Tim Vivian is professor emeritus of religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield, and a retired priest of the Episcopal Church. He has published, among many books, The Life of Antony (with Apostolos N. Athanassakis, 2003), Becoming Fire: Through the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers (2009), The Life of Bishoi: The Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic Lives (with Maged S.A. Mikhail, AUC Press, 2022), and Exhortation to the Monks by Hyperechios: Reflections on the Spiritual Journey (AUC Press, 2024).