Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Evagrios Quote

Interesting passage from Evagrios the Solitary On Discrimination:

We have learnt, after much observation, to recognize the difference between angelic thoughts, human thoughts, and thoughts that come from demons.
  • Angelic thought is concerned with the true nature of things and with searching out their logoi. For example, why was gold created and scattered like sand in the lower regions of the earth, to be found only with much toil and effort? And how, when found, is it washed in water and committed to the fire, and then put into the hands of craftsmen who fashion it into the candlestick of the tabernacle and the censers and the vessels from which, by the grace of our Savior, the king of Babylon no longer drinks? A man such as Cleopas brings a heart burning with these mysteries.
  • Demonic thought, on the other hand, neither knows nor can know such things. It can only shamelessly suggest the acquisition of physical gold, looking forward to the wealth and glory that will come from this.
  • Finally, human thought neither seeks to acquire gold nor is concerned to know what it symbolizes, but brings before the mind simply the image of gold, without passion or greed.
[end quote]

He frequently mentions the work of the angels and says that one way to cast out the devil is to consider the angels, what they are, how they work; once the devil is found out, he says, he can no longer work as effectively. That makes sense out of why St. Thomas spent so much time considering the angels...

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