How can I resist

evil?

‘As far as God goes, I am a non-believer…but when it comes to the devil –well that’s something else …the devil keeps advertising….the devil does lots of advertising’

•William Peter Blatty

Isaiah 14:12-23

"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.' But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. Everyone there will stare at you and ask, 'Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wilderness? Is this the king who demolished the world's greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?' "The kings of the nations lie in stately glory in their tombs,  but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit. You will not be given a proper burial, for you have destroyed your nation and slaughtered your people. Your son will not succeed you as king. Kill the children of this sinner! Do not let them rise and conquer the land or rebuild the cities of the world." This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I, myself, have risen against him! I will destroy his children and his children's children, so they will never sit on his throne. I will make Babylon into a desolate land, a place of porcupines, filled with swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"

Job 1

“One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan the Accuser came with them. "Where have you come from?" the LORD asked Satan. And Satan answered the LORD, "I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on."

“Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the Israelites.”

•1 Chronicles 21:1

“Stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”

• Ephesians 6:11-12

‘The Devil only tempts those souls that wish to abandon sin…the other belong to him: he has no need to tempt them.’

Jean-Baptise Vianney

Common sense confirms the existence of the devil

Some say the devil’s been Some say the devil’s gone But simple people Like you and me Would like to know who carries the business on?

‘There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils’. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight’

•C.S. Lewis

‘And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.’

• Act 19:19

‘…But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars – their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.’

•Revelation 21:8

What are

the devil’s tactics?

‘The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.’

John 10:10

‘The god of this age [the devil] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’

2 Corinthians 4:4

Genesis 3

Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. "It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." "You won't die!" the serpent hissed.  "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil."

The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves. Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees.

•The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" He replied, "I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."

‘Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, "It has happened at last – the salvation and power and kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ! For the Accuser has been thrown down to earth – the one who accused our brothers and sisters before our God day and night..’

•Revelation 12:10

Pope Paul VI

“Evil is not merely a lack of something, but an effective agent, a living spiritual being, perverted and perverting. A terrible reality.” L’ Obsservatore Romano, November 23, 1972

St. Paul the Apostle“For our struggle is not

against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Ephesians 6:12

Who is the Devil?• The devil is a fallen angel.

• His nature is angelic although irreversibly corrupted and evil by rebellion.

Catechism of the Catholic Church # 414

• “Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive” Catechism of the Catholic Church # 391

• “Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil". The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.“

Pope John Paul II

• “Thus the evil spirit tries to transplant into man the attitude of rivalry, insubordination and opposition to God which has become, as it were, the motivation of his entire existence”L’Obsservatore Romano, August 18, 1986

What is the meaning of the words Satan and Devil?

• The word Satan comes from the Hebrew and it means adversary, persecutor, accuser or slanderer.

• The word devil comes from the Greek verb meaning to separate or divide.

• The devil is the entity that tries to separates us from God and our eternal destiny.

Did you know?

• The devil is called in the scriptures “evil spirit” 76 times.

• The word demon is used 63 times

• Satan and Devil both are found 36 times

• The devil is mentioned 211 times in the New Testament.

What is the difference between The devil and demons?• “The precise distinction between

the two terms in ecclesiastical usage may be seen in the phrase used in the decree of the Fourth Lateran Council: "Diabolus enim et alii daemones" (The devil and the other demons), i.e. all are demons, and the chief of the demons is called the devil.” New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter “Parati Semper”

• “There is no need to be afraid to call the first agent of evil by his name: The Evil One. The strategy which he used and continues to use is that of not revealing himself, so that the evil implanted by him from the beginning may receive its development from man himself, from systems and from relationships between individuals, from classes and nations--- so as also to become ever more ‘structural’ sin, ever less identifiable as ‘personal’ sin. In other words, so that man may truly feel in a certain sense ‘freed’ from sin but at the same time ever more deeply immersed in it.”

Pope Paul VI On the Existence of the Devil

• “It is contrary to the teaching of the Bible and the Church to refuse to recognize the existence of such a reality the devil…or to explain it as pseudo-reality, a conceptual and fanciful personification of the unknown causes of our misfortune”L’Obsservatore Romano November 23, 1972

The devil as an

Enemy of mankindJob 1:6-12; 2:1-7

The devil as an

Adversary of God and his plan

Zechariah 3:1-5

The devil as a facilitator of

Evil and deathWisdom 2:23-24

The devil a being cursed by God

Genesis 3:14-16

The devil’s expulsion from the presence of God

Revelation 12:9

Jesus came to destroy the

Works of the devil1 John 3: 8

The devil is a fallen angel Isaiah 14: 12-16 The Fathers of the Church interpreted this passage of Isaiah referring to the King of Babylon as having a double meaning. In their view this passage referred to Satan

The Testimony of the Scriptures

The Fallen Angels

• Jesus says, “ I watched Satan fall from the Sky like lightning”

Luke 10:18

“Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. Although the dragon and his angels fought back, they were overpowered and lost their place in heaven” Revelation 12:7-8

What was the caused of the fall of the angels?

• Although the fall of the angels is certain, it is not certain what was the cause of their fall.

• The Church has never made any official pronouncement on that.

• The most common hypothesis regarding the fall of the angels are based on the thought of the Fathers of the Church and the scholastics.

• There are three basic arguments as to what caused the angels to sin:

A. PrideB. Jealousy and envy towards mankind.C. Jealousy of humanity due to the incarnation of the Son of God

St. Thomas AquinasOn The Sin of Pride

• St. Thomas Aquinas explains, they desired to be liked God in the sense that they wanted to attain their final end and perfect happiness through their own powers. And this is what constitutes pride: not to submit to one’s superior when submission is due (cf. ST,I, 63,3).

• In other words, rejecting God’s dominion, they turned in on themselves in a sin of self-idolatry.

• “Pride is the reservoir of sin, a source which runs over with vice”

Sirach 3:6

• The sin of pride hypothesis was also held by Origen.

• John Paul II states, “Instead of accepting a God full of love, they rejected him, inspired by a false sense of self-sufficiency, of aversion, and even hatred that is changed into rebellion”

L’Obsservtore Romano, July 28, 1986

The Fathers of the ChurchOn the Jealousy and Envy of the Fallen angels

• St. Justin, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Irenaeus, Lactantius and St. Gregory of Nissa espoused the view that the fallen angels were jealous and envious of humanity.

• Fallen angels could not accept the fact that human beings who were created after the angels, should be created in the image of God and in charge over all creatures of the earth.

A Third hypothesisJealousy and envy of mankind due to the Incarnation of the Son of God

• Dominican priest Ambrose Catarino and Jesuit priest Francis Suarez in the 16th century advocated the view that the fall of the angels was due to jealousy of the Incarnation of the Son of God.

• They knew by an antecedent revelation that they would be expected to adore Christ, the God-man, something they refused to do.

What is the meaning of the word Lucifer?

• The word Lucifer is taking from the Latin Vulgate version of Isaiah 14: 12. Where Satan is called morning star. The word itself means light-bearer.

• Lucifer was a great angel, probably an archangel before his fall.

• In Christian tradition Lucifer is the first of the fallen angels and their leader.

“How you have fallen from heaven,        O morning star, son of the dawn!

       You have been cast down to the earth,        you who once laid low the nations!

  You said in your heart,        "I will ascend to heaven;

       I will raise my throne        above the stars of God;

       I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

       on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.”

  Isaiah 14: 12-14

Eternal Damnation• Immediately, after their sin the fallen angels

were condemned to “the eternal fire prepared for devil and his angels.” Matthew 25: 46

• “Their torture will not stop, day or night, forever and ever” Revelation 20:10

• Catechism #1035The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

The teaching of the eternity of hell was issued by the Ecumenical Lateran council in 1215. The Second Vatican Council also referred to the eternal fire of hell in the constitution Lumen Gentium 7. 48.

St. Thomas Aquinas On the Eternal Damnation of the fallen angels

• Before their fall the angels had full freedom of choice, but not afterward. In this respect they differ from human beings who, because they are less perfect creatures, can change even after they have made a choice.

John Paul II

• The influence of the evil one can conceal itself in a more profound and effective way: it is in his interests to make himself “unknown.” Satan has the skill in the world to induce people to deny his existence in the name of rationalism and of every other system of thought which seeks all possible means to avoid recognizing his activity. L’ Obsservatore Romano, August 20, 1986

The Devil The one who separates and divides

Attitudes against Faith and God:

• Atheism: the position that holds that God does not exit.

• Agnosticism: the position that claims that no one can know for sure whether there is a God or not.

• Practical atheism: Living life as if there is no God.•

Example: Having time to go to the mall on Sunday, but no time to go to Church.

• Hedonism: The position that holds that all that is important in life is pleasure, power

• and material things.

• Secular Humanism: The position that considers human achievement the only purpose of life. Religion and God are considered irrelevant (unimportant).

John Paul II: “O Lord; let us not fall into the infidelity to which we were seduced by the one who has been unfaithful from the beginning.”

The power of Devil• As a fallen angelic creature the

devil is superior in nature to human beings.

• The devil has preternatural powers and potentialities that are difficult for us to imagine.

• For instance: A. he is not condition by space and time. B. he is not restricted by matter, weight, color, sound, etc.C. He is not subject to fatigue, sleep, nourishment, sickness or death.

• D. He can act in any given place, even within a human body.

• In this sense the devil shares the powers that are exclusive to spiritual being such as: good angels.

The Devil has limited power• The devil is by nature superior to

humans but still a finite creature with limited power and subjected to the will of God.

• The first limitation of the devil is that he cannot transcend created nature.

• He cannot, for instance, perform miracles. For miracles require supernatural power, the power of the devil is only preternatural. Only God can perform miracles.

• The word preternatural refer to the condition that is not proper to human nature but still below the supernatural or divine. Man due to sin lost his preternatural gifts. An example of preternatural gift is immortality.

• The second limitation of the power of the Devil comes from divine intervention. “God protects and governs by his providence all things which he created, ‘reaching from end to end mightily and ordering all things sweetly’ (wisdom 8:1)” (Dei Filius, First Vatican Council)

• St. Paul says: “God keeps his promise. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength. Along with the test he will give you a way out of it so that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Cor 10:13

• St. Bonaventure says “The cruelty of the devil is such that he would devour us at any moment if the divine power did not protect us.” (Diaeta Salutis).

• St. Augustine said: “If the devil could do everything he wanted, there would not remain a single living human being on earth.”

Catechism # 2847• “The Holy Spirit makes us discern

between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death.

We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight to the eyes" and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.

– God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us.

St John Chrysostom• “The devil in spite of himself,

becomes, as it were, an instrument and coefficient of holiness.”

• Catechism #164

Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

Did you know?

• The devil cannot do violence to our human freedom; he cannot force our will. The most he can do is try to influence us by suggestion or enticement.

• St. Augustine says: “The devil can bark, but he cannot bite, unless a person lets himself be bitten”

The Life of Grace

• The sacramental life or the life of grace is the only antidote to the action of the evil one.

• As Pope Paul VI states:

“Everything that defends us from sin, shelter us for that very reason from the invisible enemy. Grace is the decisive defense. The Christian must be militant; he must be strong and vigilant.”

L’ Obsservatore Romano, November 15, 1972

•What is our position?

•‘For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.’

•Colossians 1:13

•‘In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.’

•Colossians 2:15

•How do we defend ourselves?

•‘put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes’

•Ephesians 6:11

•‘Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’

•Ephesians 6:14-17

How do we attack?

prayer

•‘We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds.’

•2 Corinthians 10:4

Action

“…Rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea. For the Devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows that he has little time."

•Revelation 12:12

The End