The ExCorde Programme: an annual series of lectures given by respected scholars who share a love of their subject and speak from the heart.

THURSDAY 20 JANUARY 7PM
Monica Tobon PhD – Letting our Light Shine into the Heavens: the Spirituality of Evagrius Ponticus

‘Evagrius Ponticus (c.345399)has been called ‘the father of monastic mysticism’, but although his teachings on purity of heart have enjoyed enduring influence in both the East and, via his disciple John Cassian, the West, his spiritual system as a whole has remained unknown, due in part to the dispersal of his writings following his condemnation, along with Origen and Didymus the Blind, by the Fifth Ecumenical Council, and in part to his sometimes cryptic literary style. This talk presents an overview of that system under the headings (i) ‘Knowing a God who is Love’; (ii) ‘Seeking the Bond of Peace’; (iii) ‘Forming the Spiritual Body’, and (iv) ‘Letting our Light Shine into the Heavens’. In the process it shows how
Evagrius brings his psychological insight, scientific cast of mind, knowledge of Greek philosophy and medical theory and natural aptitude as a contemplative to his reading of Scripture to characterise the soul’s ascent to God in a way that can still be a rich source of inspiration.

Monica Tobon has a PhD and MA in Classics and a BA in Philosophy, all from University College London. Her doctoral research focused on Evagrius’ understanding of purity of heart and she is now working on his spiritual anthropology. She lives in Canterbury and teaches Greek and Late Antique Philosophy and the Philosophy of Religion at the Study Centre.

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