Death of the DesertIn the late fourth century, the world of Christianity was torn apart by debate over the teachings of the third century theologian Origen and his positions on the incorporeality of God. In the year 400, Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria convened a council declaring Origen's later followers as heretics. Shortly thereafter, Theophilus banished the so called Tall Brothers, four Origenist monks who led monastic communities in the western Egyptian desert,