Grace as Deepening Communion With God in Cassian's Monastic Writings

AbstractThis chapter deals with Cassian's monastic writings and rejects the typical scholarly view that Cassian understands salvation as a ladder leading to union with God and that grace is simply God's help in enabling the monk to ascend this ladder. Instead, the chapter shows that for Cassian, union with God is not an absorption into the divine, but rather it is communion with God. Furthermore, the chapter argues that God has given the Christian this communion at conversion and that the monk seeks to deepen and appreciate it more fully. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the implications of this reading of Cassian.