A revered Egyptian monk from the early fourth century, subject of Athanasius's book Life of Saint Anthony. Regarded by many as the first monk, born in A.D. 250 in Koma, died at 105 years of age. Went into hermitage at twenty years of age, living in a tomb.

[tags]Anthony, Athanasius, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history[/tags]

Bishop of Alexandria. The first to introduce monasticism to the West. In 335, when he was banished to Trier (in modern Germany) he was accompanied by two monks. He wrote The Life of Saint Anthony and its circulation spread the idea in the West. In A.D. 367 he wrote an Easter letter containing a list of books he included in the N.T. canon. This list was accepted and authorized by the Hippo and Carthage councils. As an advisor to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the Nicean council in A.D.325, he first battled the Arian heresy. At 33, he succeeded Alexander as bishop of Alexandria and for the next 50 years waged a perpetual war against Arianism. During these decades Athanasius was banned 5 times and returned to Alexandria each time after a change in emperors, or a change in religious maneuvering in the palace.Finally, Athanasius and his supporters quenched the

The first form of monasticism was the lonely hermit. Anthony is regarded by many as the first monk and soon had hundreds of imitators. With Constantine's adoption of the Christian faith, there was a resultant decline in Christian commitment. Thus, the hermit often fled not so much from the world as from the world in the church. This protest of a corrupt institution led into the dangers of a pronounced individualism. From its beginnings in Egypt it spread to Syria, to Asia Minor, and eventually throughout Western Europe.

[tags]Anthony, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Constantine, history, Monasticism[/tags]