Evagrius's Kephalaia Gnostika: A New Translation of the Unreformed Text from the Syriac

Writings from the Greco-Roman World #38

by Ilaria Ramelli

Evagrius exerted a striking impact on the development of spirituality, of Origenism, and of the spiritual interpretation of the Bible in Greek, Syriac, and Latin Christianity. This English translation of the most complete Syriac version of Kephalaia Gnostika makes Evagrius Ponticus's thoughts concerning reality, God, protology, eschatology, anthropology, and allegorical exegesis of Scripture widely available to scholars and students. Ramelli provides an integrated analysis of Evagrius's ascetic and philosophical writings. The volume includes an extensive introduction on the importance of Evagrius and the context of his thought, the text and English translation, commentary, and a bibliography.

Genres: Theology

508 pages, Hardcover

First published October 29, 2015

About the author

A historian, scholarly author, and university professor, a specialist in ancient, late antique, and early mediaeval philosophy, especially the Platonic and Stoic traditions; ancient Christian philosophy, theology, and history (in Greek and Latin sources, partially also Syriac, Coptic and Armenian—with a predilection for Origen of Alexandria and the Origenian tradition down to the Cappadocian Fathers, Evagrius Ponticus, Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and John Scotus Eriugena, and including Augustine of Hippo whom she incorporates within the Origenian tradition); Hellenistic Judaism and Jewish-Christian relations; ancient religions and their philosophical interpretations; classics; and imperial and late antiquity. She is deeply interested in the relationship between Theology and Philosophy in ancient "pagan," Jewish, and Christian thought and endeavors to bridge the gap between these disciplines and promote an integrative (but also in-depth and specialistic) study of antiquity and late antiquity, against a tendency to compartmentalize research. She is also very much interested in contemporary philosophy, theology, and social and ethical issues, as her scholarly and popular publications attest.

Reviews

[Eggtown · Rating 5 out of 5]

KG 3.58. The one who is going to see written things needs light, and the one who is going to learn the wisdom of beings needs spiritual love.

This was an exhausting read… but in a good way! What I mean: it was highly demanding to enter the complicated, multifaceted, thought-world(s) of Evagrius Ponticus (born 345/6, dead 399) here concerning, as translator Ilaria L. E Ramelli writes, his masterpiece and most difficult text, Kephalaia Gnostika (KG for short).

Evagrius is THE desert theologian among the Desert Fathers who was the first to systematized their teaching and whose writings had an enormous influence on the monastic ascetic tradition for centuries to come. However, his influence was indirect, and that was because of the two Origenistic Controversies which were politically motivated theological disputes concerning some of Origen’s teachings that were deemed heretical (also misunderstood as Ramelli shows in her commentaries). The first controversy broke out a couple of years before Evagrius death in 399, and the second during the sixth century – and as Evagrius’s writings were greatly inspired by Origen, especially in KG, his name became tainted and the original Greek of his more philosophical works were lost. Many of his writings survived by being attributed under other names (like "Nilus of Ancyra") or incorporated in anthologies. (A great place to start if you want to dive into Evagrius’s writing is the great introduction by Casiday: Evagrius Ponticus, and Sinkewicz’s translation and commentary: Evagrius of Pontus: The Greek Ascetic Corpus.)

Evagrius maintains in KG that only God is Goodness in essence and he solves the problem of evil (theodicy) saying that everything God has created is therefore good, however, as a consequence of the Fall free will exists and evil arises from bad choices. Evil was not created by God, as it is the very opposition to Goodness. As it was not created by God it goes against nature (unnatural to the soul). Moving away from the Good you fall into evil (vices), even more so, as God is also essential Being, by not participating in God you don’t even in a sense exist (you fall into nonbeing)… as God created everything that exist out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) then nothing can oppose God:

KG 1.1. There is nothing that is opposed to the First Good, because it is Goodness in its very essence; now, there is nothing that is opposed to the Essence.

Kephalaia Gnostika survives in two different redactions in Syriac, labeled S1 and S2, where S1 is what is called expurgated: texts or parts removed for being too Origenistic (also the case for an Armenian and an Arabic version). S2 is the most original, authentic version of the text available and this is the one Ramelli has translated here. (However, it is worth noting that despite the prevailing scholarly consensus, some scholars, such as Casiday, have argued that S1 represents the most original version.)

Evagrius spent his last sixteen years in the Egyptian desert, mainly in the monastic community called Kellia (The Cells) - living, studying, teaching, copying, and writing an impressive amount of psychologically penetrating ascetic treatises, philosophical works, and instructing letters. The ascetic treatises deal with teachings on the practical life of the monks, like diet, fasting, concerning possessions, and manual labor – but also like The Ascetic (Praktikos) about the monk’s struggle against the Eight “Evil” Thoughts (eight passions/demons/vices) and gives remedies against those – monastic handbooks to combat demons, pretty cool!

Evagrius is probably most famous for creating the list of the Eight Thoughts, investigating these eight vices/demons and systematizing it (gluttony, fornication, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory and pride) which in the 13th century was modified into the Seven Deadly Sins.

KG is the last part of a trilogy of texts starting with The Ascetic (Praktikos), continued with The Gnostic (Gnostikos) and ending with KG, the most advanced. Traditionally KG is translated as Chapters on Knowledge, Ramelli translate the title as Propositions on Knowledge, which makes more sense as it consists of six discourses/books, each discourse has 90 propositions. These propositions are usually quite short, often cryptic and riddle-like.

Like this perfect syllogism:

KG 1.2. Opposition exists [i.e., is inherent] in mixtures; now, mixtures exist in bodies: therefore, opposition exists in creatures.

Or these:

KG 3.39. A part of the fire is capable of burning, and another is incapable. And capable of burning is that which burns sense-perceptible matter, whereas incapable of burning is that which finishes off the disturbance of those disturbed. And the first does not burn the whole of the sense-perceptible mass, whereas the second is able to burn the whole of the mass of the disturbance.

KG 5.17. Just as the waves, when they rise, produce a shadow, and immediately they appear without a shadow, in the same way, when the intellections of beings will flee away from the pure intellect, they will be immediately known in turn.

It was a very demanding read for me – like first of all: what do these even mean?

Without Ramelli's excellent introduction and commentaries I would have been lost. Another reason is that I haven’t read much of Evagrius two main inspirer: Origen of Alexandria and Gregory Nyssen/of Nyssa, the latter was a close personal friend of his. Their thinking and ideas are infused everywhere in KG. So much that I feel I should have read Origen’s On First Principles and Gregory’s On the Soul and the Resurrection before tempting this work as both those books are constantly referred to by Ramelli for elucidation.

The third reason is that this work is not really meant for laypeople. Evagrius wrote it for the spiritual and intellectual advancement for already advanced disciples and monks. These propositions contain esoteric knowledge and they are meant to be ruminated on, contemplated and for intense investigation into the real meaning behind the scriptural text.

As I am not practicing the monastic lifestyle: Am I even able or worthy to discover this knowledge? I was continually reminded of this during my reading, maybe to cover up my own ignorance, but mostly as Evagrius constantly hammers it in, proposition after proposition: You can only gain knowledge of God with the aid of virtues and you can only gain virtues by purifying yourself physically and mentally through ascetic practices. Ramelli also explains in her commentaries that in Evagrius’s system virtue and knowledge are interdependent: “Virtue enables knowledge, and knowledge enhances virtue.”

What are these propositions about? They concern, as Ramelli writes, “Evagrius ideas about reality, God, protology, eschatology, anthropology, and allegorical exegesis of Scripture.” Heavy stuff! It’s about the beginning (protology) and how it is connected to the end (eschatology), and especially what will happen in the end is a central theme of the book concentrated on Origen’s concept of apokatastasis or universal restoration.

Like his main inspirers Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius was a Christian Platonist and it needs to be emphasized how much Platonic (both Middle and Neo) ideas are synthesized with Christian ones in KG. For instance, what the Scripture often refers to “heart” is for Evagrius, like Origen often a reference to the intellect. The intellect is the rational faculty of the soul, it’s the highest part of the soul, following the Platonic tripartition of the soul with the other two lower faculties being "the concupiscible" and "the irascible". And it is only the pure or bare intellect that can contemplate or “receive” spiritual knowledge:

KG 3.6. The bare intellect is that which, by means of the contemplation that regards it, is joined to the knowledge of the Trinity.

The propositions throughout KG are diversely composed, some are gnoseological statements and syllogisms, others similes/metaphors to exegetical reflections of Scripture. These reflections are many throughout KG, and Evagrius always applies a spiritual/allegorical interpretation in the same way as Origen and Gregory do.

What I find really beautiful in KG is that Evagrius asks you to investigate these propositions, examine them yourself, study, probe, test… see for yourself, try them out, do it yourself! As his book in itself is a teaching tool for you to get started, to guide you, to direct you, however, all the work you have to do yourself. You have to earn the knowledge!

KG 6.77. Is it the exit of Christ from the Father that Gabriel announced to Mary, or his coming from the world of angels to that of human beings? Now please investigate again also regarding the disciples who lived with him during his bodily existence, whether it is from the world that is seen by us that they came with him, or from another, or from others (worlds/aeons), and whether some of these, or all. And moreover investigate further whether on the basis of the psychic state they had, they happened to become disciples of Christ.