The Aereopagus Library at St. Jerome Ministries presents A Pure Heart by Cardinal Thomas Spidlik S.J., translated from the Czech by Br. Vit Fiala OFM. 
 

The Snake in the Paradise of the Heart

Where does sin come from? How can we understand the biblical story about the snake in the Garden of Eden?

The third chapter of the book of Genesis relates the history of the first sin – the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit, Eve’s dialogue with the snake-tempter, Adam’s consent, and the removal from Paradise. The Fathers believe that the experience of every human being throughout history both proves and extends the narrative of the initial chapters of Genesis. Everyone possesses his or her own paradise; it is the heart created by God, the heart in a peaceful state. Every person also experiences the snake which in the form of an evil thought enters into the heart in order to lure us. Origenes writes – and many of the Fathers agree with him – that “the source and the beginning of sin is thought” (in Greek Logismos).

How is it possible for a thought to become a source of evil?

This is not a simple thought but an unclean, evil thought. Truthfully, that which we call a temptation is not even a real thought, but a fantasy, to which an impulse to do something evil is joined. St. Maximus the Confessor explains this situation using examples from daily life. For instance, he claims that evil lies not in the ability to think. An image of a woman is not evil. Nor is a thought about a woman evil. None the less, in the mind of a sensually inclined man an image of a woman is not always pure, but it mixes itself with physical instinct, which instigates an activity opposing the Divine Law. In the same way, money or wine are not evil. Still these can become a stumbling block because of impure desires, which are joined to the objects. In this sense, we attribute the word “pure” to things to which we do not add anything else, as we can speak about pure gold, pure water, etc. In the same way thoughts are pure until we add some object which motivates us to do evil.

Where does the impulse to do evil come from?

The Fathers compare the human heart with the “promised land,” on which Philistines, Babylonians and other nations throw spears and arrows, which are the evil impulses. These “demonic,” “physical,” “impure” thoughts cannot originate in our heart because our heart was created by God. Therefore, these thoughts come from “outside.” They do not belong to our natural way of thinking. As long as they stay outside of us, they are not sinful. They become sinful in the moment when we consciously accept them and make them our own.

Nevertheless, the Gospel says that evil comes from the heart and not from outside (Mt. 15:19).

Yes it is true, but we have to be careful how we explain this text. Sin comes from the heart of man, because consent to do evil is given in the center of man, with his free will. Evil thoughts and passionate desires constantly circle around us. Often they fill up our imagination and our thought. They create human weakness after the sin of our predecessors. However, these thoughts in themselves are not the true evil. The Church claims that disordered desires originate from sin and lure us to sin, but are not in themselves sins.

Therefore, we live in continuous danger, constantly facing temptation…

The life of man here on earth is a battle, says Job (7:1). One proverb adds to it: Who does not want to fight, should not even live. On the other hand, we should not overestimate the difficulties of this battle. Ancient mystical writer, Pseudo-Makarius, compares our soul to a big city. In the centre of the city is a beautiful castle, beside the castle there is a market place and then suburbs. The enemy, the hereditary sin, occupies the suburbs, which are our senses. This is the reason we are often disturbed. However, often this disturbance also penetrates into the market, where we start to discuss whether we have to accept this thought as our own or whether we have to reject it. Nevertheless, an evil thought cannot enter into the castle, where our free will lords, unless we open the gates with our free consent.

Also St. Theresa of Avila speaks about the “castle” within our soul, where we can speak with our Lord, the divine visitor, without much disturbance from outside.

Nevertheless, we are internally divided. It is not only unpleasant, but even more, it is tiresome…

Spiritual people do not try to avoid sin per se, but they try to purify their hearts because this is the only way to return to inner peace. The religious authors use the Greek term praxis to describe asceticism. Similarly, they call it a spiritual exercise (practice). However, they distinguish between “external practice” – which focuses on the elimination of sinful actions and an “inner practice” – the goal of which is the purification of the heart. Usually, moral teaching which is offered to us is unfortunately reduced to external practice: “Do this and don’t do that.” This may explain why so often many people are confused and do not know what they have to do. When the application of the external norms is no more helpful and when they seek another solution, they accept various methods like false mysticism, physicians or drugs.

People often forget that Christian spirituality offers effective directions about how to achieve inner peace.

Where can we find these directions?

Monks, who chose a life of solitude, knew exceptionally well how to achieve an inner peace. They sought peace by escaping the world. Very early they experienced that solitude in itself does not bring any peace. St. Anthony of the Desert retired to the desert and there he was attacked by “demons.” These presented themselves in a form of a great amount of disquieting thoughts and fantasies. Only after a long inner struggle, he learned how to overcome these images. Then his solitude became a place of peace. This experience was so common, so well-known, that a law of the Byzantine Empire forbade monks to go into a desert without ten years of ascetical practice in a monastery. First of all, the monks had to learn how to control their own thoughts and images before they could live a solitary life.

Are these experiences of the ancient monks useful and attainable for modern man?

It is interesting that the texts of the ancient spirituality about interior struggle are available in translation in our times. They are important, and the demand for them is on the rise. In order to introduce an example it is enough to recall the great demand for the translations of the Philocalia by Nikodemus Hagiorita. The text is a collection of many patristic essays in which we learn how to achieve purity of the heart, which is a necessary condition for a good prayer and a peaceful life.

It was said that one sins if one gives free consent to an evil thought. How can one know for sure whether or not one consented freely?

Some scrupulous people relate during confession that they had “evil thoughts,” but they are not able to say whether they consented or not. The old monks knew that such uncertainty harms the peace in the soul. Therefore, they suggested an analysis of the thought-process, which happens during inner temptation. Usually, there exist five stages of penetration of evil into the heart: 1. Suggestion, 2. conversation, 3. struggle, 4. consent, 5. passion.

This certainly needs an explanation.

What is suggestion?

This initial stage is also called “contact or connection.” It is the first image which comes from fantasy, the first thought, and the first impulse. For instance a miser sees unguarded money and a thought comes to his mind: “I could hide it.” In the same way we might be attacked by various thoughts, obtrusive images, for example, thoughts that we are better than anybody else, etc. At this stage nothing is decided yet. Simply, we notice we have an option to do some evil, and this evil presents itself in an attractive manner. Beginners in spiritual life fear that they have sinned, that they had “evil thoughts” even during prayer and in the Church. It is said about St. Anthony from the Desert that he brought a novice outside his cell and ordered him to catch wind with his hands. After awhile he told him: “If you cannot catch wind with your bare hands even less can you control your thoughts.” He wanted to show the man, that in this stage of suggestion guilt does not yet exist and that one cannot get rid of such thoughts during this lifetime. This resembles flies which become more and more bothersome the more impatient we become.

What is “conversation?”

This second stage recalls the third chapter of Genesis, when Eve enters into a conversation with the snake. If we do not pay any attention to the first suggestion, it leaves the same way it came. However, man does not do this. He allows himself to be incited and considers new options. For instance a miser says: “If I take this money, I will put it in the bank.” He also recognizes that it is not honest and even dangerous. What if someone finds out? So, he thinks that it would be better to conceal the whole affair. He is not able to make any decision, but the situation with the money stays in his mind the entire day. This same thing happens to someone who becomes angry with his neighbor. For a long time he is preoccupied by the person who made him angry. He imagines how to physically injure the person, how to insult the person, or how to graciously forgive the person but then again he wonders what he could do to that person. He forgets this incident after some time. What is the guilt in these interior “conversations”? Who did not make a decision, could not commit a sin. However, how much precious time and life energy one looses with these absurd inner “conversations”!

What happens on the third level of the struggle?

We are at the third level. After a long conversation the thought nests in the heart and cannot be easily repudiated. A sensual man has his fantasy so much soaked with unclean pictures that he cannot get rid of them. He is still free; he doesn’t need to consent to it. He can and he should leave his battle victoriously, but it costs him a lot of struggle: he must fight. His will must stand firm, and he must repeat to himself, “I feel how strongly this sin attracts me, but in spite of this I don’t want to consent. I choose freely the opposite, and I’m willing to resist.”

What is consent?

It is the forth level. One, who lost the battle, agrees to do, as soon as possible, that which the evil thought incites him to do. One consents to the suggestion. In this stage, one sins in the real sense, even though one did not commit the sin externally. The sin still remains in thought. In a moral sense, we call it “sin in thought.” Unfortunately, people who are not sufficiently informed and without experience, confuse terms. They think that it is a sin to think about that which is sinful. Such people become scrupulous and confess that they are not able to get rid of “sinful thoughts.” How do we disentangle this chaos? It is important to stop and say to myself: “What do I feel? I perhaps like the sin? Do I like it? How much does the temptation attract me to do the thing! Will I consent or not? No! I choose not do it!” This last decision must console us. The moment, we made it, we discovered our freedom. We are what we decide, not what our senses lure us to. In such moments, when one gives a free consent to evil, one also experiences sin.

What is passion?

It is the last and also the most tragic stage. Whoever succumbs to evil thoughts, often little by little weakens his own character. In this way, an attraction to sin develops, which can become so strong that it is almost impossible to face it. Just such a passion makes a person a slave to alcohol, to the misuse of sex, angry outbursts, etc. Can we say that such an individual lost his/her freedom? There are different views on this issue. Not too long ago, some psychologists, and often some lawyers, considered people with strong passions to be abnormal. Basically, they accused them of nothing other than exceeding weakness. On the contrary, the ancient Fathers, for example St. John Goldenmouth, repeat to these people: “It is enough to want!” According to the ancient Fathers, someone who is passionate and weak still remains a human, and thus his/her will is not completely suppressed. It is as if the will is sleeping and thus it is necessary to wake it up. In this sense, it is a problem, which is very real in today’s society and especially by those who use drugs. Experience shows that there is a need for a special cure which would wake up the will and strengthen it. Nevertheless, there is a need for the exceptional help of God’s grace. Let me remind you that one old monk, who was cured from a strong sexual passion, considered himself resurrected through Jesus Christ.

Does the real sin begin only in the fourth stage?

It is good to repeat that the necessary condition of sin is free consent. It must console especially the scrupulous, who are scared of their evil thoughts and desires and often confess them. They fall into despair if these thoughts return after confession. What can we do when these temptations attack us? We need to stop and tell ourselves: “What do I want to do? What do I decide? God judges man by what he freely wishes and not by what he feels against his own will.” The discovery of one's own freedom is very important for progress in the spiritual life.

Nevertheless, it is true that evil thoughts, which attract our attention, are not pleasant. How can we avoid them? For this reason, people learn certain practices with which they attain attention or watchfulness of heart or dispassionate mind.

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