The questions speak to what the theologian Rudolph Bultmann identified as the “world of demons and spirits.” It is a world unseen but palpably felt, intruding on our peace of mind, misguiding our moral choices, and attempting to thwart our efforts to walk with God. Church Fathers such as St. Athanasios the Great (AD 298-373) have definite opinions: “Whence it is quite fitting that the Lord suffered this death. For thus being lifted up he cleansed the air of the malignity both of the devil and of demons of all kinds.” (On the Incarnation, para. 25) Though cultural pressures would have us believe otherwise, evil is afoot and its target is the human heart and soul.

To say that evil is real is obvious We see it everyday, in all life situations, flashing from the screens of our televisions and computers, printed on the page, in lives we don’t know and in many that we do. If we are brutally honest, we see it in ourselves to a greater or lesser degree – shadows of the ancestral sin of Adam, willful steps away from God and towards the hegemony of the self, a deliberate negation of the virtues that constitute the natural life of the God-created soul. As such, Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos suggests that “evil is the state of nothingness” – in freedom we hand over our soul to those  impulses and instincts (passions) that are bent on its defeat destruction: “It is not foods that are evil, but gluttony, not the begetting of children, but lust, not material things, but greed.” (Orthodox Psychotherapy, p. 251)

This evil acquires a personal dimension because its origin and source rests in a once brilliant angel who became, by free choice, “the father of lies” and the enemy of love. Jesus makes this clear: “You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out the desires of your father.” (John 8:44) As to their number? St. John Chrysostom tells us: “How many demons are borne in the air? How many adverse powers? If God were to allow them to show their faces, we would all be driven insane.” (PG Works, Vol. 1, p. 722) We know today, in many respects, that the Biblical demonic possession can be distinguished from mental or physical illness. But what of the power of evil to overtake and control a person – is this actually possible?  Is evil truly real?

The Fathers of the Church were in agreement that demonic possession was distinct from mental or physical illness, though sickness in general was seen to be an expression of the ancestral sin of Adam. As heirs to the Greek medical tradition, the early Fathers understood  “possession” ultimately to have spiritual roots which could be manifest physically or psychologically with varying degrees of severity. Interestingly, the early Fathers used the term insane (or lunacy), and others such as mad, frenzied, irrational, beside oneself, to also refer to heretics, to Satan, to Adam after his turn from God, to pagans, persecutors, and even careless Christians. They felt that anyone who deliberately chose to turn away from God, would, well and truly, not be in their right mind! It would seem, then, that there was a dimension of human freedom and moral choice in the Patristic understanding of possession. 

Evil gains entry in a variety of deceitful and cunning ways and, ironically, the person can open the door to it. St. Gregory the Theologian describes it this way: “The devil attacks from every direction, looking to see where to overturn, where to open a wound and to find what is undefended, and then to strike a blow.” (Philokalia, pp.258, 320) Not the histrionic stuff of Hollywood movies, television shows, or horror flicks, genuine evil enters our heart subtly, secretly, with no drama. It appeals to our weaknesses and targets what works best against us. All that is required of us is to slowly make small decisions that turn us away from God then, gradually, evil exercises greater influence over us – the way we think, the way we speak, the way we live. Evil becomes the human ego run amuck. St. John Chrysostom notes: “A demon cannot deprive us of heaven but sin will assuredly cast us out. For this (sin) is a demon we willingly receive, it is a self-chosen madness. Wherefore also, it has none to pity it (willful sin) or to pardon it.” (Works of Chrysostom, 1978, p. 488) 

Given that sin (evil) is real, personal and pervasive, particularly through the passions, how can we “name the demon”, as Jesus did in the Gospel about the Gadarene demoniac where He addresses the evil one: “What is your name?” He forces the evil one to identify himself, He exposes him, he reveals the deception and brings the great deceit to the searing light of day. Naming the demon, by Christ’s authority, dissipates the evil one’s power and, in the face of Divine Love, it can never stand.  The ascetic Fathers of the Church revealed the stages by which evil gains hold of us and the means to conquer the impulses of evil that beset us every day. They gave us a way to know and to name our demons! It is founded on what St. Diadochos of Photiki taught: “The Grace of God dwells in the very depths of the soul and it is not perceptible to the evil ones.” (On Spiritual Knowledge) We need to dwell in that place in order to conquer evil (the evil one).

The wisdom of the writings in the Philokalia names the stages whereby we become infatuated with evil (sin) and the way we can reject it, transforming our passions from life-threatening to the virtues that are life-giving, turning evil from Renaissance mythology and the images created by Michelangelo, to a living awareness that our ego and self-centeredness is out of control.

Suggestion   We start in the mind where temptations and distractions (logismoi) present themselves, perhaps even sub-consciously, calling for our reaction and response. This is not a sin but only a suggestion. Will we stay with it in our thoughts or will we let it go? Is our faith strong enough to resist the temptation?

Acceptance   The temptation may cause certain emotional reactions (anger, lust, resentment etc.) but it also enters the reasoning process of the mind. We weigh options, debate our path in mere seconds, and accept the negative impulse which can lead directly to sin (evil). Taking the positive side of virtue, might lead us away from evil (sin). We still have the option here to “guard our heart” (nepsis) – to protect that deeper place of love.

Agreement   Now we find ourselves struggling either for or against our own conscience.  We can reason  our doing good or rationalize doing evil. (e.g. the decision to join in gossip or slander about another person or refrain from it) To agree with a negative impulse we have is, in that moment, to choose the way of estrangement from God. It is to decide forevil. The more frequently we make that negative choice, the easier it is to make it. The easier it is to choose evil, the less aware we are that we are doing it.

Enslavement   Having accepted the negative impulse (temptation) and agreed with it, the temptation to sin moves into action. We have moved from thought to the will and not only take pleasure in doing the deed but take satisfaction in our memory and our savouring of it.

Spiritual Sickness (Passion)    We have darkened the nous (soul). We have freely chosen the “sinful falling,” chosen to walk the path of estrangement from God rather than closer to Him.  Sin (evil) can become habitual, an automatic response, an unreflective action that, when continued, can result in spiritual numbness and destruction.  The entire process goes from thought to action and what facilitates the movement from one end to the other is simple — is our free choice.

This is the work of asceticism. Along with prayer, fasting, and humility, we can guard our heart, protect it from evil (the evil one), and ourselves feel the freedom and deliverance that the Gadarene demonic felt. As with everything in Christian discipleship, it will demand hard work and attentiveness.  It requires choosing life over death, and living spiritually aware rather than simply just going through the motions of meaningless, purposeless existence. We don’t end up perfect and we never will. But the point of the battle is not what occurs at its end, it is the struggle itself.  St. John Chrysostom gives us hope: “He that wrestles is still held fast, but it is enough for him that he has not fallen. When we die, then, and not till then, will the glorious victory be achieved. For instance, take the case of some evil desire. The extraordinary thing would be, not even to entertain it, but to stifle it. If, however, this be not possible, then though we may have to wrestle with it, and retain it to the last, yet if we die still wrestling, we are conquerors! (St. John Chrysostom, 1979b, p. 162).  May Christ, the Sinless One, make all of you conquerors!

Your faithful servant,

Fr. Dimitrios