Moses and the Monk: Two Desert Voices on the Centrality of Thought Life in Spiritual Formation

Abstract

A disciplined mind provides the foundation for many approaches to spiritual formation. Whether Catholic, broadly Protestant, evangelical, or of another religious heritage, many writers address the role of thought life in spiritual disciplines. This essay provides an evangelical assessment of one Desert Father, Evagrius de Pontus, who wrote often about the mind and sets his insights alongside those in Deuteronomy. While the essay may introduce the reader to one more ancient writer, the essay can also assist students of spiritual formation in the vital task of reading sources with theological discernment.