ORTHODOX CHURCH - DEMONOLOGY AND THE ENIGMA OF EVIL

The prophetic visionary St John on Patmos puts in very dramatic fashion the distinction between those who are within the Kingdom, and those without:

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside the gates are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practises falsehood." 197

His vision is of the heavenly Jerusalem, but it is just as true on this earth that evil has no kinship with the good. The power of God's grace and holiness shuns and repels evil. Evil cannot enter the presence of the Living God, and cannot harm, in any ultimate sense, and only in immediate senses which are closely controlled by God, the saints of God who are marked with his grace through the sacraments. But it is also true that on this earth the forces of goodness and evil mix more fluidly than in the Kingdom of the saints, where God has established an absolute barrier between them. 198 The face of evil is urbane and habitually masks itself in the present aeon of world history. It can even seek to mimic the good, and tries to fool even the elect, if such a thing were possible. Evil always betrays itself, however, for the simulation of the good is difficult for it, and its innate characteristics of agitation, spitefulness, lies, and hostility to what constitutes the peaceful good of others cannot help showing themselves at critical junctures. It is, nevertheless, an important part of the unmasking of evil that the elect have to recognize its presence, discern its intention and scope, and name it for the warning of the common good. All too often even good people are led astray, thinking that there is no such force as real evil in the world, or that wickedness is merely a word for mistaken or unfortunate behaviour. There is that, of course; but it is a foolish myopia not to be able to admit the palpable presence of evil in our world, and an even more lamentable failing not to be able to point the finger at it in the cause of unmasking its pervasive effects. The good are especially prone to this mistake, as they live, generally, in atmospheres of gracefulness and cannot imagine some of the character of real wickedness that is always on the prowl. 199

Orthodoxy takes seriously the doctrine of the elemental spirits spoken of so extensively in the Gospels, 200 and elaborated in the later Epistles 201 where their role in the propagation of ‘false teaching’ that confuses and leads astray large portions of humanity is stressed. 202 The discernment of evil in the midst of society, and its public exorcism, was part of the fundamental ministry of Jesus in his time in Galilee, and the victory over evil that was effected by his Cross remains a consolation to the Orthodox. But this struggle with the force of evil is not yet completed. Each Christian, throughout life, is faced with a myriad of ‘offers’ to align with the persuasive rhetoric of evil. Its lying promises, like false advertisements for the cult of greed in which it so often thrives and hides itself, are hardly, if ever, sustained in reality, but it seems to matter little. Men and women often willingly subject themselves to the domination of illusion as their primary guide in life: and the shackles of illusion, once willingly adopted, are hard to shake off. The cult of consumerist happiness, so prevalent in affluent Western societies today, is one instance of a primal lie that masks its illusionary nature by failing to spell out commonly what oceans of oppression and suffering lie beneath the alleged happiness of the top level of consumers of the world's resources. Most of the printed resources of Western society (by volume of print and dissemination at least) serve to propagate this false culture, the manifold masks of evil, and its visual form in Tinseltown philosophy tries desperately to mask its intellectual bankruptcy with superficial devices. One leading New York television producer said to me not so long ago: ‘Sex and violence, and personal gratification, are what sell. Nothing else. I am interested in nothing else.’ It was in the course of a dark afternoon spent among the bright lights of a major American media company. I have rarely felt so ill at ease in any place on God's earth.

St John of Damascus articulates how, for Orthodoxy, evil is the negative face of the doctrine of the communion of the angels and saints. Because the reverse of this is ‘breakdown of communion’ the forces of evil cannot wholly unite even among themselves to prove a strong and credible opposition to the love which is the Kingdom of God. Their coherence is driven by malice and greed. But even so, this negative force still attracts large numbers of men and women, of each generation, into it by means of illusion and deceit. The results are desperation, but one that usually only reveals itself when the trouble has already been caused. Drug addiction is a primal example of the programmatic policy of evil. The drugs are ‘cool’ and used by ‘interesting’ people. They lead to the realization of high feelings of spiritual elevation, ecstasy, and enhanced intellectual states that are a godlike condition, to which men and women were surely destined. What is never said is that, in the end, the hard drug addict loses love, society, freedom, self-respect, and eventually their very teeth; something which is decidedly not ‘cool’ in any way at all.

The Damascene explains that evil is presided over by Lucifer, one of the greatest of God's angels of light, who was appointed one of the great guardians of the cosmic balance, but turned away in an unalterable will to defy God by fomenting rebellion in the world:

"He who from among these angelic powers was set over the earthly realm, and into whose hands God committed the guardianship of the earth, was not made wicked in nature but was good, and made for good ends, and received from his Creator absolutely no trace of evil in himself. But he did not sustain the brightness and the honour which the Creator had bestowed on him, and by free choice was changed from what was in harmony to what was at variance with his nature, and became set against God who created him, and determined to rise in rebellion against Him. Lucifer was the first to depart from good and become evil.…but along with him an innumerable host of angels subject to him were torn away and followed him, sharing in his fall. They who once had the same nature as the angels became wicked, turning away at their own free choice from good to evil. Yet they have no power or strength against any one, except what God in his dispensation has conceded to them." 203

The path to transcendence, for a Christian, is made up of innumerable steps, demanding ascesis and discipline, the adoption of a simple and loving attitude before the world, strong fidelity to prayer, faithfulness to the Gospel teachings and commandments, and regular involvement in the church's sacramental and liturgical life, so that by all these means one's life may slowly be turned and directed in the footsteps of Christ and his saints. It is exactly the same when it comes to a life led astray by evil. It cannot happen all at once or in a flash. The soul is seduced by evil little by little. Its poison all in one moment is too much for humanity to stomach; so it distils itself into men and women by small degrees over a long period. It takes many forms in its seduction: the allure of many possessions; the will to power over others; the desire for indolence over the energy needed to be creative. Whatever stultifies, hardens, embitters, or frustrates the ascent of human beings is the primal programme of evil. Many humans around us are in the various stages of being either willing or unwitting collaborators in this programmatic philosophy to diminish the realization of human life as a sacrament of grace.

Behind them all, however, lie darker forces of malign spirits. 204 Once they were bright angels; after aeons of alienation from light and love they have diminished greatly; but when men and women turn from the paths of light and perversely orientate their lives to worship them, they gain new strength (as in the times of Roman paganism when the great Fathers recognized them behind the mask of the old sacrificial cults). They are very much alive today and active in the mockery of Christianity; and in its portrayal as a dead or dying religion (another lie in the era when the church has never grown so much or been so extended on the face of the earth). Orthodoxy, in its daily prayers and in its formal prayer services, still recognizes the presence of evil malign influences and is not ashamed to pray against them. In this context the invocation of the power of the Cross is an invariable part of the prayers. It is manifested in that most common of daily Orthodox prayers: ‘Jesus Christ conquers, and scatters every evil.’ It can be found everywhere in the church and among Orthodox: the square cross in which each quadrant has the phrase inscribed in abbreviation IC XC NIKA: Jesus Christ Victorious.

This systemic programme of evil, and its corruption of humans into it, is always given away, so the Fathers tell us throughout the ascetical literature, by the character of agitation it has and brings with it to create a micro-ambience. That which is heavenly, is peaceful, loving, joyful, and works for the good of all that it meets. What is the opposite can never know joy, since this is a charism reserved only for that which is filled with the presence of life and grace. Evil is agitated and agitates all around it; it is joyless, suffocatingly self-referential and pompous; it does not know how to laugh except when laughter is a cruel mockery of others; it cannot properly build (for it is devoid of the notion of communion) and has a force only in deconstructing and diminishing. It is easily recognizable when one knows what to look for.

In Orthodox Church life, if a believer is feeling oppressed in particularly heavy and despondent ways they often resort to the prayers of exorcism. Liturgically the greatest of the prayers of exorcism are contained in St Basil's Great Exorcism (used in services for healing) and in the prayers of the Exorcism of Catechumens used today in the ritual immediately preceding baptism. There is also a lesser and much more common form of exorcism of evil used many times in Orthodox life, in the form of the blessing rituals that are so much a part of Orthodoxy. Families often call in a priest for the blessing of the house and family. This is not in some ridiculous ‘horror film’ fashion, for the elemental forces hold little power over God's beloved, and the services of blessing and exorcism are quite normal parts of church life, taking place (outside special times of distress) at every yearly cycle of Theophany (6 January). These blessings are used in cases of sickness of family members, cases of despondency, family disunity, cases of failures of crops or plans that have gone astray unpredictably. The Orthodox also make regular use of blessed water (to drink as well as to sprinkle their homes with), and they offer incense in their homes before the icons to invoke the power of Christ and his saints to guard themselves and their loved ones. The sprinkling of the blessed water and the holy incense are seen as purifications of the home and the environment. The Orthodox also constantly pray for others so that the grace of God and the protection of the angels and saints will guard them in all aspects of their lives. Modern Orthodox are often aware that many in the West (even Christians among them) regard this aspect of their faith as residual superstition. They, in their turn, are intrigued that a sense of the discernment of the various types of evil is so undeveloped around them, and that there is so little sense remaining in the West of how prayer and the intercession of the saints and angels so dramatically interacts with human life for our good.

Sergei Bulgakov referred to this obliquely in his own consideration of the demonic aspect of life:

"Side by side with the angels of light there are fallen angels or demons, evil spirits, who strive to influence us, acting upon our sinful inclinations. Evil spirits become visible to those who have attained a certain degree of spiritual experience. The Gospels and the whole of the New Testament give us unshakeable testimony on this point. Orthodoxy understands this testimony in a manner wholly realistic; it does not accept an allegorical exegesis, and even less refuses to explain these texts by the simple influence of religious syncretism. The spiritual world, and the existence of good and evil spirits, are evident to all those who live the spiritual life." 205

There are innumerable examples in the accounts of the saints and the spiritual elect of all generations of Orthodoxy, where his words are borne out as true. A critical matter in all of this is the role of the starets or starissa, who can give guidance to the perplexed or troubled Orthodox Christian. The prophetic discernment required for the unmasking of evil is an important charism required in the Christian communities; for it is only by the finger of God, ultimately, that evil can be cast out effectively, 206 and it always longs to remain active by passing unrecognized, or as ‘unbelievable’.

In the church all forms of human fallibility are forgiven; no sin is outside the range and capacity of God's mercy and healing grace. It is, consequently, the church's duty to welcome sinners, not to judge and condemn them (for who in the church is not in that company?), and to encourage their trust in God's encompassing forgiveness. The weakness of sin in this sense, however, is one thing: evil is another thing that has taken root and become chronically opposed to God's will. Evil, in this sense, the church abhors. In the ancient discipline of the canons there were certain sins that called down ‘exclusion’ from the community automatically: among these were the crafts of the sorcerers, the makers of potions (usually referring to abortionists), even the matter of belonging to the army in the earliest days of the church. Today we would find it peculiar to refuse baptism to a soldier solely on that basis; but there ought to be a more lively sense in the church that their ‘equivalents’ are still around: those who thrive on the sexual slavery of others, those who manufacture munitions and land mines that devastate the lives of the innocent poor; those who foment global schemes of exploitative devastation of whole eco-environments, those who glory in racism and dedicate themselves to antagonistic divisions within society: these are the servants of something more than just sinful weakness.

These are the modern collaborators with evil, and for them the church has only words of resistance – not welcome, not soothing. This level of sin has gone beyond individual culpability to become a deep-seated corporate wickedness that rebels against God's deepest ordinances. It ranks among those things that Scripture identified as ‘sins to the death’ because they were so chronic and deep-rooted. Scripture tends to reserve this damning indictment for one evil above all others: the fomenting and fostering of false belief that blinds and muddles people. Perhaps never since the age of Gnosticism in the early generations of the church has there been an age such as this one where fundamental doctrines of Christianity have been so controverted and muddied. In the midst of all of it, especially in the face of contemporary pseudo-philosophers who have dared to claim that Truth itself is a redundant concept, the Orthodox are unmoved; instead they point the finger, and name the smiling demon.

NOTES

197 Rev. 22:14–15.
198 Luke 16.26.
199 1 Pet. 5.8.
200 Matt. 8.16, 31, 12.28; Mark 5.2–19; Matt. 24.29.
201 Gal. 4.9; Col. 2.8, 15, 20; Rom. 8.38; Eph. 6.12; 1 Pet. 3.22.
202 1 Tim. 4.1; 1 John 4.1.
203 On the Orthodox Faith, 2.4.
204 For more on this see Pomazansky 1997: 149–61.
205 Bulgakov 1988: 127.
206 Luke 11.20.

By John Anthony McGuckin in "The Orthodox Church", John Wiley & Sons Ltd., USA/UK, 2011, excerpts pp. 360-366. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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