Contents: Two Paths to the Divine in the 4th Century

First: 4th Century Egypt: Men and Women Go into the Desert to Seek the Divine through Extreme Asceticism and Meditation

"In the fourth century a.d. the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men.... They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was 'given' in a set stereotyped form by somebody else." ...Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert

• Welcome and Introduction
• Why Men (and Women) Fled to the Desert in 4th Century Egypt
• The Desert Fathers...Introduction
• Desert Mothers
• Monasticism Overview
• The Coptics: Egyptian Christians
• The Paradise of the Desert Fathers
• Development of Monastic Communities in Egypt in the 4th Century
• Locations of Monastic Settlements near Alexandria
• Kellia (The Cells)
• The Area Known as Scetis
• The Cell of the Hermit
• A Story of a 20th Century Desert Father
• Notable Desert Fathers and Mothers
• Teachings and Practices of the Desert Fathers
• The Hermit Way of Life
• Primacy of Love For All Living Things
• Asceticism
• Struggling with logismoi
• Hesychasm and Nepsis
• Contemplative Prayer
• Recitation of scripture
• Withdrawal from society
• Panentheism
• Controversy and Banishment in Paradise: Promulgating on the Nature of God and the Afterlife.
• Visions and Special Awareness
• The Hermit Life and Mental Health
• The Trinitarian/Christology Controversies
• The Lost Gospels of the Desert Fathers: Commentary on The Nag Hammadi Scrolls aka The Gnostic Gospels
• The Desert Fathers as the First Christian Buddhists
• Key Players in Early Christian Monasticism
• Eating Habits of the Desert Fathers
• Early Works about the Desert Fathers
• Contemporary Works about the Desert Fathers
• Mysticism and the Desert Fathers
• The Hermits...by Charles Kingsley
• Exploration of Interior Space: The Parable of the Desert
• Jesus and Plato and the India-Tibet connection

Second: 4th Century Egypt: In Alexandria, Many Seek the Divine through Philosophy, Mysticism, and Alexandrine Teaching

"Many centuries before our time, in the learned circles of a wonderful city, men were greatly interested in the stars, in the elements, in the cosmic process, in time and space, in the relations of the spiritual to the material, in the possibilities of the ages yet to be and in the perennial riddle of the future of the human soul."... R. Tollinton, Alexandrine Teaching.

• Beyond the Desert: Academic Content in Alexandrine Teaching (2nd to 5th Centuries CE)
• Beyond the Desert: Educating Early Monks...The Catechetical School of Alexandria
• Beyond the Desert: Educating Early Monks...Notes on Alexandrine Teaching
• Beyond the Desert: Educating Early Monks...The Alexandrine Schools and the Beginnings of Christian Philosophy
• Beyond the Desert: Alexandrine Librarian: Academic Life in Alexandria, Egypt, 5th Century CE (historical fiction)
• Beyond the Desert: Ancient Libraries of the Mediterranean: Where They Were And What Happened To Them
• Beyond the Desert: The Last Librarian: Hypatia of Alexandria (355? - 415)
• Beyond the Desert: Key Players in Alexandrine Cosmology
• Beyond the Desert: The Alexandrian Schools...(Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed.)
• Beyond the Desert: The Alexandrian Tradition
• Beyond the Desert: The School of Antioch Versus The School of Alexandria: Source of Christology Issues