John Cassian

John Cassian brought the ascetic teaching he had learned among the monks of Egypt to the Latin West. His Institutes describes the outward observance and daily life of the monastery; his Conferences record, in twenty-four dialogues, the teaching of Egyptian monastic elders on prayer, discernment, and the spiritual life. Conference 13, on grace and free will, was read by later theologians as a moderating response to Augustine and became a touchstone of the semi-Pelagian debate.

Dates

ca. 360–435 (approximate)

See or city

Massilia (Marseilles)

Region

Gaul

Also known as

Ioannes Cassianus; Cassian of Marseilles

Notes

A monk formed in Egyptian and Palestinian monasticism who settled in Gaul and founded two monasteries at Marseilles. His account of Egyptian monastic teaching shaped Western monasticism, including the Rule of Benedict; his later writing against Augustine's teaching on grace and predestination (Conference 13) placed him at the center of the semi-Pelagian controversy.

Works

• The InstitutesDe institutis coenobiorum · ca. 419–426 · CPL 513 (not yet checked)
• The ConferencesCollationes patrum · ca. 426–429 · CPL 512 (not yet checked)