Teachings on the Prayer of the Heart in the Greek and Syrian Fathers

Table of Contents.....................................................................................v
Abbreviations ..........................................................................................vii
Primary Sources .............................................................................vii
General and Secondary Sources...................................................ix
Introduction ..............................................................................................1
The Doctrine of the Prayer of the Heart...................................13
Historiographical Considerations ...............................................25
1 The Prayer of the Heart: Its Biblical Origins ............................45
The Old Testament .......................................................................45
The New Testament .....................................................................54
2 The Prayer of the Heart: Its Syrian Christian Background.....61
Aphrahat .........................................................................................61
Ephrem the Syrian.........................................................................79
Macarius ........................................................................................100
3 The Prayer of the Heart: Its Greek Christian Background...125
Origen of Alexandria ..................................................................125
Evagrius of Pontus......................................................................160
4 The Early Byzantine Synthesis ..................................................181
Dionysius the Areopagite...........................................................181
Maximus the Confessor..............................................................206
5 Retrospective and Prospective ..................................................231
The Desert Tradition ..................................................................231
The Medieval Hesychasts...........................................................240
Conclusion.............................................................................................253
Bibliography ..........................................................................................269
Primary Sources ...........................................................................269
Secondary Sources.......................................................................274
Index.......................................................................................................289