My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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EXORCISM IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
By Reverend Father George C. Papademetriou, Ph.D.
The Doctrine of Evil
To understand the Orthodox Christian view and practice of exorcism, one must know the Orthodox presuppositions of evil and its doctrine of Satan. The Patristic evidence points to the fact that the cause of evil in the world is the devil. The devil was created by God as an Angel, who was free, and as a free agent chose to oppose the plan of God. That is, the devil is a fallen angel. Satan is not evil by nature but by will and action. In Satan there is no truth whatsoever; he is absolute falsehood and deception. Satan is not just a negation or deprivation of good, but a positive force with free will that always chooses evil. The devil has the ability to recognize Divine Power, as in the incident of recognizing Christ as the Son of God (St. Matthew 4:1-11); St. Luke 4:1-3). Satan has under his leadership legions and invisible powers, with their own "satanic teachings." The devil and evil spirits know that God exists and recognize true and devoted Christians, but pious Christians discern the plans of the devil. The devil, however, constantly employs every method of deception to enslave man to satanic forces and causes rebellion against God. He is the cause of corruption and disorder, a parasitic power in the world that will ultimately be destroyed by the power of God in the "last days." Because there is no compromise between God and the devil, the struggle will continue until the end.
The Orthodox doctrine of God is that He is Eternal, Uncreated and Incorporeal. All other creatures, both visible and invisible, were created by God as free. The power of the devil will ultimately be destroyed by the resurrection of the dead and the renewal of creation. salvation from all evil will be attained by obedience to God and his plan. This world is a battleground between the acceptance of good and evil. It must be pointed out that the world as the creation of God is not evil. What is evil is the satanic power, destroyed by the power of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ.
The Orthodox Tradition of Exorcising
After examining the doctrine of Satan in the Orthodox Church, it is imperative to proceed to the method of repelling and exorcising the evil powers. In the New Testament, Christ is sent out His Holy Apostles to heal and to "cast out devils" (St. Matthew 10:8, St. Luke 10:17-20). Christ, Himself often expels demons from the possessed (St. Mark 1:23-27; St. Luke 4:33-35, 9:43; St. Matthew 10:1; St. Mark 16:17; St. Matthew 7:22). The New Testament, however, rejected popular uses of magic incantations and rites to expel the satanic powers from people, because they took advantage of superstitious religiosity (Acts 19:13).
In the Name of Christ, one is able to cast out demons and to destroy the evil powers (St. Matthew 10:8). The Holy Fathers of the Church accepted this doctrine and expanded on it. Saint Justin Martyr (Apology 85;2) says that in the Name of Christ, the Son of God Who was crucified and rose again, every demon that is exorcised is defeated and submits (Library of the Greek Fathers and Church Writers, Athens: Apostolic Diakonia 1955, Vol. 3, pp. 288-89). The satanic powers are destroyed through the power of the Cross and the name of Christ. Objects possessed by demons, when exorcised in the Name of the Living God, are freed from the possession of evil. The Patristic evidence is abundant in the belief in possession and expulsion of the devil by the power of the word of God (St. Ignatios, Epistles to Philippians 3 and 12; Library of the Greek Fathers and Church Writers, Vol. 2, pp. 333 and 336; St. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 4:14; Library, Vol 8, p. 82; Origen, Against Celsus, 6:44; Library, Vol. 10, p. 93).
The demonic possession of individuals and even objects, has been accepted by the Orthodox Church today in the Sacrament of Baptism, in exorcising satanic powers in the case of the evil eye (vaskania), and in exorcising the devil in the case of a possessed person. In the early Church, exorcisms were performed by a person specially trained and appointed to pray to drive out evil from those about to be baptized. Since the 4th century the place of the exorcist, as well as other functions and ministries, have been taken over by the priest. The priest prays to expel all evil, the spirit of error, of idolatry, of covetousness, of lying and every impure act that arises from the teachings of the devil. The renunciation of the devil in baptism is used in every baptism that is performed in the Orthodox Church. (Source: The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)
(To be continued. Next: VASKANIA)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George