-
PONTIFICIUM INSTITUTUM ORIENTALE FACULTAS SCIENTIARUM
ECCLESIASTICARUM ORIENTALIUM
_____________________________________________________________________
eljko Paa, S.J.
THE INFLUENCE OF EVAGRIUS PONTICUS
ON THE THOUGHT OF MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR
A Comparison of Three Spiritual Struggles
in the Works of Evagrius Ponticus
and Maximus the Confessor
Romae 2010
-
ABBREVIATIONS
WORKS OF EVAGRIUS
Antirrhetikos Evagrio Pontico, Antirrheticus Talking Back. A
Monastic Handbook for combating demons. Translation and
introduction by David Brakke,
Trappist, Kentucky, Cistercian Publications, Collegeville,
Minn:
Liturgical Press, 2009 (Cistercian Studies Series 229).
Ad Monachos Evagrius Ponticus, Ad Monachos, translation and
commentary by
Driscoll Jermy, The Newman Press, New York 2003.
De cog. De malignis cogationibus On the Eight Thoughts, GAC,
66-90.
De octo spir. De octo spiritibus malitiae On Thoughts,
Guillaumont Antoine and Claire, Ghin Paul, vagre le Pontique. Sur
les Penses, SCh, 438
(Paris: Cerf, 1998) GAC 136-182;
KG Kephalia Gnostika A. Guillaumont, Les Six Centuries des
Kephalaia Gnostica dvagre le Pontique, PO, 28 (Paris, 1958).
Praktikos Guillaumont Antoine and Claire, vagre le Pontique.
Trait Pratique
ou Le Moine, Sources Chrtiennes, 170-171 (Paris: Cerf, 1971);
GAC,
91-114.
Skemmata Reflections, in GAC, 210-216.
WORKS OF MAXIMUS
Centuries Quattuor Centuriae de charitate (in CSC).
CSC Massimo Confessore: Capituli sulla carit. Critical edition,
with
Italian translation, introduction and notes by A.
Ceresa-Gastaldo,
Rome 1963.
in ACW Sherwood Polycarp, St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic
Life,
the Four Centuries on Charity (ACW 21) London 1955
OTHER ABBREVIATIONS
ACW Ancient Christian Writers
GAC Sinkewicz Robert E., Evagrius of Pontus: The Greek
Ascetic
Corpus, Oxford: University Press 2003.
PG Patrologia Gaeca, ed. J. P. Migne et al. (Paris,
1857-1866)
PO Patrologia Orientale
SCh Sources Chrtiennes
-
INTRODUCTION
Without knowing the past we cannot properly understand the
present. Without a
proper understanding of the present we cannot have a clear
vision of the future. The
Eastern and Western Churches owe much of richness of their
tradition to the invaluable
contribution of the Church Fathers, whose selfless work has been
woven into its
foundations. In our research we will deal with two eminent
fathers, Evagrius Ponticus
and Maximus the Confessor, who each in his own way left an
important, though not
much acknowledged, influence on the development of Christianity:
whether at the level
of practical life in the form of asceticism and monasticism, or
on the level of the
development of dogmatic, doctrinal theology.
In the background of Maximus' brilliant theological system,
there is the
considerable influence of Evagrius. The subject of our research
is properly Evagrius'
influence on the thought of Maximus the Confessor, whereby we
will limit ourselves to
just two of their works: Evagrius Praktikos and Maximus The Four
Centuries on
Charity. For the most thorough access to research, firstly we
will briefly present their
life and secondly the essential elements of these two work.
1. Evagrius Ponticus
1. 1. Life
Evagrius was born in a priestly family about 345 in Ibora, in
the province of
Pontus which is the reason that he was called Ponticus. In the
late 350s he was
ordained a lector by Basil of Caesarea and in the late 370s a
deacon by Gregory of
Nazianzus. As Gregorys deacon he participated at the Council of
Constantinople 381
-
INTRODUCTION
4
(the Second Ecumenical Council). After Gregorys resignation as
bishop of
Constantinople and his withdrawal from the imperial capital,
Evagrius remained in
Constantinople in service of the new bishop Nectarius of
Constantinople and receive the
title of archdeacon. After various not very appropriate
adventures, he left
Constantinople around 382. He arrived in Jerusalem where he
joined the monastery of
Melania the Elder and Rufinus on the Mount of Olives. There he
became acquainted
with Origen and his teaching that will have a greater influence
on his later work. From
382 he was in Egypt in the Nitrian Desert and two years later,
385, he moved to the
Kellia Desert where he remained until his death in 399. His
teachers and spiritual
formators with whom he had a close relationship as friends were
St Macarius of
Alexandria and St Macarius the Great. His famous disciples were
St. John Cassian and
Palladius, who each in their own way have contributed to the
testimony about him and
from him which have been preserved. Because of Origens influence
in some of
Evagrius theological tractates he was condemned as a heretic in
553 by the Fifth
Ecumenical Council (Second of Constantinople).
Evagrius left a great corpus of ascetical works where he
developed a mystical
teaching on pure prayer and ascetic life and therefore he was
very popular monastic
reading through the ages despite his condemnation. His main
works are: Praktikos,
Gnostikos, Kephalia Gnostica, Skemmata (or Reflections),
Antirrheticos, De malignis
cogationibus, De octo spiritibus malitiae, Tractatus ad
Eulogium, Sententia ad
Virginem, Epistula LXII, Epistula ad Melaniam, Sermo sive
dogmatica epistula de
sanctissima trinitate, Protrepticus et Paraeneticus, De
oratione, many expositions on
Scriptures, etc. After his condemnation many of his original
works in Greek were lost
-
INTRODUCTION
5
but they have been preserved in translations in Syriac,
Armenian, Ethiopian, Georgian
and Arabic.1
1. 2. The Praktikos
The Praktikos, is the first part of Evagrius trilogy (which
includes the
Gnostikos and the Kephalia Gnostika) and is devoted to the
Ascetic life (praktikh,) as a
stage of the spiritual life. The second and third parts of this
trilogy are devoted to
knowledge (gnw/sij).
Structure The text of the Praktikos is divided into a series of
100 numbered
chapters.2 The first 90 chapters are the core of the Praktikos
and can be divided in two
general parts: the first part (6-53) concerns the nature of
eight tempting-thoughts,
logismoi (gluttony, fornication, avarice sadness, anger, acedia,
vainglory, pride) (6-14);
resisting and treating them (15-33), the passions (34-39), with
advice and instructions
against demons (40-53). The second part (54-90) is devoted to a
description of the
condition of passionlessness: concerning things that happen
during sleep (53-56), on the
state approaching impassibility (57-62), on the signs of
impassibility (63-70), and
practical considerations (71-90). In the beginning is an
introduction (1-5) and as a
conclusion we have apophthegmata or sayings of the Holy Monks
(91-100). The
Prologue before and the Epilogue at the end of the Praktikos
frame this unique ascetic
work.
1 More details about Evagrius life see in: GUILLAUMONT,
Introduction. Vie dvagre in VAGRE
le Pontique, Trait pratique ou le moine. vol 1., in SCh 170,
21-28; BAMBERGER John Eudes,
Introduction. Life in EVATRIUS Ponticus, The Praktikos. Chapters
on Prayer, pp. xxxv-xlviii; SINKEWICZ Robert E., Introduction in
GAC pp. xvii-xxi; HARMLESS William, Desert Christians. pp. 311-329;
SINKEWICZ Robert E., Introduction in GAC pp. xvii-xxi.
2 We are following structural division by SINKEWICZ Robert E.,
Introduction, in GAC pp. 93-94.
-
INTRODUCTION
6
Addressee - In the prologue we see that the work is addressed to
the beloved
brother Anatolios, from the Holy Mountain. We do not know
anything about who this
beloved Anatolios was nor where the Holy Mountain is situated.
The critical
authors generally agree that the Holy Mountain is probably the
Mount of Olives in
Jerusalem,3 i.e. the monastery of Melania or Ruffinus, the
community in which
Evagrius spent some time; while Anatolios is probably one of the
monks from this
monastic community. This theory is considered the most probable
since Evagrius had a
correspondence with Melania. Despite the fact that the Praktikos
is addressed to
Anatolios, after the prologue and beginning the chapters,
Evagrius quoted a copyists
note which shows to us that Evagrius presumed the copy and
transmission of this
ascetic work in the monastic circles. Therefore we can conclude
that the Praktikos is
addressed to all who want to live seriously and soberly the
spiritual life and who by way
of the obstacles on their own spiritual journey would like to
arrive to purity of heart,
detachment and impassibility.
Time and genesis - The Praktikos was written at the time of
Evagrius stay in
the Egyptian Desert which was between 385 and 398. According
Guillaumonts
research4 there are two phases of the genesis of this text or
two redactions. In the first
redaction Evagrius wrote just the first 90 chapters, and it was
finished before Gnostikos,
Kephalia Gnostika, and Scholia on the Psalms and the
Antirrhetikos. During the period
of writing in which the latter works appeared, there arose some
doubt about the validity
3 There are some theories which identified The Holy Mountain
with Mount Nitria in the Egyptian
desert or with the Mount Sinai. See BAMBERGER John Eudes, The
Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer, p.
12, note 2; Sinkewicz gives greater credence to the theory that
it is the monastery founded on the Mount of Olives by Melania and
Rufinus. See SINKEWICZ Robert E., The Monk: A treatise on the
Practical Life in GAC, p. 248, note 1.
4 See GUILLAUMONT, SCh 170, 381-388; SENKEWICZ Robert E., The
Monk: A treatise on the
Practical life in GAC pp. 91-93.
-
INTRODUCTION
7
of Evagrius teaching. In the second redaction of the Praktikos,
Evagrius added the
Prologue to the beginning and the epilogue to the end, and
before the end, he added still
another 10 chapters: apophthegmata or sayings of the Holy Monks.
From these added
works is seen his reaction to the suspicion about his doctrine
because several times he
underlines that he follows and transfers the teaching of the
holy fathers.
2. Maximus the Confessor
2.1. Life
He was born around 580 in Constantinople in a noble family where
he received
a highly intellectual education. After a short period as
personal secretary to the Emperor
Heraclius he entered the monastery in about 613/4 in Chrysopolis
near Constantinople,
on its opposite side of the Bosporus. Because of the Persian
threat he moved to St
George at Cyzicus where he enjoyed a very fruitful writing
activity.5 When the Persians
came close to Constantinople, 626, Maximus abandoned the
monastery and after a short
period staying in Crete he arrived in Africa. From 632 he was in
Carthage, at the
beginning of the tightly knotted Monothelite crisis. The Emperor
Heraclius in 638
proclaimed the Ecthesis, the official document that prohibited
the disputes about one
or two wills in Christ, and adopted a teaching on one will in
Christ, Monothelitism,
which he confessed as the official imperial orthodox teaching
for the Church. Heraclius
successor, Constans II with the support of patriarch Paul II of
Constantinople 647,
5 Thunberg and Pegon do not mention Maximus staying in St George
monastery. See THUNBERG Lars,
Mircrocosm and Mediator, p. 2-4., but Pegon leaves as open
possibility for it. See. PEGON Joseph,
Introduction. LAuteur in MAXIME le Confesseur, Centuries sur la
Charit, SCh 9, p. 6; Sharwood, Balthasar and Ceresa mention this
period of Maximus life as surely. Cf. CERESA-GASTALDO Aldo,
Introduzione, in CSC p. 20-21; SHARWOOD Polycarp, in ACW, p.
7-8; BALTHASAR Hans Urs von, Cosmic Liturgy, pp. 74-75.
-
INTRODUCTION
8
proclaimed the imperial edict (Typos) prohibiting any discussion
about the energy
and the will in Christ, accepting the Monotelitistic teaching as
orthodox for all the
empire. Under imperial pressure, almost all eastern episcopates
tacitly accept the
Monotelitistic heresy, while the Latin West led by the Bishop of
Rome opposed it. For
this reason, Maximus left Africa and went to Rome where, with
his theological-
dogmatic arguments, he supported the Latin resistance in the
person of Pope Martin I.
The Pope convened in 649 a Council in the Lateran where
Monothelitism was
condemned and thus also the imperial edict (Typos). Maximus,
even as just a monk,
participated at the Council with hundreds of bishops, as an
important theologian of the
Council. The conclusions of the Council were sent to the all
Churches and thus to the
emperor in Constantinople. This angered the emperor Constans and
he ordered the
arrest of Pope Martin and Maximus. They both were forcibly taken
in 653 to the
emperor in Constantinople. Pope Martin was condemned to exile in
Cherson on the
Crimea where he died 655, while Maximus was waiting trail in
prison until 655, when
he was accused of heresy, conspiracy, treason and collaboration
with the Saracens and
then sent in exile to Bizya in Thrace. He was again called back
to Constantinople 662 to
face the imperial court where he was condemned and anathematized
together with Pope
Martin as a heretic. He was tortured: his right hand was cut off
so that that he could no
longer write heretical writings and his tongue was cut off so
that he could no longer
spread the dyothelite heresy. He was sent again into exile, but
this time to Lazica on
the Black Sea where he died 13 of August the same year. He was
rehabilitated in 680
together with Pope Martin at the Third Council of Constantinople
(the Sixth Ecumenical
Council), where his teaching on the two wills in Christ was
proclaimed as orthodox
Church teaching while Monothelitism was condemned as heresy. For
his tireless and
-
INTRODUCTION
9
fearless confession of orthodoxy he becomes called the Confessor
by the Eastern and
Western Church which commemorate him as a saint.6
Maximus left behind him a rich opus of the theological and
ascetic works. These
are: Ambiguorum liber de variis difficilibus locis Sanctorum
Dionysii Areopagitae et
Gregorii Theologi, Quaestiones ad Thalassium, Quaestiones et
dubia, Orationis
Dominicae, Liber asceticus, Capita 200 theologica et oeconomica,
Opuscula
theological et polemica, Disputatio cum Pyrrho, Epistulae,
Mystagogia, Quattuor
Centuriae de charitate. In our work we will deal only with this
one latter, with the
Quattuor Centuriae de charitate or further just Centuries.
2.2. The Four Centuries on Charity Centuries
Maximus himself says that the discussion on love is not a work
of his own but
that of the holy Fathers7. He went through their writings and
has recapitulated many
things in a few lines that they may be seen at a glance, for
ease in memorizing.8
Structure The Centuries are sentential-aphoristic forms of
literature.
Through the use of brief, concise and proverbial ways of
expression, it gives a terse
statement about a truth or principles of life.9 The advantage of
these short aphoristic
chapters10
is that they are easy for remembering and impressing in the
mind. The
6 More about Maximus life see in: CARESA-GASTALDO Aldo, La vita
in CSC, pp. 15-20;
SHERWOOD Polycarp, Introduction. Life in ACW, pp. 6-28;
BALTHASAR Hans Urs von, Cosmic Liturgy, 74-80; THUNBERG Lars,
Microcosm and Mediator, pp. 1-7.
7 Centuries. Prologue, CSC p. 48-49; in ACW p. 136.
8 Centuries. Prologue; CSC, pp. 48-49; in ACW, p. 136.
9 See PEGON Joseph, Louvrage in MAXIME le Confesseur, Centuries
sur la charit, SCh 9, p. 25;
also cf. Aphorism in The Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 2, p.
156 and Sentence (lat. sententia) in The Encyclopaedia Britannica,
vol. 24, pp. 648-649.
10 Kefa,laia, lat. capita, eng. chapter, with translation
meaning: sentences or notes. See PEGON Joseph, Louvrage, pp.
25-31.
-
INTRODUCTION
10
Centuries are composed as four sets divided into a series of a
hundred numbered
chapters. One set of a hundred numbered chapters composes one
centuria (century).11
There are four centuries which represents the four Gospels,
whose commandment is that
of love.12
Maximus himself devoted these four sets of centuries to the
number of the
Gospels.13
Addressee The Prologue mentions reverend father Elpidius as the
addressee
of Centuries, but no commentator refers to his identity. It
seems probably he was a
monk and a superior of Maximus,14
and that he had ordered it. Sending this discussion
on charity to Elpidius, Maximus has merely fulfilled a
command,15 and he warmly
recommended it as useful for the soul of anyone who will read
this with a simple
mind, with the fear of God and with charity.16 Reading requires
the best attention to
each chapter and they will not be understood by everybody.
Time The Centuries belong to Maximus earlier writings. They are
probably
composed in 62617
and after Liber Asceticus.18
Some scholars think that we can place
the Centuries genesis among the writings in the time of his
staying in the monastery of
St George at Cyzicus between 618 and 625,19
the time before the Persian threat in the
11 Cf. PEGON Joseph, Louvrage, pp. 25-31.
12 Cf. SHARWOOD Polycarp, in ACW, p. 91.
13 Centuries. Prologue; CSC, p. 49; in ACW, p. 136.
14 Ibid., p. 49, note 1.
15 Ibid.; in ACW, p. 136.
16 Ibid.
17 Cf. BALTHASAR, p. 77; CSC, p. 16,
18 Cent. Prologue; CSC, p. 49, note 2; in ACW, pp. 99-101;
19 Cf. CERESA-GASTALDO Aldo, Introduzione, in CSC p. 20-21;
SHARWOOD Polycarp, in ACW, p. 7-8; BALTHASAR Hans Urs von, Cosmic
Liturgy, pp. 74-75.
-
INTRODUCTION
11
spring of 626, which was the reason of the dispersal of the
monastery and Maximus
forced departure on Crete and finally in Africa.
3. Evagrius and Maximus importance for research
Due to the condemnation of Origen and Evagrius as heretics at
the Fifth
Ecumenical Council (553), the immediate influence of Evagrius
through the circulation
of his writings in the Latin West has been considerably weak and
almost non-existent. It
has remained only an intermediate influence. Evagrius' disciple
John Cassian, after
retirement from the Egyptian desert in Europe, while abandoning
the suspect theories
that Evagrius derived from Origen, transmitted just the
practical aspect of Evagrius
teaching on the spiritual and ascetic life, weaving it into own
works, above all, in his
Conferences. His works have been very well known, respected and
widely read
throughout the Christian West. St Benedict, father of the
Western monasticism,
implicitly refers to Cassian a few times in his Rule, and
explicitly recommended
Cassians Conference and Institutiones20 for his monks as
ordinary readings.21 In this
way Evagrius through Cassian by way of Benedict's Rule plays a
significant role in
early Western monasticism.
20 Saint Benedict [] catalogued the rules he could find. Among
them he included Extracts of a rule collected from all the
Institutes of Cassian. This was known as the Rule of Cassian.
Quoted by CHADWICK Owen, Introduction in JOHN CASSIAN, Conferences,
p. 29; For influence Cassians Conferences or Institutes on the
Regula of St Benedict see in: BENEDICTUS de Nursia, The Rule of
St
Benedict in Latin and English, pp. 58-59, 146, 297 [see notes
for Regula 73:5], 383, 476.
21 Regula 42,3: Someone should read from the Conferences; Regula
42,5: On fast days there is to be [] the reading of the
Conferences, as we have indicated. Quotation by BENEDICTUS de
Nursia, The Rule of St Benedict in Latin and Englilsh, p. 243;
about obligation for reading Cassians the Conferences and
Collationes Patrum see also: Regula 73:5, ibid, p. 297; implicit
reference on Cassian
see in: Regula 1:6, 38:7, 53:9.
-
INTRODUCTION
12
The Christian Orient had been much freer or more flexible in
understanding and
interpreting the condemnation of this heretic. Evagrius'
teaching had been so attractive
and honorable in monastic circles that despite his condemnation,
his works have
continued to be copied, read and circulated. Maximus the
Confessor, tireless and
fearless fighter for orthodoxy against heresy, had known very
well and had read
Evagrius works, even though he had spoken about him as a
dangerous heretic.22 His
profound teaching on pure prayer, asceticism and monastic life
had been too precious to
be lightly abandoned by the East; in fact, they are considered
as the foundations of
hesychasm.23
The hesychastic movement, led by Gregory Palamas, is highly
considered
as a triumph or manifestation of orthodoxy. In this case the
Byzantine Orient was the
great expert in the discernment of heresy and orthodoxy;
therefore Evagrius teaching
was purified from Origens suspicious thoughts and through the
Philokalia has been
transmitted until present day. Greek and Slavic versions of the
Philokalia, both contain
an anthology of Evagrian works and Maximus The Four Centuries on
Charity. In the
Byzantine tradition, Maximus teaching is considered as proper
orthodox teaching and
part of the legacy of Byzantine Church.24
22 See VILLER Marcel, Aux Sources de la Spiritualit de S.
Maxime: Les Oeuvres dEvagre le Pontique, p. 159.
23 See MEYENDORFF Jean, San Gregorio Palamas e la mistica
ortodossa, pp. 7-40; PAPAROZZI
Maurizio, La Spiritualit dellOriente Cristiano, pp. 9-54; RIGO
Antonio, Le tecniche d'orazione esicastica e le potenze dell'anima
in alcuni testi ascetici bizantini, pp. 177-190.
24 See MEYENDORFF John, The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox
Church; BATHRELLOS Demetrios,
The Byzantine Christ. Person nature, and will in the Christology
of St Maximus the Confessor;
NICHOLS Aidan, Byzantine Gospel. Maximus the Confessor in Modern
Scholarship.
-
INTRODUCTION
13
4. Plan and the method of research
Through this thesis we would like to research the influence of
Evagrius thought
on the thought of Maximus the Confessor. In this study we shall
be limited to just three
chapters from Evagrius' Praktikos and three parallel similar
chapters from Maximus
Centuries. Because of the three chapters that are analyzed, the
thesis is divided into
three parts:
i) Chapter one: Praktikos 14 Centuries 2:38
ii) Chapter two: Praktikos 46 Centuries 2:14
iii) Chapter three: Praktikos 31 Centuries 3:60
Each part contains four sections:
1) In the first section we have the Greek text of some
parallel-similar chapters
from the Praktikos and the Centuries with a translation.
The original Greek text for the Praktikos follows a critical
edition by Antoine
and Claire and Guillaumont: vagre le Pontique, Trait pratique ou
Le moine. Sources
Chrtiennes, vol. 171 (Paris, 1971). For Centuries we follow a
Greek text from the
critical edition by Aldo C. Gastaldo: Massimo Confessore,
Capitoli sulla carit
(Editrice Studium, Roma 1963).
2) In the second section we approach the text of the chapters,
including
confronting and analyzing their similarities and
differences.
3) The third section as an appendix gives us a synopsis by the
comparison of the
texts from Praktikos and Centuries chapters, and in this
schematic way we can more
easily see mutual similarities and differences. We have numbered
the text, and in the
-
INTRODUCTION
14
second part during our discussion on the analysis of the texts
we very often refer to this
numeration with the following abbreviations: [sp + number] for
Praktikos and [sc +
number] for Centuries, e.g. abbreviation [sp10] in chapter one
signify: s synopsis, p
for Praktikos, verse 10 (from synopsis) i.e. avnapei,qei ga.r
au.th.n Qeo.n me.n mh.
o`mologei/n bohqo,n It persuades [the soul]: not to confess God
as helper.
4) The fourth section, also as appendix with a schematic method
gives an
analysis of the chapters structure. To this structural analysis
of the text we also refer in
the second part, referring to it in order to compare the inner
structure and dynamic of
the text.
-
CHAPTER ONE:
THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
1. Translation: Praktikos 14 and Centuries 2:38.
Praktikos 14
Centuries 2, 38
`O th/j u`perhfani,aj dai,mwn calepwta,thj ptw,sewj th|/ yuch|/
pro,xenoj gi,netai\ avnapei,qei ga.r au.th.n Qeo.n me.n mh.
o`mologei/n bohqo,n( e`auth.n de. tw/n katorqoume,nwn aivti,an
ei=nai nomi,zein kai. fusiou/sqai kata. tw/n avdelfw/n w`j
avnoh,twn( dio,ti mh. tou/to peri. auvth/j pa,ntej evpi,stantai)
Parakolouqei/ de. tau,th| ovrgh. kai. lu,ph( kai. to. teleutai/on
kako,n ( e;kstasij frenw/n kai. mani,a kai. daimo,nwn evn tw|/
ave,ri plh/qoj o`rw,menon)
`O th/j u`perhfani,aj dai,mwn diplh/n e;cei th.n ponhri,an\ h;
ga.r e`autw|/ avnapei,qei to.n monaco.n evpigra,fein ta.
katorqw,mata kai. ouvci. tw|/ Qew|/ tw|/ kai. corhgw|/ tw/n kalw/n
kai. bohqw|/ pro.j kato,rqwsin(h] tou,tw| mh. peiqo,menon tou.j
e;ti avteleste,rouj tw/n avdelfw/n u`poba,llei evxouqenei/n)
VAgnoei/ de. kai. ou[twj o` evnergou,menoj o[ti th.n tou/ Qeou/
boh,qeian avnapei,qei auvto.n avparnei/sqai) Eiv ga.r e.kei,nouj wj
mh. dunhqe,ntaj katorqw/sai evxouqenei/( e`auto.n dhlono,ti w`j evx
ivdi,aj duna,mewj katorqw,santa eivsa,gei\ o[per evsti. avmh,canon(
tou/ Kuri,ou eivpo,ntoj\ Cwri.j evmou/ ouv du,nasqe poiei/n
ouvde,n\ evpeidh. h` h`mete,ra asqe,neia kinoume,nh evpi. ta. kala.
a;neu tou/ corhgou/ tw/n kalw/n eivj te,loj a;gein ouv
du,natai)
The demon of pride produces in the soul a
very hard fall. It persuades [the soul] not
to confess God as helper, but to believe
that it is itself the cause of its good deeds,
and to look down on the brethren, treating
them all as unintelligent, for not
recognizing this about it.
[The demon of pride] is followed with
anger and sadness, and the ultimate evil,
the derangement of mind, madness, and
the vision of a multitude of demons in the
air.
The demon of pride has dual malice: he
either persuades (wrongly) the monk to
attribute his success to himself and not to
God, the provider of goodness and helper
for successful accomplishment [of things],
or, failing to persuade him in this, [the
demon] suggests contempt for his brethren
who are as yet imperfect. In this manner, it
leads [the monk], unknowingly, to deny the
help of God, for, despising others as men
unable to act rightly, he brings up himself
forward as doing good deeds by his own
strength, which is impossible, as the Lord
says: For apart from me you can do
nothing. Because our weakness, [though]
oriented towards the good, without the
provider of goodness can bring nothing to
its goal.
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
16
2. Commentary on Praktikos 14 and Centuries 2:38
Chapter 14 from the Praktikos is a transitional link between the
first and second
parts of the Praktikos. It stands as the last chapter from the
first part of Evagrius
ascetic work. The first part (chapters 5-14) concerns the eight
thoughts, (logismoi) and
Praktikos 14 concerns the last tempting thought. This is
followed by the second part
(15-33) concerning remedies against these eight thoughts. After
listing the first seven
vices (gluttony, fornication, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia,
vainglory), Evagrius arrives
at the description of the last and the most dangerous thought
and its demon, pride
(h`perhfani,a) [sp1]. Pride is the last and most severe
temptation, and the tempting action
of its demon begins after the withdrawal of a previous
demon.25
Therefore, this chapter
should be read in its broader context. After the penultimate
demon of vainglory does his
job,26
he leaves a man afterwards to the worst demon, the demon of
pride, who comes
and finishes the job. The chapters of our analysis (Praktikos 14
and Centuries 2:38) deal
only with this issue.27
In the description of this so important and dangerous demon in
the Praktikos,
Evagrius is quite short (compared with the previous demon of
vainglory to whom he
gives twice as much space). He notes that the demon of pride
causes the worst and
fiercest falling of human soul [sp2]. The fall has a twofold
effect: The first effect of the
fall deprives man of relationship with God. The man abandons the
belief that God is the
25 Cf. Praktikos 57, SCh 71, pp. 634-635; about the
specialization of the demons, see GAVIN John, They are like the
angels in the heavens. Angelology and Anthropology in the thought
of Maximus the Confessor, pp. 165-170
26 About this demon see Praktikos 13; SCh 71, pp. 528-531.
27 Analysis of Praktikos 14 and Centuries 2:38 see in: GAVIN
John, They are like the angels in the heavens, pp. 166-167.
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
17
only one who helps him [sp10] in the combat against the demons
and in the acquisition
of virtues and spiritual growth, and he grows in the belief that
it is all by his own merits
and that the degree of virtue he has achieved is the fruit of
his own strength and effort
[sp14]. In this way he is distancing himself from God and
turning to himself. The
classical scholastic definition of sin precisely defines sin in
this way: Peccatum est
aversio a Deo et conversio ad creaturam, and St Thomas in his
own proper
philosophical way deepens it and explains.28
The second effect of the fall caused by the demon of pride
deprives man of
human relations with other men, leading him to dangerous and
sinful isolation and
loneliness. A man who has progressed on the path of virtue,
after beginning to attribute
all the success to his own efforts and strengths, begins to
admire himself and
simultaneously to despise his brothers who are not on the same
level as he [sp15]. There
is a normal sequence of consequences of such haughty isolation
and separation from the
weaker brethren: anger [sp26] and sadness [sp27], that Evagrius
says are normal after-
effects of such separation, end with madness [sp29.30] in the
company of a multitude
of demons in the air [sp31] in hallucinations and visions.29
Remedies and instructions
for the combat with this demon give us the part concerning
resistance to these eight
thoughts.30
The chapter from Maximus Centuries in comparison with the
Praktikos is
almost identical. Maximus also speaks about the demon of pride
[sc1] who in his attack
28 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-I, q. 87. a. 4.
29 About the derangement of mind, madness and the vision of a
multitude of demons in the air Evagrius also speak in De cog.,
8:10, p. 87.
30 Cf. Praktikos, 33; SCh 71, pp. 574-577.
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
18
on the man produces two effects: to attribute his success to
himself and not to God
[sc9.10] and has disdain for the brethren [sc15]. Because of
these similarities with
Evagrius, on first sight we could conclude that Maximus teaching
in the Centuries is
copied from Evagrius. But before we reach this conclusion we
need to address an
internal analysis of the text of both of these authors.
In the chapter from Centuries 2:38, Maximus starts with the
same, identical
words as Evagrius: VO th/j u`perhfani,aj dai,mwn [sc1=cp1], but
immediately after we
can see their differences. According to Evagrius the demon
causes in the soul a very
hard fall [sp2], and this fall is the main cause which induces
man to not to confess
God as helper [sp10] and to look down on the brethren [sp15]. In
this point Maximus
differs from Evagrius. The demon is the one who leads man to
turn in on himself and
his abilities [sc9] and so the man roams away from God, denying
Gods help in combat
with evil [sc10]. For Maximus this is the first step. Certainly
the demon will not
immediately and fully succeed in the first step, because no
experienced ascetic will fall
from the first attack and allow all his successes in virtues to
be attributed to his own
abilities and to turn in on himself, completely forgetting Gods
role in the combat.
Maximus recognized that haughtiness among the more advanced
ascetics did not necessarily include a rejection of Gods aid, but
could arise as a separate form of temptation.31
Knowing this tactic of demons Maximus states: failing to
persuade him [the
monk] in this [sc13] he wants to enter into action and suggests
contempt for his
brethren who are as yet imperfect [sc15].
31 GAVIN John, They are like the angels in the heavens, p.
167.
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
19
In Evagrius we have already touched the object of the demons'
attack. It is the
soul (th|/ yuch|/) [sp3]. For Maximus, however, it is the monk
(to.n monaco.n) [sc8] i.e. the
man in all his reality.
The next topic which stands before us is Evagrius' and Maximus'
representation
of God's (Qeo,j) role in the battle between demons and man.
Evagrius, as a first
consequence of the soul's fall, states that it persuades [the
soul] not to confess God as
helper [sp10]. After that, he does not say anything about God
and his role in what is for
man the most crucial combat.
Maximus differences among God [sc10], the monk [sc8] and his
virtues [sc9].
After this clear distinction he tells us who this God is: the
provider of goodness
(corhgw|/ tw/n kalw/n) [sc11] and the helper for successful
accomplishment [of things]
(bohqw|/ pro.j kato,rqwsin) [sc12]. At the beginning of the
chapter he discusses a
twofold wickedness of the demon [sc2.6] and now we have the
twofold goodness of
God [sc11.12]. This stands in contrast to the demon's evil,
which is firmly opposed the
omnipotent goodness of God. Between the demon with his evil and
God with his
goodness stands the monk, a man who groans and suffers (Rom
8:22) with his efforts
and fights for virtues [sc8].
After the souls fall and the double impact of the fall (not
accepting Gods help
and disdain of the brethren) [sp10.15], according to Evagrius,
there are also other
consequences of the fall: anger (ovrgh) [sp26], sadness (lu,ph)
[sp27], derangement of
mind (e;kstasij frenw/n) [sp28] and madness (mani,a) [sp30].
Likely the most terrifying
phenomenon which occurs from this fall occurs is a
hallucination: the vision of a
multitude of demons in the air [sp31]. So we can observe the
gradation of the soul's fall
and the growing supremacy of demons, which ends in a triumphal
victory (see
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
20
structural analysis of the text). At the beginning of this
pericope we have only one
demon (A) [sp1] and it finally ends with a multitude of demons
(A) [sp31]. In
between stands the soul entangled in the perfidious clutch of
his enemy.
We must note that from this overwhelmingly frightening section
about the
triumphal victory of demons [sp25-31] in Evagrius Praktikos,
Maximus includes
nothing in his chapter. Instead of the catastrophic defeat for
the soul which we have in
Evagrius Praktikos 14, Maximus quotes a verse from the New
Testament: For apart
from me you can do nothing (John 15, 5bc) [sc22].
The citation which Maximus includes here can help us to
understand better his
conception of asceticism and the spiritual life. The verse
before us is part of a larger
pericope: John 15:1-11, from Jesus discourse to his disciples at
the last supper. The
pericope has three parts.32
The first part (vv. 1-5a) speaks about abiding in Jesus. The
second part (our part, vv. 5b-8) shows us the results of abiding
and not abiding in Jesus.
The third part (vv. 9-11) is abiding in the love of Jesus. Our
verse, v. 5bc is the central
verse:
In v. 5bc Jesus repeats the message of v. 4. The metaphor of the
vine is applied explicitly to Jesus and the disciple. It is only by
mutual abiding, the disciple in Jesus
and Jesus in the disciple. That fruitfulness comes. But the
disciples are now told that
separated from Jesus they can do nothing. Union with Jesus with
its consequent
fruitfulness is not a matter of enjoying the oneness that exists
between the disciple and
the master; it also consists of doing something, and without
Jesus this is impossible. To
bear fruit (v. 4b) means to do something (v. 5c). That something
has already been summarized in the command to love, which Jesus
taught would be the hallmark of his
disciples (cf. 13:34-35).33
32 For the division of this pericope we are following: MOLONEY
Francis J., The Gospel of John, pp.
416423.
33 MOLONEY Francis J., The Gospel of John, pp. 420421.
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
21
Maximus very well notes the importance of this reality of
abiding in Jesus,
for apart from him we can do nothing. It is a blissful state for
man but at the same time
very dangerous, because the man who picks the fruits of Gods
goodness and progresses
in virtues, can easily succumb to the temptations of the demon
and puts himself
forward as doing right of his own power. [sc19] But Maximus
immediately adds to
this: which is impossible (o[per evsti. avmh,canon) [sc20].
Citing the above-mentioned verse from Scripture, Maximus does
not use the
name Jesus but he uses word Ku,rioj34 [sc21]. We know that it
means the Lord [Jesus
Christ]. But the word should be seen in its own context. It
appears after the described
insidious traps of the demon and the describing of the weak monk
who began stumbling
in the pitfalls that surround him. But Maximus does not allow
the monk to fall to his
ruin at the end; nor does he allow the demon to celebrate his
triumphal victory. Instead,
after, he underlines the weakness of the monk [sc20], Maximus
mentions Our Lord
[sc21], on whose name every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth (Phil 2:10) and confess that
only his is Ku,rioj. In
front of him falls every demonic power.
We saw that this chapter of Maximus begins as identical to
Evagrius
[sc1=cp1]. We find many similar elements as in Evagrius, but in
the conclusion they are
completely different. Maximus is full of optimism, as opposed to
Evagrius realistic, but
pessimistic ending. Chapter 2:38 from the Centuries begins with
the introduction of a
demon [sc1] (A) (see structural analysis of the text) but ends
with the pronouncedly
34 For the meaning and the interpretation of Ku,rioj see in
LAMPE G. W. H. [ed], A Patristic Greek Lexicon, pp. 787788;
FOERSTER Werner, Ku,rioj, kuri,a,, kuriako,j, kurio,thj, kurieu,w,
katakurieuw in Grande Lessico del Nuovo testament, vol. V, pp.
13421488; Ku,rioj in LIDDELL Henrz George and SCOTT Robert, A
Greek-English Lexicon, p. 1013;
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
22
emphasized domination and supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ
[sc24] (A) who offers
us his almighty protection and assistance, because for apart
from him we can do nothing
[sc22] and he is the provider of goodness [sc24].
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
23
3. Appendix I: Synopsis of Praktikos 14 and Centuries 2:38
Praktikos 14
Centuries 2:38
1 VO th/j u`perhfani,aj dai,mwn
The demon of pride
vO th/j up`erhfani,aj dai,mwn
The demon of pride 1
2 calepwta,thj ptw,sewj
a very hard fall
diplh/n
dual 2
3 th|/ yuch|/
in the soul
3
4 pro,xenoj
public guest or friend
4
5 gi,netai\
be born, produce, begets
e;cei
has 5
6 th.n ponhri,an\t
malice:
6
7 h; ga.r e`autw|/ avnapei,qei
either he persuades (wrongly) 7
8 to.n monaco.n
the monk 8
9 evpigra,fein ta. katorqw,mata
to attribute his success to himself 9
10 avnapei,qei ga.r au.th.n Qeo.n me.n mh.
om`ologei/n bohqo,n(
It persuades [the soul]: not to confess
God as helper,
kai. ouvci. tw|/ Qew|/
and not to God 10
11 tw|/ kai. corhgw|/ tw/n kalw/n
the provider of goodness 11
12 kai. bohqw|/ pro.j kato,rqwsin(
and helper for successful
accomplishment [of things]
12
13 h] tou,tw| mh. peiqo,menon
or, failing to persuade him in this, 13
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
24
14 e`auth.n de. tw/n katorqoume,nwn aivti,an
ei=nai nomi,zein
but to believe that it is itself the cause
of its good deeds,
14
15 kai. fusiou/sqai kata. tw/n avdelfw/n w`j
avnoh,twn(
and to look down on the brethren,
treating them all as unintelligent,
tou.j e;ti avteleste,rouj tw/n avdelfw/n u`poba,llei
evxouqenei/n)
[the demon] suggests contempt for his
brethren who are as yet imperfect.
15
16 dio,ti mh. tou/to peri. auvth/j pa,ntej
evpi,stantai)
for not recognizing this about it.
16
17 VAgnoei/ de. kai. ou[twj o `evnergou,menoj
o[ti th.n tou/ Qeou/ boh,qeian avnapei,qei auvto.n
avparnei/sqai)
In this manner, it leads [the monk],
unknowingly, to deny the help of God,
17
18 Eiv ga.r e.kei,nouj wj mh. dunhqe,ntaj
katorqw/sai evxouqenei/(
for, despising others as men unable to
act rightly,
18
19 e`auto.n dhlono,ti w`j evx ivdi,aj duna,mewj
katorqw,santa eivsa,gei\
he brings up himself forward as doing
good deeds by his own strength,
19
20 o[per evsti. avmh,canon(
which is impossible, 20
21 tou/ Kuri,ou eivpo,ntoj\
as the Lord says: 21
22 Cwri.j evmou/ ouv du,nasqe poiei/n ouvde,n\
For apart from me you can do nothing.
(John15:5)
22
23 evpeidh. h` h`mete,ra asqe,neia kinoume,nh
evpi. ta. kala.
Because of our weakness [though]
oriented towards the good
23
24 a;neu tou/ corhgou/ tw/n kalw/n eivj te,loj
a;gein ouv du,natai)
without the provider of goodness can
bring nothing to its goal.
24
25 Parakolouqei/ de. tau,th|
25
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
25
[The demon of pride] is followed with
26 ovrgh
anger
26
27 lu,ph
and sadness
27
28 kai. to. teleutai/on kako,n(
and the ultimate evil,
28
29 e;kstasij frenw/n
the derangement of mind,
29
30 kai. mani,a madness,
30
31 kai. daimo,nwn evn tw|/ ave,ri plh/qoj
or`w,menon) and the vision of a multitude of
demons in the air.
31
-
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMON OF PRIDE AND COMBAT WITH HIM
26
4. Appendix II: Structural Analysis of Praktikos 14 and
Centuries 2:38
Praktikos 14
A the demon The demon of pride produces in the soul a very hard
fall.
B
pro
gre
ss o
f th
e
sou
l's
fall
It persuades [the soul]: not to confess God as helper,
C but to believe that it is itself the cause of its good
deeds,
D and to look down on the brethren, treating them all
as unintelligent, for not recognizing this about it.
D
pro
gre
ss o
f
dem
on
s
vic
tory
[The demon of pride] is followed with anger
C and sadness
B and the ultimate evil, the derangement of mind, madness,
A mobs of demons and the vision of a multitude of demons in the
air.
Centuries 2, 38
A THE DEMON of pride The demon of pride has dual malice:
B our weakness and we
he either persuades (wrongly) the monk to
attribute his success to himself and not to
C GOD God,
D the provider of goodness
E and helper for successful accomplishment [of
things],
F disdain of the brethren or, failing to persuade him in this,
[the demon]
suggests contempt for his brethren who are as yet
imperfect.
G The bedeviled man In this manner, it leads [the monk],
unknowingly,
H DENIAL GOD'S HELP to deny the help of God,
G' The bedeviled man for, despising others as men unable to act
rightly,
F' Believing in own power he brings up himself forward as doing
good deeds
by his own strength,
E' which is impossible,
D' THE LORD as the Lord says:
C' For apart from me you can do nothing. (John15:5)
B' our weakness and the Lord Because our weakness, [though]
oriented towards
the good can bring nothing to its goal, without
A' GOD PANTOCRATOR the provider of goodness.
-
CHAPTER TWO:
THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
1. Translation: Praktikos 46 and Centuries 2:14
Praktikos 46 Centuries 2:14
Mh. taratte,tw de. h`ma/j o` dai,mwn o` sunarpa,zwn to.n nou/n
pro.j blasfhmi,an Qeou/ kai. pro.j ta.j avpeirhme,naj fantasi,aj
evkei,naj a]j e;gwge ouvde. grafh|/ paradou/nai teto,lmhka( mhde.
th.n proqumi,an h`mw/n evkkopte,tw\ kardiognw,sthj ga,r evstin o`
Ku,rioj kai. oi=den o[ti ouvde. evn tw|/ ko,smw| o;ntej pote.
toiau,thn mani,an evma,nhmen) Skopo.j de. tou,tw| tw|/ dai,moni
pau/sai h`ma/j th/j proseuch/j( i[na mh. stw/men evnantoi,on
Kuri,ou tou/ Qeou/ h`mw/n( mhde. ta.j cei/raj evktei/nai
tolmh,swmen kaq v ou- toiau/ta dienoh,qhmen)
{Otan a;rchtai o` nou/j eivj th.n avga,phn tou/ Qeou/
proko,ptein( to,te kai. o` dai,mwn th/j blasfhmi,aj a;rcetai
evkpeira,zein auvto.n kai. toiou,touj auvtw|/ logismou.j
u`poba,llei( oi[ouj avnqrw,pwn me.n ouvdei,j( mo,noj de. o` tou,twn
path.r dia,boloj evfeuri,skei) Tou/to de. poiei/ fqonw/n tw|/
qeofilei/( i[na eivj avpo,gnwsin evlqw.n w`j toiau/ta dianohqei,j(
mhke,ti tolmh,sh| dia. th/j sunh,qouj proseuch/j pro.j auvto.n
avnapth/nai) Ouvde.n de. evnteu/qen wvfelei/tai o` avla,stwr pro.j
to.n i;dion skopo,n( avlla. kai. ma/llon bebaiote,rouj h`ma/j
avperga,zetai) Polemou,menoi ga.r kai. avntipolemou/ntej
dokimw,teroi kai. gnhsiw,teroi eivj th.n avga,phn tou/ Qeou/
eurisko,meqa\ h` de. r`omfai,a auvtou/ eivse,lqoi eivj kardi,an
auvtou/ kai. ta. to,xa auvtou/ suntribei,h)
Let the demon not stir us up who carries
off our intellect toward blaspheming God
and toward the forbidden fantasies which I
have not dared to deliver in writing, nor let
[it] cut off our zeal. For the Lord is
knower of hearts and he knows that, even
we were formerly in the world, we did not
do such kind of madness. The intention of
this demon is to stop our prayer so that we
not stand in front of the Lord our God, nor
dare to stretch out our hands, for having
had such intentions.
When the intellect starts to advance in the
love of God then the demon of the
blasphemy begins to tempt it and suggests
to it such kind of thoughts, as no man
invents but only their father, the devil. He
does all this because of jealously towards
the God-lover so that, having arrived at
despair as one conceiving such things, [the
God-lover] no longer has the courage to
dare to approach God with his habitual
prayer. But the destroying angel gains
nothing from this towards his own goal.
Rather, he makes us now steadfast more
than ever. For, being attacked and fighting
back, we find ourselves more tested and
more genuine in the love of God. May his
sword enter his heart and his bows be
shattered. (Ps 37:15)
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
28
2. Commentary on Praktikos 46 and Centuries 2, 38
The chapter which stands before us speaks of the demon of
blasphemy.
Palladius, Evagrius disciple in his Historia Lausiaca, regarding
Evagrius life in
Egyptian desert, reports to us that Evagrius had a very painful
and difficult combat with
demons who tempted him to blasphemy, but he nevertheless
successfully completed this
agonizing struggle:
On another occasion again the spirit of blasphemy troubled him.
And for forty days he
did not enter under a roof, as he told us himself, so that his
body threw out ticks, like
the bodies of irrational animals. Three demons attacked him by
day disguised as clerics,
questioning him on the faith. And one said he was an Arian, the
other an Eunomian, the
third an Apollinarian; and he vanquished these in his wisdom by
means of a few
words.35
A similar testimony can be heard also from the mouth of
Dorotheus of Gaza in
his Instructiones.36
After such painful personal experiences, Evagrius could write
lines
such as we find in chapter 46 of the Praktikos. It is this
chapter that will be our subject
for research and analysis. It belongs to the fourth section of
the first part of the
Praktikos (40-53) concerning advice and instructions against
demons (see structure of
the Praktikos in the Introduction).
Who is this demon which gave so much trouble to Evagrius and
about whom
Evagrius left so many references in his works? Evagrius
describes him as the demon
who carries off our intellect toward blaspheming God and toward
the forbidden
fantasies [sp4.6]. The eighth part of the Antirrhetikos Evagrius
states almost the
35 PALLADIUS, Historia Lausiaca 38:11; PG 43, 1194 B; Quoted
from: PALLADIUS, The Lausiac
History, pp. 136-137; the critical editions see in: PALLADIO, La
storia Lausiaca, 200-201.
36 DOROTHE de Gaza, Oeuvres Spirituelles, SCh 92, pp.
206-207.
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
29
same.37
This eighth part of the Antirrhetikos is dedicated to pride and
in a many places
describes blasphemous thoughts as tempting-thoughts by the demon
of pride. Therefore,
this demon of blasphemy is none other than the demon of
pride.38
But Evagrius
distinguish them because of different types of pride. Carefully
reading this chapter, we
recognize that behind blasphemous thoughts is hidden the demon
of pride or the
original evil39 as Evagrius called him in the Prologue of the
Praktikos.
This demon produces two effects: 1) carries off our intellect
toward
blaspheming God [sp4] and 2) [carries off our intellect] toward
the forbidden
fantasies [sp6]. According to the testimony, Evagrius
blasphemous fantasies are so
unbearable that he does not even want to leave them on the paper
[sp5]. What are these
thoughts? In this chapter Evagrius does not give us the answer,
but in other places of his
written corpus we can find out more about it.
In the quoted passage from Palladius Historia Lausiaca about
Evagrius combat
with the demon of blasphemy, we see that he calls them an Arian,
the other an
Eunomian, the third an Apollinarian,40 which means that they are
related to the denial
of the deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and also could be
such thoughts that degrade
the Holy Trinity to the level of creatures.41
37 Cf. Antirrehtikos, 8:41, in Evagrius of Pontus, Antirrhetikos
Talking Back. A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons, p. 168.
38 See the note on the Praktikos 46 in GUILLAUMONT, SCh 71,
603-604: Comme le precise ce texte de lAntirrhtique (dont la
section VIII est consacre lorgueil), se dmon nest autre que celui
de lorgueil.
39 Praktikos, Prolog, 2, SCh 71, pp. 486-487.
40 PALLADIUS, Historia Lausiaca 38:11, p. 136.
41 Cf. Ad Monachos, 134; DRISCOLL, p. 65.
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
30
There are blasphemous thoughts which deny free will which is
directly
connected to the question of Gods righteousness because these
thoughts suggest to us
that we commit sins involuntarily, without our will; and
consequently, the judgment of
God against us is unfair42
because we have not sinned with the consent of our free
will.
Other blasphemous thoughts are about God's existence, i.e. they
ask whether God is
among us or not,43
or, they deny Gods help,44 and bring us to consider the demons
as
gods.45
Some even suggest for man to regard the human body as something
sinful and
unworthy. 46
Behind all these thoughts that terrorize men, is lurking a very
specific goal or
intention (skopo.j) of this demon. The man who has been
assaulted by this demon is
overflowing with such painful thoughts and those causing
sadness,47
that in this way he
loses confidence and trust in prayer.48
In this context Guillaumont commenting on our
chapter from the Praktikos49
provides a quotation from the Antirrehetikos where we can
see how blasphemous thoughts persist in us and destroy the
frankness of prayer.50
Guillaumont underlines the importance of the word parrhsi,a. It
is a favorite New
Testament term meaning courage, confidence, boldness,
fearlessness, joyfulness,
openness to the public, publicly. Remaining without these
important things, such as
42 Cf. Antirrehtikos, 8:16; p. 162.
43 Cf. Antirrehtikos, 8:12; p. 161.
44 Cf. Antirrehtikos, 8:5; p. 160.
45 Cf. Antirrehtikos, 8:47.49c; pp. 169, 170.
46 Cf Kephalia gnostica IV,60.62; GUILLAUMONT Antoine, Les six
centuries des Kephalia Gnostica in PO 28, p. 163.
47 Cf Antirrehtikos 8:49a; p. 169.
48 Cf Antirrehtikos 8:10; p. 161.
49 Cf. GUILLAUMONT, SCh 71, p. 605.
50 Antirrehtikos 8:10; p. 161.
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
31
confidence and trust in our relationship with God, man despairs
of Gods presence and
therefore neglects prayer. In this way the demon reaches his
goal of preventing one
from praying: so that we might not stand before the Lord our God
nor dare to lift up
our hands to him [sp12.13].
To be involved in a mesh of so despairing thoughts is, indeed, a
great danger and
it is not easy to resist them, especially when a man feeling far
from God ceases to pray.
To turn man away from prayer is the intention of this demon who
is opposed to our
prayer.51
Therefore, Evagrius seems to want to restore the ascetic trust
and confidence
in the Lord, because God knows what is in our hearts because he
is kardiognw,sthj52
[sp7] unlike the demons who do not know what lies in the human
heart.53
God knows
that these thoughts did not enter our minds with our consent and
it is not we who have
committed such madness [sp10], therefore, in our weakness, we
need a greater
confidence to direct our prayers to the Lord:
To the Lord concerning the words by which the demon spoke in us
unspeakable
blasphemies against the Lord, things that I cannot write, lest I
shake heaven and earth;
for in anger this demon stands without fear and speaks great
blasphemy against God and
the holy angels those who have been tempted by it understand
what I am saying and at the time of this temptation what is
excellent is fasting, reading of the scriptures, and
unceasing pryers offered with tears. 54
Maximus chapter Centuries 2:14 sounds, generally speaking, very
similar to
Evagrius' Praktikos 46: The demon of blasphemy tempts the
ascetic with blasphemous
51 Cf. Antirrehtikos 8:20.49b; pp. 164, 170.
52 See. Act 1:24 and 15:8; Kardiognw,sthj the Lord knows the
human heart God can and humans cannot [know] that. God is able to
make judgment in terms of internal dispositions rather then on
external criteria. JOHNSON Luke Timothy, The Acts of the
Apostles, pp. 37 and 262.
53 Ouvk evpi,stantai ta.j kardi,aj h`mw/n oi`dai,monej see in De
cog., 37. vagre le Pontique, Sur les penses, SCh 438, pp.
280-281.
54 Antirrehtikos, 8:21; p. 164.
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
32
thoughts in order that the man full of shame, no longer dares to
pray to the Lord. But
Maximus, in his own way, expands Evagrius thought, adding his
own observation and
attention.
The first thing we can notice in Maximus Centuries 2:14 that is
not present in
Praktikos 46 is the way Maximus connects this blasphemous
temptation with the
spiritual progress of man. He notes that this demon tends to
assail those who are more
advanced in the spiritual life, that is, those who grant perfect
prayer and worship to the
creator through love.55 This is a very important element that
should be noted: the
reason why the demon attacks man is because of his love or his
progress in love [sc2].
In his Introduction to Maximus the Centuries, Sharwood gives a
very nice summary of
Maximus doctrine of love:
Love is the fulfillment of faith and hope, it embraces the
ultimate in desire and puts a
term to that motion; it restores man to unity within himself and
with other men, because
of the harmony already established with God. Than love there is
nothing higher to be
sought. The love given God and man is one and the same, due to
God and joining men.
The activity and proof of perfect love for God is love for our
neighbor. Love is the way
of Truth which is the Word, that places us in the calm of
detachment before the Father;
it is the door by which he who enters makes his entrance into
the holy of holies and is
made worthy to see the holy and royal Trinity; it is the true
vine. The whole of the Law
and the prophets and the Gospel is directed towards it; by it
God is honored above the
creature and all men are equally honored. In all this it is to
be noted that love knows no
limits; or rather its limits are those of God.56
In light of this insight, we can easily understand why the demon
has a special
intention (skopoj) to prevent man in the progress and growth in
love.
55 GAVIN John, They are like the angels in the heavens, p.
168.
56 SHERWOOD Polycarp, Introduction. Charity in: MAXIMUS the
Confessor, The Ascetic Life. The Four Centuries on Charity, ACW
vol. 21, p. 97.
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
33
The results or effects of this demon that we find in Evagrius:
carries off our
intellect toward blaspheming God and toward the forbidden
fantasies [sp4.6],
Maximus simply summarizes: that the demon of blasphemy begins to
tempt it [the
intellect] and suggests to it such kind of thoughts, as no man
invents but only their
father, the devil. [sc4.5.7] Also we will not find in Maximus
the autosuggestion to
encouragement: Let us neither be stirred up by the demon [...]
nor cut off our zeal.
[sp1.3.8] The text of Maximus also does not emphasize forbidden
fantasies
(avpeirhme,naj fantasi,aj) [sp6], or the Lords knowing of the
human heart
(kardiognw,sthj) [sp9] and our acts in this world, and that even
we have blasphemous
thoughts, we do not fall into this with our will, that it is not
from our free will but from
the enemy of our tempter [sp10]. Finally, Maximus does not speak
about his fear in
writing about the temptations [sp7]. All these elements omitted
in Maximus, but present
in Evagrius, seem to further indicate the hidden
autobiographical background of their
origin, and which outline Evagrius painful torment which he
endured to overcome this
temptation.
The somewhat common element present in both authors is the
intention of the
demons to use such blasphemous thoughts in order to stop mans
prayer [sp11.13 =
sc11.13]. But Maximus here notices an important additional
point, and that is the inner
rationale of the demons intentions: He does all this because of
jealously [sp11].
Fqo,noj - invidia, envy, jealousy is the main reason for the
attack on man. Through the
Devil's envy Death came into the world. (Wisdom 2:24) Envying
the mans intimacy
with God in love through prayer, the demon tries to do
everything just to separate the
man from his Source and in this way to sow death. Prayer filled
with love and
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
34
confidence, boldness, fearlessness (parrhsi,a) toward God is the
main reason for envy
of the demon, and therefore becomes the main reason of the
demons attack.
Another and more significant difference in Maximus is that he
shows us a
deeper meaning in these attacks [sc16-19], which is not found in
Evagrius [sp16-19].
Maximus, namely, in this section, reveals to us why God allows
such a difficult ordeal
for man, qeofilh,j:
Demons serve a purpose, since they act as unwilling instruments
in the training of the
monk. In battling demons the ascetic develops his natural powers
of resistance and
becomes more open to the love of God in his life. Maximus give
the monk greater
reason for perseverance during a skirmish with the diabolical
source of blasphemy.57
From all of that we get a double result: the growth in our
humanity (a
strengthening and consolidating) and growth in the love of God
and with God [sc18].
Despite repeating some of the same or similar elements in
Evagrius, in his
description of the demon of blasphemy Maximus goes much further
and deeper.
Evagrius put forward the cruel reality of the demon, his
temptations and our struggles
with him. Maximus, following the essential Evagrian elements,
takes another step and
brings us to the inner meaning that lies behind the temptation,
the whole theology of
combat with evil.
The conclusion of Maximus chapter [sc19] ends like a crown with
this
pericope: May his sword enter his heart and his bows be
shattered. (Ps 37:15) At the
beginning of Maximus pericope (see the structural analysis for
Centuries 2:14) we
have the demon who with the sword of the
tempting-blasphemous-thoughts attacks a
57 GAVIN John, They are like the angels in the heavens, p.
168.
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
35
man who is advancing in love for God (A) and the pericope ends
with Gods sword that
pierces the heart of the enemy (A). Before the attacks of
demons, the man was
advanced in the love of God (A) but after the attacks, he is
even more advanced in love
(A). Temptation, which was aimed to destroy the man of God (B)
does the opposite,
instead of destroying him, it reinforces and strengthens the
man. The demon of Envy by
whom death comes into this world, with his intention directed by
that envy wants also
the death of man (C) but his plan fails (C'). The mans communion
with God through
the prayer, which was at the heart of the demons attacks (D) in
the end, like a
boomerang turns against the demon.
If we try to analyze Evagrius' chapter we can see a different
internal dynamic to
the text (see the structural analysis for Praktikos 46):
beginning with an encouraging
note that we should not be afraid to be tempted by the demon of
blasphemy (A) but
ending with the possible danger that this brings with it a
temptation (A). The effects
produced by the temptation (B) seem to go together with the
intention of tempter (B).
However, as an opposite of the ugliness of the demons attack (C)
we see the goodness
of God (C).
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
36
3. Appendix I: Synopsis of Praktikos 46 and Centuries 2:14
Praktikos 46 Cent 2:14
1 Mh. taratte,tw de. h`ma/j
Let us neither be stirred up
1
2 {Otan a;rchtai o` nou/j eivj th.n
avga,phn tou/ Qeou/ proko,ptein(
When the intellect starts to advance in the
love of God
2
3 o` dai,mwn
by the demon
to,te kai. o` dai,mwn th/j blasfhmi,aj
then the demon of the blasphemy
3
4 o` sunarpa,zwn to.n nou/n pro.j
blasfhmi,an Qeou/
who carries off our intellect toward
blaspheming God
a;rcetai evkpeira,zein auvto.n
begins to tempt it 4
5 kai. toiou,touj auvtw|/ logismou.j
u`poba,llei(
and suggests to it such kind of thoughts,
5
6 kai. pro.j ta.j avpeirhme,naj
fantasi,aj
and toward the forbidden fantasies
6
7 evkei,naj a]j e;gwge ouvde. grafh|/
paradou/nai teto,lmhka(
which I will not endure to deliver in
writing,
oi[ouj avnqrw,pwn me.n ouvdei,j( mo,noj de. o` tou,twn path.r
dia,boloj evfeuri,skei)
as no man invents but only their father, the
devil.
7
8 mhde. th.n proqumi,an h`mw/n
evkkopte,tw\
nor cut off our zeal.
8
9 kardiognw,sthj ga,r evstin o` Ku,rioj
For the Lord is knower of hearts
9
10 kai. oi=den o[ti ouvde. evn tw|/ ko,smw|
o;ntej pote. toiau,thn mani,an evma,nhmen)
and he knows that, even we were formerly
in the world, we did not do such kind of
madness.
10
11 Skopo.j de. tou,tw| tw|/ dai,moni
The intention of this demon is
Tou/to de. poiei/ fqonw/n tw|/ qeofilei/(
He does all this because of jealously towards
the God-lover
11
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
37
12 i[na eivj avpo,gnwsin evlqw.n w`j
toiau/ta dianohqei,j(
so that, through despair at the appearance of
such considerations,
12
13 pau/sai h`ma/j th/j proseuch/j(
to stop our prayer
mhke,ti tolmh,sh| dia. th/j sunh,qouj proseuch/j pro.j auvto.n
avnapth/nai)
[the God-lover] no longer has the courage to
dare to approach God with his habitual
prayer.
13
14 i[na mh. stw/men evnantoi,on Kuri,ou
tou/ Qeou/ h`mw/n(
so that we not stand in front of the Lord
our God,
14
15 mhde. ta.j cei/raj evktei/nai
tolmh,swmen kaq v ou- toiau/ta dienoh,qhmen)
nor bear to stretch out our hands, for
having had such intentions.
15
16 Ouvde.n de. evnteu/qen wvfelei/tai o`
avla,stwr pro.j to.n i;dion skopo,n(
But the destroying angel gains nothing from
this towards his own goal.
16
17 avlla. kai. ma/llon bebaiote,rouj h`ma/j
avperga,zetai)
Rather, he makes us now steadfast more
than ever.
17
18 Polemou,menoi ga.r kai.
avntipolemou/ntej dokimw,teroi kai. gnhsiw,teroi eivj th.n
avga,phn tou/ Qeou/ eurisko,meqa\
For, being attacked and fighting back, we
find ourselves more tested and more genuine
in the love of God.
18
19 h` de. r`omfai,a auvtou/ eivse,lqoi eivj
kardi,an auvtou/ kai. ta. to,xa auvtou/ suntribei,h)
May his sword enter his heart and his bows
be shattered. (Ps 37:15)
19
-
CHAPTER TWO: THE DEMON OF BLASPHEMY
38
4. Appendix II: Structural Analysis of Praktikos 46 and
Centuries 2, 14
Praktikos 46
A we and the demon Let us neither be stirred up by the demon
B effects of temptation who carries off our intellect toward
blaspheming God
and toward the forbidden fantasies
C ugliness of temptation which I will not endure to deliver in
writing, nor cut off
our zeal.
C'
goodness of the Lord
For the Lord is knower of hearts and he knows that, even
we were formerly in the world, we did not do such kind
of madness.
B' intention of temptation The intention of this demon is to
stop our prayer
A'
wickedness of temptation
so that we not stand in front of the Lord our God, nor
bear to stretch out our hands, for having had such
intentions.
Centuries 2, 14
A
sword of the demon against man
+
advance in love
When the intellect starts to advance in the love
of God
then the demon of the blasphemy begins to
tempt it
B temptation for distroid man and suggests to it such kind of
thoughts, as no
man invents but only their father, the devil.
C intention He does all this because of jealously towards
the
God-lover so that, through despair at the
appearance of such considerations,
D the demon and prayer [the God-lover] no longer has the courage
to
dare to approach God with his habitual prayer.
C' fulier of intetion But the destroying angel gains nothing
from this
towards his own goal.
B' man is stronger from temptation Rather, he makes us now
steadfast more than
ever.
A'
more progress in love
+
sword of God against the demon
For, being attacked and fighting back, we find
ourselves more tested and more genuine in the
love of God.
May his sword enter his heart and his bows be
shattered. (Ps 37:15)
-
CHAPTER THREE:
THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
1. Translation: Praktikos 31 and Centuries 3:60
Praktikos 31 Centuries 3:60
:Egnwn to.n th/j kenodoxi,aj dai,mona scedo.n u`po. pa,ntwn
diwko,menon tw/n daimo,nwn kai. evpi. toi/j tw/n diwko,ntwn
ptw,masin avnaidw/j parista,menon kai. tw|/ monacw|/ me,geqoj
avretw/n evmfani,zonta)
Pa,nta ta. a;tima pa,qh kratou/nta th/j yuch/j to.n th/j
kenodoxi,aj evx auvth/j avpelau,nousi logismo,n\ kai. pa,ntwn tw/n
proeirhme,nwn h`tthme,nwn( evp v auvth.n auvto.n avnalu,ousin)
I have known the demon of vainglory,
driven away by almost all the demons, but
when those pursuers fall, he shamelessly
approaches and shows the monk the
greatness of his virtues.
All dishonorable passions which possess
the soul [they] drive away the thought of
vainglory from her [the soul]; and when all
of them are defeated, they return it
[thought of vainglory] to her [the soul].
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
40
2. Commentary on Praktikos 31 and Centuries 3:60
Vainglory is an irrational passion and it readily gets tangled
up with any work
of virtue.58 This is the penultimate of thoughts from Evagrius
vices hierarchy. It is
mentioned in the first part of the Praktikos where there is a
question concerning On the
Eight Thoughts in the chapter 1359
. In second part concerning remedies against the
eight thoughts (15-33), for questions concerning vainglory,
Evagrius dedicates three
chapters: the chapter 30, 31 and 32. On this subject he will
refer back in second section
of the Praktikos where there is a question concerning on the
state that is near to
impassibility, in chapter 58.
According to Evagrius demonology the demons do not tempt us all
at the same
time, nor do they instill their thoughts in us at the same
moment.60 The Demons
temptations follow the hierarchy of vices and they follow one
after another, so
vainglory is the vice of the advanced and plays on the monks
self-esteem61 and it
takes the penultimate places in the hierarchy i.e. just before
pride. Evagrius says that the
demon of vainglory is driven out by other demons. For a beginner
in asceticism which
is still grappling with gluttony, fornication, avarice, or even
later, for one who has
seriously problems with sadness, anger and acedia, it is almost
impossible to be attacked
by this demon. Battle with these kinds of vices, still present
in the soul, will fill man
more with embarrassment than with vainglory and pride. After the
uphill struggle with
all these vices and after the monk has invested great trouble
and effort to overcome
58 De cog 7:1; GAC p. 85.
59 Cf. Praktikos 13; SCh 71, pp. 528-531; GAC p. 100.
60 De octo spir. 24:1-2; SCh 438, pp. 236-237; GAC, p 169.
61 SINKEWICZ Robert E., Commentary on Praktikos, note 39, in
GAC, p. 253.
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
41
them and to be free of them, the monk comes closer to a certain
degree of impassibility.
After the demons have been defeated up to this point and a state
of victory has been
achieved, a blissful state of the soul now becomes a source of
vainglory62 and its
demon shamelessly approaches [sp6]. However, any success in the
practice of the
virtues is an opportunity for vainglory.63
Yet, before that monk came to clash with this demon, it is
necessary to defeat all
the other demons and get rid of all the vices of thoughts.64
After this battle the monk
attains some small degree of impassibility.65 Such success and
freedom brings the
monk to the condition that he returns to self-esteem, and with
this state his achieving
respect among people.66
But within himself grows a natural desire and intention of
publishing his struggles and hunting after the esteem that comes
from people.67 And it
can be the beginning of defeat for the monk for it is a
temptation to which even the
brightest angels could not resist: From this thought is born
that of pride, which cast
down from the heavens to earth the Seal of the Likeness and the
Crown of Beauty
(Ezek 28:12).68
In our observations and analysis we are limiting ourselves just
to chapter 31
from the Praktikos.
62 Praktikos 30; SCh 71, pp.570-571.
63 SINKEWICZ Robert E., Introduction, in GAC, p. xxx.
64 Cf. De octo spir. 14:8-11, SCh 438, pp. 200-201; GAC, p
162-163.
65 De octo spir. 15; SCh 438, 202-203; GAC, p. 163.
66 Cf. Antirrhetikos 7:5,38; pp. 148, 156.
67 Praktikos 13; SCh 71, pp. 528-531; GAC, p. 100.
68 De octo spir. 14; GAC, p. 162.
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
42
The chapter is shorter than all the others in the Praktikos
which talk about
vainglory. Evagrius begins the chapter appealing to his own
experience: :Egnwn to.n
th/j kenodoxi,aj dai,mona [sp1.3]. Although in the prologue he
tells us that he will convey
to us what he learned from the holy fathers69, he not only
transmits to us the tradition
which he had learned passively by listening; but he provides us
with first-hand
knowledge of this demon by whom he had been tormented. We can
find evidence of
this struggle with the demon in his letter to John of
Jerusalem.70
After this very brief statement he very briefly summarizes the
position of the
demon of the vainglory in the mans straggle with demons, i.e.
that the demon is driven
out by the anterior demons [sp4] and only when they are
defeated, does he approache
the man [sp6]. This brief and condensed summary assumes, as
mentioned above,
Evagrius doctrine on demons: demons do not attack at the same
time, but one demon
follows after another one, corresponding to the hierarchy of
vices. Since the demon of
vainglory is in the penultimate place, there is no place for him
as long as the other
demons predecessors have not been defeated and pursued [sp4].
Having pursued and
defeated all of the previous demons, the demon of vainglory
[sp5] now shamelessly
(avnaidw/j) enters on the scene [sp6] and he begin to play his
game with the monk,
calling to his mind the greatness and deservedness which he
achieved in the struggle
with evil demons [sp7].
69 Praktikos. Prologue 1. See also Prologue 9.
70 Cf. Letter 9:2; Evagrios Pontikos, Briefe aus der Wste, p.
222: I, however, am a wretch, incapable of leading even a single
sheep to graze, nor am I willing to snatch it from the mouth of the
wolf. Behold it
is thus bitterly wounded, sometimes by wrath, and at other times
by sadness; sometimes it is torn by
pride and again by vainglory. English translation by DYSINGER
Luke (translation in public domain)
http://www.ldysinger.com/Evagrius/11_Letters/00a_start.htm.
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
43
How Evagrius finished his battle, he does not give us a report;
however, a report
that we have from others about him gives us a hint that he did
not remain defeated by
the evil tempter, but he beat him with humility.71
Regarding Maximus, if we observe the chapters from the Centuries
where he is
speaking about vainglory,72
we see that Maximus more or less in this chapter
follows Evagrius. In our observations we are limiting ourselves
to just Centuries 3:60.
Unlike Evagrius, however, Maximus does not make note of his own
experience
[sc1] which we find in Evagrius [sp1]. But that does not mean
that he talks about what
he has not experienced.
The first thing that we notice in Maximus speaking about vices
is that he speaks
about ta. a;tima pa,qh (the dishonored passions) which possess
the soul [sc2] we do not
find this term in Evagrius [sp2]. The expression is very
interesting for several reasons.
These passions have the same role as the demons in Evagrius. In
several chapters of the
Centuries before our chapter 3:60 and in several after, where he
speaks about vainglory,
Maximus, instead of using the word demon, uses the word passions
ta. pa,qh . He
gives the passions an important role, and speaking of them in a
personified, mythical
way was very familiar to the man of Hellenic culture. Building
on the personification of
71 On a certain occasion when the Council of Elders of Cells was
in session discussing problems of interest to the community
Evagrius came forth with his own views and an elder said to him:
'We know,
Abba, that if you had remained in your own country where you are
a bishop and the governor of many
[your speech would have been quite in order]; but in this place
you sit as a stranger. Evagrius was chagrined but he did not take
offense. He just shook his head and looked down to the ground and
wrote
with his finger and told them: You are right my fathers: I have
spoken once. But I will not do so a second time. FESTUGIRE A. J.
Historia Monachorum in Aegyto, (Brussels, 1961) p. 606-607.
Translation quoted by BAMBERGER John Eudes, Introduction in
EVAGRIUS Ponticus, The Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer, p. xvi.
72 Vainglory is spoken about in Centuries: I, 30, 46, 80; II, 9,
23, 35, 59, 63, 65; III, 4, 7, 17, 20, 56, 59-
62, 75, 77, 83, 84; IV, 43.
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
44
the virtues and vices, which often occurred in Greek mythology,
Maximus goes much
deeper in personifying the passions of vainglory. In this,
Maximus more deeply
emphasizes their interior, sensible, dynamic, and destructive
activity in the soul of the
man.73
This is in contrast to Evagrius who, using the term the demon of
vainglory,
seems to give more emphasis on exterior action while not having
a strongly outlined
interior meaning and struggle of the soul.
In all other things, we can say that Maximus almost completely
follows Evagrius
in this chapter: all the passions which are present in the soul
drive away the thought of
vainglory [sc3.4] like the demons in Evagrius [sp3.4]. When
these passions are driven
away [sc5 sp5], the passion of vainglory can start its role [sc6
sp6]. Evagrius
describes the approach of the demon of vainglory to the soul,
with the expression
avnaidw/j (shamelessly) [sp6], which we will not find in
Maximus. Another obvious
difference is that Maximus omits letting us know in an explicit
way, which work or
action the passion of vainglory does in the soul of the man
[sc7], as in Evagrius [sp7].
But perhaps Maximus personification of the passions, with their
interior, possessive,
destructive action in the soul, says much more than Evagrius
noted in an explicit way
[sp7].
However, the similarity between Maximus and Evagrius in these
chapters is
obvious.
Maximus certainly owes a debt to the keen analysis of his
master. Yet, at the
same time, the student did not remain content with simply
reproducing the
73 More about role of the passions in Maximus see in: GAVIN
John, They are like the angels in the heaven, pp. 147148; BALTHASAR
Hans Urs von, Cosmic Liturgy. The universe According to
Maximus the Confessor, pp. 193-196; JEVREMOVI Petar, Dynamism of
yuch in the works of St Maximus the Confessor, pp. 28-29.
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
45
teachings of the past, rather he shaped these observations
through his own
personal experience and theological wisdom.74
If we observed the inner dynamics of Maximus Centuries (see
structural
analysis) we can see an internal connection: at the beginning we
have all dishonorable
passions which possess the soul (A) and at the end there is just
the thought of vainglory
(A). The passions which are opposed to and drive away thought of
vainglory (B) at the
end they are driven away (B).
The inner dynamic in Evagrius chapter 31 from the Praktikos, in
contrast,
begins with the monk who knows the demon of vainglory (A) but
ends with the
demon who knows the monk and shows to him the greatness of his
virtues, in order
that the man fall into the trap of vainglory. (A). The demon of
vainglory, which had
been driven away by the other demons (B), now shamelessly
approaches the soul (B')
after the defeat of his demonic persecutors (D) before which
time he could not return.
74 GAVIN John, They are like the angels in the heaven, pp.
169-170.
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
46
3. Appendix I: Synopsis of Praktikos 31 and Centuries 3:60
Praktikos 31 Centuries 3:60
1 :Egnwn
I have known
1
2 Pa,nta ta. a;tima pa,qh kratou/nta th/j
yuch/j
All dishonorable passions which
possess the soul
2
3 to.n th/j kenodoxi,aj dai,mona
the demon of vainglory,
to.n th/j kenodoxi,aj evx auvth/j avpelau,nousi logismo,n\
[they] drive away the thought of
vainglory from her [the soul];
3
4 scedo.n u`po. pa,ntwn diwko,menon
tw/n daimo,nwn
driven away by almost all the
demons,
4
5 kai. evpi. toi/j tw/n diwko,ntwn
ptw,masin
but when those pursuers fall,
kai. pa,ntwn tw/n proeirhme,nwn h`tthme,nwn(
and when all of them are defeated,
5
6 avnaidw/j parista,enon
he shamelessly approaches
evp v auvth.n auvto.n avnalu,ousin)
they return it [thought of vainglory]
upon her [the soul].
6
7 kai. tw|/ monacw|/ me,geqoj avretw/n
evmfani,zonta)
and shows the monk the greatness
of his virtues.
7
-
CHAPTER THREE: THE DEMON OF VAINGLORY
47
4. Appendix II: Structural Analysis of Praktikos 31 and
Centuries 3:60
Praktikos 31
A the monk who know the demon I have known the demon of
vainglory,
B the demon is driven away driven away by almost all the
demons,
C failure of the pursuers but when those pursuers fall,
B' The demon approaches he shamelessly approaches
A' the demon who knows the monk and shows the monk the greatness
of his virtues.
Centuries 3:60
A the passions possess the soul All dishonorable passions which
possess the soul
B The passions cast out vainglory [they] drive away the thought
of vainglory
from her [the soul];
B The passions are cast out and when all of them are
defeated,
A vainglory posses the soul they return it [thought of
vainglory] upon her [the
soul].
-
CONCLUSION
Duo cum faciunt idem, non est idem.75
In our research we met with two great masters of the spiritual
life which have
made great contributions and had undeniable influence on
Christian asceticism and
monasticism up until the present day. For all their
similarities, though, they were
destined for quite different fates: Evagrius, the humble citizen
of the Kellia Desert, left
behind a group of disciples and monks who were already in his
lifetime calling him by
the honorable title abba. He died in peace with the Church, only
to be declared by
that same Church after a full one hundred and fifty years a
heretic and to have his
teaching condemned; Maximus, after a fearless and tireless
struggle for orthodoxy and
dogmatic purity in the Church, was abandoned and forgotten by
all, and he spent the last
years of his life exiled from the very same Church for whose
orthodox doctrine he
fought. He was proclaimed an enemy of the Church and the Empire.
Subjected to
torture, he died in remote seclusion on the edge of the empire
as an anathematized,
dangerous heretic. Just under twenty years after his death,
however, the Church which
had anathematized his teaching as heretical, declared it
orthodox and embraced his
dogmatic definitions in its cannons and declared him a saint and
confessor of
orthodoxy.
The destiny of the lives of these two men of the Church so
different and so
close has only one goal: God! It is to seek the road toward Him,
to return to the
original state of human nature before the fall in the paradise
of Eden, and to desire the
75 "When two do the same, it isn't the same." (Latin
proverb)
-
CONCLUSION
49
deification of his human existence. It is this unquenchable
thirst of the soul for his
Creator, which is the