From Desert Christians to Mountain Refugees: Fierce Landscapes and Counter-Cultural Spirituality: 2011 J.J. Thiessen Lecture Series

Dr. Belden Lane, Saint Louis University

Places on the Edge: The Power of Desert/Mountain Terrain in Christian Thought

October 19, 2010

The Counter-Cultural Spirituality of the Desert Fathers for Today

October 19, 2010

Fire in the Desert: Learning from the Desert Mothers

October 20, 2010

In the history of Christian spirituality, desert and mountain terrain has often been the source (and refuge) of counter-cultural movements. The Desert Christians in the fourth century went into the desert beyond the Nile, reacting after Constantine to the church’s support of a prosperity theology, gospel of success, and militarism. In sixteenth-century Switzerland, Anabaptists hid in barns and fled to caves in the Jura Mountains, questioning the magisterial Reformation in similar ways. These lectures explore some ways in which the appeal of fierce landscapes in the Christian life is closely related to its prophetic witness to the dynamism of faith on the margins.

Lane draws from his own work on the symbolic significance of wilderness in Christian spirituality. “In the history of Christian spirituality, desert and mountain terrain has often been the source (and refuge) of counter-cultural movements,” Lane says. “The Desert Christians in the fourth century went into the desert beyond the Nile, reacting after Constantine to the church’s support of a prosperity theology, gospel of success, and militarism.” Relating to aspects of Anabaptist history, he notes that, “in sixteenth-century Switzerland, Anabaptists hid in barns and fled to caves in the Jura Mountains, questioning the magisterial Reformation in similar ways.”

“The appeal of fierce landscapes in the Christian life is closely related to its prophetic witness to the dynamism of faith on the margins.”

Also see the book, Desert Spirituality and Cultural Resistance: From Ancient Monks to Mountain Refugees.