Many are the ways of teaching that the holy Psalmist king David has shown us, through the energy of the holy Spirit inside him.  At times, by narrating his own sufferings to us - and the bravery with which he endured the events - giving us a clear teaching on patience through his personal example, such as when he says· “Lord, why have my enemies multiplied? ”(1).

At other times he commends the goodness of God and His swift aid - which He provides to those who truly seek Him - by saying:  “With my invocation has God hearkened to me, who is  the God of justice”(2). And these words I say are tantamoumt to the prophet Isaiah who had said, “...while you are still speaking, He will say: ‘behold, I am present'”(3). That is, although he hadn’t finished invoking Him, God had already hearkened, even before his prayer ended. Then, when he offers supplicative prayers and beseechings to God, he teaches us the manner that befits sinners to appease God: “Lord, do not judge me according to Your anger, and do not punish me according to Your wrath”(4).  In the twelfth Psalm, with the words: “until when, Lord, will You completely forget me?”(5), he is indicating to us a certain prolongation of a trial.  And with the entire psalm, he teaches us to not be fainthearted during tribulations, but to await the goodness of God and know that it is because of a certain providence that He is delivering us to the tests of sorrows, imposing the measure of the tests that is analogous to the degree of faith that exists in each one of us.

So, after having said “until when, Lord, will You completely forget me?” and, “until when will You turn Your face away from me?”(6), he immediately moves on to the cunning of the atheists. When they encounter any minor difficulty in life – because they cannot suffer the more difficult circumstances of things – they immediately doubt with their mind whether there is a God who attends to things here, or whether He observes each one of them, and if He metes out justice to each one ad valorem.  Then, on seeing themselves still experiencing unpleasant things, they embrace the wicked doctrine and decide in their heart that indeed there is no God. “The fool said to himself ‘there is no God'.”(7). And then, after having rooted this conviction in their mind, they commit every sin without any inhibition. Because if there is no-one that supervises, if there is no-one that reciprocates to each individual proportionally to the deeds of their life, then what will prevent us from oppressing the poor, from killing orphans, from murdering the widow and the sojourner, from daring to commit every sacrilege, from polluting ourselves with unclean and disgusting passions and all the bestial desires? It was for this reason - as a consequence of the claim “there is no God” - that the Psalmist added something more: “...so they became corrupted and abominable in their practices”(8). Because it is impossible for them to divert from the proper path, if their souls have not weakened from the sickness of oblivion towards God.

How did idolaters surrender themselves “to a worthless nous, making themselves do things that are inappropriate”(9)?  Was it not because they said, “there is no God”?   What made them immerse themselves in “dishonorable passions, and their women  exchanging their natural use with the unnatural, and the men behaving lewdly with men”(10)?  Was it not because “they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God with the effigies of cattle, of 4-legged animals and of reptiles”(11)?

He is therefore a fool truly devoid of nous and prudence whο says that there is no God. Almost like him - and in fact a person who is not lacking mindlessness - is the one who says that God is in fact the cause of evildoings.  In other words, it is my belief that the sin of these two kinds of people is equivalent, because both the former and the latter are equally denying the benevolent God, inasmuch as the one claims He does not exist at all, while the other determines that He is not benevolent. For if He is indeed the cause of evildoings, then very clearly He is not benevolent. Hence the denial of God by both sides.

Where, he asks, do sicknesses come from? From where the premature deaths? From where the total destruction of cities? The shipwrecks? The wars? The diseases?  All of these things are of course bad, they say, and all of them are God's doing, so who else could we accuse for such events, if not God? 

So come along now - given that we have become involved in this very legendary subject - and after leading the conversation to a certain acceptable starting point and preoccupying ourselves with more zest on the problem, let us try to give it a clear and not a confusing explanation.

We must have one thing in mind to begin with, i.e., that because we are creations of the benevolent God and are sustained by Him who provides for us all - both the small and the great – nothing will happen to us, if/when God does not will it; because neither is there something bad in those things that we do suffer, nor are any of the things that we suffer harmful – or perhaps expressed somewhat better, so that it can also be perceived with one’s mind:  Of course deaths surely come from God; however, death is most assuredly not a bad thing per se - unless one is thinking of the death of a sinner, because the riddance of his sufferings here is only the beginning of his torments in Hades. But even so, the cause of the torments in Hades is not God but we ourselves, because the commencement and the root of sin was our initially God-given freedom and autonomy. As such, those who do not commit anything sinful can expect to receive no afflictions after death; however, what plausible reason could we give for those who had been baited into sin through hedonism, other than: weren’t they alone the cause of their afflictions?

Something “bad” is considered bad on the one hand as related to our personal perception, and on the other hand as related to our nature. The bad things therefore, that depend on us, that is: injustice, lewdness, foolishness, cowardice, envy, murder, poisonings, scheming, and all other bad things related to these, will thoroughly pollute the soul, which was created in accordance with the image of our Creator, and of course tarnish its beauty.

We also name ‘bad’ that which is for us dolorous and painful to the senses; that is, physical sickness, bodily wounds, deprivation of necessities, shame, financial loss, and loss of relatives. Each one of these is caused by the wise and good Lord, for our benefit; by taking away the wealth from those who misuse it, He thus destroys the instrument of their injustice. And He gives sickness to those who are benefited more by having their limbs restrained, rather than having their impulses unobstructed by sin.  Deaths do not come along when the limits of one’s life have been reached, given that it is God with His righteous judgment Who determines those limits for each one of us, as He can see from afar whatever is for our best interest. Famine, droughts and heavy rains are common plagues which afflict cities and nations, in order to curb the excess of evil. So, just as the physician is a benefactor - whether he imposes pains or strain on a body (because he is fighting the disease, and and not the patient) - thus also merciful is God, Who provides salvation for all, by means of a few trials. Now then, while you do not lay blame for anything on the physician who cuts off, cauterizes, and even removes other parts entirely from the body, you still pay him money and gratefully call him a saviour for stopping the disease when it appeared on a small area, before it could spread throughout the entire body; but, when you see an entire city demolished by an earthquake and rubble having crushed its inhabitants, or a manned ship wrecked and sunk in the ocean, you do not hesitate to blaspheme against the true Physician and Saviour.

And yet, we should understand that when people fall sick from slight illnesses and treatable ones, they receive the benefits of caretaking; and that when the disease proves to be beyond healing, it becomes necessary to remove the useless member of the body so that the disease does not spread to the sensitive parts through its continuing progress. So, just as the physician is not the cause for the amputation or the cauterization but rather the illness is the cause, likewise the disappearance of cities whose principles were founded on excessive sins absolve God of every accusation against Him.

But of course if God is not responsible for the “bad things” that happen, then how come the following words have been said: “I am He, Who created light and darkness, He, Who brings happiness and causes misfortune”(12)? And elsewhere: “harm descended from the Lord at the gate of Jerusalem”(13), and “there is no harm in the city that was not done by the Lord”(14); And in the great ode of Moses: “'Behold, behold, that I exist, and there is no other God but Me; I put to death and I give life, I wound and I heal”(15).

But for the one who understands the meanings of the Bible, none of the aforementioned constitutes an accusation against God - that He is the cause and creator of bad things. For He who said: “I am He who created the light and the darkness” is presenting Himself with these words as the Creator of Creation, not the creator of anything bad.

It is so that you won’t think someone else is the cause of light, and someone else the cause of darkness, that He named Himself Maker and Craftsman of those things which seem to be opposites within Creation, and also, so that you won’t  seek another creator of fire and another of water, or another of air and another of earth, just because these appear to be opposing each other for reasons of antithesis in qualities. This is what happened with many, who then turned to polytheism...

“God makes peace, and He creates bad things”... Well, He does indeed pacify you, when through good teaching He will calm your mind and soothe the passions that rebel against the soul. As for “building the bad things”, it means that He transforms and reconstructs them, so that, instead of discarding them as something  bad, they are rendered able to partake in the aphorism on the good: “A pure heart build within me, o God” (16). Not “create it now”, but rather, make new the heart that became old through wickedness; also in the verse “to build the two into one new person”(17), “to build” does not imply creating from nil, but to reform that which already exists.  Also, “the one who joins himself to Christ is a new creation”(18). And again, per Moses: “Isn’t He the same One, who is your father who bought you, made you and fashioned you?” (19).

It is very clear here, that by placing the “Fashioning” after the “Making”, it is teaching us that it (the fashioning) was purposed for individual improvement, because the name ‘Creation’ (the Making) pertains to the many.  Thus, when He ‘makes’ peace, that is how He makes it: by ‘building’ the bad things - that is, by re-making them and leading them to improvement.  

And then - even if you understand “peace” to mean the riddance of wars, and as “harm” you call the calamities that follow the ones who are warring - that is, the campaigns outside the borders of the homeland, the toil, the vigils, the agonies, the sweats, the wounds, the massacres, the conquests of cities, the captivities, the kidnappings, the pitiful spectacles of the slain, and in one word, all the sorrowful things that accompany wars - we say that they have taken place through the righteous judgment of God, who imposes punishments through the wars,  to those who deserve the torments.

Or did you perhaps prefer that Sodom had not been razed to the ground after those unholy acts there? Or Jerusalem to not have been destroyed and the Temple subsequently laid waste, after that heinous and insane act of the Jews against the Lord?  How else would it have been appropriate for  that punishment to take place, if not by Roman hands – the very hands (of lifelong enemies) to which the Jews had delivered our Lord?   Hence it is quite possible that at times – and in fact justly so - the “bad things” of war had been imposed on those who deserved them. 

And if you like, you can accept the words,”I put to death and I give life”, with their simplistic meaning, because fear can edify the simpler people. “I wound and I heal”: this is also useful, understood as it is, because a wound may instill fear, but healing hints towards love. It is permissible of course to ponder somewhat loftier on what has been said:  “I will put to death through sin, and give life through justice” – by considering that “the more that the external person becomes corroded, the more the inner one is made new again”(20). 

So, He does not give death to one and life to someone else, but both things to the same person;  He revives him, with whatever gives him death, and with whatever He wounds him, with that He heals him, according to the adage that says, “You may strike him with a rod, but you will be saving his soul from death”(21).  So, the flesh is wounded, in order for the soul to be healed; sin is put to death, so that justice may live.

As for the words “harm descended from the Lord at the gate of Jerusalem”, they are self-explanatory. What harm? The noise of chariots and riders.  And when you hear, “There is no harm in the city that has not been done by the Lord”, you should perceive it as the naming of wickedness, inasmuch as these words are implying the injury imposed on sinners so that they might correct their transgressions.  For “I have oppressed you”, He says,”and I have left you to hunger, so that I might benefit you”(22) by stopping the wickedness, before it spreads excessively, just like the current of a river that is held back by a strong railing and retaining wall.

This is why the diseases of cities and nations, the parchnesses of the air and the fruitlessness of the earth - and the even harsher circumstances in the life of each individual - curb the increment of wickedness:  It is so all the “bad things” that come from God might remove the cause that creates the actual “bad things”; inasmuch as both the physical bruisings and the unpleasant things beyond the body were devised for our abstinance from sin.

Since God destroys evil, then evil cannot have originated from God.  Because a physician likewise doesn’t insert the disease into the body, but removes it from there.

The annihilations of cities and earthquakes and floods and the losses of troops and shipwrecks and all the catastrophes of multitudes, whether by the earth or by the sea, or by the air, or by fire, or by whatever cause they are caused  - are intended for the correction of those who survive. Because God reforms the mass wickedness of people by means of a public scourge.

The chief evil therefore is sin, and sin is dependent solely on our will. In fact, it (sin) deserves to be called evil, as it depends on us, if we choose to abstain from wickedness or be malicious. Of the other “bad things”, some are projected as struggles that display bravery (as in Job, with the deprivation of his children, the disappearance of all his wealth in an instant, and the plague of leprosy), while others are for healing the sins that were committed (as in David, with his dishonoring of the royal house, and being punished for his unlawful desire).

We have also learned of another kind of terrible thing that God's righteous judgment brings on, in order to reform those who are easily inclined to sin. For example, Dathan and Abiron, who were swallowed alive by the earth, with the pits and chasms that had opened up beneath them(23). This of course is not a case of becoming better people by a specific means of punishment (how could it be possible for those who descended into Hades to become better people?); it was precisely the terrifying lesson that rendered the bystanders more prudent. It was similar to the way that the pharaoh was drowned alive, together with his army(24). It was also how the first inhabitants of Palestine were destroyed. So that if the apostle had mentioned “vessels of wrath that were made to be destroyed”(22), we must not imagine he was implying any sort of wicked contraptions (in which case, the cause would be rightly attributed to the maker of vessels); instead, when you hear “vessels” you should understand that each of us has been made as one - as a thing of use. And just as inside a mansion one vessel is of gold, another of silver, another of shell, and another of wood(26) (inasmuch as one’s will gives the likeness to materials), where a gold vessel is one that is pure in character and without deceit, and a silver vessel is one that is inferior in value to the golden one; the shell vessel is the one who thinks of earthly things and is suitable for crushing, and of wood is the one who is easily tainted by sin and becomes kindling material for the eternal fire.

Similarly a “vessel of wrath” is the one who, like a vessel, has contained devilish energy inside him, and because of the stench that has befallen him from the decay,  he can no longer be put to use, and only deserves to disappear and be lost forever. That was precisely why he had to be destroyed, that the wise and prudent Steward of souls had taken over: so that he would become renowned and notorious to everyone, and later rendered useful to the others through his misfortunes, by having become incurable on account of his excessive wickedness. So He (God) hardened him -with His long-suffering and with His postponement of punishment- allowing his wickedness to increase even more, in order to reveal to him the justice of Divine Judgment by allowing his wickedness to reach the extreme limit.  This is why, even after God added and escalated calamities with smaller “strikes”, he still didn’t soften his disobedient phronema, but was also caught scorning God's tolerance and had even become accustomed to the sufferings that were imposed on him. And yet, God still did not deliver him to death, until he finally plunged himself to death, when, through the arrogance of his heart, he attempted to stand against the course of the righteous ones, thinking that a “Red Sea” would likewise open up and become shallow for him, as it had done for God's people.

Now that you know these are the kinds of “evil” that come from God and you have discerned them within yourself, and since you are well aware on the one hand of what is really evil – i.e. sin, the end of which is destruction - and on the other hand, that what seems evil because of the sensation of pain, yet has the potential for something benevolent (such as the injuries that are imposed to avert sin, whose fruits are the eternal salvation of souls), then you should cease being displeased with God's dispensations. And in general, do not consider God as the cause of the existence of bad things, nor imagine that evil has its own existence. Wickedness is not something that exists – for example like an animal exists -  nor can we consider that its essence exists, because evil is the deprivation of good. The eye was fashioned; however, blindness occurs with the loss of the eyes; so that, if the eye was not of a perishable nature, blindness would have no place.

Likewise evil does not have its own existence - it arrives later on, in the infirmities of the soul. Nor is it unborn of course, as the irreverent teach,(27) who make wicked nature equivalent to benevolent nature, whereby, if both are beginningless, then they are even superior to Genesis. But neither is evil a born thing. For if all things originate from God, then how is it possible for evil to originate from good? Because neither does something vulgar come from goodness, nor wickedness from virtue. Just read the narration of Creation of the cosmos, and you will find there that “all things are good, and in fact very good” (28). So, evil was not created the same time as good. But neither did noetic (non-material) creation – when being created by the Creator – come into existence mixed with evil. For if the material bodies had evil inherent in them, then how do the noetic things -which differ so much in purity and sanctification- have a common existence with evil? But evil does exist, and its activity reveals that it is very pervasive throughout the world. From where, then, does it have its existence, if it is neither beginningless, he says, nor has been created?

Let those who investigate these things ask themselves: where do diseases come from? Where do bodily disabilities come from? Because a disease is neither unborn, nor is it a creation of God. However all living things were naturally created together with the construction that is appropriate for them, and were introduced perfect and sound-bodied in life, and became sick after having deviated from their natural state. For they lose their health, either because of a poor diet or because of any other reason that causes disease. So, God created body, not disease. God created the soul, but not the sin. The soul became inconvenienced, after having deviated from its natural state. But what was previously precious to it? It was its place next to God and its union through love – from which it fell away and became plagued by various and multifaceted illnesses.

But why is the soul generally receptive to evil? It is because of the impulse of self-government, which is what normally befits a rational nature; for, having been disengaged from every necessity and given a free life by the Creator (since it was created “according to the image” of God), it could perceive the good things and be very well aware of their enjoyment, but it also had the authority and the power to preserve its natural life, provided it remained focused on the good and the enjoyment of intellectual things. But it also had the power to deny the good at some point. And that is what happens to it, when it is joined with the flesh for obscene pleasures, after having previously feeling sated by blissful pleasure, and had somehow fallen asleep and drifted away from the “uppermost” things.

Adam used to be “above” - not topically, but according to the phronema (mindset). Then, as soon as he was given life and looked up towards heaven, he was overcome with joy with the things he saw; he loved the Benefactor who had bestowed upon him the enjoyment of everlasting life, had comforted him with the pleasures of paradise, had given him authority similar to that of the angels, and had made him equal to the archangels and a receptor of the voice of God. Albeit protected by God with all those benefits and was enjoying His bounties, very soon he became sated with everything and somehow became insolent because of the satiety, so instead of preferring noetic beauty, he chose what seemed delightful to his carnal eyes; and instead of spiritual pleasures, he regarded the filling of the belly a more precious thing. And he immediately found himself outside of paradise, outside of that blissful way of life. He did not become bad out of necessity, but because of his thoughtlessness. And that is why he sinned on account of a bad choice and died because of sin. “For the price of sin is death”(29). That is, the more he distanced himself from life, the closer he came to death. For God is life; death is the deprivation of life.  So, Adam had instigated death by distancing himself from God, according to the word of the Bible, “behold, those who flee far away from You will be destroyed”(30). So it is not God who created death; it was we, who had brought it upon ourselves with our bad choices. But neither did He hinder our (material) disintegration through death (because of the causes we just mentioned), lest the sickness be preserved immortal in us; just as one would not agree to put a cracked clay vessel into the fire for baking, before healing its defect by remodelling it. 

But why don’t we have sinlessness in our nature, he says, so that, even if we desired it, sin would not exist in us? Well, it is because you too do not consider slaves as your friends when you hold them captive; it is only when you see them voluntarily performing their duties towards you.

God likewise does not like what is done out of necessity, only that which is achieved through virtue. Virtue is achieved by free will and not out of necessity. Free will has depended on that which is “up to us”(31). But the “up to us”' is our self-government. Therefore he who accuses the Maker for not making us sinless by nature, obviously prefers nothing more than illogical nature (and not the logical one), which does not move and has no momentum, versus the predisposed and practical nature.

We may have digressed, but we said these things out of necessity, for fear that after falling headlong into meditations, you will not endure being deprived of the worthwhile things, and also being deprived of God. So let us stop correcting the Wise one. Let us stop seeking something better than what He had created, because if the causes of God’s individual plans escape us, at least let there be one dogma in our souls with certainty, namely, that nothing bad can come from something good.

And alongside this (according to the sequence of the meaning), is the problem that relates to the devil and requires examination. If bad things do not originate from God, then where does the devil originate from?  What do we have to say about this? It suffices for us to give the same excuse that we attributed to human wickedness.

So, what made man cunning?  His own predisposition.  What made the devil wicked?  The same cause. For he too has a free life and has within himself the power to either remain close to God or alienate himself from benevolence.  Gabriel was an angel and he constantly stood next to God. Satan was also an angel, but he fell wholly out of his own angelic ranks.   Also, Gabriel’s will preserved him in the uppermost ranks, whereas Satan’s self-governed will had sent him tumbling down from his original rank. Of course, he too could have not defected and not fallen; but the former was preserved by his insatiable love for God, whereas the latter’s departure from God rendered him an outcast.  And that precisely is evil:  i.e., the alienation from God. One slight rotation of the eye makes us either face towards the Sun or towards the shadow of our body – in which case, illumination is ready for him who looked upwards, and for him who turned towards the shadow, darkness is necessary. That is how the devil becomes wicked.  It is not Nature that is opposed to goodness; rather, cunning is acquired through one’s will.

Where, then, does the war against us come from? For by being a vessel of every evil, the devil also received the sickness of envy, hence envying us for receiving honour. He could not tolerate our sorrow-free life that existed in paradise. After rebelling against man with cunning and machinations, and by using his own passion to be like God in order to deceive him, he pointed to the (forbidden) tree and promised him that upon eating of it, it would make them like God. For “if you eat of it” -he said- “you will become gods, knowing good and evil”(32). The devil was not created to be our enemy, but out of his jealousy became our enemy. In other words, having seen himself fallen from the Angelic ranks, he could not stand seeing the earthly creations being elevated to the angelic office through their diligence.

So, having become an enemy, our God inserted enmity inside us against him, with the words He had said to the former beast that used to serve Him, when he addressed it with the threat: “I shall place enmity between you (serpent) and her (Eve’s) descendants”(33). Indeed, all reconciliations with wickedness are harmful. After all, such is the law of friendship - that it should arrive naturally, due to a resemblance between those who are connected. Therefore, the saying is absolutely correct, that: “evil conversations corrupt good morals”(34). For, just as in places polluted with diseases the air which is breathed transmits a hidden disease to those who live there, so the habit of evil inflicts great evil on souls, even if the harm is not immediately perceived. That is why the enmity towards the serpent is irreconcilable. So, if the instrument deserves so much hatred, how much more is it appropriate to be hostile towards the instigator?

But why was there a specific tree in paradise, he says, by which the devil was to begin his business against us? Well, if he didn’t possess the bait for his deception, how could he have led us to death by our disobedience to God? There had to be the command that would test our obedience. That was reason for the existence of a flourishing plant with temptingly lovely fruits: so that we might justifiably be made worthy of the crowns of patience, by having avoided the voluptuous item, thus demonstrating the gift of self-control. Not only was the fruit’s consumption the violation of God’s specific commandment; it also gave them the awareness of their nakedness. For it is written, he says, that “they ate, and their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked”(35).

It was necessary that they not be aware of nakedness, so that their mind would not be preoccupied with the replenishment of what was missing, by inventing garments for themselves and warmth for their nakedness - and generally taking care of the flesh by detaching themselves from focusing on God.

But then why weren't garments also produced at the same time as them? Because these had to be neither natural nor artificial, given that natural covers are a characteristic of thoughtless animals (feathers, fur, thick skins), which can tolerate severe weather conditions and endure the heat. In these things, the one (animals) does not differ from the other (mankind), because Nature is equally the same to all. In man, however, and depending on  their love for God, the rewarding with goods had to be different. Man’s professional occupations would necessitate other cares – a thing that would have to be avoided as harmful to man. That is why, when challenging us anew for the paradisiacal life, God uproots cares from souls by saying: “Do not care in your life what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will wear”(36). Therefore it was not by nature that man should have coverings, nor by art, because these were already waiting but are of another kind, as long as man demonstrated virtue; these were to appear on man by the grace of God and make him shine with brilliant garments; such are the garments of angels, which surpass flowers in their variety and splendor and in brilliance that outshines the stars. It was for this reason, therefore, that man was not given garments from the beginning, as they were prizes for virtue that depended on man, but because of the devilish influence he was unable to attain.

It was because of our original Fall, which had taken place through his detrimental interference, that the devil became our adversary. Our Lord then made provision for us to struggle against him,  so that with our obedience we could continue to fight against him and be crowned for victory over our adversary. If only he hadn't become a devil and remained in the Angelic ranks where he had originally been assigned by the Angelic commander in chief; but, because he became an apostate, he became an enemy of God and of people who were created according to the image of God (which is why he is a misanthrope, and because he also fights against God and hates us as the Lord’s belongings and as God-made images). Thus God (who governs human affairs with wisdom and providence) utilized the devil’s cunning in order to keep our souls alert – like the physician who utilizes the viper’s venom to prepare life-saving medicines.

Who then was the devil? And what rank did he belong to? And what was his office? And where did he generally get the name “satan”?  Well, he is referred to as a “satan”, because he is the opposer of whatever is good. As we have learnt from inside the Books of Reigns (aka “Kings”), the Hebrew name “satan” is used for “adversary”: “And the Lord raised up a satan (Hebr.=an adversary) against Salomon: Hader the Idumean and Hesrom son of Eliadae who was in Raemmath, Hadrazar, king of Souba (his master and men were gathered around him), and he was leader of a band, and he first captured Damasek, and they were a satan to Israel all the days of Salomon (37).

And he is also referred to as “diavolos” (devil) because he becomes an accomplice in our sin and our accuser, since he both rejoices for our destruction, and stigmatizes us for our acts. By nature he is bodiless (incorporeal), according to the apostle who said: “We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the evil spirits”(38). Their office is not an imperial one, for we are told that “We are fighting against the principalities, the authorities, the dominators of this dark world”(39). As for the sphere of their dynasty, it is the aerial space, as he also said: “in which you once walked during the age of this world, according to the lord governing the air - the spirit that now works within the sons of disobedience”(40). This is the reason he is called the ruler of the world, because his autocracy is all around the earth.” And the Lord says something similar: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out”(41). Again, “the ruler of this world is coming, and he has no power over Me”(42).

However, since we have spoken of the devil's army - that “there are cunning spirits in the heavens”(43), we must be well aware that the Bible usually refers to the air above as ‘the heavens’ - for example with the words “the fowls of the heavens”(44) and “they ascend up to the heavens”(45), that is, they are very high up in the air. That is why the Lord had also said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”(46). This also meant that he fell from his angelic state and, having fallen down, he is trampled upon by those who have hoped in Christ, for “He gave authority to the disciples to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy”(47). Therefore, after expelling his cunning autocracy and after the earth’s perigee was cleansed by the salvific Passion -which pacified both the earthly and the heavenly-(48), the heavenly Reign is thereafter proclaimed to us. For John says, “The heavenly Reign is close by”(49) and the Lord preaches the gospel of the Reign everywhere. Even before that, the angels had shouted “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth!”(50), and those who rejoiced at our Lord's entry into Jerusalem shouted “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”(51).

And generally innumerable are the voices of triumphal songs, which extol the final defeat of the enemy, because there are no more fights, no more struggles for us in the heavens.  No one there resists us or diverts us from the blissful life, but once there, and without any more sorrow, we will be partaking of the promised inheritance and then continuously enjoying “the wood of life”, which we had been banned from eating because of the devil's intervention.  For “God had placed the flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life”(52) - which we all hope to bypass unhindered, and after we have passed, we can enter into the enjoyment of the good things in Christ Jesus who is our Lord. To him are the glory and the power, for ever and ever.

Amen.

References

  (1). Psalms 3: 2.

  (2). Psalms 4: 2.

  (3). Isaiah 58: 9.

  (4). Psalms 6: 2.

  (5). Psalms 12: 4.

  (6). Psalms 12: 2.

  (7). Psalms 13: 1.

  (8). Psalms 13: 1.

  (9). Romans 1: 28.

(10). Romans 1: 26-27.

(11). Romans 1: 23.

(12). Isaiah 45: 7.

(13). Michaiah 1: 12.

(14). Amos 3:6.

(15). Deuteronomy 32: 39.

(16). Psalms 50: 12.

(17). Ephesians 2: 15.

(18). 2 Corinthians 5: 17.

(19). Revelation 32: 6.

(20). 2 Corinthians 4: 16.

(21). Proverbs 23: 14.

(22). Revelation 8: 3.

(23). Numbers 16: 31 etc.

(24). Exodus 14: 28.

(25). Romans 9: 24.

(26). 2 Timotheos 2: 20.

(27). He is implying here the followers of the dualistic systems and the Gnostics who similarly believed in them by having accepted God and evil as two self-existent entities.

(28). Genesis 1: 31.

(29). Romans 6: 23.

(30). Psalms 72: 27.

(31). “Up to us” refers to self-governing. By the term “up to us” are denoted the things that depend on man's self-government. The terminology belongs to Stoic philosophy.

(32). Genesis 3: 5.

(33). Genesis 3: 15.

(34). 1 Corinthians 15: 33.

(35). Genesis 3: 7.

(36). Matthew 6: 25.

(37). Reigns (aka ‘Kings’)III 11: 14. 

(38). Ephesians 6: 12.

(39). Ephesians 6: 12.

(40). Ephesians 2: 2.

(41). John 12: 31.   

(42). John 14: 30.

(43). Ephesians 6: 12.

(44). Matthew 6: 26.

(45). Psalms 106: 26.

(46). Luke 10: 18.

(47). Luke 10: 19.

(48). Colossians 1: 20.

(49). Matthew 3: 2.

(50). Luke 2: 14.

(51). Luke 19: 38.

(52). Genesis 3: 24.

English text : A.N.