Introduction

The Introduction clarifies the aims of the book: to set forth an account of Christian humility as it was envisioned by the early and most radical proponents of Christian humility. The book does not aim to invalidate other views of humility, whether historic or contemporary. The methodological aim of the book is to display what other virtue theorists tend merely to assert—namely, that specific metaphysical and anthropological commitments matter for thorough specifications of the virtues. The Introduction also quotes several passages from the writings of the early desert monastic tradition to show the discrepancy between early Christian and contemporary visions of humility. The task of the book is conceptually to clarify the early Christian stream of wisdom about humility, and to defend it against contemporary detractors.