Early Christian teaching on the Struggle with Tempting Thought s Andriy Chirovsky MASI Study Days 2011 Why this title Its pretty exotic and makes me sound smart I was trying to grab as much space as possible in the brochure ID: 361180
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Concepts Plundered by Passions
Early Christian teaching on the Struggle with Tempting Thoughts
Andriy Chirovsky, MASI Study Days 2011Slide2
Why this title?
It’s pretty exotic and makes me sound smart.
I was trying to grab as much space as possible in the brochure
It’s a quote from Evagrius
2Slide3
3
In Peri Logismon (On Thoughts) Ch. 17, Evagrius writes about the concepts (noemata) of this world being entrusted to human beings, like sheep to a good shepherd. To do this, humans are given two tools: Indignation (
thumos
) and Desire (epithumia).Indignation is for
fighting off “concepts of wolves”.Desire makes it possible to lovingly tend the sheep, despite bad weather.Slide4
4
Concepts of other people or of things are “caught by wild beasts” when we react to them in a disordered or passionate way. Then those concepts are “plundered by the passions.”Slide5
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So get your ducks (I mean sheep) in a row!
What were you
thinking?Slide6
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The human capacity for self-deception is vast.Fighting temptation is closely tied in with knowing what we are really thinking, why we are having the thoughts that we are having, and whether it is good to have the thoughts we are having or not.Slide7
Who is Evagrius?
A 4
th
century ascetic in Egypt
An astute observer of human behavior (a psychologist)A thinker deeply respected for those psychological insights, but also despised for some of his speculative writing.7Slide8
Evagrius Ponticus
b. 346 at Ibora in Pontus
(today Northern Turkey)
Disciple of: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus
Rufinus and MelaniaMacarius of AlexandriaMacarius of Egypt
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Evagrius influenced:
John Cassian
Gregory the Great
The Entire Christian West through the notion of the Seven Deadly SinsThe Entire Christian East ( though mostly anonymously) through his psychology and ascetical insights
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You can read some of the works of Evagrius:Praktikos, (about ascetic practice)Gnostikos, (about being worthy of knowledge)
Peri Logismon
(about thoughts)Antirrhetikos (about talking back to demons and their tempting thoughts)Slide11
11
You can read St. John Cassian in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Series II, Vol. XI). Of particular interest are Books 5-12 of the Institutes and Book 5 of the Conferences. Slide12
Early Christian Monastics
Earliest: Communities of Widows and Virgins3rd
century Syrian “Sons and Daughters of the Covenant”
Egyptian Monasticism:Antony, Pachomius (upper or Southern Egypt),
Amoun (Nitria), Macarius (Scetis), et al.Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, the West
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Evagrius, The Praktikos,86: “The rational soul operates naturally when its desiring part (epithumetikon) desires virtue, and its spirited part (thumikon) fights for virtue, and its reasoning part
(
logistikon) applies itself to the contemplation of creatures.”Slide14
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Rational Soul1) Mind/Intellect (Logistikon or
H
egemonikon)Composed ofA) NousB) Dianoia
2) Thumos or Thumikon (The Irascible Part)3) Epithumia or Epithumetikon (The Desiring Part)Slide15
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Evagrius, The Praktikos,#1: ”Christianity is the teaching of our Savior Christ consisting
of:
ascetical practice (praktike),
the [contemplation of] nature (physike),and
theology (
theologike
)
.”Slide16
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Praktike
(Ascetical Practice):
The Battle with tempting thoughts (
logismoi
) that are full of passion and are suggested to us by demons. This battle is continual. Tempting thoughts come through sensation, memory or by direct suggestion by demons.Slide17
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Theoria
(Contemplation) or
Gnosis
(Knowledge):
Physike Theoria
(Contemplation of Nature)
Theologike Theoria
(Contemplation of God) Slide18
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From the Praktikos,6:“THERE are eight generic [tempting-] thoughts (logismoi), that contain within themselves every [tempting-] thought
:”Slide19
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“first is that of gluttony (gastrimargia);and with it, sexual immorality (porneia);third, love
of money(philargyria); fourth,
sadness (lype);fifth, anger (orge);sixth acedia (akedia);
seventh,
vainglory (
kenodoxia
);
eighth,
pride (
hyperephania
).”
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“Whether these thoughts are able to disturb the soul or not is not up to us; but whether they linger or not, and whether they arouse passions or not; that is up to us.”Slide21
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In the end, the goal is to move beyond concepts altogether, and into direct, intuitive knowledge of God: conceptless union with God
. That is
theologike theoria, or simply
THEOLOGIA.Slide22
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“If
you are a theologian, you pray truly; and if you pray truly, you are a theologian
.”
Evagrius, On Prayer, 61Slide23
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It’s all about what is true and what isn’t.