Ilias Bantekas
I. INTRODUCTION
The object of this treatise is to set out the teachings and
monastic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church regarding the nature of
temptations and the remedies available to combat them. In order to do so we
examine the origin of temptations as mental representations, the role of demons
as the senders of temptations, the mechanisms whereby their addressees, namely
human souls, receive the mental representations and thereafter inflame the
irascible and concupiscible faculties of the soul and produce an impulse.
Moreover, we observe the nature of the warfare between the demons and human
beings and the role of God in allowing us to be afflicted by demons and their
temptations. We also examine in what way God himself tempts us and what is the
purpose of such intervention. Finally, we examine the remedies proposed by the
most experienced monks, as these have come down through oral and written
tradition, classifying such remedies into those appropriate for all monks
irrespective of experience (universal) and those reserved only for the most
experienced brethren. It should be noted from the outset that the premise of
the sources used in this thesis have as their primary audience monastic
communities and not secular people. Thus, although it is possible for people
from all walks of life to understand and follow the prescripts outlined here –
at least to some degree, as far as people living in the world are concerned -
the context and the audience are specific in the minds of their authors.
II. LOGISMOI OR MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS
The Orthodox tradition believes that passions and bad
thoughts or suggestions are stored in our heart, and it is from there that they
afflict our body and intellect. Mat. 15:19 claims that “for out of the heart
come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness,
slander”. How is this to be explained in practical and experiential terms?
Temptations and logismoi are
synonymous terms, at least in their effect. The latter signify a suggestion or
mental representation whose origin lies outside the heart, and which according
to the disposition and content of the suggestion this may be a good or bad one.
In this essay we are concerned with bad logismoi,
which are always bad suggestions, in the sense that they bring turbulence to
where should otherwise reign internal peace and they urge the mind towards
vice.
Monastic tradition explains that temptations as logismoi correlate to the three
faculties of the soul, that is the rational, the concupiscible (appetitive) and
the irascible (thumikon) and thus
three types of logismoi are borne:
From the rational originate the logismoi
of faithlessness towards God, non-discernment and all those typically described
as blasphemous.[1] From the concupiscible faculty are borne the logismoi of hedonism, ambition, love for
money and all those generally called filthy logismoi.[2] From the irascible faculty are derived the logismoi of murder, revenge, hate,
upheaval and all those known as wicked.[3] As we shall observe in proceeding sections,
St. Nicodemus puts forward the notion that one should fight such logismoi by nurturing their opposite
virtues. Evagrius Ponticus is best known for his thorough examination and
categorisation of thoughts and temptation in his works On Thoughts and the Praktikos
(abbreviated Greek version of The Monk: A
Treatise on the Practical Life). The three principal evil thoughts are
gluttony, vainglory and avarice. These give rise to the other five, namely,
lust, despondency, pride, dejection and anger.[4] He teaches that each of these vices has its
associated demon and that they are all linked to the principal three as
follows: gluttony is the gateway to lustful thoughts and leads the unwary
ascetic to fornication through the disturbance of the soul’s concupiscible
faculty. Avarice culminates in a fight over food, possessions, or human esteem
and disturbs the irascible part of the soul. Finally, privation of any of these
leads to despondency and failure to destroy avarice leads to pride.[5]
In attempting to find an answer as to the origin of these
mental representations, the apologists, chiefly Origen, and the early Church
Fathers, turned to the sixth petition in the Lord’s prayer, i.e., “lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. Origen, a master of allegory, did
not sanction a literal interpretation, since in his view temptations are a
necessary part of our human condition. The consequence of this exegesis is that
the petition concerns our efforts against succumbing to temptations and not
that they should cease altogether.[6] For Gregory of Nyssa, temptations are
inevitable in worldly life since the world lies in the Evil one. The Evil is
known by many names, in accordance with its numerous evil manifestations. In
this sense, he describes logismoi as
attacks by Evil in the form of worldly allurements.[7] Gregory’s perception of temptation is
therefore no different from Origen, but whereas the latter views temptation as
a transitory stage in our earthly struggle, Gregory suggests without hesitation
that the cure lies in asceticism.[8] Neither of these definitions, however, explain
why temptations persist in the ascetic struggle – and to a far higher degree
than in worldly life – as well as why God allows Evil to provoke our soul and
with almost certainty lead us to succumb to sin. Finally, to Macarius of Egypt,
the spiritual inheritance of the Fall is indwelling sin, “the evil inheritance
of the passions”.[9]
To Orthodox ascetics the Evil one is both a corporeal and
non-corporeal entity. It is chiefly against him that their entire worldly (that
is, both corporeal and mental) struggle is concentrated. His only goal is to
obstruct our vision of God’s ineffable light and glory by keeping us in our
current darkness through an endless chain of worldly allurements. This concept,
however, contains a number of theological contradictions. For one thing, God is
the primary cause of all existence and therefore of Evil. Secondly, God alone
is Goodness, Love and Justness, hence it is not possible that He may wish our
imprisonment to Satan. The only rational conclusion is thus that God permits
Evil to inflict tempting logismoi to
humanity so that we may arrive to a humble knowledge of ourselves and of our
weakness and receive His grace.[10] Equally, because of our natural will, which is
shaped on the basis of God’s indivisible qualities, it is not futile for us to
expect to defeat temptations if we put aside our gnomic will[11] and live a life in Christ. Satan, or the Evil
One, comes to us either as a corporeal entity and inflicts actual bodily pain
and sufferings (this is rare, however),[12] but he primarily imparts suggestions or logismoi which find their way to our
mind and heart and in turn stir up various passions. The former – that is, the
corporeal presence of Satan - is beyond the scope of temptations as such, so we
shall confine our analysis only to the latter. Temptations, therefore, are
personified and evoked by the demons. Evagrius differentiates between two
classes of demons and their corresponding vices. The first tempt the human
person as a human being, while the second as an irrational animal. The first
instil in us mental representations of vainglory and pride – to which irrational
beings are insusceptible – while the second class move our irascibility and
concupiscibility contrary to nature.[13]
St. Athanasius describes the logismoi inflicting St. Anthony in the desert, and emanating from
Satan, as being of two kinds: those that exist only in the form of filthy
thoughts and those that are generated through the impersonation by Satan of
enticing objects or living entities, such as women, glory and gold.[14] The latter kind does not constitute a
suggestion per se, but much like a
suggestion it arouses and kindles the passions of the heart through the medium
of sight. Satan’s temptation is therefore both a logismos, or suggestion that is not transmitted via the five
senses, as well as a conception that is mediated through one of the five
senses. This necessarily means that neither the logismos, nor the sense perception, are in themselves powerful
enough to provoke deviation from Christ. Rather, they are part of the chain of
causes that lead to sin in the following sequence: logismos --> flaring of passion --> action upon the passion.
This explanation is helpful in understanding in later sections why Orthodox
ascetics claim that our struggle is viable only at the stage of fighting logismoi, whereas the next stage wherein
the logismoi have kindled the
passions is extremely difficult to be overcome, much like a dam whose
protective wall has given way to the surging water.
Since Satan tempts us to the end, thus our life is a constant
fight with him.[15] In fact, Satan, who is the source of evil,
made that most evil suggestion to our first parents.[16] St. Paul succinctly describes the purpose of
our earthly struggle as being “not against enemies of blood and flesh, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this
present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.[17] Orthodox tradition believes that Satan’s
grandest success is convincing us of his non-existence. According to St.
Nicodemus, Satan – who is in fact more than one entity – dwells around the
heart by virtue of his energy and not by essence. Before baptism, grace moves
man to good deeds from outside, while Satan dwells inside the heart. Following
baptism, however, God allows Satan to wonder in the periphery of the heart in
order to test our will. It is there that the Evil one tries to “smoke out the
mind with lust for the flesh”. That is why, argues St. Nicodemus, the fathers
vehemently stress that Satan does not want people knowing where he dwells, so
that they will not fight him.[18] Satan struggles against us in six ways: up,
down, right left, front and back. Up, corresponds to our struggles towards
virtue; below, our omissions through negligence which we suffer in order to
attain this virtue; the right represents the demons fooling us with a good
cause in order to turn us towards evil; left denotes that although evil is
staring us in the eye, they urge us to sin; front is when the demons fight us
with logismoi and images of things
which are to follow; behind, finally, their fight against us with memories and
prejudices of things past.[19]
We have seen in what way God allows Satan to attack us with logismoi or perceptible objects, but it
is equally true that God himself inflicts temptations upon us for much the same
reason. God’s temptations, however, are an emanation of what God is, Love, and
this is the way in which they come to us. Satan’s afflictions are not caused by
love but are ultimately sanctified by God for our benefit. Thus, St. John of
Damascus, interprets Mark 5:13 – Christ giving permission to the demons to
enter the swines – as God permitting:
… even the just man to meet with
misfortunes so that the virtue hidden in him may be made known to others, as in
the case of Job. At other times, He permits something iniquitous to be done so
that through this apparently iniquitous action some great and excellent thing
may be brought about, as was the salvation of men by the Cross. In still
another way, He permits the devout man to suffer evil either so that he may not
fall into the presumption from the strength and grace that have been given him,
as in the case of Paul. Someone may be abandoned for a while for the correction
of others so that by observing his state they may be instructed. … God provides
for all creation, and through all creation He does good and instructs,
oftentimes using even the demons themselves for this purpose, as in the case of
Job and in that of the swine.[20]
It is evident, therefore, that God himself tempts us with logismoi and perceptible images for our
benefit.[21] Temptations, whether as logismoi, or perceptible images or situations, are numerous in
kind, ranging from lustful thoughts to calamities such as death of familial
persons and sicknesses. As we shall see in the section on remedies,
self-control over the three principal vices/temptations, coupled with
ascetic/bodily and spiritual exercises helps to avoid any adverse turbulence in
the spirit and does not kindle the passions contrary to nature. It is not clear
from the relevant literature whether the early church fathers and later ascetics
considered that Satan has the power to inflict the whole range of perceptible
images – including death and sickness - or rather, whether God’s Providence
allows him to do so. The question is all the more relevant in light of the
fathers’ admission that Satan at times assumes a corporeal existence in order
to physically harm those ascetics that have erected an impregnable wall to his logismoi. The answer must necessarily be
an affirmative one, since even individuals can harm each other. We must,
however, qualify Satan’s power over man and predicate it always on God’s loving
providence.
Finally, in some writings a third origin of temptation is
cited; other people and our sinful nature.[22] It is doubtful, however, that we are able to
produce temptations for ourselves, as this would negate the rationale for the
temptation itself. Instead, when one says that through our sins we tempt
ourselves, the correct interpretation must be that we employ gnomic will
vis-à-vis our temptations. As regards temptations emanating from and directed
towards other human beings, these constitute a third type to the extent that
they are not provoked by God or Satan. It is irrational to consider that even
these do not have a place within God’s Providence, although they are subject to
the free will of the tempter.
III STIRRING OF
PASSIONS AS A RESULT OF TEMPTATIONS
Christ’s temptation in the garden of Gesthemane constitutes
the archetypal temptation of human existence. The temptation in that case was
impending death by crucifixion and the fear produced as a result. However,
Christ does not allow his gnomic will to overpower his natural will and thus
prevents through free will the penetration of temptation into the heart where
it inflames the passions which eventually lead to sin.
St. John Damascus eloquently explains the domino effect that
results in the arousal of passion.
Passion is a movement of the
appetitive faculty which is felt as a result of a sensory impression of good or
evil. It may also be defined in another way: passion is an irrational movement
of the soul to an impression of good or evil. Thus, the impression of good
arouses the desire, whereas that of evil arouses the anger. Passion in the
general or common sense is defined thus: passion is a movement in one thing
caused by another.[23]
Passion is indeed a reaction to an external event. However,
even where the external event (logismos)
is not prevented from entering the soul’s faculties, we, unlike brute
irrational animals, are equipped with an internal mechanism – through our
cognitive and vital faculties - by which to dissipate it before giving rise to
uncontrolled impulses. In brute animals, when an appetite for something arises
it is immediately followed by an appetite to act because their appetite is
irrational and they lack a natural will. Our soul, on the other hand, possesses
natural will and as a result any external suggestion giving rise to an appetite
goes through a successive process of deliberation,
followed by judgment, then by opinion, finally culminating in choice or selection. It is then that one
moves to act, and this is called impulse.[24] It is evident that the natural will of the
soul sets in motion its cognitive faculties in order to prevent the logismos from succumbing to gnome. It follows that they who do not
employ, or who have blunted, their cognitive faculties will inevitably give in
to gnomic impulses. The danger in
this case is, as St. Gregory of Nyssa points out, that succumbing to one
passion gives rise to all passions, since human weaknesses are linked together
and related to each other and if one of them destroys the protective barrier of
our rational faculty, the whole train of passions enters the soul.[25]
While the terminology employed by the early and later
fathers, as well as by more contemporary ascetics, is not consistent, they are
generally agreed that the phase of passion encompasses the moment where the logismos enters the soul until such time
as it is refined into an impulse against or in favour of evil. Evagrius is
rather more specific on the matter. He distinguishes in man a concupiscible
(desire) and an irascible (incensive) power, both given to him by God and
constituting an integral part of his nature. The irascible faculty is intended
to drive away wolf-like intellections, while the desire serves to lovingly tend
the sheep and produce feelings of compassion and love.[26] While it is evident that these two faculties
are designed to serve a spiritual purpose, Evagrius calls them passions to the
extent that they are unchecked and uncontrolled, the misuse of which can lead
to exactly the opposite effect for which they were given to us (e.g. the
incensive turns to wrath and the desiring turns to lust). The passion is a
potentially flammable material, but it is ignited only by logismoi and other external images and free will against its true
nature. Therefore, it is not the logismos
or temptation that is itself the vainglory injected in the soul, but the
unchecked logismos inflames the vice
of vainglory in the irascible part of the soul. In this sense, we can defend
ourselves from logismoi and
temptations, but we cannot obliterate the underlying passions that lie
scattered around the heart because they are part of our nature.[27] Obviously, for the untrained soul, the passing
of the temptation into the rational faculties will almost certainly lead to a
sinful impulse, but it is not impossible for a strong gnomic will to be defeated at that stage. However, it is for this
reason that the trained ascetics warn us against entertaining bad logismoi, even where we perceive
ourselves to be spiritually strong.[28] We become unsusceptible to passion when our
vision is guided solely by our natural will. In this way, “our souls are moved
by intelligent energies in the direction of the things of the intellect [and it
is then that] our senses and all that go with them are no longer needed”.[29]
IV. THE NATURE OF THE
“ENEMY’S” STRUGGLE AGAINST US
We have already noted that Satan’s greatest victory is his
hiding and thus our false certainty of his non-existence. It is well understood
that Evil, or Satan and all his manifestations are not self-subsistent.
Pseudo-Dennys, for example, delves into an examination of evil in order to
demonstrate the superabundance of Good and the Goodness of Being in God. He
explains that since God is Good and the cause of being, every created being is
necessarily good as stemming from his nature. Evil has therefore originated
from Good and is potentially good, being a weakness and deficiency of the good.[30] Assuming that we have knowledge of, or faith
in the Evil’s existence, of what help is this to us if we cannot discern where
he is and what he is doing to divert our attention to evil rather than Good.
Evil fights us with bad logismoi
alone, as it is unable to penetrate our hearts or take command itself of our
soul. Since evil is itself a creature of God in the same way as we are, and
since the substance and energy of souls is the creation of God alone, no
creature can create a new soul or destroy an existing one. All that is
permitted by our Creator is the blurring of the vision of the soul’s natural
will. Satan, therefore, does not have any power upon us, unless we accept his
suggestions and allow them to obfuscate our natural will.
In this internal struggle, therefore, St. Nicodemus
admonishes the young monks to be fearful of themselves, as well as of their
countless enemies, to which, he adds, they are powerless of offering even the
slightest resistance. He further admonishes fear of the enemy’s habit of
constant fighting, his stratagems and transformations into angels of light,[31] as well as his numerous traps.[32] A monk’s vigilance – as well as any person who
wants to avert Satan from molesting one’s soul – is never-ending; it is
constant until the very last breath of one’s life. The monk is aware, more than
anyone else, that our only chance against the onslaughts of Satan, whose only
weapon is constituted by logismoi or
external representations (that excite our sensory faculties and give rise to logismoi), is to block logismoi from penetrating our mind. We
will examine in other sections how this may be achieved through constant
prayer, chanting, fasting and other means. It is exactly this aspect of our
struggle that is emphasised in Scripture in unequivocal terms: “Give heed to
thyself, lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee”.[33] St. Basil explains that men are very easily
prone to sins of thought because the movement of the mind does not require any
physical exertion and may even be accomplished in a state of weariness. The
mind must, therefore, exercise precaution constantly in prohibiting any
unchecked thoughts, imaginings or sensual images to infiltrate the soul.[34] He explains the precise meaning of the command
“give heed to thyself” in terms of our spiritual struggle as meaning:
Keep the eye of your soul sleeplessly
on guard, for “Thou art going in the midst of snares”.[35] Traps set by the enemy lie concealed
everywhere. Look about you in all directions, therefore, “that you may be saved
as a swallow from the traps and as a bird from the snare”.[36] The deer cannot be caught with traps because
of the keenness of his vision; whence its name, deriving from its own
sharpsightedness. A bird, if alert, easily flies out of the range of the
huntsman’s snare. See to it, then, that you are not more remiss than the
animals in protecting yourself. Never let yourself be caught in the snares of
the Devil and so become his prey, the captured plaything of his will.[37]
Evil does not present the same temptations or external images
to all people. It does so according to each person’s inclinations toward sin
and the intensity varies in accordance with each individual’s personal
struggle. For those who are strong in the spiritual life, the Devil seeks to
win their mind with theological and philosophical intrigues. Thus, he provides
those with an acute mind and those that are prone to a high opinion of their
intellect, pseudo-lofty ideas and philosophical enquiries.[38] This pride that comes with boasting in human
wisdom that was severely criticised by Paul in 1 Cor. 1:18-31 is an example of
allowing the logismos of pride in the
minds of those claiming to possess worldly wisdom. To those who are prone to
entertaining lustful thoughts the Devil showers them with external images and logismoi that flare their passions.
People that have not exercised heed in themselves, or who postpone advent
towards a spiritual life, cannot perceive that such logismoi are unnatural and that they have a particular origin,
target and purpose. Each of these persons allows the logismos to penetrate the mind and from there to flare the passion
until it becomes an inescapable impulse, being wholly unaware of the overall
scheme.
However, even they who are aware of this overall scheme,
particularly monks and pious individuals, find the devil’s snares no less
difficult to combat against. The harder they resist, the more Evil intensifies
its efforts through luring temptations. St. Nicodemus warns that when Evil
knows that we are resisting hard against temptations and we actually seem to be
victorious, Evil takes all temptations away from us so that we may fall into
pride and vainglory. Thus, when we have committed ourselves to a struggle
against Satan, and the latter removes all temptations from our existence, we
should make a mental effort to bring to our mind those temptations that afflict
us the most and proceed to fight them as though they were real and hate them
from within our hearts.[39] This idea that we should fight the devil in
the attacking sense, rather than wait for him to tempt us in order that we may
then resist, is central to St. Nicodemus’s ascetic theology for those
individuals that have advanced in their spiritual ascent. This is in accord
with the theological literature we have examined thus far, which suggests that
our struggle against Satan in our worldly life does not end. The consequence of
this observation is that absent God’s grace, we have no absolute mastery over
our soul and body in this life. St. Nicodemus grounds his rationale regarding
an attacking stance towards Satan not only in monastic tradition and
experiential asceticism, but also in Scripture, particularly Psalm 18:37-38,
which reads: “I pursued my enemies and overtook them and did not turn my back
until they were consumed. I struck them down so that they were not able to
rise; they fell under my feet”. He explains that when we are improving in the
virtues, Satan transforms himself into goodness so that we may follow him to a
certain height, only to drop us suddenly and thus cause us worldly grief and
alienation from God.[40]
It is not clear from the theological literature why it is
that Satan wants to tempt us and lure us away from God. St. John Climacus
teaches that demons afflict us either because we are sensual, proud, or out of
sheer envy. The last of these is a ground for rejoicing, the middle for pity,
whereas the first leads to a prospect of lifelong failure.[41] St. Nicodemus briefly states that peace is a
state of tranquillity achieved through grace and struggle, which Satan wants to
disturb and destroy.[42] This still fails to explain why. We have
already explained that Satan is a creature of God and therefore good by nature,
but obfuscated by gnome, and thus
lacking natural will. Despite being a creature like us, he possesses powers
which we have not realised yet, failing ourselves to employ our natural will.
One may venture to conjecture that our temptations originate in Satan (and God
for educational purposes), but Satan is not subject to temptations by God
because he remembers his union with Him and does not feel any loss in being
apart from Him. Therefore, the educational purpose of temptations granted us by
God would have no effect on Satan. We can only conclude that the purpose of
temptations originating from Satan is adherence to gnomic will. This, moreover,
demonstrates the extent of our free will as a present from our Creator, since
God will not force even Satan to return to Him, who has seen and remembers His
glory. In the next section we shall examine the origination of logismoi and other temptations from God
Himself.
V. TEMPTATIONS
INFLICTED DIRECTLY BY GOD AND THEIR ULTIMATE PURPOSE
God as Goodness naturally wills that the whole of humanity be
saved. Nonetheless, the Creator’s Providence is responsible in that respect
only with regard to those things that do not depend on us; to those that do, we
are responsible through the exercise of our free will.[43] God’s providential scheme is therefore focused
around our salvation and this is his particular justice. Since this informs His
nature it is beyond our comprehension, since we cannot know his nature, as the
creature cannot know its Creator. For the church fathers and ascetics all that
happens to us and which is beyond our control belongs to the realm of God’s
justice. At times it appears as a disparaging calamity, as in the case of death
and sickness, while in others it is revealed in the powerlessness of the
individual in the face of adversities, vanity and lack of self-control. To the
one of little faith, all these instances demonstrate either the lack of God, or
the existence of a cruel God, but to the one who believes strongly in God’s
providence and Goodness, he accepts it as part of God’s justice that is
intended to train us in ascending to Him. St. John Damascus thus explains that:
Some of the things that are due to
providence are by approval, whereas others are by permission. All those that
are undeniably good are by approval, whereas all those that are by permission
[there are many kinds]. Thus, He often permits even the just man to meet with
misfortunes so that the virtue hidden in him may be made known to others. At
other times, He permits something iniquitous to be done so that through this
apparently iniquitous action some great and excellent thing may be brought
about, as was the salvation of men by the Cross. In still another way, He
permits the devout man to suffer evil either so that he may not depart from his
right conscience or so that he may not fall into presumption from the strength
and grace that have been given him, as in the case of Paul.[44]
Thus, where God inflicts certain conditions upon us, or
permits Satan to infiltrate our mind with logismoi,[45] His purpose is soteriological. A death in the
family, a sudden sickness, etc, involve a radical reappraisal of one’s life and
stance towards the will of God and it is subsequently a question of which logismos the inflicted person will
retain; the good one, which has faith in God’s justice and gives thanks to Him
despite the misfortune and the pain it is causing, or the bad one, which
blinded by pain does not believe in the existence of God. God allows for all
these misfortunes so that we may come to a humble knowledge of ourselves and of
our weaknesses.[46] Rational thinking suggests that as long as
evil persists during our lifetime, temptations emanating from that source will
not cease and neither will those derived from God himself. We are therefore
destined to live in a perpetual state of temptations while in the flesh.
Equally, any attempt to obliterate temptations altogether is futile, since even
if we could overpower Satan who is a creature like us, we cannot overpower that
which pertains to the substance of God (i.e., the providential origin of
temptations). Temptation is therefore ultimately providential and not the
result of evil. It is to be welcomed, but fought. This oxymoron is obvious
primarily in the Lord’s Prayer, particularly the part where we ask that we not
be led into temptation, while at the same time asking that God’s will be done.
If God’s will within His scheme of providential justice involves our affliction
with temptations, we would be negating our demand of His will if were to demand
that we not be afflicted with temptations. It must be, therefore, that this
latter part of the Prayer has a meaning which is consonant with God’s will. If
our metaphysical understanding of God is through the manifestation of His
effects, the Orthodox ascetic will find it utterly natural to accept all misfortunes
and calamities as gifts from God. He will thank God for these and will pray
that he not be permitted to indulge in sorrowful thinking or sink into bad logismoi as a result. The ascetic will
have faith and pray that he harvest the maximum crop out of every sorrow in
life so that he will be showered with an abundance of grace in this and the
afterlife. Thus, there is no oxymoron in the Lord’s Prayer, simply our inability
to conceive and understand God’s justice and love.
The ascetic fathers, therefore, confirm that God does not
obliterate all temptations, but leaves some to fight us until death, so that we
may not forget the war and allow passions to take us over and in order to
always seek God, avoid love for self, hate our passions deep within our hearts,
be tested until the end and to learn by such test the value of virtue and never
let it go and to fear not death when it comes.[47] For the ascetic who understands this process,
his exercise encompasses besides defence to temptations also an immeasurable
amount of patience and forbearing. We must assume that since Christ suffered
from temptations until His very end, God does not remove them by grace even vis-à-vis the most uplifted spiritual
beings because of the danger of vainglory. The ascetic fathers teach that in
those exceptional cases where a monk has managed to erect an impenetrable wall
against the temptations of Satan, that person must either strive to discover
within himself and uproot the passions that would have been inflamed by
intruding temptations, and/or retain a trace of temptations, in order to keep
awake the soul’s struggle and vigilance.[48] St. Nicodemus instructs younger monks as
follows: One must contemplate that temptations themselves are necessary
instruments in order to acquire the virtues. Thus, when one requests the
virtues from God, one essentially requests these instruments and temptations
too. Otherwise, our prayer is in vain and is done merely to annoy God. What is
more, God does not grant the virtue of patience without the sorrows that are
the result and instrument of patience. Neither does He grant humility without
frown and contempt. For this reason, we must love, invite and thank God for
these temptations.[49]
God is, however, especially discerning in the way which He
provides temptations to human beings. St. Nicodemus explains to his audience
what they should have already observed; that serious temptations and
afflictions only occur to those that more than others want to give themselves
to the service of God and turn away from things that harm them. Such
temptations do not arise immediately in their struggle, but only after having
served God for some time and cleansed their hearts somewhat. St. Nicodemus explains
that we never see sinners and those who have given their life to the world
suffering from such afflictions, or even complain of being tempted.[50] The experienced ascetic and the pious man is
discerning of the existence of temptations, temptations themselves, the
inflammable nature of passions and the impulse to sin and they also have faith
in God’s justice. While it would be true to say that ascetics have an acute
awareness of temptation because they have full knowledge of and live by the
yardstick of piety and are thus able to perceive every bad logismos and affliction, ordinary people who live by the flesh
alone are imperceptible to the origin, existence and effects of logismoi and take every affliction for
granted without further examination. This does not mean, contrary to what St.
Nicodemus suggests, that non-ascetics are less fought by logismoi and misfortunes than ascetics, since we have already
explained that the purpose of God is to save everyone. Rather, on the one hand
ascetics are more discerning of their logismoi
and on the other God’s temptations correspond to the measure of each person’s
weakness and are meant to build up through exercise. This is a slow process,
but the speed of progress belongs to each one of us and is a matter of free
will.
It is, therefore, out of love that God gives us temptations,
so that we can remove ourselves from a false viewing of our existence. As an
example, or a type, he brought the Apostle Peter in such a position as to
renounce Christ thrice and thus realise his natural condition and sickness and
repent through humility. Again, to Paul he gave vision of all there is in
heaven, but afflicted him with a physical condition, so that by humbling
himself he should only boast about his sickness.[51] The diversity in temptation is exemplified by
the diversity in human life and character and thus God’s gifts are individual.
It is the way that we ultimately receive them and deal with them that is
crucial for our spiritual advent.
VI. REMEDIES AGAINST
TEMPTATIONS
The treatises examined in this article, it should be
remembered, are addressed to those engaged in the monastic life. While the
nature of this struggle against the demons is one and objective, the remedies
offered are of two kinds: a) those that are suited for everyone, and; b)
remedies administered in accordance with experience and spiritual progress, and
which are not to be exercised by inexperienced brethren.[52] Among the universal remedies are included: a)
practicing of the opposing virtue that corresponds to each temptation; b)
discernment; c) prayer, psalmody and vigils. The most common exercises reserved
only for the most experienced monks are the direct use of the irascible faculty
to attack the demons and a direct confrontation against them.
The early desert fathers analyse each form of temptation on
its own specific merits. The demon of fornication is to be fought through
regimented fasting and other practices that prevent the body from succumbing to
sensual appetites, such as all-night vigils, labour and other bodily toils.[53] At the same time, the monk should pray
ceaselessly and engage in psalmodies. The latter are intended to prevent the logismos/temptation from entering the
intellect, and the monk, at least in his/her early stages, must avoid any
contact with the opposite sex and fight through prayer the intrusion of lustful
thoughts.[54] Evagrius suggests a complementary exercise for
fighting the demon of fornication. He argues that the demon of vainglory and
that of fornication are naturally opposed, because the former promises honours
and the latter is the forerunner of dishonour. In this manner, they are unable
to attack the soul simultaneously and thus [experienced monks may] if one of
these demons approaches, one may employ the thoughts of the opposing demon.[55] The demon of avarice is to be curbed through
renunciation of all worldly possessions. The fathers teach, however, that when
monks practice such renunciation, the demon of avarice suggests to them in more
subtle ways and under the guise of charity that if they were to be entrusted
with the administration of property or the accumulation of wealth they would be
able to provide for the poor. The monk who succumbs to such logismoi is not only overcome by the
demon of avarice, but also by the demons of vainglory and pride who at that
stage have convinced their poor victim of his/her glorious hospitality, charity
and goodness.[56] The demons of vainglory and pride usually attack
the monk during such time as he/she has achieved some spiritual progress.
Evagrius teaches that alone among all thoughts, vainglory encompasses an
abundance of matter, filling the mind of the anchorite with numerous words and
objects.[57] This demon may suggest to the monk that he now
requires solitude in order to perfect himself and thus urges him to abandon the
monastery and the guidance of his/her spiritual father. The advice in this case
is to remain in one’s cell and not only to remain in the monastery, but also to
avoid contact with the outside world for fear that the demon of fornication may
find him unprotected. Each author gives a particular emphasis on a virtue that
he considers central to ascetic spiritual efforts. For St. John Climacus, the
destruction of vainglory and pride through humility is key to opposing all
other demons. Such humility is particularly achieved through strict and
unwavering obedience to one’s spiritual father,[58] by remembrance of death,[59] mourning[60] and by meekness.[61]
The demon of anger finds fertile ground to attack the monk
when he/she is fighting for food, wealth or esteem.[62] If one, therefore, masters the three principal
temptations, then the demon of anger will be defeated as well. Equally, the
demons of dejection and despondency attack the ascetic either during particular
parts of the day, or as constant logismoi.
Unlike other demons, that of despondency does not involve the element of
pleasure in his mental representation sent to the monk. Both the temptations of
despondency and that of dejection urge the monk to leave his cell and even the
monastery on a permanent basis because he cannot find any form of spiritual
rest or solace as a result of the temptation. The remedy for this temptation is
to close one’s thoughts to such suggestions and remain in one’s cell until such
time as the demon is defeated.[63]
Ascetic discernment is of two types: a) the first is an
exercise that is intended for the struggling ascetic in order to differentiate
between those thoughts and visions which come from God and those that come from
the demons, whereas; b) the second type is the state attained by those who are
pure in heart, body and speech and through which they possess a solid
understanding of the will of God at all times, places and in all things.[64] As far as the first type of discernment is
concerned, Evagrius distinguishes between three types of thoughts, i.e.,
angelic, human and demonic.[65] We have discussed the latter, but the monk
must constantly be alert in order to distinguish the origin of each thought.
Evagrian discernment encompasses an intellectual exercise. He teaches that when
a logismos is afflicting a monk,
he/she must intellectually distinguish “the thought [itself], what it is, how
many elements it consists of, and among these what sort of thing it is that
most afflicts the mind”. A thorough application of this exercise helps to dissipate
the thought and make the demon flee.[66] Evagrius also proposes an additional mental
exercise that is only reserved for the more experienced and purified ascetics.
This exercise involves contemplating the limited power of demons and their
total inability in perverting the will of God when that is expressed.[67] This is tantamount to rationalising one’s
fears, as is for example the rationalisation of the fear of darkness, but in
the case of the demons this is intellectually possible only if one actually
perceives the activity of the demons. St. John Cassian suggests that true
discrimination comes only as a result of humility and this in turn is achieved
by confession not only of what a monk does but also of what he/she thinks and
by never trusting one’s own thoughts and always being immersed in obedience.[68]
When an inexperienced monk is attacked by a particular demon,
he/she is not always well placed to defend with mental exercises. The demons
find as easy prey a coarse, overfed and over-indulging body and a defenceless
from external thoughts mind. The ascetic must therefore avoid exposing his body
to over-indulgence and his mind to any sort of appeasement and relaxation. This
involves a very strict and strenuous regime of fasting – the early desert
ascetics ate and drank water once a day – all night vigils and ceaseless
prayer. Sleep is deemed not only to invite the demons to tamper with the
concupiscible and irascible faculties of the soul,[69] but is also an over-indulgence which the monk
has to combat in order to avoid being attacked by those temptations that are
grounded in the body. In their early stages, monks will find it particularly
difficult and exhausting to fast in such a way, to stay awake for the better
part of the day and concentrate on their prayer, but these difficulties are as
much attributed to habit as well as to the demons themselves. This constant
alertness is best exemplified in the words of St. John Climacus, who argues
that when temptation comes the best weapons are:
“sackcloth and ashes, all night
vigils, standing up, hunger, the merest touch of water when we are thirsty,
time passed among the burial places of the dead, and most important of all,
humility of heart; and if possible a spiritual director or a helpful brother,
old in wisdom rather than years, should also support us”.[70]
Recalling the words of St. Paul (Eph. 5:19), Evagrius tells
us that psalms, hymns and spiritual songs call the mind to the constant
remembrance of virtue, cooling our boiling irascibility and extinguishing our
desires.[71] Prayer, similarly, has a twofold purpose for
Evagrius. On the one hand, it invigorates and purifies the mind for the
struggle ahead “since it is naturally constituted for prayer even without this
body”, while on the other hand it is useful for fighting the demons on behalf
of all the powers of the soul.[72] The twentieth century Russian Athonite, St.
Silouan, was in his early monastic years troubled by demons during his prayer.
In fact, he himself recalls how his cell was filled with demons that made every
effort to prevent him from praying with a pure mind. The Lord communicated to
the staretz’s (Russian monastic elder) soul that the proud always suffer from
devils to which St. Silouan asked the Lord what he should do to make his soul
humble. The Lord responded as follows: “Keep thy mind in hell, and despair
not”.[73]
Finally, let us discuss the remedies suitable only for the
experienced ascetics. The first of these is the employment of anger against
demonic thoughts. The irascible part of the soul is naturally inclined against
the demons and it is only unnaturally that it is directed otherwise.[74] Impassibility and perfection may be deemed
attained when perfect hatred against the demons is coupled with absence of
anger against other human beings. Such natural hatred, however, is reserved for
the experience ascetics, particularly those that have overcome human anger.
Evagrius claims that when the soul has forgotten its natural relationship with
the irascible faculty, God abandons the monk by permitting him to suffer terror
at the hands of the demons for some time, until the soul returns to its
original hatred.[75] The second remedy for the experienced ascetics
that have overcome vainglory involves a direct confrontation with the demons,
either by citing passages from the Bible – as did Jesus himself when tempted –
or through speaking the true word of God and thus proving to Satan that he is
wrong. Such methods are strongly discouraged in the case of persons that have
yet to achieve some degree of impassibility, urging them instead to fight logismoi through contempt, silence and
turning one’s eyes from them.[76]
VII. CONCLUSION
The Eastern Orthodox Church and its monastic community have
developed a long and consistent theology on temptations afflicting ascetic
life. Temptations are viewed as mental representations, otherwise known as logismoi, which are conveyed by the
demons in order to cause the stirring of the passions in human beings.
According to the Evagrian scheme regarding the classification of demonic
thoughts – and which has been accepted down the centuries with very slight
modifications, if any – three principal demons/temptations exist: gluttony,
avarice and vainglory. These give rise to the other five, namely, lust,
despondency, pride, dejection and anger. Rejection of the principal three
necessarily cuts off access to the latter five. The purpose of such temptations
is their intrusion in the human soul and inflaming of its irascible and
concupiscible faculties, thereby giving rise to an impulse and perpetration of
the corresponding vice. This constitutes an unnatural exercise of the two
faculties, whose existence in the soul is reserved for love and procreation
(concupiscible) and hatred of the demons (irascible).
The fact that the demons are responsible for this invisible
warfare does not mean that they are capable of challenging God for spiritual
dominion. On the contrary, they too are creatures of God and as such were made
in his image, which is Good. Therefore, demons and evil in general are a
perversion of goodness, not a self-subsistent reality. This means that the
demons can afflict us but they do not know the inner depths of our souls. The
Lord allows them to tempt us so that through such a struggle we can come to realise
our weaknesses and infirmities. This is consistent with Christian doctrine that
no one can be saved contrary to his/her own will. The affliction of logismoi differ from person to person
and Orthodox monks are adamant that the demons’ greatest achievement is to
convince people that they do not in fact exist. Secular people, preoccupied
with a myriad or worldly affairs, do not ponder on the origin and content of
their thoughts, whereas monks, having set aside all worldly affairs, are
constantly conscious of this warfare in their souls.
Monastic tradition since the days of the early desert fathers
of the fourth century has developed antidotes to the war against spiritual
life. For one thing, they teach us to practice the opposing virtues that
corresponding to each vice. In its extreme form, this is very difficult for
those leading a secular life, but not for the monk whose ascetic environment
and vow of poverty is ideally suited for practicing the opposing virtues of
gluttony, vainglory and avarice. Nonetheless, no monk has ever been free from
these three demons and the example of the demon of avarice subtly intruding the
soul of even the most committed brethren by suggesting that if he were to
administer property or own some money he/she could do many charitable works, is
instructive. The boundaries between avarice and vainglory, gluttony and
fornication are so close that the monks are instructed to confess all thoughts
to their spiritual fathers and strictly abide with their advice, as well as
practice discernment with regard to their thoughts. Those individuals that
overindulge in bodily pleasures and have a slack mind (these two are connected
in any event) fall easy prey to the demons. Therefore, it is important that the
body be hardened and the mind not be allowed to wander. The former is achieved
through fasting, all night vigils, manual labour, austerity, while the latter
by ceaseless prayer and psalmody. An exercise typically reserved for the most
experienced brethren, involves employment of the irascible faculty of the soul
to stir up hatred against the demons.
Notes:
[1] St. Nicodemus Agiorite, Invisible War [Aoratos
Polemos], p. 53. This treatise was composed in the latter half of the 18th
century.
[2] Id.
[3] Id, p. 54.
[4] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 1, translated by R. E. Sinkewitz, Evagrius of Pontus (OUP, 2003);
see also, St. John Climacus, The Ladder
of Divine Ascent, translated by C. Liubheid and N. Russell (SPCK, 1982),
who follows the Evagrian scheme of evil thoughts and vices, at pp. 235-55;
similarly, St. John Cassian, On the Eight
Vices, in the Philokalia, translated by G. E. H. Palmer, P. Sherrard and K.
Ware (Faber and Faber, 1979-1995), pp. 73-93.
[5] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 1, id.
[6] St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Lord’s Prayer, Introduction, pp. 14-15.
[7] Id, pp. 82-83.
[8] Id.
[9] St. Macarius, in M. Plested, The Macarian Legacy: The Place of
Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (OUP 2004), p. 79.
[10] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, pp. 23, 133.
[11] See Maximus Confessor, Opuscule 3.
[12] St. Athanasius, The Life of Saint Anthony, pp. 26-29; see also, Gerontikon: Compilation of the Wisdom of the
Fathers [Gerontikon: Stalagmaties apo
tên Peterikê Sophia], pp. 389-91. This treatise, also known as Euergetinos, is compiled with anecdotal
stories and sayings of the desert fathers of the first six centuries.
[13] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 18, supra note 4.
[14] St. Athanasius, supra note 12, pp. 22-23.
[15] St. John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions, pp. 182-84.
[16] Gen. 3:1; see also St. John Damascus, Orthodox Faith: Book Two, pp. 228-29.
[17] Eph. 6:12-14.
[18] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, p. 120.
[19] St. Nicodemus, id, p. 135.
[20] St. John Damascus, supra note 16, pp. 261,
263.
[21] See St. Macarius of Egypt, in Plested, supra
note 9, pp. 36-38. Macarius calls the advent of temptation an education for the
soul.
[22] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, p. 23; St.
Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, pp.
33-34; Gerontikon, supra note 12, p.
387.
[23] St. John Damascus, Orthodox Faith: Book Two, pp. 246-47.
[24] Id, pp. 247-51.
[25] St. Gregory Nyssa, On Virginity, p. 25.
[26] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 17; St. John Climacus, supra note 4, at p. 251.
[27] Evagrius demonstrates the arousal of passions
absent temptations by reference to demonic arousal of passions during sleep,
wherein the perceptive senses are shut off to logismoi. Hence, passions exist within us in dormant form and can
be aroused by memory. On Thoughts 4,
27-29, id.
[28] Gerontas Paisios Aghiorite, Lectures C: Spiritual Struggle [Gerontas
Paisios, Logioi G: Pneumakitos Agônas] (2004), pp. 20-32.
[29] Pseudo- Dennys, Divine Names 4:11.
[30] Id, chp. 4:19-20.
[31] 2 Cor. 11:14.
[32] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, pp. 22-23.
[33] Deut. 15:9.
[34] St. Basil, Ascetical
Works, vol. I, pp. 432.
[35] Eccl. 9:20.
[36] Prov. 6:5.
[37] 2 Tim. 2:26; St. Basil, Ascetical Works, vol. I, p. 434.
[38] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, p. 37.
[39] Id, p. 52.
[40] Id, pp. 174-75.
[41] St. John Climacus, supra note 4, at p. 239.
[42] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, at p. 124.
[43] St. John Damascus, Orthodox Faith: Book Two, pp. 260-61.
[44] Id. p. 261.
[45] Id, p. 263.
[46] St. Nicodemus interprets 2 Cor. 1:9, where
Paul says that on account of their terrible afflictions in Asia they “would
rely not on [themselves] but on God who raises the dead”, as exalting one to
ponder at one’s own sickness by observing one’s thoughts and deeds for a single
day in order to realise how ignorant, selfish and stupid these are. Supra note
1, pp. 23, 133.
[47] St. Nicodemus, id, p. 63.
[48] Id, pp. 163-64.
[49] Id.
[50] Id, p. 286.
[51] Id, pp. 288-89.
[52] St. Nicodemus, id, pp. 50-51, distinguishes
between remedies suitable for the weak and alternative ones for the more
experienced brethren.
[53] Such asceticism is not contrary to the bodily
hardships castigated by St. Paul in Col. 2:20-23, because in the Colossian
context Paul criticised severity that by itself and without the intervention of
grace was preached as providing spiritual maturity and knowledge of all things.
Monks, on the other hand, practice asceticism in order to invite God’s grace.
[54] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 3 and 16; St. John Cassian, On
Eight Vices, supra note 4, p. 76.
[55] Evagrius, Praktikos
58.
[56] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 21; Evagrius, Praktikos
18.
[57] Evagrius, On
Thoughts 14, 15.
[58] St. John Climacus, supra note 4, pp. 91-120
[59] Id, pp. 132-135.
[60] Id, pp. 136-145
[61] Id, pp. 146-151
[62] Evagrius, Thoughts
1.
[63] Id, 9, 12.
[64] St. John Climacus, supra note 4, p. 229.
[65] Evagrius, Thoughts
8.
[66] Evagrius, Thoughts
19.
[67] Id.
[68] St. John Cassian, On the Holy Fathers of Sketis, p. 103, in Philokalia, supra note 4.
[69] Evagrius, Praktikos
54, 55.
[70] St. John Climacus, supra note 4, p. 179.
[71] Evagrius, Praktikos
71.
[72] Id, 49.
[73] Sophrony, Archimandrite, The Undistorted Image: Staretz Silouan (The Faith Press, 1958), p.
200.
[74] Evagrius, Thoughts
5; St. John Climacus, supra note 4, p. 153.
[75] Id, 10.
[76] St. Nicodemus, supra note 1, pp. 50-51.
Source: Ilias Bantekas, “The Metaphysics of Temptation in
Eastern Orthodox Monasticism,” Theandros,
4(2), 2006/2007.
