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This chapter presents a synthesis of the writings of Evagrius Ponticus discussions in this volume. It argues that the monastic discipline of psalmody reflects the Evagrius’ vision of the spiritual life. The underlying rhythm of spiritual progress consists of the movement between poles of praktike, physike, and theologike; that is, progress from concern with moral and spiritual improvement to perception of God in and beyond creation.

The conclusion briefly reviews the book's central claims: that Palladius was an influential personality among Origenist ascetics at the turn of the fifth century; that the Dialogue is best understood through the lens of late antique judicial rhetoric and stasis theory; and that Palladius was deeply influenced in his theology by both Origen and his mentor Evagrius, particularly in his understanding of spiritual progress and human freedom. The conclusion suggests that judicial rhetoric may prove useful for the analysis of other works of Christian literature considering the widespread training among Christian bishops in this area. The author briefly considers several aspects of Palladius' thought that could appeal to an audience broader than that of specialists in late antique Christianity, and concludes by noting that Palladius' death marked the twilight of an era in which there was open admiration for Origen and his remarkable contributions.

This chapter presents an English translation of the ascetic corpus writing of Evagrius of Pontus about the thirty-three ordered chapters on the definitions of the passions of the rational soul. This treatise consists of a collection of short chapters. The first section defines a variety of ailments, mostly taken from the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, as particular passions of the soul. This translation cites relevant biblical verses, not mentioned in the Greek text, for the convenience of the readers.

Monasticism — a life devoted above all to prayer — makes a special contribution to mystical theology in the patristic period. However, it is also in the monastic tradition itself that a pronounced anti-mystical strand is found: an insistence that man is utterly remote from God, and in this world must live a life of repentance and ceaseless struggle against the powers of evil. The life of contemplation, the search for a sense of kinship with God, continues to call men, and so the two strands — mystical and anti-mystical — are woven together in the history of Christian monasticism and are the source of endless tensions. At the outset of this history, both were embodied in a state of perfect development in one man, Evagrius of Pontus.

Stoic apatheia was accepted as an ideal for certain humans by Philo the Jew and many leading Christians: Clement of Alexandria, Origen, the Cappadocians (Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus), as well as Evagrius; although even Evagrius agrees with the others that it requires the grace of God. For ordinary people the Cappadocians write consolation letters about bereavement which urge no more than moderation of emotion (metriopatheia), as Seneca also had done, in spite of being a Stoic. Although Evagrius was followed by the Latin-writer Cassian, some Latin-writing Christians opposed apatheia: Lactantius, Jerome, and Augustine. The last two were attacking Pelagius, who denied original sin, and they lumped him with supporters of apatheia. For Augustine, even unpleasant emotions have been needed since man left the Garden of Eden, and pleasant ones were enjoyed in Eden and will be in heaven.

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion on the debates surrounding the influence of Evagrius Ponticus’ writings in the Christian East and West. The main thesis of this volume is then described, namely, the analysis of Evagrius’ practice of the discipline of psalmody. A connection between the seemingly disparate aspects of Evagrius’ mystical theory is sought by approaching the relationship between psalmody and prayer from three perspectives: Evagrius’ life, works, and spiritual doctrine; his recommendations concerning the usefulness of psalmody in the healing of the passions; and Evagrius’ ‘undisclosed psalmody’.

This chapter discusses the life and writings of Evagrius Ponticus. The main source of information on Evagrius’ life is Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis, who spent nine years as a disciple of Evagrius in the desert of Kellia. Evagrius’ writings are classified along a spectrum, with narrative treaties at one end, and collections of gnomic sentences at the other. His understanding of the spiritual life is summarized as ‘the mind’s long journey to the Holy Trinity’.

Psalmody and the recitation of other biblical texts served as the gateway to gnostike, the perception of the inner purposes of God beneath the letter of the text. Evagrius believed that the art of biblical exegesis, which is part of the gnostike, has its own methodology, just as the progressive vigilant study of the soul, which pertains to the praktike, has its proper methodology. This chapter discusses the five texts in which Evagrius reflects on the purpose and the goal of psalmody. These are De oratione 82, 83, 85, and 87; and Praktikos.

In De oratione 83, Evagrius presents his belief that psalmody serves as a spiritual remedy, a means by which the passions are calmed and the body’s disharmony is rectified. The basis of his faith in the efficacy of psalmody as spiritual remedy is his conviction that it is above all Christ who is encountered in the psalter. This chapter explores Evagrius’ understanding of the therapeutic power of psalmody, particularly its efficacy with regards to the healing of thumos, in light of his regular use of medical imagery, theory, and the title ‘Christ the physician’. Because of their significance as sources for Evagrius’ spiritual doctrine, the use of these categories by Origen and the Cappadocian fathers is emphasized.

Evagrius believed that the spiritual benefits of chanting the psalms went beyond the calming effect of psalmody on the passions. The soul is in continuous warfare against demons that employ logismoi (tempting thoughts) to prevent humans from praying or perceiving God. The Book of Psalms is a valuable weapon that provides models of spiritual progress, as well as a means by which prayer and contemplation may be attained. Evagrius recommends the practice of psalmody in the Praktikos, Antirrhetikos, and De oratione. Psalms in the Antirrhetikos and antirrhetic texts in the Scholia on Psalms are discussed.

Evagrius believed that that Book of Psalms afforded a vision of the whole creation, including the daily struggles of the praktike, as refulgent with divine meaning. The psalter can serve as a training ground for the Christian contemplative, a kind of workshop in which the gnostikos learns to perceive the divine logoi in the events of salvation history recounted in the psalms. This chapter examines the dynamic relationship between praktike and theoretike, and suggests a reciprocal relationship between spiritual progress and biblical exegesis.

Evagrius (c.345–399) grew up in Pontus near the Black Sea, and, after serving as a deacon in Constantinople, embarked on a monastic career, settling in Kellia in Lower Egypt. There he apprenticed under two leading desert fathers, Macarius the Egyptian and Macarius the Alexandrian. Evagrius was one of the first monastic theologians and is best known for two works, the Praktikos and the Chapters on Prayer. These and other works of his are strings of terse and somewhat cryptic proverbs, known as “chapters” (kephalaia). This introduction surveys Evagrius’s life and surviving writings and explores the ascetical side of his theology, especially his brilliant and original psychology of temptation—centered on what he called the “eight evil thoughts” (logismoi).

Evagrius Ponticus was one of the great pioneers of Christian mystical theology. He spoke of prayer as “the ascent of the mind to God” and argued that “pure prayer” must be unceasing, imageless, and wordless. At the peak of the mystical journey, the monk encounters what Evagrius called the “sapphire light of the mind,” both an interior illumination and a glimpse of the uncreated light of the Trinity. This chapter sets out both Evagrius’s map of the mystical journey to God and the controversy that it provoked after his death, the so-called Origenist Controversy.

John Cassian (d. after 345) was one of the key figures who brought traditions of desert monasticism to the Latin West. He grew up in what today is Romania and became a monk in Bethlehem and then moved to Egypt, settling at the monastery of Scetis, where he became a disciple of Evagrius Ponticus. In the wake of the Origenist Controversy, he left Egypt and settled in southern France, in the port city of Massilia (modern Marseilles), where he composed in Latin two profoundly influential works, the Institutes and the Conferences. This chapter surveys Cassian’s career and introduces his key works and theological themes, especially the monastic search for purity of heart and the monastic practice of unceasing prayer.

A re-evaluation of the opposition commonly assumed to obtain between the teaching and respective legacies of Macarius and Evagrius of Pontus – an opposition often put in terms of the contrast between Semitic and Hellenic Christianity, between intellective and affective mysticisms, between ‘head’ and ‘heart’. Both authors are shown to be ill served by such simplistic contrasts, both far broader in scope and vision than these would imply. The two are, however, legitimately to be distinguished in terms of emphasis and balance – Macarius emerging as the more subtle and holistic of the two.

A close examination of the Macarian legacy in the work of Mark the Monk. The Chapter focuses on themes such as the Fall and its consequences, baptism, the spiritual struggle, sin and grace, exegesis, and Christology. Mark is shown to be a thoughtful and, at times, appropriately critical disciple of the Macarian teaching. The fact that he draws directly on Macarius for much of his anti-Messalian programme further emphasises the extent to which Macarius is to be seen as a critic and reformer of the nascent Messalian tendency.