The thoughts - the struggle for inner freedom, © 2023
by Samuel Rubenson
63 pages
Graphic design: Tomas Einarsson
Cover image: Gunhild Sannes
In this book, Samuel Rubenson conveys the teaching that has reached us from Evagrius of Pontus (d. 399), perhaps the most important figure in the early monastic tradition. The texts in the book are an edited version of a series of reflections that were published in the journal Pilgrim in the years 2005–2007.
Evagrios was the one who summarized the main features of the spirituality that came to characterize the monasteries in both East and West. Through the sharpness with which he lays bare the inside of man, he not only anticipates what modern psychology only put into words in the 20th century, he lays the foundation for the great Christian guidance tradition.
In Samuel Rubenson's pithy texts, Evagrius' teaching makes clear how the way to myself and the way to God are always one and the same. The path where I, as a human being, become free to love God and all created things.