『師父たちの金言』とポントスのエウアグリオス

抄録

The Apophthegmata patrum is generally considered as one of the best witnesses about early monasticism in Egypt, especially about its spirituality. But it is equally well known that manuscript traditions of this document are extremely complicated, and one still does not know its primitive form nor the extent of the apophthegmata contained in that primitive form. Then, which elements that one finds in the extant form of the Apophthegmata patrum can be considered as deriving authentically from monks of the 4th century?
To answer this question, the present paper compares the Apophthegmata patrum with the writings of Evagrius, a productive monastic author in the last two decades of the 4th century, and this comparison gives following results:
-The image presented in the Apophthegmata patrum about the material (or physical) aspect of monastic life is more or less the same as Evagrius wrote in his writings, and this shows that the image presented in the Apophthegmata patrum is probably authentic on this point.
-On the other hand, the image drawn in the Apophthegmata patrum about the spiritual aspect of monastic life differs on certain points from that of Evagrius, and this is possibly connected with the existence of different spiritual currents in the Egyptian monastic milieu.
-The comparison in the present paper reveals also some criticism directed against Evagrius by the compiler (s) of the Apophthegmata patrum, and thus confirmed is the often suggested impression of the anti-Origenist tendency of the document.