Spiritual Warfare

We are Never to Listen to Demons

"Even when the demons spoke the truth, for they spoke the truth when they said, "Thou are the Son of God," the Lord himself silenced them and forbade them to speak. He did this to keep them from sowing their own wickedness in the midst of the truth. He also wished us to get used to never listening to them even though they seem to speak the truth." -- St. Athanasius, Life of St. Anthony 26

The Demons Recognize Christ As God

"What irreverent men do not believe, the spirits see-that he is God. So they flee and fall down at his feet, saying just what they uttered when he was in the body." -- St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 5.32

No Cowards

"Satan doesn't know our thoughts. He knows only whatever he himself puts in our minds, as well as whatever he figures out from our movements, and whatever he hears from our words... Satan opposes every Christian who strives sincerely. However, no one must be afraid of the demons. They are smoke, dust and stench. They don't have power over men. God allows the temptations to try men's faith. They can be found even in the church, even during the time of Divine Liturgy. They put bad thoughts in the minds of the people and distract them from prayer and attention to the divine mystery. However, at the time of the Cherubic Hymn and of the Great Entrance, they depart... I was once serving liturgy at night, when they came into the church and started overturning the chairs. The archdemon came into the sanctuary, shut the window and grabbed me by the throat to strangle me. I asked help from the Archangels, and when the roosters crowed in the morning, they all went away. 'This generation goes away only through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29). Satan must not find any cowards, because he does whatever he wants with them. Satan is afraid of the pure and sincere confession, of humility and love. Where these exist, he just cannot enter." -- Blessed Papa Dimitrios Gagastathis

The Devil Cannot Be An Ally of God

"Christ calls the devil strong, not as though he were so by his created nature but as signifying his tyranny over us, which he has obtained through our own indolence. The Son says, in effect, 'I will despoil him [the devil], not by allowing him to have human beings as worshipers but by changing their belief so that they might come to acknowledge God. In that case, how then could he [the devil] become my ally? For is he fighting against himself.'" -- St. Cyril of Alexandria Fragment 155.

Demons Attack

"The demons attack the person who has attained the summits of prayer in order to prevent his conceptual images from being free from passion; they attack the gnostic so that he will dally with impassioned thoughts; and they attack the person who has not advanced beyond the practice of the virtues, to persuade him to sin through his actions. They contend with all men by every possible means in order to separate them from God." -- St. Maximos the Confessor, Four Hundred Texts on Love 2.90, The Philokalia: The Complete Text Vol.2