Compunction and Compassion: Two Overlooked Virtues in Evagrius of Pontus

Abstract

Instead of an extreme asceticism characterized by imperturbability, Evagrius’s thinking should rather be characterized by two often overlooked virtues, compunction and compassion, that, together with the other virtues and imperturbability, form the systole and diastole of the monk’s life. These make it possible for the call of the Prophets and the words of the Psalmist to take up personal residence in each individual, on behalf of others, in the gentle sympathy of divine love. Divine sympathy is, in fact, the model for understanding the range and root of compassion, for it is present in a remarkable way in both piercing repentance for our weakness and loving mercy for others.

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