Evagrius of Pontus on exodus and the virtues

Journal article


White, Devin L.. (2019). Evagrius of Pontus on exodus and the virtues. Vigiliae Christianae: a review of early Christian life and languages. 73(5), pp. 516-530. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341416
AuthorsWhite, Devin L.
Abstract

In On Prayer 1-4, Evagrius of Pontus reads the incense described in Exodus 30:34-37 as an allegorical type of the four cardinal virtues. This essay explains the logic of Evagrius’s interpretation, situating his argument in a longstanding philosophical debate about the interrelationship of the virtues. By reading the incense as virtue, Evagrius joins both Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa in interpreting Exodus as a source for virtue theory, as well as several ancient philosophers who explained the virtues and their interrelation by comparing them to physical substances combined in a mixture. Central to Evagrius’s argument is the compound ancient philosophers called a “juxtaposition” (σύνθεσις), the use of which term shows Evagrius’s knowledge of a well-attested hexaplaric variant in Exod 30:35. In sum, authorized by his text of Exodus, Evagrius suggests the virtues relate to each other in the same fashion that the ingredients of a σύνθεσις relate to each other.

Keywordsevagrius of pontus; exodus 30:34-37; virtue; mixture theory; hexapla
Year2019
JournalVigiliae Christianae: a review of early Christian life and languages
Journal citation73 (5), pp. 516-530
PublisherKoninklijke Brill NV
ISSN0042-6032
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341416
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85074192826
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range516-530
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All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online09 Oct 2019
Publication process dates
Deposited17 Dec 2021
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