Cassian's Conferences

This book explores Cassian's use of scripture in the 'Conferences', especially its biblical models, to convey his understanding of the desert ideal to the monastic communities of Gaul. This book demonstrates how the scriptures functioned as a dynamic force in the lives of Christians, emphasizes the importance of Cassian in the development of the Western monastic tradition, and offers an alternative to the sometimes problematic descriptions of patristic exegesis as "allegory" or "typology."