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In this part of the Apostle’s letter to the faithful at Corinth, St. Paul outlines the death of Christ that every Christian carries in their bodies so that the power of God may be made manifest. When we own our faith, the relationship we have in Christ brings us face to face with attacks from the evil one and from those in whom he finds a home. The adversary is the "father of lies" so we will experience hostility to our Orthodox faith; not neutrality or indifference but attack that always challenges the Truth. Such trials come to us, as St. John Chrysostom says, in order to "show the power of God and disclose His Grace. " Indeed, such trials and battles are tests of our faith and an inevitable consequence of our allegiance to Christ. Those who adopt the cross as a talisman in the expectation of a trouble-free "fair weather" form of life delude themselves. Christ brings Victory through His suffering on the Cross-and we share in that suffering through "taking up our cross."

"For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." 2 Corinthians 4; 11.

Christ warns his disciples in the farewell discourse of John’s Gospel that the world would hate them as it hated him, (John 15:18, 17:14) and the same warning is echoed in Matthew’s Gospel 10:32. St Isaac the Syrian in his second discourse on the "Ascetical Life" observes:

Such spiritual attacks on the body, mind, heart and soul come in various forms. These attacks are always personal since the evil one and his agents wage war against the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is our body-"the earthen vessel." St Paul outlines where these assaults are to be found in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6.The battlefields of spiritual warfare are:

Strongholds- pervasive and persuasive entrenched heresies that war against Christ and his Church. The "watchtower" is a symbol of a present day heresy which denies the divinity of Christ as Arius did much earlier. (Arius was a heretic of the 3^rd and 4^th centuries AD who taught that the Son, although the agent by whom all else was made was himself created. Their slogan was "there was a time when he was not".

Arguments- human reason and empty philosophy based on worldly values that question absolutes or essentials of our faith and that undermine the necessity of giving glory to the Creator. This open-ended form of speculation and intellectual gamesmanship discounts revelation and is a vexation to the spirit.

Every high thing that exalts itself-human agencies and angelic powers that abuse their authority, overreach their knowledge and that vaunt themselves through pride.

Thought-ideas and personal opinions that run contrary to faith and doctrine. The fathers teach us not to ponder or dwell on thoughts that the heart may fire into a passion and that may lead to an evil word or action. Once they asked Abba Silouan: "What asceticism did you practice, Father, to receive this wisdom?" And he answered: "I never left a thought in my heart that might anger God."

Disobedience-the will of man that prefers his own way rather than the way and will of God.

Our weapons in such territories are: making the sign of the Cross, submissiveness to the Will of God, penitence, obedience to the Gospel of Christ and constancy in prayer.

Again in his fourth discourse from the "Ascetical Life" St Isaac the Syrian advises:

The willingness to endure calumnies lies at the very heart of the Beatitude:

We see this exemplified countless times in the lives of the saints. We only have to look at one of the most modern and popular of saints St. Nektarios to see how he bravely endured and overcame false accusation from his contemporaries. Even in the Church there are those like Judas who still betray Christ by a kiss which is the lipservice of outward appearance of discipleship.

Despite such warnings from Christ and His apostles and the evidence from the lives of the saints Christians are often unprepared to meet such attacks either through ignorance, forgetfulness or pride. The Holy Spirit provides His gift of spiritual discernment (I Corinthians 12:10) for the Church in order to test the spirits and confirm the faithful in he common mind of Christ.

Our beloved Patriarch, His Beatitude Ignatios IV of Antioch and all the East in his book "The Resurrection and Modern Man" points to the centrality of the Cross in the battleground:

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. We should not be surprised by attacks. Rather, we need to put on the whole armour of God to defend our faith and ourselves (Ephesians 6:11) until the day of Christ’s coming again in glory. No struggle, no victory; no Cross- no Resurrection. We are merely earthen vessels yet these vessels contain His uncreated divine energy that is to be exercised daily in the conflict. Through the heat and fire of battle we are purified like iron in the furnace until we too glow in His uncreated Light and are filled with the fullness of God.

Fr. Jonathan

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