Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 1

Assignment 3: Self Selected Essay.

Evaluate John Cassians Monastic Ideal

Columbia Stewart has written in his exhaustive study, Cassian the Monk, of
John Cassians elusiveness to the contemporary reader. The reason for this are two
fold; first the self-effacing nature of his writing diminishes its usefulness as a
biographical source, and secondly, his lack of a contemporary biographer and the
questionable quality of early biographers.1 Such elusiveness is fitting however for a
monk whose primary task was to interpret Egyptian monasticism for a Western
context. In contrast to biographical sources, his main work, The Conferences,
constitutes one of the largest single works of the five Christian centuries. 2 Along with
its smaller companion work, The Institutes, The Conferences reveal a mind
psychologically adept, attuned to a practical (rather than abstract) spiritual theology
and coupled with sensitivity to cultural context. This essay will explore and evaluate
Cassians monastic ideal, paying attention where necessary to historical background,
but primarily focusing on his engagement and contribution to the development of
Christian monasticism from east to west.

A sketch of Cassians background is all that is possible. This will however

provide insight into how Cassian can be appreciated as both a product and an
interpreter of the influential monastic currents flowing through the Church in the
fourth and fifth centuries. Essential to Cassians achievement was his ability to move
between both Eastern and Western forms of Christianity. Stewart cites bilingualism as
an important factor in this fluidity. 3 His upbringing in the Roman province of Scythia,
combined with a classical education undoubtedly contributed to this bilingual ability. 4
With his companion, Germanus, Cassian entered a monastery in Bethlehem between

1
Columba Stewart, Cassian the Monk (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). 3
2
John Cassian, The Conferences, trans. Boniface Ramsey (New York: Paulist Press, 1997).
Introduction, 7
3
Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 5-6
4
Owen Chadwick, John Cassian, 2nd ed. (London: Cambridge University Press, 1968). 9-10
Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 2

380-390.5 During this time contact with an Egyptian abbot named Pinufius inspired
Cassian and Germanus to journey to Egypt, which was to become their monastic home
until 399.6 It was from these formative years that the teachings of both the Institutes
and Conferences were drawn. It is likely that the Anthropomorphite controversy, and
the Patriarch of Alexandrias about turn against Origenist monasticism drove Cassian
into exile from Egypt.7 Cassians slow journey westward was comprised of two stages.
The first stage was spent in the service of John Chrysostom in Constantinople. Though
Cassian did not write explicitly of this period it is clear he was ordained to the
diaconate.8 The second stage was spent in Rome where he developed considerable
ecclesial affiliations, including Leo, the future great Pope.9

The sacking of Rome by Alaric in 410 has been suggested as one reason for
Cassians departure to Massilia (Marseilles). 10 It also seems that the ruling Bishops
association with the ascetic movement provided a real impetus for his resettlement. 11
Cassian established two separate monasteries in Marseilles for men and women and it
was not long before he was sought after to provide direction for the embryonic
movement in the region of Gaul.12 Cassian dedicated The Institutes to Pope Castor,
then bishop of Apta Iulia, whose desire was to establish monasteries upon the ideals of
the Egyptian cenobia.13 So what was Cassians Christian ideal and vision? Cassian did
not perceive the monastic vocation as simply one aspect of legitimate Christian
expression.14 His understanding of monasticism, though nave from a critical historical
perspective, located its birth with the foundation of the church. Therefore he could
write; The discipline of the cenobites took its rise at the time of the apostolic
5
Estimations of dates widely vary; compare Ibid. 10 with Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 6
6
Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 8
7
Chadwick, John Cassian. 30; Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 12
8
Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 13
9
Chadwick, John Cassian. 32; Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 14-15
10
Chadwick, John Cassian. 32; Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 15
11
Chadwick, John Cassian. 33
12
Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 16
13
John Cassian, The Institutes, trans. Boniface Ramsey (New York: The Newman Press,
2000).Preface 2-3
14
Peter Munz, "John Cassian," in Personalities of the Early Church, ed. Everett Ferguson (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1993). 354
Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 3

teaching.15 Munz traces the development of this view to Origens teaching that only
complete asceticism would enableadvanced Christians to ascend to the goal of
purity.16 The Christian life was one that imitated the struggle of Jesus Christ in seeking
the Kingdom of Heaven; an imitation most perfectly practiced, in Cassians mind, by
the ascetics of the East and in particular of Egypt. In writing The Institutes and The
Conferences Cassian sought to provide practical instruction for the formation of Latin
monasticism by systematising that which he had learned from his eastern teachers
during his time in Egypt.17

Given that Cassian perceived monasticism as the normative Christian state, it

deserves to be asked what purpose or goal Cassian sought in his monastic teaching.
Munz distinguishes between the Christian life as expressed by participation in the
Churchs sacramental system and Cassians concern for the restoration of the human
soul to a state of original purity.18 Yet Cassian set this concern within a larger
eschatological framework; The end of our profession is the kingdom of Godbut the
goal or scopos is purity of heart. 19 The Institutes seek to outline the practical
beginnings of this goal leaving explanatory teaching for The Conferences.20 The first
three chapters outline the externals of monastic clothing and prayer, while chapters 5-
12 seek to explain how monks are to attain purity in a struggle against the eight
principle vices.21 The fourth chapter outlines the entry of a postulant into a
monastery. Here the prerequisites of humility, renunciation and obedience, are
illustrated with sometimes disturbing examples. 22 Yet Cassian also demonstrates a

15
Cassian, The Conferences. 18:5.1
16
Munz, "John Cassian." 354-5
17
Columba Stewart, "The Monastic Journey According to John Cassian," in Recent Studies in
Early Christianity: A Collection of Scholarly Essays, ed. Everett Ferguson (New York: Garland
Publishing, 1999). 311
18
Munz, "John Cassian." 355
19
Cassian, The Conferences. 1:4.3
20
Cassian, The Institutes. 1:18
21
Ibid. 5:1
22
For example Abba Patermutus dispassionate renunciation of his eight year old son out of
love for Christ and by virtue of obedience. Institutes, 4:17
Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 4

considerable degree of pragmatism, as when he describes the obedience required in

Egyptian cenobium as unrealistically demanding for Western practice. 23

In his essay The Journey According to Cassian, Columba Stewart sheds light
on the genius of Cassians monastic theology. While Cassian inherited his monastic
theology from the controversial Evagrius of Pontus, he was careful to reinterpret it
using the New Testament language of beatitudes, replacing the Stoic term apatheia
with purity of heart. 24 Further Stewart highlights Cassians pastoral concern over
Evagrian speculation and his emphasis of Scripture in the practice of contemplation.
For Cassian, like Origen, the Bible could be read on a number of levels, moving from
literal to spiritual understanding. The Bible provided the monk with not only
communication from God but also a way in which to respond to God. 25 The goal of the
Christian was to grow, in the context of monastic obedience, into the fruits of
humilty26 and thus into a life characterised by charity and entry into the kingdom of
heaven.27 As mentioned above, the limits of Cassians scheme were dictated by his
inability to appreciate wider societys place within salvation history. As Munz has
written, salvation for Cassian could only be fought for in the context of...a
completely restructured [monastic] society.28

While Cassian was no controversialist, his theological praxis, with its

acknowledgment of the complex interplay between free will and grace, was certain to
become embroiled in the contemporary Western debates between Pelegianism and
Augustinan predestination. A brief study of Cassians response to this conflict, as well
as his reception by opponents, will enable us to appreciate Cassians concerns and
unique contribution to ascetic theology. Chadwick believes that in the absence of
23
Cassian, The Institutes. 4: 1
24
While the term aptheia had initially been embraced by early Greek theologians such as
Clement of Alexandria, it increasingly came under criticism from various quarters, both
Egyptian and Latin. Stewart, "The Monastic Journey According to John Cassian." 316
25
Ibid. 319
26
Cassian, The Institutes. 4:25
27
Michael Casey, "The Journey from Fear to Love: John Cassian's Road Map," in Prayer and
Spirituality in the Early Church, ed. Pauline Allen, Raymound Canning and Lawrence Cross with
B. Janelle Caiger (Brisbane: Centre for Early Christian Studies, 1998). 194-195
28
Munz, "John Cassian." 371
Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 5

Augustines theory of grace, Cassians view would have been basically unaltered. This
understanding places an unsystematic stress on upon the responsibility of the will
while simultaneously maintaining the monks dependence on grace. 29 Book Thirteen of
Cassians Conferences, while aiming to correct both the excesses of Augustinianism
and the heretical nature of Pelagian doctrine, inevitably attracted the charge of semi-
Pelagianism.30 In this conference Germanus takes a Pelagian position against Abba
Chaeremons teaching that nullified the value of human effort in the attainment of
chastity.31 Chaeremons teaching attempts to fuse the apparent the dichotomies
between grace and free will. In one moment this is attempted by comparing the
ascetic with a farmer whose labour must be smiled upon by the Lords mercy. 32 The
monk must conform humbly to the grace of God that daily draws us on. 33 Elsewhere
Augustinian predestination is condemned, How can it be thought without great
sacrilege of him who does not want a single little one to perish that he does not wish
all to be saved universally, but only a few instead of all? 34 Cassian represented the
views of Marseilles divines in opposition the Augustinian party led by Prosper. It should
be acknowledged that Augustine considered Cassian an ally rather than a heretic.
Chadwick points out that the divide between the two was attributable to differences
in moral doctrine (resulting from vastly contradictory experiences) and the nuances of
language.35 In spite of the fallen nature maintained by Augustine, Cassians assurance
that the human heartstill remains capable of a spark of good will held greater
promise for Western monastic praxis.36

Within the limited scope of this essay I have provided an introduction to the
monastic ideals of John Cassian. Cassians ideals were developed during his formative
ten years living among the cenobitic communities of Egypt. We have acknowledged the
limitation of such ideals inasmuch as he restricted the furtherance of salvation history

29
Chadwick, John Cassian. 112
30
Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 77
31
Cassian, The Conferences. 13:1
32
Ibid. 13:3.2
33
Ibid. 13:3:6
34
Ibid. 13:7:2
35
Chadwick, John Cassian. 135-6
36
Stewart, Cassian the Monk. 79
Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 6

to the monastic sphere. Nevertheless Cassians writing and transmission of Egyptian

asceticism into a Western context displays a large degree of pastoral insight and
cultural pragmatism. In this regard his genius could be understood as his ability to
move freely between the often divergent thought forms of Eastern and Western
Christianity, and his ability to synthesise ascetic praxis. The heart of Cassians ideal
has been discussed as seeking, through ascetic renunciation and the cultivation of
purity of heart, the ultimate end, the kingdom of God. This alone was the pursuit to
which the monk was called and that the monastery existed to promote. Such an ideal
was perceived as an imitation of Christ, and as encompassed by Cassians beatitudinal
eschatology. Though providing a considerable conflict, for an otherwise
uncontroversial and non-political monk, his response to the Augustinian-Pelagian
controversy demonstrates both his concern for ascetic theology and celebration of
Gods grace. While his criticism of Augustine largely limited his reception in the
Western Church, his contextual interpretation of Eastern asceticism provided Western
monasticism with a basis upon which later innovators, such as Benedict, were to build.

Word Count: 1585

Andrew McDonald John Cassians Monastic Ideal 7

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Casey, Michael. "The Journey from Fear to Love: John Cassian's Road Map." In Prayer
and Spirituality in the Early Church, edited by Pauline Allen, Raymound
Canning and Lawrence Cross with B. Janelle Caiger. Brisbane: Centre for Early
Christian Studies, 1998.

Cassian, John. The Conferences. Translated by Boniface Ramsey. New York: Paulist
Press, 1997.

. The Institutes. Translated by Boniface Ramsey. New York: The Newman Press,
2000.

Chadwick, Owen. John Cassian. 2nd ed. London: Cambridge University Press, 1968.

Munz, Peter. "John Cassian." In Personalities of the Early Church, edited by Everett
Ferguson. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993.

Stewart, Columba. Cassian the Monk. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

. "The Monastic Journey According to John Cassian." In Recent Studies in Early

Christianity: A Collection of Scholarly Essays, edited by Everett Ferguson. New
York: Garland Publishing, 1999.