My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE WORLD OF DARK AND EVIL SPIRITS
The origin of evil. But from when did moral evil arise? God created the world PURE, PERFECT, FREE FROM EVIL. EVIL entered the world as a consequence of THE FALL, which occurred, according to the word of God, originally in the world of fleshless spirits, and then in the human race, and was reflected in the whole of living nature.
According to the ;testimony of the word of God, the ORIGIN OF SIN, COMES FROM THE DEVIL. "He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning" [1 John 3:8]. "Whoever has been born of God, does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God" [1 John 3:9]. The word "devil" means "slanderer." Bringing together the evidence of Holy Scripture, we see that the devil isone of the RATIONAL SPIRITS or angels who DEVIATED INTO THE PATH OF EVIL. Possessing, like all rational creatures, the freedom which was given him for becoming perfect in the good, he "abode not in the truth" and FELL AWAY FROM GOD. Saint John Damascene writes, "Every rational being is free. The Angelic nature, then, insofar as it is rational and intelligent, is free; while, insofar as it is created, it is changeable and has the power TO PERSEVERE AND PROGRESS IN GOOD OR TO TURN TO EVIL." The Savior said of him: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth , because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it" [John 8:44). He drew the other angels after himself into the fall. In the epistles of the Holy Apostle Jude and the Holy Apostle Peter, we read of the angels "which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation" [Jude, v. 6; 2 Peter 2:4].
What was the cause of the fall in the Angelic world? From this same Divine Revelation we can conclude that the reason was PRIDE: THE BEGINNING OF SIN IS PRIDE, says the son of Sirach (Sirach 10:13). The Apostle Paul, warning the Apostle Timothy against making bishops of those who are newly converted, adds: "Lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil" [ 1 Timothy 3:6].
The evil spirits are mentioned in only a few passages in the Old Testament Revelation. These places are the following: We read of the "serpent," the tempter of the first people, in the third chapter of the Book of Genesis. The activities of "Satan" in the life of the righteous Job are related in the first chapter of the Book of Job. In First Kings it is said concerning Saul that "an evil spirit troubled him" after "the Spirit of the Lord departed from him" (I Kings 16:14-I Samuel]. In the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon it is said that "through the devil’s envy DEATH ENTERED THE WORLD" [Wisdom 2:24].
An incomparably more complete representation of the activity of Satan and his angels is contained in the New Testament Revelation. From it we know that Satan and the evil spirits are constantly attracting people to evil. Satan dated to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the desert. The evil spirits rush into the souls and even into the bodies of men; of this there is the testimony of many events in the Gospel and of the teachings of the Savior. Concerning the habitation of evil spirits in men, we know from the numerous healings by the Savior of the demon possessed. Evil spirits spy, as it were, ON THE CARELESSNESS OF MAN SO AS TO ATTRACT HIM TO EVIL: "When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation" [Matthew 12:43-45]. This same happens here. Unless is full-hearted repentance and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, the expelled demon will return with many others and reoccupy its abode. Withe regard to the healing of the bent woman, the Savior said to the ruler of the synagogue: "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bond, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed form this bond on the Sabbath days?" (Lukw 12:16).
Likewise, the Holy Scripture calls evil spirits, "unclean spirits," "spirits of evil," "devils," "demons," "angels of the devil," "angels of Satan." Their chief, the devil, is also the "tempter," "Satan," "Beelzebub," "Belial," the "prince of devils," and other names like "Lucifer" (the morning star). Taking the form of a serpent, the devil was the tempter and the cause of the fall into sin of the first people, as is related int eh third chapter of the Book of Genesis. In the Apocalypse (Revelation) he is called "the great dragon, that old serpent" {Revelation 12:9).
The devil and his angels are deprived of remaining in the heavenly dwellings of lights. "I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven," said the Lord to His Disciples (Luke 10:18). Being cast down from the world above, the devil and his servants act in the world under the heaven, among men on earth, and they have taken into their possession, as it were, Hell and the underworld. The Apostle calls them, PRINCIPALITIES, POWERS, THE REULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD" [Ephesians 6:12]. The devil is "the prince of the power of the air" {Ephesians 2:2). and His servants, the fallen angels, are the "spirits of wickedness under the heaven" [Ephesians 6:12].
Man’s Fall into Sin
Why was man’s fall into sin possible? The Creator imparted to man THREE GREAT GIFTS AT HIS CREATION: FREEDOM, REASON, AND LOVE. These gifts are indispensable for the spiritual growth and blessedness of man. But where there is freedom there is the possibility of wavering in one’s choice: thus, TEMPTATION IS POSSIBLE. The temptation for REASON IS TO GROW PROUD IN MIND, INSTEAD OF ACKNOWLEDGING THE WISDOM AND GOODNES OF GOD, TO SEEK THE KNOWLEDGE OFGOOD AND EVIL OUTSIDE OF GOD TO DESIRE ONESELF TO BE A "god." The temptation for the feeling of LOVE is: IN PLACE OF LOVE FOR GOD AND ONE’S NEIGHBOR, TO LOVE ONESELF AND EVERYTHING THAT SATISFIES THE LOWER DESIRES AND GIVES TEMPORARY ENJOYMENT. This possibility of temptations and fall stood BEFORE MANKIND, AND THE FIRST MAN DID NOT STAND FIRM AGAINST IT.
Saint Diadochos of Photiki states: "Evil does not exist by nature, nor is any naturally evil, for God made nothing that was not good. When in the desire of his heart someone conceives and gives form to what in reality has no existence, then what he desires begins to exist. We should therefore turn out attention away from the inclinations to evil and concentrate it on the REMEMBRANCE OF GOD, FOR GOOD, WHICH EXISTS BY NATURE, IS MORE POWERFUL THAN OUR INCLINATION TO EVIL. The one has existence while the other DOES NOT, except WHEN WE GIVE IT EXISTENCE THROUGH OUR ACTIONS."
Having said all the above we, as contemporary citizens of the world, witness the real influence of the evil one in it. We see the expansion of the "so- called contemporary paganism," and neopaganism across Europe, North Africa and the Near East. Modern pagans can also include atheists. Contemporary paganism has been associated with New Age movement. There is Luciferian Witchcraft, Wicca, etc. are well known. Satanism has generated a stronger presence in contemporary society. All of the pagan cults continue to war against Christianity and compete for a greater input and influence on the direction that humanity should take. The human race, unfortunately, is invested very heavily on hedonism, and materialism, and therefore it is more interested in this earthly and temporary life rather than the heavenly life, the Kingdom of God. The contemporary person is ones again falling in the same trap as before. In Adam’s replies to God, we see from the beginninghis desire to flee from God’s sight and an attempt to hide his guilt; we see the untruth in his saying that he had hidden from God only because he was naked; and then the attempt at self-justification and the desire to transfer his guilt to another, his wife. Blessed Augustine says: "Here was pride, because man desired to be more under his own authority than under God."
With the entrance of sin, man lost the Grace in which he had been created. Because his nature had become corrupted by sin, Grace was now foreign to it. Saint John Damascene writes: "And so, man succumbed to the assault of the demon, the author of evil, he failed to keep the Creator’s Commandment and weas stripped of Grace and deprived of that familiarity which he had enjoyed with God." Saint Symeon the New Theologian writes: "When with his whole soul he (Adam) believed the serpent and not God, then Divine Grace which had rested on him, stepped away from him, so that he became the enemy of God by reason of the unbelief which he had shown to His words." When man lost the Grace of God, he experienced SPIRITUAL DEATH, AND THIS SPIRITUAL DEATH MADE HIM SUBJECT TO PHYSICAL DEATH. Saint Gregory Palamas writes: "It was indeed Adam’s SOUL THAT DIED BY BECOMING THROUGH HIS TRANSGRESSION SEPERATED FROM GOD; FOR BODILY HE CONTINUED TO LIVE AFTER THAT TIME, EVEN FOR 930 YEARS. The death, however, that befell teh soul because of the transgression not only crippled the soul and made man accursed; it also RENDERED THE BODY ITSELF SUBJECT TO FATIGUE, SUFFERING, AND CORRUPTIBILITY, AND FINALLY HANDED IT OVER TO DEATH." (Philokalia vol. 4, p. 296).
Elsewhere Saint Gregory Palamas expounded further on what is meant by the DEATH OF THE SOUL: "Physical death is when the soul leaves the body and is separated from it. THE DEATH OF THE SOUL IS WHEN GOD LEAVES THE SOUL AND IS SEPARATED FROM IT, ALTHOUGH IN ANOTHER WAY, THE SOUL REMAINS IMMORTAL. Once separated from God IT BECOMES MORE UGLY AND USELESS THAN A DEAD BODY, BUT UNLIKE SUCH A BODY IT DOES NOT DISINTEGRATES AFTER DEATH SINCE IT IS NOT COMPOSITE."
However, this natural bridle of suffering and death does not uproot the very source of evil. It only restrains the development of evil. It was most necessary for mankind to have A SUPERNATURAL POWER AND HELP which might perform AN INWARD REVERSAL WITHIN HIM AND GIVE TO MAN THE POSSIBILITIY TO TURN AWAY FROM A GRADUALLY DEEPENING DESCENT AND TOWARDS VICTORY OVER SIN AND A GRADUAL ASCENT TO GOD. God’s Providence foresaw the future fall of man’s free will which had not become strong. FORESEEING THE FALL, HE PREARRANGED AN ARISING. ADAM’S FALL INTO SIN WAS NOT AN ABSOLUTE PERDITION FOR MANKIND. THE POWER, WHICH WAS TO GIVE REBIRTH, ACCORDING TO GOD’S PRE-ETERNAL DETERMINATION, WAS THE DESCENT TO EARTH OF THE SON OF GOD. [Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology]
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not totally destroy the influence of Satan all at once, but destroyed his power to enslave man through fear of death, and gave us the means to turn the evil one’s snares to nothing, As Apostle James says: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (4:7). We cannot consider ourselves to be free from attacks of the evil one. We have been given the spiritual weapons to defeat him: OUR PRAYER, FASTING, MORAL STRUGGLES AND, ABOVE ALL, HOLY COMMUNION. Let us remember that salvation consists in our UNION WITH GOD, EFFECTED BY CHRIST THROUGH HSI HOLY CHURCH, IN WHICH THE POWER F THE EVIL ONE IS BEING STEADILY AND PROGRESSIVELY DESTROYED BY THE LIFE OF MUTUAL LOVE AND MORAL STRUGGLE WHICH IS FULFILLED IN AND BY THE CHURCH AND THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. OUR DEFENCE AGAINST SATAN IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST WHO IN HIS PRAYER SAID: "…AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE,"
__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
"
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 