Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to uncover the meaning of holy feigning in the late-antique
Christian text the Apophthegmata Patrum, or Sayings of the Desert Fathers [and Mothers]. Whereas
stories in this text depict demonic feigning as a regular occurrence (demons often appearing in
the guise of a fellow desert dweller), what I call ‘holy feigning’ depicts one desert Christian
expressing empathy for the situation of another – and helping the other to change. By looking
at two stories that are paradigmatic of holy feigning, I show that exemplary deceptive
behaviour, though explicitly defying the otherwise consistent rhetoric of ‘radical self-honesty’
in the Apophthegmata Patrum, paradoxically marks out the person who feigns as holy, discerning
and imitative of Christ. In this article, I offer several suggestions for accounting for this seeming
contradiction in the desert literature and propose how a spirituality of holy feigning might
remain meaningful to readers of this literature today.
