Том 15
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Browsing Том 15 by Subject "ascetics"
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Item The person and activities of the Holy Spirit in the monastic lives and writings of late antiquity(Національний університет "Києво-Могилянська академія", 2025) Rozumna, YuliiaThe doctrine of the Trinity, which was fiercely debated during the fourth century, is one of the key teachings of the Christian Church. Researchers have mostly focused on the theoretical tenets and historical development of this dogma. However, according to Christian believers, God is alive—and not just a concept, but a person. Thus, it is interesting to see how this theoretical idea of God was preceived and realised in practical life, especially in the lives of holy individuals, who were believed to have closer contact with God—and particularly with the Holy Spirit, who became more present and active in the life of the Church after Pentecost. In this paper, I examine perceptions of the third Person of the Trinity and His role in the lives of ascetics as reflected in Greek-language writings such as the anonymous History of the Monks of Egypt (400), the Lausiac History (419/420) by Palladius, and The History of the Monks of Syria (440) by Theodoret of Cyrrhus. I explore how these authors described the lives of ascetics and their relationships with the Spirit, as well as how the monks themselves understood these interactions. In particular, I examine the role of the Spirit’s grace in the supernatural lives of ascetics; how God "used" ascetics as instruments for the salvation of all people; the relationship between divine grace and human actions in the process of salvation; and ascetics’ treatment of heretics and pagans. Even though we discovered that they approached the Spirit as a living Person rather than a mere concept, it remains of interest to examine whether doctrines concerning the Spirit made their way into the literary "lives" of the saints—and, if so, in what manner.