Religion and Violence: Help from the Egyptian Desert

Support for political violence by fundamentalist religious movements is both wide-spread and problematic, and now especially in Christian fundamentalist circles. To address this, this essay describes important components of the sophisticated ascetic and contemplative theory of spirituality of the fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions (Basel, Switzerland ) Switzerland ), 2024-06, Vol.15 (6), p.723
Main Author: Parsons, Stuart E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Christianity
contemplation
early monasticism
Egypt
ethics
Evagrius
Evangelicalism
political violence
Religion
Spirituality
Theology
Violence
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Summary:Support for political violence by fundamentalist religious movements is both wide-spread and problematic, and now especially in Christian fundamentalist circles. To address this, this essay describes important components of the sophisticated ascetic and contemplative theory of spirituality of the fourth-century desert Christian spiritual master Evagrius of Pontus. Then, based on his theory, this essay offers guidance to modern-day Christian and non-Christian clergy who want to avoid alienating their congregations through partisan political stances, but who nevertheless seek to reduce those mental, emotional, and relational pathologies in their congregations which predispose passive and active support for political violence.
ISSN:2077-1444
DOI:10.3390/rel15060723