silence and with eyes closed—"empty of mental pictures" and visual concepts, but with the intense consciousness of God's presence. The words hesychast and hesychia were frequently used in 4th and 5th century writings of Desert Fathers such as Macarius of Egypt , Evagrius Ponticus , and Gregory of Nyssa . The title hesychast

236-448: A handful of women. Religious seekers also began going to the desert seeking advice and counsel from the early Desert Fathers. By the time of Anthony's death, there were so many men and women living in the desert that it was described as "a city" by Anthony's biographer. The Desert Fathers advocated three main approaches to monasticism. One was the austere life of the hermit, as practiced by Anthony and his followers in lower Egypt. Another

295-403: A life of extreme asceticism , renouncing all the pleasures of the senses, rich food, baths, rest, and anything that made them comfortable. They instead focused their energies on praying, singing psalms, fasting, giving alms to the needy, and preserving love and harmony with one another while keeping their thoughts and desires for God alone. Thousands joined them in the desert, mostly men but also

354-475: A loose band of anchorites , hermits and monks who settled nearby in individual cells. Many of them came from nearby Nitria and Kellia where they had previous experience in solitary desert living; thus the earliest cenobitic communities were a loose consolidation of like-minded monks. By the end of the fourth century, four distinct communities had developed: Baramus, Macarius, Bishoi and John Kolobos. At first these communities were groupings of cells centered on

413-460: A part of and preached to. Some were monophysites or believed in a similar idea. The eastern monastic tradition at Mount Athos and the western Rule of St. Benedict both were strongly influenced by the traditions that began in the desert. All of the monastic revivals of the Middle Ages looked to the desert for inspiration and guidance. Much of Eastern Christian spirituality, including

472-441: A room. They supported themselves by weaving cloth and baskets, along with other tasks. Each new monk or nun had a three-year probationary period, concluding with admittance in full standing to the monastery. All property was held communally, meals were eaten together and in silence, twice a week they fasted, and they wore simple peasant clothing with a hood. Several times a day they came together for prayer and readings, and each person

531-676: A time of transition for Christianity—the Diocletianic Persecution in AD ;303 was the last great formal persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire . Only ten years later, Christianity was made legal in Egypt by Diocletian 's successor Constantine I . Those who left for the desert formed an alternate Christian society, at a time when it was no longer a risk to be a Christian. The solitude, austerity, and sacrifice of

590-489: A turning point in the history of early Christian monasticism. The site would be resettled a few years later, and in fact would suffer other raids, notably in 434, 444, and 570." Nitria and Kellia were eventually abandoned in the 7th and 9th centuries respectively, but Scetis continued throughout the Medieval period. Although some of the individual monasteries were eventually abandoned or destroyed, four have remained in use to

649-538: Is edited by Mark Eaton, Matthew Smith, and Caleb Spencer, faculty at Azusa Pacific University. Philosophy, plays, lyrical poetry, biography, narrative writings, novels included, most of the theological and hagiographical works are not included. Desert fathers The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits and ascetics , who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt , beginning around

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708-720: Is saturated with the Natron salt. Natron valley is first attested in the story of the Eloquent Peasant , and it is mentioned among the list of seven oases in the Temple of Edfu . In Ptolemaic times it constituted part of the Nitrite nome ( Ancient Greek : Νιτριώτης νομός ). It was also known in Coptic as Mountain of Salt ( Coptic : ⲡⲧⲱⲟⲩ ⲙⲡϩⲙⲟⲩ ) or Phanihosem ( Coptic : ⲫⲁⲛⲓϩⲟⲥⲉⲙ , lit.   'the one (place) on

767-409: Is sometimes harder to define than Christian non-fiction. Christian themes are not always explicit. Some Christian fiction, such as that of C. S. Lewis , draws on the allegorical writings of the past. There can also be argument as to whether the works of a Christian author are necessarily Christian fiction. For example, while there are undoubted Christian themes within J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of

826-517: Is thought to have inspired his most famous work, The Little Prince . Christian literature Christian literature is the literary aspect of Christian media , and it constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. While falling within the strict definition of literature, the Bible is not generally considered literature. However, the Bible has been treated and appreciated as literature;

885-432: Is true that it is a depression and not a valley, because the region is a closed depression that has a beginning and an end, and it has no source, estuary or tributaries, so the launch of the word "Wadi" on the depression is not topographically correct. The Wadi contains 12 lakes, the total surface area of which is 10 km square and their average depth is only 2 m. The color of these lakes is reddish blue because its water

944-571: The Desert of Scetis . The area is one of the best known sites containing large numbers of fossils of large pre-historic animals in Egypt , and was known for this in the first century AD and probably much earlier. Wadi al-Natrun is the common name for a desert valley located west of the Nile Delta, along the El Tahrir markaz, which is about 10 km west of the entrance to Sadat City on

1003-830: The Hesychast movement, has its roots in the practices of the Desert Fathers. Even religious renewals such as the German evangelicals and Pietists in Pennsylvania, the Devotio Moderna movement, and the Methodist Revival in England are seen by modern scholars as being influenced by the Desert Fathers. Paul of Thebes is often credited with being the first hermit monk to go to the desert, but it

1062-632: The King James Version in particular has long been considered a masterpiece of English prose, whatever may be thought of its religious significance. Several retellings of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, have also been made with the aim of emphasising its literary qualities. Devotionals are often used by Christians in order to help themselves grow closer in their relationship with God and learn how to put their faith into practice. Letters, theological treatises and other instructive and devotional works have been produced by Christian authors since

1121-654: The Muslim government. Scetis was attacked by the Mazices who "came sweeping off the Libyan desert" in 407-408 AD and was decimated, causing many notable Desert Fathers to leave the region, such as Abba Anoub . One of the survivors, St. Arsenius the Great , remarked in 410 that, "The world has lost Rome and the monks have lost Scetis." As the Jesuit historian and Professor Willian J. Harmless said, "Scetis’s destruction marked

1180-805: The Seventeenth Dynasty of the Pharaohs , and there is also a granite gate and stones from the lintel of a door bearing cartridges for King Amenemhat I , in a place called the backbone. The alkali lakes of the Natron Valley provided the Ancient Egyptians with the sodium bicarbonate used in mummification and in Egyptian faience , and later by the Romans as a flux for glass making. The Egyptian Salt and Soda Company Railway

1239-492: The third century AD . The Apophthegmata Patrum is a collection of the wisdom of some of the early desert monks and nuns , in print as Sayings of the Desert Fathers . The first Desert Father was Paul of Thebes , and the most well known was Anthony the Great , who moved to the desert in AD 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in

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1298-562: The Bible. These became widespread in Europe by the end of the fifteenth century. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries these developed into the Morality play , an allegorical play intended to exhort the audience to the virtuous life. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries theatre was generally seen as wicked, and the church made attempts to suppress it. In the twentieth century churches, particularly evangelical churches, rediscovered

1357-674: The Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, and about 50 km from Khattabah on the Nile (Rashid Branch), and it falls below the level of the plateau surface surrounding it about 50 meters. The length of this depression ranges between 5, 55 and 60 km, while its average width is 10 km, and its deepest point reaches 24 meters below sea level. The depression is the smallest depression in the Egyptian Western Desert, with an area of about 500 km2. Therefore, it

1416-685: The Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection ). This collection contains about a thousand items. The same editors also recognised a number of anonymous sayings and tales of the Desert Fathers and Mothers that were popularly circulated. This material was gathered into a collection now known as the Anonymous Patrum Apophthegmata ( Anonymous Sayings of the Desert Fathers ). These sayings were loosely ordered by subject (for instance: humility, charity etc.). The collection now known as

1475-572: The Great , Poemen , Macarius of Egypt , Moses the Black , and Syncletica of Alexandria . Other notable Desert Fathers include Jerome , Pachomius , Abba Or , and Shenouda the Archimandrite , and many individuals who spent part of their lives in the Egyptian desert, including Athanasius of Alexandria , John Chrysostom , Evagrius Ponticus , and Hilarion . John Cassian 's works brought

1534-582: The Rings , they are always kept below the surface. Other possible examples of Christian fiction include the works of G. K. Chesterton and George Macdonald . In the last few decades the existence of a Christian subculture, particularly in North America, has given rise to a specific genre of Christian novel , written by and for Christians of a particular type (i.e., conservative Evangelical Protestants), and generally with explicit Christian themes. Unlike

1593-463: The ascetic practices that were so dominant in the Desert Fathers' lives. The lives of the Desert Fathers that were organized into communities included frequent recitation of the scriptures—during the week they chanted psalms while performing manual labour and during the weekends they held liturgies and group services. The monk's experience in the cell occurred in a variety of ways, including meditation on scripture. Group practices were more prominent in

1652-409: The commandments were not seen as being easy—many of the stories from that time recount the struggle to overcome negative emotions such as anger and judgment of others. Helping a brother monk who was ill or struggling was seen as taking priority over any other consideration. Hermits were frequently seen to break a long fast when hosting visitors, as hospitality and kindness were more important than keeping

1711-454: The community and the responsibility of looking after each other's welfare. The new approach grew to the point that there were tens of thousands of monks and nuns in these organized communities within decades of Pachomius' death. One of the early pilgrims to the desert was Basil of Caesarea , who took the Rule of Pachomius into the eastern church. Basil expanded the idea of community by integrating

1770-463: The desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria , to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity. The desert monastic communities that grew out of the informal gathering of hermit monks became the model for Christian monasticism , first influencing the Coptic communities these monks were

1829-403: The desert was seen by Anthony as an alternative to martyrdom, which was formerly seen by many Christians as the highest form of sacrifice. Anthony quickly gained followers eager to live their lives in accordance with this solidarity and separation from material goods. From these prohibitions, it is recorded by Athanasius that Anthony received special privileges from God, such as the ability to heal

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1888-566: The early monastic development in the Byzantine world and eventually in the western Christian world. John Cassian played an important role in mediating the influence of the Desert Fathers to the West. This can be seen, for example, in the Rule of Saint Benedict , where Benedict of Nursia urged his monks to read the writings of John Cassian on the Desert Fathers. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

1947-401: The field of Christian fiction smaller niche markets have emerged aimed at specific denominations, notably Catholic fiction and Latter Day Saints Fiction . There are also Christian fiction that is aimed at wider mainstream audiences, such as the best selling Left Behind series. Throughout the medieval period churches in Europe frequently performed mystery plays , retelling the stories of

2006-630: The fourteenth century Byzantine meditative prayer techniques, when it was more closely identified with the Prayer of the Heart , or "Jesus Prayer". The prayer's origin is also traced back to the Desert Fathers—the Prayer of the Heart was found inscribed in the ruins of a cell from that period in the Egyptian desert. The earliest written reference to the practice of the Prayer of the Heart may be in

2065-508: The initial letter of the Abba's name in the order of the Greek alphabet, resulting in the editors starting with Anthony the Great, Arsenius and Agathon, and concluding with Cheremon, Psenthaisius and Or. These editors were the first to use the word apophthegms (meaning: saying, maxim or aphorism ), resulting in this collection being known as Apophthegmata Patrum Alphabetica ( The Sayings of

2124-461: The latest writings on the wars between the libu and the Egyptians indicate that the last of them was in 1170 BC during the reign of Ramesses III . As for the religious significance of Wadi al-Natrun, there are many discoveries that indicate that this area was considered sacred as early as year 2000 BC at the very least. Among these discoveries is a bust of black granite dating back to the era of

2183-408: The monks and nuns into the wider public community, with the monks and nuns under the authority of a bishop and serving the poor and needy. As more pilgrims began visiting the monks in the desert, influence from the monastic communities began spreading. Latin versions of the original Greek stories and sayings of the Desert Fathers, along with the earliest monastic rules coming out of the desert, guided

2242-427: The most important center of Coptic monasticism . The environs of Wadi Natrun have been identified as the likely site of where the plane of French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry crashed on December 30, 1935. After miraculously surviving the crash, he and his plane's mechanic nearly died of thirst before being rescued by a nomad. Saint-Exupéry documented his experience in his book Wind, Sand and Stars . The event

2301-609: The natron'). The importance of the Natrun valley dates back to the Pharaonic era, as the ancient Egyptians and the Libyans fought many battles there. And this ended up with the Egyptians overcoming them and annexed the eastern side of the desert, which still belongs to Egypt. Then, Wadi al-Natrun became an administrative part of the country in the Pharaonic era, but there is no information about its history during their reign, and

2360-414: The need for a more formal structure, established a monastery with rules and organization. His regulations included discipline, obedience, manual labour, silence, fasting, and long periods of prayer—some historians view the rules as being inspired by Pachomius' experiences as a Roman soldier. The first fully organized monastery with Pachomius included men and women living in separate quarters, up to three in

2419-402: The organized communities formed by Pachomius. The purpose of these practices were explained by John Cassian , a Desert Father, who described the goal of psalmody (the outward recitation of scripture) and asceticism as the ascent to deep mystical prayer and mystical contemplation. There are many different collections of sayings of the Desert Fathers. The earliest writings were simply ordered by

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2478-527: The present day: Some of the most renowned saints of the region include the various Desert Fathers , including Saint Amun , Saint Arsenius , Saint Isidore of Scété , Saint John the Dwarf , Saint Macarius of Egypt , Saint Macarius of Alexandria , Saint Moses the Black , Saint Pishoy , Sts. Maximos and Domatios, Saint Poimen The Great and Saint Samuel the Confessor . To this day Wadi El Natrun remains

2537-627: The reader) was in use at the time of the Reformation and continues to be used as a part of proselytization . Allegory is a style of literature having the form of a story, but using symbolic figures, actions, or representations to express truths—Christian truths, in the case of Christian allegory. Beginning with the parables of Jesus , there has been a long tradition of Christian allegory, including Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy , John Bunyan 's The Pilgrim's Progress , and Hannah Hurnard 's Hinds' Feet on High Places . Christian fiction

2596-453: The rest to the poor. When members of the church began finding ways to work with the Roman state, the Desert Fathers saw that as a compromise between "the things of God and the things of Caesar." The monastic communities were essentially an alternate Christian society. The hermits doubted that religion and politics could ever produce a truly Christian society. For them, the only Christian society

2655-438: The sick, inspire others to have faith in healing through God, and even converse with God on occasion. Around this time, desert monasticism appeared nearly simultaneously in several areas, including Egypt and Syria , and some of the Desert Fathers's Coptic traditions also spread to Nubia . Over time, the model of Anthony and other hermits attracted many followers, who lived alone in the desert or in small groups. They chose

2714-479: The things of this world and follow God 's call. Between the 4th and 7th century AD, hundreds of thousands of people from the world over joined the hundreds of Christian monasteries in the Nitrian Desert, centered on Nitria, Kellia and Scetis (Wadi El Natrun). Saint Macarius of Egypt first came to Scetis (Wadi El Natrun) around 330 AD where he established a solitary monastic site. His reputation attracted

2773-586: The times of Jesus. For early Christian times almost all writing would be non-fiction, including letters, biblical commentaries, doctrinal works and hagiography . See Patristics . Since the invention of the printing press non-fictional literature has been used for the dissemination of the Christian message, and also for disseminating different viewpoints within Christianity. The tract (a small pamphlet containing an explanation of some point, or an appeal to

2832-411: The use of theatre as a form of outreach and as a valid art form. Christianity & Literature is a peer-reviewed literary periodical, published quarterly, on literature's encounters with Christian thought and history. The journal presupposes no particular theological orientation but respects an orthodox understanding of Christianity as a historically defined faith. It is published by Sage and currently

2891-415: The wide disparity of dates for the sayings attributed to Abba Poemen, some scholars believe that "Poemen" was a generic name for a combination of different unnamed Abbas. Others conclude that the sayings attributed to Abba Poemen are accurate, based on a notable and historical Abba Poemen. Among the notable Desert Fathers and Mothers with sayings in the book, in addition to Anthony the Great , were Arsenius

2950-473: The wisdom of the Desert Fathers into a wider arena. The legalization of Christianity by the Roman Empire in 313 gave Anthony a greater resolve to go out into the desert. Nostalgic for the tradition of martyrdom, he saw withdrawal and asceticism as an alternative. He insisted on selling all his material possessions—he left his younger sister a small amount of money to live her life in a convent, and donated

3009-627: The works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien , such novels are often marketed exclusively to Christians and sold in Christian bookshops. The Christy Awards honour excellence in this genre. In the late 20th century, with the rise of the Christian Right in American society, Christian-themed fiction has thrived. Examples include the works of Tim LaHaye , Jerry B. Jenkins , Frank Peretti , Ted Dekker , Tosca Lee , Randy Alcorn, Francine Rivers , Wayne Thomas Batson, and Janette Oke . Within

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3068-402: Was Anthony the Great who launched the movement that became the Desert Fathers. Sometime around AD 270, Anthony heard a Sunday sermon stating that perfection could be achieved by selling all of one's possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and made the further step of moving deep into the desert to seek complete solitude. Anthony lived in

3127-564: Was also widely read in the early Benedictine monasteries. Many of the monks and nuns developed a reputation for holiness and wisdom, with the small communities following a particularly holy or wise elder, who was their spiritual father ( abba ) or mother ( amma ). The individual Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers are mostly known through The Sayings of the Desert Fathers , which included 1,202 sayings attributed to twenty-seven abbas and three ammas . The greatest number of sayings are attributed to Abba "Poemen", Greek for "shepherd". Because of

3186-449: Was built at the end of the 19th century as a 33 miles (54 km) long narrow gauge railway with a gauge of 750 mm, which attracted the first tourists to the wadi. The desolate region became one of Christianity's most sacred areas. The desert fathers and cenobitic monastic communities used the desert's solitude and privations to develop self-discipline ( asceticism ). Hermit monks believed that desert life would teach them to eschew

3245-440: Was expected to spend time alone meditating on the scriptures. Programs were created for educating those who came to the monastery unable to read. Pachomius also formalized the establishment of an abba (father) or amma (mother) in charge of the spiritual welfare of their monks and nuns, with the implication that those joining the monastery were also joining a new family. Members also formed smaller groups, with different tasks in

3304-467: Was responsible for most of the sayings that were compiled as the Apophthegmata Patrum ( Sayings of the Desert Fathers ). The small communities founded by the Desert Fathers were the beginning of Christian monasticism . Initially Anthony and others lived as hermits, sometimes forming groups of two or three. Small informal communities began developing, until the monk Pachomius , seeing

3363-455: Was spiritual and not mundane. Hesychasm (from the Greek for "stillness, rest, quiet, silence") is a mystical tradition and movement that originated with the Desert Fathers and was central to their practice of prayer. Hesychasm for the Desert Fathers was primarily the practice of "interior silence and continual prayer." It did not become a formal movement of specific practices until

3422-486: Was the cenobitic life, communities of monks and nuns in upper Egypt formed by Pachomius . The third was a semi-hermitic lifestyle seen mostly in Nitria , Kellia and Scetis , west of the Nile, begun by Saint Amun . The latter were small groups (two to six) of monks and nuns with a common spiritual elder—these separate groups would join in larger gatherings to worship on Saturdays and Sundays. This third form of monasticism

3481-458: Was used in early times synonymously with hermit , as compared to a cenobite who lived in community. Hesychasm can refer to inner or outer stillness, though in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers it referred to inner tranquility. The Desert Fathers gave a great deal of emphasis to living and practicing the teachings of Jesus, much more than theoretical knowledge. Their efforts to live

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