Anastasius Sinaita (; died after 700), also called Anastasius of Sinai or Anastasius the Sinaite, was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

writer, priest and abbot of

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...

Life

What little is known about his life is gathered from his own works. In Antiquity, he was often confused with the bishop and writer

Anastasius I of Antioch Anastasius I of Antioch was the Patriarch of Antioch twice (561–571 and 593–599). Alban Butler calls him "a man of singular learning and piety". He was a friend of Pope Gregory I, and aroused the enmity of the Emperor Justinian by opposing ...

(559–598), and the authorship of various works attributed to Anastasius of Sinai is still vigorously disputed. A canon has been tentatively accepted by modern scholars, but even among these Anastasian works there are spurious sections. His writings concern questions and answers about issues of Christian dogma, ritual, and lifestyle (catechism); sermons; and

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

. He was fond of tracing the

etymologies Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of key Christian terms; he was erudite in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

and early

Patristic Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics em ...

literature; and he had a pervasive interest in the nature of God and man, especially in the

person of Christ In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

(

Christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

). He was not reluctant to develop and express his own theories about key ecclesiastical issues, which led to later commentaries, emendations, and perhaps even

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

of parts of his works.

Major works

The principal works transmitted under Anastasius' name include the ''Viae Dux'', ''Quaestiones et Responsiones'', ''Hexaemeron'', ''Homilia i, ii, iii de creatione hominis'', and the ''Narrationes''. The ''Viae Dux'' - also called the ''Hodegos'' (Greek transliteration) and "Guide Along the Right Path" (English translation) - was written in defense of the

Chalcedonian Creed The Chalcedonian Definition (also called the Chalcedonian Creed or the Definition of Chalcedon) is the declaration of the dyophysitism of Hypostatic union, Christ's nature, adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. Chalcedon was an Early cen ...

. A collection of works by Anastasius, the ''Viae Dux'' served to support the true faith and to counter the attacks of heretics, in particular

Monophysites Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as ...

. His ''Quaestiones et Responsiones'' ("Questions and Responses") was a popular genre and falls under the category of pastoral theology. It offers advice, largely to the lay community, on spiritual and sacramental matters, charitable donations, marriage, and other subjects. Here Anastasius reveals a distinctly personal tone and offers a window into the day-to-day existence of ordinary people. It is especially significant because it is an eyewitness account of the

expansion of Islam Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansi ...

into Sinai and Egypt, which were predominantly Christian, and of the effect that Muslim governance had on Christian life and beliefs. Anastasius was probably the author of the ''Hexaemeron'', a commentary in 12 books about the

Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity, told in the book of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. While the Jewish and Christian tradition is that the account is one comprehensive story, modern scholars of ...

. (''Hexaemeron'', sometimes spelled

Hexameron The term Hexaemeron (Greek: Ἡ Ἑξαήμερος Δημιουργία ''Hē Hexaēmeros Dēmiourgia''), literally "six days," is used in one of two senses. In one sense, it refers to the Genesis creation narrative spanning Genesis 1:1–2:3: ...

, means “six-days”.) In the ''Hexaemeron'' Anastasius argues that Moses on Mount Sinai was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write not only the creation narrative, but also in the same text to prophesize the New Creation through Christ. Thus Adam represents Christ and Eve represents the Church. Anastasius' extensive exegesis of the beginning of Genesis draws upon commentaries written by many Fathers of the Church, including

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...

Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus (; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was an early Roman Christian theologian and prelate who served as Archbi ...

, and

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' ...

. One reason for some doubts about Anastasius’ authorship is the lack of any surviving manuscript copied before the end of the fifteenth century. The lack of earlier manuscripts, however, could be the result of

. The

allegorical interpretations of Genesis Allegorical interpretations of Genesis are readings of the biblical Book of Genesis that treat elements of the narrative as symbols or types, rather than viewing them literally as recording historical events. Either way, Judaism and most sects ...

in the ''Hexaemeron'' by Anastasius are in many ways a counterpoint to the more literal ''Hexaemeron'' written by

Basil the Great Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...

.Kuehn-Baggarly 2007, XIII.

References

Citations Bibliography *Haldon, John. "The Works of Anastasius of Sinai : A Key Source for the History of Seventh-Century East Mediterranean Society and Belief." In ''The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, Volume I: Problems in the Literary Source Material,'' edited by A. Cameron and L. Conrad. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1992. pp. 107–147. *Kuehn, Clement A., and John D. Baggarly. ''Anastasius of Sinai. Hexaemeron.'' (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 278). Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 2007. *Kuehn, Clement A. Review of ''Patrology: The Eastern Fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (†750)'', ed. by Angelo Di Berardino et al. In ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' 101/2 (2008): n.p. *Richard, Marcel, and Joseph Munitiz, eds. ''Anastasii Sinaïtae: Quaestiones et responsiones.'' CCSG 59. Turnhout: Brepols, 2006. *Shahan, Thomas J.
St. Anastasius Sinaita
''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

''. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1907. *Uthemann, Karl-Heinz, ed. ''Anastasii Sinaïtae: Viae dux.'' CCSG 8. Turnhout: Brepols, 1981. *Uthemann, Karl-Heinz, ed. ''Anastasii Sinaïtae: Sermones duo in constitutionem hominis secundum imaginem Dei necnon opuscula adversus monotheletas.'' CCSG 12. Turnhout: Brepols, 1985. *Uthemann, Karl-Heinz. "Anastasius the Sinaite." In ''Patrology. The Eastern Fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (†750),'' edited by Angelo Di Berardino et al. Cambridge: James Clark, 2006. pp. 313–331. *Weiss, Günter. ''Studien zum Leben, zu den Schriften und zur Theologie des Patriarchen Anastasius I. von Antiochien (559 - 598).'' Munich: Institut für Byzantinistik, 1965.

External links

A discussion of the Hexaemeron
at Creation

at Anastasios of Sinai
Anastasius Sinaita
at Britannica Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasius Sinaita 7th-century Byzantine monks 7th-century Christian mystics 7th-century Christian saints 7th-century Christian theologians Biblical exegesis Byzantine Christian mystics Christology Church Fathers Greek Christian mystics Patristic mystics

Life

Major works

See also

References

External links