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Article: Demons and the Making of the Monk: Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity.(Book review)
- Article from:
- Church History
- Article date:
- December 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 American Society of Church History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Demons and the Making of the Monk: Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity. By David Brakke. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006. xiv + 309 pp. $49.95 cloth.
In David Brakke's study, the relationship between monk and demon in monastic sources of the fourth and early fifth centuries receives insightful and nuanced analysis. Examining both the ethical identity of the monk as revealed in dealings with demons, as well as the frameworks of race, gender, and paganism employed in the interpretation of the demonic, Brakke's interest throughout is "how conflict with demons formed the monk both as a social role and as a virtuous individual, giving his quest for ...