Talk 32: O Child, You Have Massacred The Demon!

People often say that Orthodox Christians should focus on loving Christ and their neighbors, and not bother thinking about the demons. These same people criticise those who instruct the faithful concerning demonic warfare. When Elder Paisios of Mount Athos was writing the life of Elder Arsenios the Cappadocian, he was advised to omit all references to demonic possession in order to appeal to European readers, many of whom do not even believe the devil exists.

In this talk Father Kosmas explains that Orthodox Christians are called spiritual athletes, spiritual warriors, and soldiers of Christ precisely because they do battle not only with their own passions, but also with the demons. He emphasises that a Christian must know his enemy in order to defeat him and attain salvation, and points out that revealing one’s thoughts to a spiritual fath ...