Diadochus of Photike
Little is known about Diadochus of Photike (fl. V Century), the author of "100 Chapters on Spiritual Perfection." He was a student of Evagrios Ponticus and was an opponent of monophysitism. As bishop of Photike, he signed the affirmation of Chalcedon made by the bishops of Epirus. Diodochus also opposed Messalianism, a teaching that each person has a personal demon to be exorcized by constant prayer. He is thought to be the author of a sermon on the Ascension and a dialogue with St. John the Baptist.
Diodochus' work on spiritual perfection discusses the virtues, especially love, and their attainment through prayer and contemplation. People begin their lives in innocence, a state out of which they naturally grow; leading a life of virtue creates a state of informed innocence, the state summed up in Christ's injunction to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. The resulting love and contemplation are the wellspring of Christian doctrine.
Karen Rae Keck
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