Repentance in late antiquity : Eastern asceticism and the framing of the Christian life c.400-650 CE / Alexis Torrance.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-234) and indexes.

The call to repentance is central to the message of early Christianity. While this is undeniable, the precise meaning of the concept of repentance for early Christians has rarely been investigated to any great extent, beyond studies of the rise of penitential discipline. In this study, the rich variety of meanings and applications of the concept of repentance are examined, with a particular focus on the writings of several ascetic theologians of the fifth to seventh centuries. These theologians provide some of the most sustained and detailed elaborations of the concept of repentance in late antiquity: SS Mark the Monk, Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, and John Climacus. They predominantly see repentance as a positive, comprehensive idea that serves to frame the whole of Christian life, not simply one or more of its parts.

1. True and false repenting : trends in the study of early Christian repentance from the reformation to the present -- 2. Defining repentance in the Greek patristic world, Part one : Hellenistic Judaism, the New Testament, and non Judaeo-Christian Hellenistic sources -- 3. Defining repentance in the Greek patristic world, Part two : Repentance in the early church (a re-assessment) -- 4. Repentance in the treatises of St Mark the Monk -- 5. Repentance in the letters of SS Barsanuphius and John of Gaza -- 6. Repentance in the oeuvre of St John of the Ladder -- Conclusion -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1 : Apocalyptic repentance in the early church -- Appendix 2 : The penitential canons and monastic repentance.