Our city and its desert: The Macarian image of hell as an ancient affirmation of the modern theology of love

Abstract

Starting from an anecdotal story connected with St Macarius the Great, the paper offers a review of the theological understanding of the concept of desert monkhood, searching for its relevance in the modern times. The specific relevance of the selected storyline is evident through comparison of the images of hell offered by the story with some other, mostly infernal images of suffering, described from Gilgamesh to Dante. The starting point of the paper was an assumption that the writer's story offered more than the author's initial intention, and that this level of the text would produce most fruit. The author's reading of the selected text is from the perspective of modern hermeneutics which implies both faith and doubt. Such theological landscape refers us to specific personological ontology as an essential expression of Christian faith and an elementary goal of the church ethos. On this plane of understanding, a link is found between the desert (of the past) and the city (of today).