Evagrius of Pontus- Antirrheticos-Talking Back

Evagrius of Pontus, Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons (Cistercian Studies) (9780879073299) Translated by David Brakke
This book is available from Amazon.com


"How did the monks of the Egyptian desert fight against the demons that attacked them with tempting thoughts? How could Christians resist the thoughts of gluttony, fornication, or pride that assailed them and obstructed their contemplation of God? According to Evagrius of Pontus (345-349), one of the greatest spiritual directors of ancient monasticism, the monks should "talk back" to demons with relevant passages from the Bible. His book 'Talking Back (Antirrheticos) lists over 500 thoughts or circumstances in which the demon-fighting monk might find himself, along with the biblical passages with which the monk should respond. It became one of the most popular books among the ascetics of late antiquity and the Byzantine east, ...
( from the backcover)


From the Introduction
Luke Dysinger provides a description of the diverse aspects of monastic antirrhesis, which means refutation or contradiction:
     "In the practice of antirrhesis select biblical verses are employed to counteract the particular logismos (thought) against which the monk is struggling. Antirrhesis entails the deployment of biblical texts not only against the demons and their logismoi (thoughts), but also against sinful tendencies within the self, and even more broadly as 'refutations' of particular groups of people and forms of behaviour. Furthermore, antirrhetic biblical texts may console the tempted soul and remind it of virtues opposed to logismoi. Finally antirrhesis also includes the offering to God of successful biblical prayers." p.14-15


"The words that the monk speaks have such power that the speaker need not understand their force, that is, both their meaning and their effectiveness, for them to repel the demons". p23


"Against the Thoughts of Gluttony
5. Against the thought that says to me, "The command to fast is burdensome";
    The command that I give you this day is not burdensome, nor is it far from you. (Deut. 30:11) p.54
15. Against the thought that says to me, "Do not wear yourself out so unsparingly and afflict your soul by keeping vigil":
     A broken and contrite heart God will not despise. (Ps 50:19)
16. Against the thought that is anxious about food and drink and diligent about where it can get them:
      Cast your anxiety upon the Lord, and He will sustain you. (Ps 54:23) p.56


Against the Thoughts of Fornication
3. Against the thought that supposes that in a single hour the evil thoughts of fornication will flee from it:
    I will not cast them out in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the land multiply against you. Gradually I will cast them out from before you, until you have increased and will inherit the land (Exod 23:29-30) p.69
17. Against the demon of fornication that wants to spoil and defile my chastity through thoughts:
      My God forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers
  (3Kgdms 20:3)  p.73
39. Against the unclean thought that entices us and turns us back to that sin for which we have many times repented before the Lord:
      Just as a dog, when it returns to its own vomit, becomes abominable, so is a fool who returns in his wickedness to his own sin (Prov 26:11) p.77


Concerning Love of Money
7. Against the thought of love of money that neglects someone who has been sick with a long illness and is greatly afflicted by poverty:
  If your brother who is with you becomes poor and cannot support himself, you shall help him as a stranger and sojourner, and your brother shall live with you
 (Lev 25:35) p.87
8. Against the thought that demanded more manual labor from a brother than he is capable of:
    Each shall not oppress his brother in labors (Lev 25:46) p.87
9. Against the thought that seeks to keep resources for itself and does not want to give relief to one of the brothers from them:
   Cursed shall be your barns and your reserves. Cursed shall be the offspring of your belly and the fruits of your land (Deut 28:17-18) p.87
42. Against the demon that said to us, "Property can, when a person acquires riches, serve the Lord":
      No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can not serve God and wealth
(Matt 6:24) p.95
51. Against the thoughts that reconcile us to greed and do not see the idolatry that is born from it:
      Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient (Col 3:5-6) p.96


Concerning the Thoughts of the Demon of Sadness
9. Against the soul that is afraid, as if God's angels do not watch over it:
    And look, I am sending my angel before you, so that it might keep watch over you along the way, so that it might lead you into the land that I have prepared for you.
(Exod 23:20) p.101
55. Against the evil spirit that opposes my soul, introduces and displays to me sins of the past, and tries to cast sadness into it (my soul):
      Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, because I have fallen. I shall rise up, for if I sit in darkness, the Lord serves as a light for me (Mic 7:8) p.112
71. Against the soul's thought that supposes that it is tested beyond its strength:
      God is faithful, and he will not let you tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it
(1 Cor 10:13) p.116


Against the Demon of Anger
4. Against the thought that came from a slanderer and that arouses and stirs up rage against the brothers:
    You shall not accept an idle rumor (Exod 23:1) p.120
5. Against the thought that is stirred up by anger and wants to revile the brothers:
    You shall abstain from every unjust word (Exod 23:7) p.120
9. Against the soul that has neglected humility but longs to learn the ways of the Lord:
    He will guide the meek in judgement; he will teach the meek his ways (Ps 24:9) p.121
19. Against the thought that is quickly aroused by anger and, based on a trivial pretext, agitates the intellect:
      A fool immediately announces his anger, but a clever man conceals his disgrace (Prov 12:16) p.123
25. Against the soul that supposes that it is not the thought of anger that is an abomination before God, but only the sin that results from it:
     An unrighteous thought is an abomination to the Lord, but words of the pure ones are holy (Prov 15:26)
31. Against the thought that provokes me to write to the person who has caused us trouble, harmful words that will strike his heart:
      Woe to those who write evil, for it is by writing that they wrote evil (Isa 10:1) p.125
53. Against the thoughts that want to repay evil for evil:
      See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all (1 Thess 5:15) p.130
64. Against the intellect that professes to love God but, thanks to hatred towards a brother, has renounced the earlier love:
      Those who say, "I love God", and hate their brothers, are liars; for those who do not love a brother whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen ( 1 John 4:20) p.132


Against the Thoughts of the Demon of Listlessness
34. Against a soul that in listlessness thinks that there is no one who sees its afflictions:
      Do not say that a man has no visitation; indeed, he has a visitation from the Lord
(Job 34:9) p.141
44. Against the soul that has succumbed to listlessness and wants to return to its fleshly relatives:
      Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life
(Matt 19:29) p.143
57. Against the intellect that due to a thought of listlessness is thrown all over the place, at one time driven from places by anger, then at another time dragged by the throat to other places near the brothers, or to relatives in the world - a condition that has humiliated and wearied it:
     Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him
(James 1:12) p.146


Against the Thoughts from the Demon of Vainglory
20. Against the thoughts that compel us because of vainglory to make known our illustrious way of life:
      Let your neighbour praise you, and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips (Prov 27:2) p.151
37. Against the soul that is troubled by vainglory and desires to learn the wisdom of the Greeks:
      For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God
(1 Cor 3:19) p.155
42. Against the thoughts of vainglory that requests gifts of healing or knowledge of God:
       You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:3) p.157


Against the Cursed Thoughts of Pride
1. Against the thought of pride that said to me, "I am the Lord's holy one":
    You are cursed above all cattle and all the beasts upon the earth. You will go on your breast and on your belly, and you will eat dirt all the days of your life (Gen 3:14) p.159
12. Against the blasphemous thought that made us consider whether God is in us or not:
       You shall not tempt the Lord your God (Deut 6:16) p.161
13. Against the soul that proudly supposes that by its own strength it has conquered the demons that oppose our doing the commandments:
       Do not say in your heart, "My strength and the might of my hand have made for me this great power ." But you shall remember the Lord your God, who gives you the strength ( Deut 8:17-18)  p.162
31. Against the proud thought that derides the brothers on the pretext, : Look, they are neglecting the service of the commandments":
       The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Prov 3:34) p.166
35. Against the proud thought that considered me pure and victorious:
       Who will boast that he has a pure heart? Or who will boldly say that he is pure from sins? (Prov 20:9) p.167
42. Against the proud thought that recounted for me the brother's sins:
       For who will be pure from uncleanness? Not even one, even if his life were one day upon the earth and he can count its months (Job 14:4-5) p.168
43. Against the proud thought that exalts me on the pretext that there is no image of sin in my thinking:
      If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9) p.173


Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who has given us the victory 
over the thoughts of the demon of pride."


In spite of the fact that Evagrius was condemned as a heretic by the Fifth
Ecumenical Council because his speculative work followed the teachings
of Origen; Evagrius' 'practical' writings were expurgated, preserved and
transmitted to the entire hesychast tradition by his disciple St John
Cassian in his 'Institutes' and 'Conferences'. "The works of Evagrius
included by St Nikodimos in the Philokalia vol. 1 all belong to the 'practical' 
side of Evagrius and contain little if any trace of suspect speculations.
Several of Evagrius' works have come down under the name of other
authors. This is the case with the writing 'On Prayer', which in the Greek 
Philokalia is ascribed to Neilos; but recent research has made it plain
beyond any reasonable doubt that this is a writing of Evagrius"
From 'The Philokalia Vol.1' p. 29-30, compiled by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and
St Makarius of Corinth, Translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Phillip Sherard and Kallistos Ware,
Faber and Faber 1979.


Fr Placide Deseille in his 'Orthodox Spirituality and the Philokalia'
p.17-18, Translated by Anthony P. Gythiel, Eighth Day Press 2008,
states that: "In spite of this the expurgated work of Evagrius exercises
an immense influence on Christian spirituality. The Greek hesychast
tradition follows entirely in its wake."