Evagrius Ponticus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500

114 passages across 8 books of the Bible · Who was this?

Commentary

20 of 114
  1. Psalms 26:3
    If Christ our God is truth, as indeed he said, “I am the Truth” and if David in truth was pleasing to God, surely David was pleasing to God in God.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 25[26].3

  2. Psalms 26:6
    Our mind is the rational altar on which we burn all irrational thoughts with the fire sent from the Father.… When the soul reflects on itself, it encompasses the altar of God, nor does it seek a corner of corruption.… Contemplation is the altar of corporeal and incorporeal things by which my mind is cleansed. One who embraces it, that is, learning, declares all the marvels of God.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 25[26].6

  3. Psalms 27:3
    One who follows the active life wages war by his own virtues with alien virtues. One who follows the contemplative life using true dogmas destroys every thought opposed to the knowledge of God.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 26[27].3

  4. Psalms 27:14
    The strong heart is that which is not filled with false doctrines or impure thoughts.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 26[27].14

  5. Psalms 29:7
    The voice of the Lord extinguishes the burning arrows of evil. That voice is the spiritual teaching that calls the ones believing in Christ grounded in wisdom.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 28[29].7

  6. Psalms 30:4
    All who are mindful of the mercy of God confess him.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 29[30].5

  7. Psalms 30:5
    In the same way that wrath arises from the indignation of God, so even life is generated from his will. If “life” indicates knowledge, … then wrath denotes lack of knowledge. Death is a turning from life. Wrath, then, indicates death, a deprivation of contemplation.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 29[30].6

  8. Psalms 30:11
    Mourning turns to joy and the understanding of God to action.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 29[30].12

  9. Psalms 31:1
    Not only does God free us into righteousness but also into temperance, fortitude and love. He uses “righteousness” to embrace all virtues. Perhaps he understands “Christ” for “righteousness.” “He is made wisdom to us by God and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].2

  10. Psalms 31:3
    He leads through right faith and works and nourishes through his own understanding.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].4

  11. Psalms 31:5
    Here spirit indicates mind. The mind that clings to God is one spirit.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].6

  12. Psalms 31:8
    The reasons of temptation, when they are realized, provide a broad plane for the soul.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].9

  13. Psalms 31:9
    Nothing darkens the mind like unbridled wrath.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].10

  14. Psalms 31:18
    One who speaks falsely receives mercy when he becomes silent. He gives up deceit.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].19

  15. Psalms 32:3
    Strong spirits do not wax old from continual shouting to God, but they are renewed from day to day. From silence they wax old, entangling people who are corrupted through false desires.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 31[32].3

  16. Psalms 32:5
    A righteous person accuses himself at the beginning of his speech.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 31[32]: 5, 6

  17. Psalms 32:5
    Pray first to receive tears, so that through compunction you may be able to mollify the wildness that is in your soul, and, having confessed against yourself your transgression to the Lord, you may obtain forgiveness from him.

    CHAPTERS ON PRAYER 5

  18. Psalms 32:9
    He calls the irrational movement of spirit “horse” and “mule.” Intellect is rational thinking and judgment.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 31[32].9

  19. Psalms 33:1
    The Lord is wise, so by rejoicing in the Lord, the righteous rejoice in wisdom.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 32[33].1

  20. Psalms 33:7
    Praise is the movement of the spirit translated from ignorance to virtue and knowledge.

    NOTES ON THE PSALMS 32[33].8

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