The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East by David A. Michelson (review)

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Reviewed by:

• The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East by David A. Michelson
• Jacob A. Lollar

David A. Michelson
The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022
Pp. xxviii + 329. $105.00.

As the landscapes of the history of Christianity continue to expand with increasing attention devoted to non-western literatures and cultures, more unexplored pastures appear. David Michelson’s book serves as a kind of land bridge between well-wandered country to one that remains foreign and untrodden to a west-centered field of scholarship. Monasticism, reading, and contemplation in Christian traditions have been studied by scholars for generations, but their manifestations in traditions of the near and far east have been comparatively neglected. Michelson’s book is one step in the direction of rectifying that situation.

This study focuses on “contemplative ascetic reading” practices in the Church of the East (4). Michelson wishes “to reconstruct the origins of contemplative reading as a monastic discipline in the Church of the East” between the fourth and seventh centuries (13). The book is divided into two parts (Chapters One to Three; Chapters Four to Six). Chapter One addresses methods, beginning with the work of Robert Darnton regarding studying reading practices, including identifying ideals and assumptions; assessing how reading was learned and taught; information about teachers; reader-response criticism and reception history; and attention to the physical objects. These approaches break down into the “why, how, who, when, and what” of reading practices. Michelson broadly defines reading as an “encounter with a text” and seeks to develop throughout the book a definition of “Syriac contemplative ascetic reading” (7).

Chapter Two addresses the neglect of Syriac ascetic reading. Michelson turns to manuscript catalogues and argues that views of Syriac book culture in general (and of Syriac ascetic reading in particular) were conditioned by the catalogues by William Wright and William Cureton, whose work provided the foundation of Syriac studies. Michelson analyzes their descriptions of books and book culture and argues that their devaluing of Syriac literature was due to perceived “relevance to British and European readers” (31). This is evident from their disregard for Syriac service books in their surveys. We thus cannot begin with the perspectives [End Page 469] of people like Wright and Cureton but should go directly to the sources to get beyond such prejudices.

To his credit, Michelson acknowledges that they were products of their time and social location and gives credit for their huge contributions. One wonders, however, whether Wright and Cureton represent a distinctly western perspective. Eastern contemporaries, like Nikodemos, who compiled the Philokalia, complained about the poor state of books and their neglect in Greek monasteries and sought to preserve them by copying them, devoting his attention to texts on prayer and spirituality. Are the respective opinions––east and west––all that different?

Michelson turns in Chapter Three to the question of Lectio Divina (LD) in East Syrian monasticism. He demonstrates that the Western tradition of LD is distinct in many ways from the East Syriac tradition; both, however, have their roots in common sources: Evagrius and the Apophthegmata patrum. This chapter is a tour de force of scholarship, and Michelson has a clear presentation of the complex relationships. He carefully defines the Latin tradition of LD and does not assume exact parallels in the East Syrian tradition. Ultimately, he settles that LD is a distinctly western phrase and prefers “contemplative ascetic reading” (68) for the East Syriac tradition. As a slight critique, Michelson rightly claims that “scripture” and “the bible” were focal points of monastic reading practices, but he fails to carefully define these terms within Syriac reading cultures. Some East Syriac manuscripts contain texts considered “apocryphal” (e.g., the Acts of Thomas appears with the Syriac fathers). Some “biblical” collections include parabiblica (e.g., at Deir al-Surian a Book of Women includes Acts of Thekla). What was “scripture” for these communities?

In Chapter Four, Michelson narrates the development of East Syriac contemplative reading, arguing for a foundational hybrid Syro-Egyptian tradition of ascetic theology. Its roots are...