The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Demons (7)

...continued from part six.

13. On the Means of Fighting Demons.

"Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 1:18). To fight him, we must use all of God's weapons. What are these weapons?

1. The first means is the invocation of the name of God. “In My name you will drive out demons” (Mark 16:17), said the Lord. At the name of Jesus, hades trembles, the underworld is shaken, the prince of darkness disappears. "Flog your enemies with the name of Jesus, for there is no stronger weapon in heaven or earth,” says Saint John Climacus (Step 21). Always beat the soldiers with the name of Jesus, for you will not use a stronger weapon than this either in heaven or on earth. “To this day, demons still tremble at the name of Christ; the power of this name is not weakened by our vices,” says Saint Gregory the Theologian. Abba Elijah relates the following story: “One elder lived in a temple of the idols. One day demons came to him and said: 'Get out of our place!' The elder did not want to come out. The demon grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the temple by force. When the elder approached the doors, grabbed them and cried out: 'Jesus, help!' the demon immediately disappeared."

The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Demons (6)

...continued from part five.

11. Stories About the Temptation of People to Sin by the Devil

1. In the Lausiac History it is related that one ascetic named Valens, having lived for a long time in the desert, greatly exhausted his flesh and was a great ascetic throughout his life, but then, deceived by the spirit of self-conceit and pride, he fell into extreme arrogance, so that he became the plaything of demons. Having become puffed up with the pernicious passion of self-conceit, he finally began to dream, in self-delusion, that Angels were conversing with him and serving him in every matter. The devil, convinced that Valens had completely given himself over to his deception, took on the form of the Savior and came to him at night, surrounded by a host of demons in the form of Angels, with lighted lamps. And behold, a fiery circle appeared, and in the middle of it Valens saw what he believed to be the Savior. One of the demons, in the form of an Angel, approached him and said: "You have pleased Christ with your exploits and the holiness of your life, and He has come to visit you. So, do nothing else, but only, standing at a distance and seeing Him standing in the midst of the whole host, fall down and worship Him, then go to your cell." Valens went out and, seeing a multitude of spirits with lamps, fell down and worshiped the Antichrist. The deceived one extended his madness to such an extent that, coming to church the next day, he said in front of all the brethren: "I have no need of communion: today I have seen Christ." Then the holy fathers, seeing that he had fallen into a frenzy, bound him with chains and completely healed him in the course of a year, destroying his pride with prayers, various humiliations and austere life, as they say: "Diseases are cured by their opposites."

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St. George and the Temple Idols

...continued from part four.

9. The Undeniable Influence of Evil Spirits on People

After the fall of the evil spirits from Heaven to the sub-celestial or aerial realm (Eph. 2:2, 6:12), the world of the celestials became completely inaccessible to them, and therefore all their malicious attention is directed exclusively to the earth near them, in order to sow, grow and strengthen evil among people here. Evil, therefore, is the urgent need of the devil, who thinks of nothing but evil, desires nothing but evil, finds peace or pleasure in nothing but evil activity. The Kingdom of good, as the Kingdom of God, is hateful to him, and therefore he tries, through people or spirits subject to him, to put up barriers in every possible way to the spread of the concept of good; he tries to destroy the Kingdom of God on earth (2 Cor. 4:4). According to the Lord Himself, the devil is His enemy: for in the field where the Lord sowed wheat, the devil sowed tares (Matt. 13:24–25).

In his enmity towards God, the devil tore people away from Him even in Paradise, and it happened that “man,” as Gregory the Theologian says, “created for the glory of God, through the envy of the devil by the tasting of sin, to his misfortune, departed from God. Having removed people from God, the devil directed all his efforts to keeping people in his power, and for this he always tried to turn people’s hearts away from God. If people had a desire to return to God, then the devil in every way hindered these desires, thus keeping people in his power. In order to attract people under his power, the devil took advantage of their misdirected desire to find God and deceived them, according to his desire; leading them like blind men seeking a way, he scattered them along various rapids and cast them into the abyss of death and destruction.” This abyss, before the appearance of Christianity, was idolatry. "The pagans, when they offer sacrifices, offer them to demons, and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:20), writes the Holy Apostle Paul. The truth of these words of the Apostle Paul is confirmed by history.

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The Death of Simon Magus according to the Acts of Peter and Paul

...continued from part three.

8. About the So-Called Miracles of the Devil

"Is the idea that the devil can perform miracles admissible from a theological point of view?"

This was one of the questions that was proposed for discussion at the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment on March 11, 1899. The very possibility of the question in such a formulation and its proposal for public discussion at the aforementioned meeting clearly shows that not all of our theologians adhere to the same and completely definite answer to it. This, indeed, was indicated during the oral discussion of the question. Finally, in the printed answer of one of the members of the Society, Archimandrite Amphilochios, on the one hand, the idea of the possibility of the devil performing miracles is rejected, on the other hand, it is supposedly allowed (provided that the word "miracle" is combined with a broader concept).

Is it really impossible to answer with certainty, precisely and definitively, the question: “Can or cannot the devil perform miracles?” In our opinion, not only is it entirely possible, but from a theological point of view, in this case the very grounds for raising such a question are not entirely clear.

The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Demons (3)

...continued from part two.

6. The Good Purpose of God's Providence in Allowing Evil Spirits

The actions of evil spirits on man are hostile, malicious and destructive; but one cannot help but see in them the good purpose of Divine Providence for man. Man's struggle with evil spirits protects him from carelessness and negligence in the exploits of salvation, encourages him to unceasing spiritual vigilance over himself and gives him the opportunity to develop and strengthen that virtue which demons attack. Their various temptations teach man, even one perfect in virtue, humility, encouraging him not to rely on his own strength, but to turn for help to the conqueror of hades and all the power of the enemy, the Lord Jesus Christ. Victory over the temptations of the devil increases the power and glory of the name of Christ. "When I fight you," says the demon to Saint Pachomios, "I am more profitable to you than I am guilty of vanity."

The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Demons (2)

...continued from part one.

2. The Fall of Evil Spirits

God, teaches Saint Anthony the Great, has not created any evil; not from His will or from their nature did the demons receive the beginning of evil, but from their own will. They were created good at first, because they were created by the Good God; but for their pride they were cast down from Heaven to earth. The evil angel, said the Holy Martyrs Eustratios, Mardarios, and others, who had power among the other angels, by his own will departed from Him who created him and, becoming proud, fell away from his rank and from God, and God deprived him of angelic glory.

The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Demons (1)

The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Bodiless Powers

Chapter Two: On the Existence of Demons

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

1. The Existence of Evil Spirits

Tradition has preserved in all nations the concept of evil spirits. Such, for example, is the teaching of the Persian religion about the evil principle – Ahriman and evil spirits; such is the teaching of the Greek religion about the Furies, etc. The Egyptians believed that at birth each person is given a guardian demon. The Chinese Buddhists also recognize evil spirits.

It goes without saying that all these beliefs, as not sanctified by Divine Revelation, are distorted; but the very existence of these beliefs among the nations shows that the existence of evil spirits does not contradict the principles of common sense, just as the existence of good spirits does not.

Indeed, firstly, if there are many different objects in the world visible to us, then why not admit that rational and moral beings are not limited to the human race? Secondly, if we notice a gradualness in creatures that proceeds from lower to higher forms, then a similar gradualness is assumed in moral creatures – in relation to God. That is why Plato the philosopher taught that "there are spirits intermediate between man and God, who withdraw from evil people and help the good; they cannot be visible, although they are present with us" (Plato's Dialogues: "Timaeus"). The actions of spirits are possible in themselves, just as there are actions of one person on another, the actions of a person's soul on his body. Therefore, only corrupt people deny good spirits, because they are far from them, and evil spirits, because, without noticing it, they are their slaves.