Lecture 1: The Desert Fathers as Paradigms of Christian Living

The Desert Fathers hold a foundational place in the Church's understanding of the authentic Christian life. The Desert Fathers and Mothers are the world's "true evangelicals"...those whose lives were completely formed by the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. The contours of their lives demonstrate the freedom that Jesus Christ gives to His followers who take Him at His word and submit all to His cause. In the recesses of the Egyptian desert these saints possessed life, and that abundantly. From the Gospel explosion, which was St. Antony's life written by St. Athanasios the Great, through several hundred years of Saints populating the deserts of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and even Persia, Gaul, Britain and Ireland the Desert Fathers have provided a touchstone by which all future generations are able to measure Christian virtue. The principles of spiritual life expressed in their lives and sayings continue to inspire devotion to the Holy Trinity today. These five lectures are offered as an introduction to the lives and teachings of the Desert Saints, and with the hope that they will inspire further study in The Evergetinos.