Temptation in the Cell: Dangerous Closeness and Redeeming Love in a Byzantine Narrative of Paired Monks

Abstract

The close relationship of a pair of monks, an elder and a young disciple, is analyzed from a recently published apophthegm in an eleventh-century Greek manuscript in Uppsala, Sweden. This narrative is simple in style, but rich in implications for the window it opens on Christian ethics in a semi-solitary monastic context. Human failure highlights patience and forgiveness within a loving relationship. Careful handling of the crisis by the young disciple succeeds in granting the tempted elder, through God’s grace, eternal salvation.