Stephen J. Davis considers the phenomenon of monasticism from antiquity to the present day, addressing key questions about monastic spirituality and practice. Looking at Christian, Jainism, and Buddhist traditions of monasticism, Davis explores the life and beliefs of those in monasteries, and considers the role of monasticism in the modern world.

• Introduction


• 1: Definitions


• 2: Differences


• 3: Rules, Social Organization, and Gender


• 4: Saints and Spirituality


• 5: Spaces Real and Imagined


• 6: A Global Phenomenon in the Contemporary World


• References


• Further Reading


• Index

Stephen J. Davis is Professor of Religious Studies, History, and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University, specializing in the history of ancient and medieval Christianity, with a special focus on the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. Since 2013, he has served as Head of Pierson College, one of the fourteen residential colleges at Yale. He is the author of several books, including The Cult of St. Thecla: A Tradition of Women's Piety in Late Antiquity (O UP, 2001), and Coptic Christology in Practice: Incarnation and Divine Participation in Late Antique and Medieval Egypt (OUP, 2008). His most recent book, Christ Child: Cultural Memories of a Young Jesus, was published by Yale University Press in 2014. For over a decade (since 2006), Stephen has directed the Yale Monastic Archaeology Project, sponsoring archaeological and archival work at several ancient and medieval monastic sites in Egypt.