Books by David Brakke

This book offers an illuminating discussion of recent scholarly debates over the concept of 'Gnosticism' and the nature of early Christian diversity.

Drawing on biographies of exceptional monks, collections of monastic sayings and stories, letters from ascetic teachers to their disciples, sermons, and community rules, Brakke crafts a compelling picture of the embattled religious celibate in fourth- and fifth-century Egypt.

Explores the transformation of classical culture in late antiquity by studying cultures at the borders - the borders of empires, of social classes, of public and private spaces, of literary genres, of linguistic communities, and of the modern disciplines that study antiquity.