Evagrius' Chapters on Prayer famously characterise the highest
form of prayer as beyond both images and concepts, thus situating their
author within the rich tradition of Christian apophasis whose witnesses
include Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Moses, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the Cloud of Unknowing,
John of the Cross and Thomas Merton. Yet despite the vigour of this
tradition the very notion of Christian apophasis remains controversial,
suspected by its critics of failing properly to grasp the significance
of the Incarnation. This paper aims accordingly to clarify the
significance of apophasis in Evagrius. Taking his ‘Gnostic Trilogy' as
paradigmatic of his spiritual system, it will note the likely
Platonic/Neoplatonic/Cappadocian influences upon Evagrius' apophaticism,
explore the role of apophasis in the spiritual life, how it relates to
Evagrius' anthropology and eschatology, and how, far from betraying a
deficient engagement with the reality of the Incarnation, it enables
Evagrius' spirituality to be profoundly incarnational.
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