Antony: Devout or Delusional?

Antony, a man who pursued his religious convictions in the desert and in other isolated areas, barely eating and sleeping in the late middle ages was recorded as a great follower of God and a very devout man. Today, a person carrying on these practices could not escape the accusation of insanity. Perhaps that is because medicine and science have come far and people now have an understanding of the effects of starvation and dehydration. The Life of Antony is narrated by another religious thinker of the time Athanasius. Athanasius was another advocate of living the ascetic life to draw closer to God, thus presenting an obvious objective in Athanasius’ writing.

Before anything further is said, readers should recognize that Antony was in the right state of mind in one way at least; he wanted to do whatever he needed to seek God. The problem came with how extreme Antony took denying his body. Antony believed that if anything brought comfort to the body that was not from God it was therefore denying him everything he could be gaining from God. These creature comforts included anything beyond occasional bread, minimal water, and thin clothing. Denying himself of food is the first obstacle that gives Antony trouble in his hermitage. Athanasius’ describes how the “devil” produces problems for Antony, “…then at length putting his thrust in the weapons which are “in the navel of his belly’ and boasting in them…disturbing him by night and harassing him by day, so that even the onlookers saw the struggle which was going on between them” (Athanasius, par. 5). Several questionable items about Antony are raised in this passage, the first of which is that Antony thinks the devil is what is causing the pains in his stomach. Though it is devout to fast in an attempt to gain a closer relationship with God, starving oneself to the point of believing the devil himself is causing the persecution is over the top. Once again, Antony was no doubt a great man of God, but his thoughts were beginning to be blurred by starvation and dehydration this early in his journey.

Antony’s journey only gets more extreme after the hunger pains. Athanasius accounts that the devil then manifests himself and his demons to Antony physically. It would be one thing if Antony described these apparitions in a cloudy form but he sees these sometimes frightening shapes very clearly. The devil first takes on a woman's form to tempt Antony; then onto a black boy and finally more disturbing shapes that Antony says attacked and beat him. Clearly, either Satan really did not want Antony alive or his brain has began shutting down from malnutrition. Malnutrition causing such hallucinations seems to be much more likely than demons materializing and beating him. Also, Athanasius’ narrative goal appears embellish Antony’s account. The way he records Antony talking to Satan and his horde of demons is brave and well spoken, which seems odd considering the horrifying sights Antony is recorded to have seen.

The Life of Antony is an interesting account of devoted man of God. But it has too many extremities to be considered an honest account. A moral message should be drawn from Antony’s commitment to his spirituality but the accounts of materialized demons and such are most likely the exaggerated hallucinations of a starving man.

Bibliography

Athanasius, Life of Antony, Select Writings from Athanasius, trans. T.H Ellershaw. (New York 1924, repr. 1957), 195-221.