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 WAR BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
"And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his Angels fought with
the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not
prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the
great dragon was cast out , that serpent of old, called the Devil and
Satan, WHO DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD, HE WAS CAST OUT
WITH HIM" [Revelation 12:7-9].
The Almighty God and Divine Creator created all things, including Angels and humans, as good and beautiful. Lucifer was an Angel who abused his free will and rebelled against God. Lucifer’s fall was THE FIRST INSTANCE OF EVIL, and he became known as Satan. Lucifer, whose very name (literally meaning "LIGHT-BEARING") indicates that originally he was good. By his OWN WILL he changed from his natural state into one which was UNNATURAL; he rebelled against God out of pride and fell away from grace and good into evil. Lucifer, also called the devil [Greek diavolos – 'divider', 'separator', 'slanderer'], belonged to one of the highest ranks in the Angelic Hierarchy. Together with him other angels also defected, as the Book of Apocalypse (Revelation) tells us metaphorically: "And a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch…and A THIRD OF THEIR LIGHT WAS DARKENED" [Revelation 8: 10-12].
"Then, the Fifth Angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him
was given the key to the BOTTOMLESS PIT. And he opened the bottomless. And he opened
the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the
sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit" [Revelation 9:1-2].
By exercising their own free will the devil and his demons found themselves in darkness. Every reasonable living creature, whether Angel or human being, possesses FREE WILL: THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL. Free will is the property of everyone so that we can, by practicing good, become an ontological part of that good. In other words, GOODNESS WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE GRANTED EXTERNALLY TO US BUT MUST BECOME OUR VERY OWN POSSESSION. If God IMPOSED GOODNESS as a necessity or an inevitability, then no one could ever become A PERFECTLY FREE PERSON. ‘Nobody has ever become good by force’, says Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Through UNCEASING GROWTH IN VIRTUE the Angels were meant to ASCEND TO THE PLENITUDE OF PERFECTION, TO THE POINT OF UTTER ASSIMILATION TO THE GOD OF SUPREME GOODNESS. Yet some of them chose TO REJECT GOD and thereby sealed their own fate and the fate of the universe, which from that moment onwards became an arena for two contending polar (yet not equal) principles and powers: THE DIVINE AND THE DEMONIC, God and the evil.
Orthodox Theology viewed the nature and origin of evil differently. Evil is NOT a primeval essence that is coeternal and equal to God; IT IS A FALLING AWAY FROM GOOD, IT IS A REVOLT AGAINST GOOD. In this sense it would be wrong to call evil a ‘substance’, as it does NOT exist inits own right. As darkness or shadow are not independent beings but are simply the absence or lack of light, so EVIL IS MERELY THE ABSENCE OF GOOD. "EVIL," writes Saint Basil the Great, "IS NOT A LIVING AND ANIMATED SUBSTANCE, BUT A CONDITION OF THE SOUL WHICH IS OPPOSED TO VIRTUE AND WHICH SPRINGS UP IN THE SLOTHFUL BECAUSE OF THEIR FALLING AWAY FROM GOOD. Do not imagine some original nature of wickedness, but let each one recognize himself as the first author of the vice that is in him."
God DID NOT CREATE ANYTHING EVIL: BOTH ANGELS AND HUMANS, AS WELL AS THE MATERIAL WORLD, ARE GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL BY NATURE. However, rational creatures, POSSESSING FREE WILL, CAN DIRECT THEIR FREEDOM AGAINST GOD AND THEREBY ENGENDER EVIL. This is precisely what happened: THE LIGHT-BEARING MORNING STAR (LUCIFER), ORIGINALLY CREATED GOOD, ABUSED HIS FREEDOM, DEFACED HIS OWN VIRTUOUS NATURE AND FELL AWAY FROM THE SOURCE OF GOODNESS. [Diocese of Sourozh, Patriarchate of Moscow]
In the New Testament our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ speaks of the devil whom He called "prince of this world" [John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11) in this way:
"He was a murderer from the beginning,
and has nothing to do with the truth because
there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks
according to his own nature, for he is A LIAR
AND THE FATHER OF LIES" [John 8:44].
The devil and his multitude of evil spirits, "the principalities… the powers… the world rulers of this present darkness… the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" [Ephesians 6:12] WAR AGAINST MAN SEEKING TO DESTROY HIM BY ENSNARING HIM IN SIN. "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour" [1 Peter 5:8].
Our Lord God the Christ HAS DESTROYED THE POWER OF THE DEVIL. He came into the world precisely for this reason. If one is "in Christ" he is led out of temptation and delivered from the evil one. If one is in Christ, the evil, who is also called Satan, which means the A dversary who "disguises himself as an angel of light" [2 Corinthians 11:14], CANNOT DECEIVE OR HARM HIM. TO BE VICTORIOUS OVER THE ALLURING AND DECEIVING TEMPTATIONS OF THE DEVIL IS THE GOAL OF SPIRITUAL LIFE. [Orthodox Church in America]
The world, as we know it, has been at war with the evil one, who hates humanity, and seeks its destruction, for a very long time. The devil and his angels (demons) do explore us INDIVIDUALLY, LOOKING FOR OUR WEAKNESSES. The enemy offers appealing visions to our eyes, music to our ears, to each of our senses setting forth whatever might TEMPT US TO SIN. He arouses our tongues of speaking evil about others and urges our hands to injure them. He sets froth profits to be earned by shady and immoral means and holds out EARTHLY HONORS AND FALSE VALUES TO BE PREFERRED TO HEAVENLY ONES, When he is unable to tempt us, he brings forth a threat of persecution to that fear may cause us to betray the faith. Thus we are ALWAYS ALERT TO HIS MANY-FACETED ATTACKS, READY TO RESIST HIM IN EVERY TURN.
It has, therefore, been established that humanity has a fierce and deadly enemy who never sleeps, is never hungry, is never thirsty and ready to devour you. Our enemy, the devil, is much more cunning, more deceptive, more sinister, more manipulative, and the father of lies. He is our most dangerous and formidable opponent. In order to confront and battle against him we need God’s help. We, however, who have been baptized into Him need not be defeated when temptations come along because, like Jesus, we are aided by the Holy Spirit. It is imperative that we are obsessed with material things, not to love ease and comfort, to willingly accept the struggle necessary to purify us from evil. We must not subordinate our souls to the passions of the body. If Satan can put Our Lord and Savior Christ to the test it is logical then that he will do the same with each and everyone of us.
Evil, lying, deception, manipulation, is prevalent in our society today. We observe it, we feel it, we listen to it, we witness it, and we see that it brings misery, pain, confusion, defective reasoning, and darkness throughout the world. Evil is fearless and defiant. Evil does not play with rules and fairness. The more the world becomes estranged and alienated from God the more we view its manifestation in all walks of life but especially in politics, business and many of the secular professions. Evildoers are content to do the bidding of the evil one and yet present themselves as benevolent and righteous. These people can never be trusted or confided. Do Christians need to be reminded that He is the ONLY TRUTH? He Himself declares to the whole world, "I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE" [John 14:6]. When the believers follow Christ Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, they have nothing to fear. No faithful Christian with strong discernment can ever be deceived or possessed by evil. Good people are the people who tell the truth, who live the truth and who adhere to the truth.
The Christians’ weapon against all evil is prayer, fasting, repentance. Also, every believer abides by God’s Commandments, the Teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of the Holy Apostles, Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church and the great example of the Holy Ascetics and Monastics of living a life of holiness and piety. Christians have always remained obedient to Christ even under exile, imprisonement, torture and horriic suffering. Let us remain steadfast in our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ and He will indeed "deliver us from the evil one" [Matthew 6:13]. In other words we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear should not come our way. Our Merciful God and Savior always hears our prayers, guides us, protects us and by His grace we triumph over the evil one and all other evildoers.
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 