asceticism

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Related to Christian asceticism: ascetic, Ascetic practices

asceticism

[aset′isiz′əm]
Etymology: Gk, askein, to exercise
(in psychiatry) a defense mechanism that involves repudiation of all instinctual impulses. The concept is derived from the religious doctrine that material things are evil and only spiritual things are good.
References in periodicals archive ?
So what are the positive telling marks of Christian asceticism.
Earth-honoring asceticism and consumption
In addition to his rejection of the puritanical or Jansenist elements in traditional Christian asceticism, Merton was insistent throughout his writings that one must avoid a mechanical, one-size-fits-all, ascetic regime.
Asceticism in the writings of Thomas Merton
102) The charge that a laborer will never gain wealth or fame would certainly have no traction with Basil, for his conversion to Christian asceticism led him to reevaluate both of these aims: poverty, we have seen, far from being an obstacle, was an important component of the ascetic life.
Manual labor in the life and thought of St. Basil the great
The concern to guard traditional values of wealth and marriage, coupled with disdain for ascetic prestige that rivaled aristocratic honores, prejudiced some against Christian asceticism that took too vigorous a form.
Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity: the Jovinianist Controversy
Nash, however, is anxious to make clear that frugality is not to be viewed as "holy poverty" or as Christian asceticism, both of which he views as severe responses to consumption.
Consumerism and Christian ethics
18) Namely, that the daughter of one of the most noble (and wealthy) families of the Western empire has renounced sex and marriage, been consecrated as a virgin, and received the advice of the more famous names in Christian asceticism of her day.
Writing Demetrias: Ascetic Logic in Ancient Christianity
It is a major contribution to research on and general thinking about early Christian asceticism and Scripture and a complex of related topics and issues.
Reading Renunciation: Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity
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