Was Anthony's 'withdraw from the world' Christianity correct?

One of the key founders of monastic communities had no notion of founding anything—he was simply concerned for his own spiritual condition and spent much of his life alone. Anthony was born in Egypt, probably about 250, to well-to-do parents who died when he was about twenty and left him all their possessions. 

A sermon text, Jesus’ command to the rich young ruler, “If you would be perfect, go and sell all you have,” changed the young man’s life. 

The words seemed directed to him, and Anthony took them literally. He gave his lands to his fellow villagers, sold his other property, and donated the money to the poor. He put himself under the care of an elderly Christian who taught him the joys of self-denial. Anthony lived on one meal a day of bread and water and slept on the bare ground.

With the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312, the church’s situation changed drastically. Christians lost their position as a persecuted minority and became members of a respectable religion with official sponsorship. As masses of people began to pour into the church, however, it became less easy to distinguish those with a real commitment to Christ from those who wanted a part of this popular religion. Faith became easy, and sincerity suffered.

Zealous Christians of this age often chose to fight back against the compromising of their faith by withdrawing from the world. Anthony sought to do that by living in a tomb. According to his biographer, Athanasius, for about twelve years Anthony was besieged by demons who took the shapes of various strange beasts and sometimes struck him, on occasion leaving him nearly dead. They were trying to call Anthony back to a world of sensuous pleasures, but Anthony always emerged triumphant.

To withdraw even farther from the world, Anthony moved to an abandoned fort, where he lived for twenty years without seeing a human face. His food was thrown to him over the wall. But people heard of his amazing self-denial and battles with demons. Some admirers set up crude homes near the fort, and he reluctantly became their spiritual adviser, giving them guidance on fasting, prayer, and works of charity. Anthony certainly provided a role model in self-denial.

The hermit could never totally detach himself from the world. In 311 Maximian, one of the last pagan emperors, persecuted Christians, and Anthony left his home, willing to die for his faith. Instead he ended up ministering to Christians condemned to work in the imperial mines. That experience convinced him that living the Christian life could be as saintly as dying for it. Again, in 350, he left home to defend orthodoxy against the Arian heresy, which had by no means been squelched by the Council of Nicea (325). Many people, including Emperor Constantine, sought the hermit’s spiritual advice.

Anthony died at the age of 105, to the end apparently still vigorous in mind and body. He insisted on being buried secretly, so no cult would develop around his grave.

But a cult following grew up nonetheless. Athanasius—the influential theologian who played an important role in the Council of Nicea—wrote an extremely popular Life of Anthony, in which he portrayed Anthony as the ideal monk, who could work miracles and discern between good and evil spirits. Before long, the idea that a real spiritual warrior became a monk and denied himself took hold within the church.

The practice of communities of monks living together was begun by Pachomius, a young companion of Anthony’s. Like the ruggedly individualistic Anthony, most of his followers were also hermits. For better or for worse, Anthony communicated the idea that a truly religious person withdraws from the world, abstaining from marriage, family, and worldly pleasures.
Not until the Reformation would anyone seriously challenge that idea.


Curtis, A., Lang, J. S., Petersen, R., & Curtis, J. S. L. A. K. (1998). 100 most important events in christian history, the. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.