Philip Rousseau is Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Early Christian Studies, and Director, Center for the Study of Early Christianity, Catholic University of America.

". . . this work . . . opens new vistas for the study of the ascetics. . . . This is a book that should not only be read; it should be experienced." —Historian". . . Rousseau captures an essential turning point in the history of western spirituality and shows how the influence of eastern ideas made the crucial difference." —Classical World"[A]n exceptionally penetrating exploration of the deeper waters of monasticism: specifically, ideals of ascetic authority circulating in Egypt (the Desert Fathers) and Gaul (Martin, Sulpicius Severus, John Cassian) in the century after Constantine. . . . Ascetics, Authority, and the Church is preeminently a book about literature in its historical setting; a skillful demonstration of how the creation of a written tradition . . . was central to the process of bridging the gap between the charismatic power of the holy man and the settled monastic community, of preserving the essential tradition of spiritual authority through changing patterns of ascetic life." —Journal of Roman Studies"A scholarly, well-documented and extremely interesting work. . . . [A] most valuable contribution towards understanding the ascetic movement in late antiquity." —Journal of Theological Studies"This second edition will be of interest to church historians and ecclesiologists. For those concerned with the development of the roles of the priesthood, episcopacy, and laity in Christian life, Rousseau's work provides a careful, contextualized look at a crucial moment in history." —Catholic Books Review"Philip Rousseau's Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian is rightly considered one of the seminal studies of Christian asceticism . . . Rousseau is interested in the development of the concept of spiritual authority among desert ascetics, the appeal of this concept beyond the deserts, especially among bishops, and the actualization and articulation of this concept by Jerome, Martin of Tours, and John Cassian." —Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Philip Rousseau is Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Early Christian Studies, and Director, Center for the Study of Early Christianity, Catholic University of America.

". . . this work . . . opens new vistas for the study of the ascetics. . . . This is a book that should not only be read; it should be experienced." —Historian". . . Rousseau captures an essential turning point in the history of western spirituality and shows how the influence of eastern ideas made the crucial difference." —Classical World"[A]n exceptionally penetrating exploration of the deeper waters of monasticism: specifically, ideals of ascetic authority circulating in Egypt (the Desert Fathers) and Gaul (Martin, Sulpicius Severus, John Cassian) in the century after Constantine. . . . Ascetics, Authority, and the Church is preeminently a book about literature in its historical setting; a skillful demonstration of how the creation of a written tradition . . . was central to the process of bridging the gap between the charismatic power of the holy man and the settled monastic community, of preserving the essential tradition of spiritual authority through changing patterns of ascetic life." —Journal of Roman Studies"A scholarly, well-documented and extremely interesting work. . . . [A] most valuable contribution towards understanding the ascetic movement in late antiquity." —Journal of Theological Studies"This second edition will be of interest to church historians and ecclesiologists. For those concerned with the development of the roles of the priesthood, episcopacy, and laity in Christian life, Rousseau's work provides a careful, contextualized look at a crucial moment in history." —Catholic Books Review"Philip Rousseau's Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian is rightly considered one of the seminal studies of Christian asceticism . . . Rousseau is interested in the development of the concept of spiritual authority among desert ascetics, the appeal of this concept beyond the deserts, especially among bishops, and the actualization and articulation of this concept by Jerome, Martin of Tours, and John Cassian." —Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Philip Rousseau is Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Early Christian Studies, and Director, Center for the Study of Early Christianity, Catholic University of America.

". . . this work . . . opens new vistas for the study of the ascetics. . . . This is a book that should not only be read; it should be experienced." —Historian". . . Rousseau captures an essential turning point in the history of western spirituality and shows how the influence of eastern ideas made the crucial difference." —Classical World"[A]n exceptionally penetrating exploration of the deeper waters of monasticism: specifically, ideals of ascetic authority circulating in Egypt (the Desert Fathers) and Gaul (Martin, Sulpicius Severus, John Cassian) in the century after Constantine. . . . Ascetics, Authority, and the Church is preeminently a book about literature in its historical setting; a skillful demonstration of how the creation of a written tradition . . . was central to the process of bridging the gap between the charismatic power of the holy man and the settled monastic community, of preserving the essential tradition of spiritual authority through changing patterns of ascetic life." —Journal of Roman Studies"A scholarly, well-documented and extremely interesting work. . . . [A] most valuable contribution towards understanding the ascetic movement in late antiquity." —Journal of Theological Studies"This second edition will be of interest to church historians and ecclesiologists. For those concerned with the development of the roles of the priesthood, episcopacy, and laity in Christian life, Rousseau's work provides a careful, contextualized look at a crucial moment in history." —Catholic Books Review"Philip Rousseau's Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian is rightly considered one of the seminal studies of Christian asceticism . . . Rousseau is interested in the development of the concept of spiritual authority among desert ascetics, the appeal of this concept beyond the deserts, especially among bishops, and the actualization and articulation of this concept by Jerome, Martin of Tours, and John Cassian." —Bryn Mawr Classical Review