Κεφ. Ξ'

Degrees of Freedom

True detachment is defined by the total cessation of demonic opposition, while partial freedom is measured by the intensity of the remaining struggle.

The soul attains perfect freedom from passion after defeating all the demons that oppose the ascetic life; imperfect freedom from passion, however, is so called in relation to the strength of the demon that is still fighting against it.¹²

Read the original Latin

Ἡ μὲν τελεία τῇ ψυχῇ ἀπάθεια μετὰ τὴν νίκην τὴν κατὰ πάντων τῶν ἀντικειμένων τῇ πρακτικῇ δαιμόνων ἐγγίνεται· ἡ δὲ ἀτελὴς ἀπάθεια ὡς πρὸς τὴν δύναμιν τέως τοῦ παλαίοντος αὐτῇ λέγεται δαίμονος.

Notes

1 ↩Rendered as “freedom from passion”: in Evagrius, apatheia means freedom from disordered passions, not emotional numbness.
2 ↩Rendered as “the ascetic life,” referring to Evagrius’s practical discipline of spiritual purification.

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