Religion and Violence: Help from the Egyptian Desert

Religion and Violence: Help from the Egyptian Desert

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Support for political violence by fundamentalist religious movements is both wide-spread and problematic, and now especially in Christian fundamentalist circles.To read more 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 click here 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.