The ''Praktikos'' () is a guide to ascetic life written by the early Christian monk
Evagrius Ponticus
Evagrius Ponticus (), also called Evagrius the Solitary (345–399 AD), was a Christian monk and ascetic from Heraclea, a city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor. One of the most influential theologians in the late fourth-century church, ...
. It was originally written in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, but also has
Syriac and
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
versions. This work is the best preserved of all the Evagrian writings due to the relatively large number of manuscripts and wide distribution (Bamberger 1972:lix-lx).
The ''Praktikos'' consists of 100 chapters. Of the 100 chapters of the ''Praktikos'', demons are mentioned in 67 of them.
Although originally written in Greek, there are manuscripts of the ''Praktikos'' in Syriac, Armenian,
Ethiopic (Ge'ez), Georgian, and Arabic.
Outline
Below is a brief outline of the 100 chapters of the ''Praktikos''.
*Introductory letter to Anatolius
*
-5Prologue
*
-14The eight kinds of evil thought (''logismoi'')
**
Gluttony
**
Impurity (lust; sexual immorality)
**
Avarice
**
0Sadness
**
1Anger
**
2Acedia
Acedia (; also accidie or accedie , from Latin , and this from Greek , "negligence", "lack of" "care") has been variously defined as a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in th ...
("noonday demon"; sloth)
**
3Vainglory
**
4Pride
*
5-39Against the eight passionate thoughts (''logismoi'')
*
0-56Instructions
*
7-62The state bordering on ''
apatheia
In Stoic philosophy, ''apatheia'' (; ) refers to a state of mind in which one is not disturbed by the passions. It might better be translated by the word equanimity than the word indifference. The meaning of the word ''apatheia'' is quite diffe ...
''
*
3-90On the signs of ''
apatheia
In Stoic philosophy, ''apatheia'' (; ) refers to a state of mind in which one is not disturbed by the passions. It might better be translated by the word equanimity than the word indifference. The meaning of the word ''apatheia'' is quite diffe ...
''
*
1-100 Apophthegmata: Sayings of the holy monks
*Epilogue to Anatolius
A more detailed outline is given as follows:
*Preface: Letter to Anatolius on the symbolic meaning of monastic clothing
*Chapters 1–5: Introduction
**1: Christianity as faith/practice (''praktikē''), contemplation of nature (''physikē''), and knowledge of God (''theologikē'')
**2–3: Kingdom of God and knowledge of the Trinity
**4: Desire, feeling, passion
**5: The monastic combat against demons
*Chapters 6–14: On the Eight Thoughts (''logismoi'')
**6: List of the eight
**7: Gluttony (''gastrimargia'')
**8: Fornication (''porneia'')
**9: Love of money (''philarguria'')
**10: Sadness (''lupē'')
**11: Anger (''orgē'')
**12: Listlessness (''
acēdia'')
**13: Vainglory (''kenodoxia'')
**14: Pride (''huperēphania'')
*Chapters 15–33: Against the Eight Thoughts
*Chapters 34–39: On the Passions
*Chapters 40–53: Instructions
*Chapters 54–56: On What Takes Place During Sleep
*Chapters 57–62: On the State Close to Passionlessness (''
apatheia
In Stoic philosophy, ''apatheia'' (; ) refers to a state of mind in which one is not disturbed by the passions. It might better be translated by the word equanimity than the word indifference. The meaning of the word ''apatheia'' is quite diffe ...
'')
*Chapters 63–70: On the Signs of Passionlessness
*Chapters 71–90: Practical Considerations
*Chapters 91–100: Sayings of Holy Monks
**91: Fasting joined to charity leads to purity of heart
**92: Antony and the philosophers
**93: Macarius the Egyptian
**94: Macarius
he Alexandrian**95–99: Anonymous
apophthegms
**100: Loving the brethren
*Epilogue: Prayer to Christ; rejoicing for the intercession of
Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus (; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was an early Roman Christian theologian and prelate who served as Archbi ...
See also
*
Hesychasm
Hesychasm () is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Christian traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in ...
*''
Gnostikos''
References
*Bamberger, John Eudes, trans. 1972. ''Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer''. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications.
*Meyendorff, John. 1974. ''St. Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality''. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.
Further reading
*Bamberger, John Eudes, trans. 1972. ''Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer''. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications.
*''Evagrius Ponticus, Praktikos & On Prayer''. Oxford: Faculty of Theology, 1987.
*Sinkewicz, Robert E., trans. 2003. ''Evagrius Ponticus, The Greek Ascetic Corpus'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
External links
{{wikiquote, Evagrius Ponticus
The ''Praktikos'' online, with Greek text(Translation by Luke Dysinger, O.S.B.)
Hesychast literature
4th-century books