The Teachings of Neilos of Ancyra: Three Essential Works from Early Christianity

Three works of fifth-century monastic leader Neilos of Ancyra, for the first time in English translation, introduced and annotated by a leading scholar of early ChristianityNeilos of Ancyra (sometimes mistakenly called Nilus of Sinai) was a learned and wise rhetorician, who lived in the fourth-fifth century and became a renowned monastic guide and later a bishop in Anatolia (modern Turkey).He wrote a number of works and one thousand letters.In The Teachings of Neilos of Ancyra, Tim Vivian presents the first English-language translations of three of his works: Brief Statements of Exhortation; Guidance That Leads a Person away from What Is Corruptible and Unites That Person with What Is Incorruptible; and Concerning the Eight Evil Thoughts.These show direct influence from the Apophthegmata Patrum, the sayings and stories of the desert fathers and mothers, and offer a wealth of insight into Neilos’s spiritual thinking.Through rich social, economic, and cultural contextualization, Tim Vivi