pursuit of holiness that many authors of the fourth century and later invoked this concept if they wanted to bestow especially high praise on certain holy men. The emphasis these authors placed on the possibility of the Spirit to make itself manifest in individuals in their own day and age enabled them to link the present with the past in way that transcended time and history.
The most prominent gift of the Spirit that a pneumatophoros communicates for the benefit of others is that of teaching and preaching. Anyone whose teaching was believed to be invested with divine authority was considered a pneumatophoros. The divinely inspired gift of teaching was given first and foremost to the apostles, the evangelists, and the prophets, as well as to Moses.2 The fourth-century biblical commentator Didymus the Blind remarked that the first verse of Psalm 20 was said “either by the man who was a bearer of the Spirit, or by the Holy Spirit himself who was in him.”3 Elsewhere, he compared the pneumatophoros to a flutist, playing on the double meaning of the Greek word pneuma as “breath” and “spirit”: “In the same way as the flute-player produces the sound through the breath (ek pneumatos), so also the Spirit-bearing men (pneumatophoroi) are praiseworthy flutists.”4 In other words, the Spirit flows through the pneumatophoros and inspires his words in the same way as the flute-player uses his breath to produce a tune, an idea that was revisited by Didymus’s contemporary Macarius of Alexandria.5 The same connection between the Spirit and inspired preaching was made by Epiphanius of Salamis in the late fourth century in his rebuttal of the teachings of Paul of Samosata: “Whom shall I believe? With whom shall I agree? From whom shall I receive life in their teaching? From the holy evangelists and Spirit-bearers, who speak the Word that has been sent by the Father, or from these followers of Paul the Samosatian?”6
In addition to preaching and teaching, the pneumatophoros has the gift of discernment. He is able to recognize the true character of people he encounters. According to Pseudo-Macarius, “The inner man, who is called soul and mind, precious vessel, can be recognized and known only by God and by those who are perfect and Spirit-bearers.”7 It was thus high praise when Palladius referred to his teacher Evagrius Ponticus, the great theorist of monasticism in the fourth century, as “the blessed Evagrius, a man who was a Spirit-bearer and who had discernment (aner pneumatophoros kai diakritikos).” 8 Discernment further enabled the bearer of the Spirit to recognize demons even of the most deceitful kind. The mere presence of a pneumatophoros could force demons who had long been concealed to identify themselves and to reveal truths about others. As Pseudo-Macarius put it: “The spirits of evil [are] burnt up when they come near to a Spirit-bearing soul.”9 Countless hagiographical narratives tell such stories. One incident involves Macarius himself, who came across a skull by the roadside. The skull first introduced himself as belonging to a pagan priest and then identified his interlocutor: “But you are Macarius the Spirit-bearer.”10 Of particular relevance to the present study is the ability of pneumatophoroi to pray on behalf of others, which will be explained in greater detail below.
It was crucial to distinguish the true bearers of the Spirit from charlatans and pretenders. How was this done? In the early second century, Hermas suggested: “Evaluate the person who says that he is a bearer of the Spirit, on the basis of his works and his life.”11 The “works” that confirmed the legitimacy of a pneumatophoros were usually miracles as the result of intercessory prayer. The “life” of a pneumatophoros that lent credence to his spiritual abilities had to show his observance of the scriptures at the very least, and intense ascetic practices at best. The frequent application of pneumatophoros to holy men, monastic leaders, and bishops thus begs the question of the interrelation of divine grace and spiritual authority, on the one hand, with personal conduct and ecclesiastical office, on the other.
The bearer of Christ (christophoros) is a related concept. While this designation does not apply to the prophets of the Old Testament, who came before Christ, it is frequently used with reference to the apostles and, more generally, all those who are followers of Christ. A spurious letter by Ignatius of Antioch employs both terms in its address: “To Hero, the deacon of Christ, and the servant of God, a man honoured by God, and most dearly loved as well as esteemed, who carries Christ and the Spirit within him (christophoros kai pneumatophoros), and who is mine own in faith and love.”12 In the same, over-arching sense, Athanasius referred to his fellow orthodox Christians as “lovers of Christ and bearers of Christ.”13 More specifically, though, the designation “Christ-bearer” was applied to martyrs and holy men whose lives, conduct, and deaths bore witness to their imitation of Christ. “After Christ [came] the Christ-bearers,” declared Gregory of Nyssa in his Encomium on Saint Stephen.14 Likewise, the martyrs of the Great Persecution were “Christ-bearers” who were “striving for the greater gifts,” according to Phileas of Thmuis.15 Women, too, could earn this epithet. In a letter attributed to Ignatius of Antioch, the author conveyed greetings “to Mary, my daughter, most faithful, worthy of God, and bearing Christ,”16 while Gregory Nazianzen used this epithet to praise his mother, Nonna.17
While there is some overlap in the meaning and application of “bearers of the Spirit” and “bearers of Christ,” it is important to keep in mind what distinguishes these concepts. Spirit-bearers are most prominently, although not exclusively, recognizable because of their teaching and preaching, which is inspired by the Holy Ghost. They can thus be equated with holders of spiritual authority. Christ-bearers are identified as such because they have followed the example of Christ, either in the course of their life, as is the case with ascetics and monks, or through their manner of death, as is the case with martyrs. They thus represent what we have termed ascetic authority. The essential difference between Spirit-bearers and Christ-bearers is that the former exist in a definite state of grace upon which they have no influence, while the latter exist in a tentative state of spiritual distinction that allows for and indeed requires augmentation in the lifelong effort to imitate Christ. To some degree, this conscious and sustained effort of the individual to mold himself or herself after Christ should be the goal of every Christian. John Chrysostom spoke of those “who walk on the Christ-bearing road”18 and encouraged spiritual leaders to help others in this process: “Let us strive to become fathers of genuine [i.e., spiritual] children, let us be builders of Christ-bearing temples, let us be caretakers of heavenly athletes.”19
Gnōstikos and Pneumatikos
The need for divinely inspired instruction was especially relevant in the context of the quest for spiritual perfection. Long before the establishment of monastic communities with their well-regulated daily routines, small circles of disciples gathered around their teachers in much the same way as philosophical schools had grown around Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus.20 The followers of a Christian teacher sought not merely knowledge in matters of faith, but true insight into the divine mysteries, a kind of revelatory participation in the eternal truth. More than that, they desired to transform their lives after the model of Christ. The role of the teacher in this process was paramount. In order to guide others, he first had to have attained perfection himself, often by following his own teacher. The gift of discernment enabled such a teacher to dole out the right portion of insight or to impose the proper amount of practical exercise that fostered the spiritual growth of each disciple according to his abilities and needs. This kind of instruction became extremely popular in Egypt from the late third century. The desert fathers attracted to Egypt individuals from all over the Roman Empire who came to emulate their lifestyle and receive instruction from them. Anthony is the most prominent, but by no means the first, hermit who withdrew to the solitude of the desert and there attracted disciples. Side by side with eremitic monasticism emerged the more formal arrangement of coenobitic, or communal, monasticism, which was pioneered by Pachomius in the 320s. Some of the greatest hermit-teachers lived in the fourth century. Macarius the Egyptian and Didymus the Blind have already been mentioned. To their number should be added Evagrius Ponticus, who will concern us below.
There is a discernible lineage in the thinking about spiritual guidance that begins with Clement of Alexandria in the late second–early third century, moves on to Origen
