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Document Details : Title: Evagrius Ponticus and the Psychology of 'Natural Contemplation' Author(s): BRADFORD, David T. Journal: Studies in Spirituality Volume: 22 Date: 2012 Pages: 109-125 DOI: 10.2143/SIS.22.0.2182849 Abstract : Evagrius was the first ascetical theologian of the Christian tradition and one of its most influential. His mystical theology has been widely discussed with the exception of his writings on ‘natural contemplation’ (theoria physike). Traditional spiritual writings regularly mention natural contemplation but provide relatively few details and little practical exposition. This study has nine sections. The first is concerned with textual sources. The second situates natural contemplation in Evagrius’s outline of the stages of the ascetic life. The third shows that the two forms of natural contemplation are aspects of a single cognitive process. The fourth is focused on psychological insights mediated through natural contemplation. The types of contemplative objects are reviewed in the fifth section, and the mystic’s identification with the objects is discussed in the sixth. The seventh section highlights contemplation’s effect of inhibiting sensory perception. The eighth is concerned with extraordinary spatial perceptions intrinsic to contemplation. The temporal duration of the two forms of natural contemplation is considered in the final section. This is the first psychological analysis of natural contemplation. |
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