Christopher Johnson | University of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac (original) (raw)

Books by Christopher Johnson

Research paper thumbnail of The Globalization of Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer: Contesting Contemplation

The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important ... more The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important role in the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This book explores how these prayer practices have spread from a primarily monastic setting within Orthodox Christianity, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this gradual geographic shift from a local to a global setting, caused mainly by immigration and dissemination of related texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation causing disagreement. By analyzing ongoing conversations on the practices, this book shows how such disagreements are due to differences in the way groups understand the ideas of authority and tradition. These fundamental ideas lie beneath much of the current discussion on particular aspects of the practices and also contribute to the wider academic debate over the globalization and appropriation of religious traditions.

Dissertation by Christopher Johnson

Research paper thumbnail of "Authority and tradition in contemporary understandings of hesychasm and the Jesus prayer"

In today’s global religious landscape, many beliefs and practices have been dislocated and thrust... more In today’s global religious landscape, many beliefs and practices have been dislocated and thrust into unfamiliar cultural environments and have been forced to adapt to these new settings. There has been a significant amount of research on this phenomenon as it appears in various contexts, much of it centred on the concepts of globalisation/localisation and appropriation. In this dissertation, the same process is explored in relation to the traditions of contemplative prayer from within Eastern Orthodox Christianity known as the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm. These prayer practices have traveled from a primarily monastic Orthodox Christian setting, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this geographic shift from a local to a global setting, due mainly to immigration and dissemination of relevant texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation. This shift of interpretation involves the way the practices are understood in relation to general conceptions of authority and tradition. The present work attempts to explain the divergence of interpretations of these practices by reference to the major themes of authority and tradition, and to several secondary themes such as appropriation, cultural transmission, “glocalisation,” memory, and Orientalism. By looking at accounts of the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm from a variety of sources and perspectives, the contentious issues between accounts will be put into a wider perspective that considers fundamental differences in worldviews.

Articles and Essays by Christopher Johnson

Research paper thumbnail of "Tradition and the Appropriation of the Jesus Prayer" Diogenes' Lantern: The Human Being in Diversity of Practice, 1 (Познание, 2015) in Russian/English

Research paper thumbnail of "The Way of an English Pilgrim: Gerald Palmer's Lifelong Athonite Pilgrimage," Modern Greek Studies Yearbook, 31 (University of Minnesota Press, 2015)

Research paper thumbnail of “‘He Has Made the Dry Bones Live’: Orientalism’s Attempted Resuscitation of Eastern Christianity,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 82:3 (Oxford University Press, 2014)

Research paper thumbnail of “‘Base, but Nevertheless Holy’: Lessons in Liminality from Symeon the Holy Fool,” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (Sage Publications, 2014)

Research paper thumbnail of “The Samaritan’s Inn: Preliminary Reflections on the Critique of Religion as Therapy,” Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 53:3-4 (Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute, 2012)

Book Chapters by Christopher Johnson

Research paper thumbnail of "The 'Mystical Mundane' in Fr. Nikon of Karoulia's Letters to Gerald Palmer," in Orthodox Monasticism Past and Present: Sophia Studies in Orthodox Theology Vol. 8 (Theotokos Press, 2014)

Research paper thumbnail of “Between Madness and Holiness: Symeon of Emesa and ‘the Pedagogics of Liminality’,” Studia Patristica, 68 (Peeters, 2013)

Research paper thumbnail of “The Beauty of Nonsense: Apophatic Theology and Byzantine Chant,” in Beauty and the Beautiful in Eastern Orthodox Thought and Culture (Papers of the Sophia Institute Academic Conference 2011) (Theotokos Press, 2012)

Book Reviews by Christopher Johnson

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Victor Roudometof, Globalization and Orthodox Christianity: The Transformations of a Religious Tradition (Routledge, 2013) in LOGOS: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies (Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute, 2014)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Medical Saints: Cosmas and Damian in a Postmodern World (Oxford University Press, 2013) in Religion (Routledge, 2014)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Torstein Theodor Tollefsen, Activity and Participation in Late Antique and Early Christian Thought (Oxford University Press, 2012) in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 81:2 (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Priscilla Hunt and Svitlana Kobets (eds.), Holy Foolishness in Russia: New Perspectives (Slavica Publishers, 2012) in The Russian Review (University of Kansas Press, 2013)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Veronica della Dora, Imagining Mount Athos: Visions of a Holy Place from Homer to World War II (University of Virginia Press, 2011) in Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 53:3-4 (Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute, 2012)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Irina Paert, Spiritual Elders: Charisma and Tradition in Russian Orthodoxy (Northern Illinois University Press, 2010) in Numen: International Review for the History of Religions (Brill, 2012)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Irina Papkova, The Orthodox Church and Russian Politics (Oxford University Press, 2011) in Religion (Routledge, 2012)

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Paul Heelas, Spiritualities of Life: New Age Romanticism and Consumerist Capitalism (Blackwell, 2008) in Reviews in Religion and Theology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Presentations by Christopher Johnson

Research paper thumbnail of “The Role of Spiritual Direction in Mediating a Contemplative Classic: Fr. Nikon Strandtman, Gerald Palmer, and the English Philokalia,” Christian Spirituality Group/Contemplative Studies Group, AAR Annual Meeting, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of “Pilgrimage as Spiritual Time Bomb: Gerald Palmer’s Athonite Journeys to Fr. Nikon of Karoulia,” Panel on ‘Orthodox Wandering and Pilgrimage in the Modern Era: Russia and Abroad’, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Convention, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of The Globalization of Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer: Contesting Contemplation

The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important ... more The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important role in the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This book explores how these prayer practices have spread from a primarily monastic setting within Orthodox Christianity, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this gradual geographic shift from a local to a global setting, caused mainly by immigration and dissemination of related texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation causing disagreement. By analyzing ongoing conversations on the practices, this book shows how such disagreements are due to differences in the way groups understand the ideas of authority and tradition. These fundamental ideas lie beneath much of the current discussion on particular aspects of the practices and also contribute to the wider academic debate over the globalization and appropriation of religious traditions.

Research paper thumbnail of "Authority and tradition in contemporary understandings of hesychasm and the Jesus prayer"

In today’s global religious landscape, many beliefs and practices have been dislocated and thrust... more In today’s global religious landscape, many beliefs and practices have been dislocated and thrust into unfamiliar cultural environments and have been forced to adapt to these new settings. There has been a significant amount of research on this phenomenon as it appears in various contexts, much of it centred on the concepts of globalisation/localisation and appropriation. In this dissertation, the same process is explored in relation to the traditions of contemplative prayer from within Eastern Orthodox Christianity known as the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm. These prayer practices have traveled from a primarily monastic Orthodox Christian setting, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this geographic shift from a local to a global setting, due mainly to immigration and dissemination of relevant texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation. This shift of interpretation involves the way the practices are understood in relation to general conceptions of authority and tradition. The present work attempts to explain the divergence of interpretations of these practices by reference to the major themes of authority and tradition, and to several secondary themes such as appropriation, cultural transmission, “glocalisation,” memory, and Orientalism. By looking at accounts of the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm from a variety of sources and perspectives, the contentious issues between accounts will be put into a wider perspective that considers fundamental differences in worldviews.

Research paper thumbnail of Review: The Globalization of Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer: Contesting Contemplation

Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2012

The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important ... more The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important role in the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This book explores how these prayer practices have spread from a primarily monastic setting within Orthodox Christianity, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this gradual geographic shift from a local to a global setting, caused mainly by immigration and dissemination of related texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation causing disagreement. By analyzing ongoing conversations on the practices, this book shows how such disagreements are due to differences in the way groups understand the ideas of authority and tradition. These fundamental ideas lie beneath much of the current discussion on particular aspects of the practices and also contribute to the wider academic debate over the globalization and appropriation of religious traditions.