Angelic Pneumatology in the Egyptian Desert: The Role of the Angels and the Holy Spirit in Evagrian Asceticism

This article explains why Evagrius seemingly neglects the Holy Spirit in his ascetical writings, even though we know from doctrinal texts that he held a robust pneumatology. This paucity of Spirit references confused twentieth-century scholars, who dismissed Evagrius as having unorthodox positions regarding the Trinity. An analysis of Evagrius's references to the angels and the Spirit, however, shows that Evagrius's silence regarding the Spirit is due to his increased attention to the roles that the angels play in the beginning stages of the ascetic life. As mediators, the angels assist the monks who are in the beginning stages of the ascetic life while the Spirit interacts with those who are in more advanced stages.