Friday, January 17, 2025

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 17th of January 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You’d imagine you would have to be something special to be deemed “the Great”- most of them are political characters from Alexander the Great (Greece) to Catherine the Great (Russia) and even Charlemagne- which is a jumble of “Carlos Magnus” or “Charles the Great.” Apologies to Nate the Great, I will admit to being more of an Encyclopedia Brown fan… 

And the church has designated a select few “the Great”- Popes Leo and Gregory for their role in missions and leadership in the early church. Albert the Great, or “Albertus Magnus,” was the great scholar and teacher of Aquinas- Athanasius the Great is certainly the most famous Athanasius, and in terms of the church- her Basil is greater than either Fawlty or Thai.  

But what if you were one of the very few “the Greats” and yet not even the most popular st. with your name? This is the burden of St. Anthony the Great- the illiterate Egyptian who is NOT the one some pray to for “lost things”- that’s Anthony of Padua- that’s the 14th century Portuguese Priest- I’m talking about THE desert father- the one made famous by Athanasius- the subject of the first and most important biography since the Gospels, the one who influenced Augustine and is rightly called “the Great.” We are circling back on this monumental character in church history on this day, the anniversary of his death in 356.

Check out the transcript for a link to the past episode https://www.1517.org/podcast-overview/2023-01-17.

His dates alone, 251-356, tell you 1) he lived a long time and 2) he lived through the transition of Christianity being persecuted in the Empire and it becoming the defacto Imperial religion.

He was about 18 when both his parents died, and he inherited their land. Concerned with what he should do with such wealth, he is said to (in the famous biography written by Athanasius) have gone to church one day- and running late, he entered the church just as the Gospel was being read. The text was from the story of the Rich Young Ruler and Jesus telling him to sell everything he has and give it to the poor. Believing this text was read “specifically for him,” he sold the family land and began practicing an extreme form of “asceticism,” or extreme self-denial. When his practices of fasting and discipline made him the subject of rumor and ridicule he moved out into the desert. From here, and after decades of fasting in solitude, people came out to see the famed Anthony and heard of his miraculous bouts with demons and devils and the story of his sustenance despite extreme deprivation.

Others wanted to emulate Anthony- especially after the Imperial persecutions had ended and this ascetic life became the new martyrdom- the new way to imitate Jesus now that dying for your confession of faith was off the table.

As people came to live with Anthony or set up similar remote living arrangements with likeminded people, we see the rise of “cenobitic” Monasticism- that is, “of the common life”- others will expand this, but we see here the birth of the monastery- and given what the monasteries have done for us in transmitting culture, preserving texts and in education we might see how Anthony would indeed deserve the title “the Great.”

But it was Athanasius- he of the creed we rarely recite- who would take an interest in Anthony and tell his story in the “Life of Anthony”- in fact, the story of him coming into church just as a certain text was read- “as if it was specifically for him” would catch the eye of Augustine, such that he too would claim that his “taking up” and reading of Romans- when he picked it up- was such a divine appointment. So it was Anthony’s story, told by Athanasius and read by Augustine, that helped not only spread the monastic ideal in the early church but also influenced two of its biggest names.

And while I am aware of the Protestant critique of monasticism- or at least- its pitfalls- we are indebted to perhaps the second most famous Anthony in church history- but the only “the Great”- the Egyptian Desert father who died on this day in 356.

 

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and from one of the calls to repentance from the Father in the prophet Jeremiah- the 3rd chapter. 

“I myself said,

“‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
    and give you a pleasant land,

    the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.

’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’

    and not turn away from following me.

But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

    so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,”
declares the Lord.

A cry is heard on the barren heights,

    the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,


because they have perverted their ways

    and have forgotten the Lord their God.

“Return, faithless people;

    I will cure you of backsliding.”

“Yes, we will come to you,

    for you are the Lord our God.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 17th of January 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Anthonys include the Great, Stark, Soprano, and Micelli, as played by Tony Danza on Who’s the Boss… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a fan of Tony Danza’s Mel Clark from 1994’s Angels in the Outfield- great movie, I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.