Kuo-Yu Tsui: The Body in the Ascetic Thought of Evagrius Ponticus

This paper explores the notion of the body in the ascetic thought of Evagrius Ponticus, a key figure of early Christian asceticism in the fourth century Egyptian desert. Evagrius' writings reflect his double heritage of Greek philosophy and emerging Christian theology. On the one hand, like Plato in Phaedrus and other dialogues, Evagrius observes that when the body is tempted and distracted by the irrational passions of the soul (psyche), it can impede the monk’s spiritual practice of prayer and contemplation.As therapeutic practice for the potential of such negative, unbidden modesof the body (i.e., flesh/sarx), Evagrius prescribes a rich array of physical and psychological ascetic disciplines to help train and guide the monk along the challenging spiritual journey toward apatheia.Onthe other hand,within the context of Evagrius' cosmology, the body is represented as not inherently evil, but rather as a modality in the tripartite structure body/soul/intellect that was precipitated from the movement of differentiation at the Fall. Withinthis scheme, Evagrius describes the body as the unique divinely created instrument (organon) through which the fallen will may work out and receive salvation.It is only through the body that human beings can learn to overcome passions, establish virtues, and thus purify the soul for participation intheoria and agape. In Evagrius' apokatastasis, there will be a restoration of incorruptible bodies, impassible souls, and intellects of true knowledge, and ultimately, a unity of divine love that subsumes all mortal bodies and all plurality.