The Life of Evagrius Ponticus

DISCIPLE AND TEACHER of the ascetic life in Jesus Christ, Evagrius of Pontus (345-99) both astutely absorbed and creatively retransmitted the spirituality of Egyptian and Palestinian monasticism of the late fourth century. Migrating from his home in Asia Minor, Evagrius spent some time in Constantinople, where he was ordained a deacon by his spiritual father, Gregory of Nazianzus, in 379. Fleeing from the temptations of an affair, Evagrius migrated to Jerusalem, where he joined the monastery of Melania the Elder and Rufinus. By 383 he had arrived in Egypt, where he met many of the central figures of Egyptian monasticism. In his remaining years, Evagrius practiced rigorous ascesis and wrote extensively about the intersection of the Bible and the struggles of the spiritual life. He drew inspiration from Origen, Neoplatonism, and his experience as a monk and theologian.

He was later condemned by the Church, mainly for doctrines that appear in the Kephalaia Gnostica, along with Origen and Didymus the Blind. Yet his writings deeply influenced many subsequent theologians and leaders of monasticism, including Sts. John Cassian, "Dionysius the Areopagite," Maximus the Confessor, John Climacus, Isaac of Nineveh, and Simeon the New Theologian. The Armenian and Georgian Orthodox Churches commemorate him, but his condemnation still holds in other Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church (Evagrius's inclusion in the most recent edition of Butler's Lives is the result of an editorial error).

Evagrius was an influential figure, details of his life having been recorded by several sources. Listed are the chief ancient testimonies. The most extensive have their reference numbers in bold.

The condemnation Evagrius was intertwined with that of Origen (ca. 185-ca. 251). Many scholars of the last century have suggested that the kind of Origenism the Church condemned was that of Evagrius. This has helped to rehabilitate Origen's stature in modern ecclesiastical circles, but has, in turn, cast a shadow over Evagrius's role. Not all scholars accept that Evagrius can be categorized so easily. His role in the anti-Origenism of the late 390s is important, but nebulous. The Fifteen Anathemas of the 530s or 540s-when anti-Origenism reached a formulation accepted by the sixth and seventh Ecumenical Councils-show that one of Evagrius's major works, the Kephalaia Gnostica, or an adaptation of it, was used to formulate an Orthodox stance against Origenism. Only in the late 6th and 7th c. does Evagrius's name become attached to the work of the fifth Ecumenical Council, possibly because of hostile trends developing in monasticism. Listed below are early sources attesting to the condemnation or disapproval of Evagrius or certain works of his, whether directly or indirectly stated.

Updated February 28, 2005
Thanks to Alessandro Bausi, Dr. A M C Casiday, Fr. Theophanes (Constantine), Dr. Robin Darling-Young, Fr. William Harmless, Amund Karner, Scott Rhodes, Gregg Serene, and Dr. Tim Vivian for their contributions. Compiled and maintained by Joel Kalvesmaki. Please report any errors or omissions to me by e-mail.