ABSTRACT
Evagrius was, and still is, the teacher of prayer par excellence for the Greek Christian tradition.1 That fact alone justifies the study, transmission and perpetuation of his writing. But there are further reasons to read his works. Evagrius lived in the Egyptian desert during the age of the great desert saints. In fact, he was the disciple of Macarius the Great and also studied with Macarius of Alexandria; he visited John the Seer of the Thebaïd; his teaching influenced Palladius and Cassian, who were both important witnesses to the desert saints. Unlike most of the desert saints, however, Evagrius left behind a substantial collection of writings. He thus provides us with firsthand evidence for what the theology of the desert fathers could be like. Evagrius lived during a period of great flourishing for Christian literature; among his contemporaries are numbered Augustine, Jerome, Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. Even more significantly, Evagrius’ own life intersected the lives of Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, Rufinus and Melania the Elder. The last three of those people, at least, maintained correspondence with Evagrius, even when he was set up in the desert. In this way, Evagrius kept involved in intellectual exchanges that were foundational for the development of Byzantine spirituality. Thanks to Rufinus’ Latin translations of his works and Cassian’s dissemination of what he had learnt from Evagrius, he also exercised some influence on the development of the spiritual life of the Latin Middle Ages. Finally, Evagrius’ name figures prominently (and, regrettably, much to his detriment) in a series of debates about how Christian piety could or should relate to pagan learning during the transitional period of Justinian’s reign. In a small way, then, Evagrius’ fate – whether justifiable or not – is indicative of the cultural negotiations that accompanied the birth
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lator is more or less bound to feel with respect to an ancient author – and the light that it helps shed on the golden age of patristic literature, Evagrius deserves to be better known because it is no exaggeration to say that the recovery and re-construction of his works is a success story for modern scholarship. For centuries, Evagrius was known only, if at all, as a discredited Origenist theologian and (notwithstanding the high regard that some of his works enjoyed pseudonymously) he languished on the margins of respectability. Over the last century, however, dozens of previously lost works have been discovered, edited and studied, with the result that the clouds that have long darkened Evagrius’ reputation have been at least somewhat dispersed. Even if he has not yet been swept up to the lofty heights of being a ‘classic’ fourth-century author on a par with Athanasius or Augustine, at least Evagrius has been retrieved from the dustbins of history. Research into all aspects of Evagrius’ life, thought and works has proceeded steadily and this research has brought together scholars at the international level (most of the great contributions have been made by French and German scholars). Although there is still much to do, future research can build on a broad basis of primary sources and when future researchers carry out their work, they will be able to do so while perching on the shoulders of giants. But to understand why this work is necessary, and to appreciate its significance, what is needed is an overview of Evagrius’ life and the reception of his works.
