Posted on 03/04/2005 3:27:21 AM PST by kosta50
1. The Misuse of the Incensive Power
Since we are approaching Forgiveness Sunday, I've chosen, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Longin, to speak on the subject of Anger, Judgment, and Resentment, and on their cure: Forgiveness and Reconciliation. First I will speak about the problem and then I'll discuss the solution.
Anger, judgment, remembrance of wrongs, grudges, resentment: these are passions with which all of us struggle in one way or another. Why are we prone to them? According to the Holy Fathers of the Church, the power that causes anger was part of man's original nature, which was created "good" by God (cf. Genesis 1:31). The Fathers say that man's soul was originally created with three powers: the intellective or "knowing" power, the appetitive or "desiring" power, and the incensive or "fervent" power. Man was supposed to use his intellective power to know God, his appetitive power to yearn for God, and his incensive power to courageously repel temptation—beginning with the temptation of the serpent in the Garden.
Instead of using their incensive power to repel temptation, however, Adam and Eve succumbed to their first temptation: they ate of the forbidden fruit. According to the Holy Fathers, the essence of the serpent's temptation lies in these words: "Eat of this fruit and you shall be as gods" (cf. Genesis 3:5). St. John Chrysostom says that Adam "expected to become himself a god, and conceived thoughts above his proper dignity." [1] This is a key point which we'll keep coming back to.
When the primordial Fall occurred, man's original nature, created in the image of God, became corrupted. He acquired what the Holy Fathers call a fallen nature. He still had the image of God in him, but the image was tarnished: "buried," as it were, under the corruption of his nature. Now he had an inclination toward sin, born of his desire to be God without God's blessing. All of us share that fallen nature; there is a part of each one of us that wants to be God. In popular modern terms, that part of us is called the "ego."
When man fell, the three powers of his soul became subject to corruption, along with his body, which became subject to death and decay. Now man used his intellective power to puff up with knowledge and be superior to others; now he used his appetitive power to lust after other people, after the things of this world, after sinful pleasures, wealth, and power; and he used his incensive power, not against temptation, but against other people, against things, and sometimes against life and God Himself. The incensive power expressed itself as sinful anger and wrath. The first man born of woman, Cain, got so angry and jealous that he murdered his own brother, Abel. So, here we are, all members of the family of Adam and Eve, possessing a fallen nature that wants to be God, and a corrupted incensive power that gets angry at the wrong things.
Very clear teachings on anger and the incensive power can be found in the first volume of The Philokalia, in the teachings of St. John Cassian, a Holy Father of the fifth century. According to St. John Cassian, all anger directed at other people—all such wrong use of our incensive power—blinds the soul. He writes: "We must, with God's help, eradicate the deadly poison of anger from the depths of our souls. So long as the demon of anger dwells in our hearts ... we can neither discriminate what is good, nor achieve spiritual knowledge, nor fulfill our good intentions, nor participate in true life.... Nor will we share in divine wisdom even though we are deemed wise by all men, for it is written: Anger lodges in the bosom of fools (Eccles. 7:9). Nor can we discriminate in decisions affecting our salvation even though we are thought by our fellow men to have good sense, for it is written: Anger destroys even men of good sense (Proverbs 15:1). Nor will we be able to keep our lives in righteousness with a watchful heart, for it is written: Man's anger does not bring about the righteousness of God (James 1:20)....
"If, therefore, you desire to attain perfection and rightly pursue the spiritual way, you should make yourself a stranger to all sinful anger and wrath. Listen to what St. Paul enjoins: Rid yourselves of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and all malice (Eph. 4:31). By saying ‘all' he leaves no excuse for regarding any anger as necessary or reasonable. If you want to correct your brother when he is doing wrong or punish him, you must try to keep yourself calm; otherwise you yourself may catch the sickness you are seeking to cure and you may find that the words of the Gospel now apply to you: Physician, heal yourself (Luke 4:23), or Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother's eye, and not notice the beam in your own eye? (Matt. 7:3).
"No matter what provokes it, anger blinds the soul's eyes, preventing it from seeing the Sun of righteousness.... Whether reasonable or unreasonable, anger obstructs our spiritual vision. Our incensive power can be used in a way that is according to nature only when turned against our own impassioned or self-indulgent thoughts. [2]
Here St. John Cassian is telling us that, when we use our incensive power against temptation—against impassioned or self-indulgent thoughts—we are using this power as it was originally intended to be used, according to our original, virtuous nature, created in the image of God. However, when we use our incensive power against anything else—especially against other people—we are misusing it, according to our fallen nature.
2. Playing God
Often anger is evoked in us because of our pride. This again is a function of our fallen nature: that part of us that wants to be God. As would-be gods, we want to be in control, we want things to go our way. When things don't go our way, when other people don't follow our lead and go along with our program, we get angry. This leads us to judge others. Judging others is one way of playing God.
God is King, and He is Judge. Of course, it's best to be a King. Therefore, in trying to play God, our ego first of all tries to get above others and above life itself by playing King. We can try to be King in many ways. It may be by trying to run the show and get our own way. It may be by seeking acceptance, approval, praise, respect, popularity, earthly security, or an important position. It may be through our achievements and abilities, which are used toward ultimately selfish ends. It may be through vanity over our looks, our intellect, and so on.
Even if we were to have the world at our feet all the time, and thus confirm our King-status in our own mind, we would eventually feel conflict—for we're not meant to be King. You can see this vividly in the lives of celebrities, many of whom, having risen to the "top" in the eyes of the world, are filled with inward conflict.
Most of us, however, find it impossible to play King all the time. The world is not at our feet. We try so hard to get our own way and make things work out exactly like we want, but it just doesn't happen that way. People don't want to cooperate with our own way of doing things. We don't get enough of the respect and admiration we need in order to keep up the illusion of our Kingship. On the contrary, we often experience the exact opposite: rudeness, disrespect, neglect, abandonment, injustice.
What is the ego—our fallen nature—to do in this case? How can it still play God? How else than by judgment? As we said, God is King and He is Judge. When we can't be King, we take the loser's way of playing God: we become the Judge. No matter what happens to us, or what people have said and done to us, we can always seem to get above them by being their Judge. For a time it feels great! Other people and the circumstances of our life made us feel less like a god; they have hurt and humiliated us. But we can still be a god in our own mind by judging!
Judgment brings with it an exhilaration of false power. Its energy comes from the wrong, prideful use of our incensive power. But, like playing King, playing Judge eventually leads to inward conflict. If we are setting ourselves up in God's place, our soul cannot fulfill its original purpose of worshiping, serving and loving God. Thus, each time we judge, we're placing a barrier between ourselves and God. A wall immediately goes up.
3. Resentment
If left unchecked, anger and judgment will pass into what the Holy Fathers call "secret anger," "remembrance of wrongs," or "resentment."
Resentment—prolonged anger—is deadly to the soul. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says: "Just as fire if it is not extinguished quickly will swallow many houses, so anger if it is not stopped right away will do great harm and will cause many troubles. [3] The Holy Apostle Paul tells us: Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil (Eph. 4:26–7). "If we take St. Paul's saying literally," writes St. John Cassian, "it does not permit us to keep our anger even until sunset. What then shall we say about those who, because of the harshness and fury of their impassioned state, not only maintain their anger until the setting of this day's sun, but prolong it for many days? Or about others who do not express their anger, but keep silent and increase the poison of their anger to their own destruction? They are unaware that we must avoid anger not only in what we do but also in our thoughts; otherwise our mind will be darkened by our anger, cut off from the light of spiritual knowledge and discrimination, and deprived of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. [4]
Why is resentment such a deadly sin? The Holy Scriptures tell us that God is love. Therefore, explains the Russian Holy Father St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, "Resentment or rejection of love is rejection of God. God withdraws from a resentful person, deprives him of His Grace, and gives him up to spiritual death, unless the person repents in good time so as to be healed of that deadly moral poison, resentment. [5]
If for whatever reason we do not forgive someone and hold onto our anger, it will truly be to our own destruction. It can poison our entire lives, make us the captives of the devil, and eventually prevent us from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. To help us not to lose our salvation due to resentment, God allows us to feel inward conflict. This inward conflict helps us to become aware of the fatal danger of the malady of resentment, and to seek to be cured by the Supreme Physician, Jesus Christ.
The inward conflict may take many forms. We may feel weighed down, unable to breathe lightly or freely, as if we are captives. We may experience irrational fear, commonly known as anxiety. We may become susceptible to physical ailments. In most cases, we will feel an inward emptiness. That emptiness comes from the fact that, by holding onto our anger and judgment, we have separated ourselves from God. We no longer have His Grace, His Life, inside us, and without that we are just hollow vessels.
Our spiritual emptiness may express itself in a generally dissatisfied and cynical attitude, in which we're always attracted to negative thoughts and words about others. We may try to fill the void with drugs or the excessive use of alcohol. Interestingly, the Alcoholics Anonymous "Big Book" says: "Resentment is the ‘number one' offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stems all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. [6]
Sometimes our resentment hurts the person we are resenting, sometimes it does not. However, in either case we gain nothing; we only lose, for in either case we are the ones who are hurt the most. Let's say someone has actually wronged us. If that person repents, he will be forgiven by God. But if we hold onto our anger, we will not be forgiven and will suffer the consequences.
[To be continued]
Apologies for those not included; please ping further.
Like most facets of our nature, however, anger can and does have a use in our theosis. Abba Evagrius the Monk wrote:
"Anger is by nature designed for waging war with the demons and for struggling with every kind of sinful pleasure. Therefore angels, arousing spiritual pleasure in us and giving us to taste its blessedness, incline us to direct our anger against the demons. But the demons, enticing us towards worldly lusts, make us use anger to fight with men, which is against nature, so that the mind, thus stupefied and darkened, should become a traitor to virtues." Texts on Active Life no. 15
I think there is a such a thing as righteous anger, and that such an anger can be good. How does one justifiy defense of their own life, otherwise? Isn't it anger that is roused when one sees the strong oppressing the weak? Wasn't it anger, at least in some measure, that led to any just war?
Maybe I'm not understanding what he's really getting at, and it's not that I don't think chronic, distended anger doesn't smother your soul, but I don't think anger is always bad or even destructive.
I believe your point may be addressed here by making a distinction of sinful anger versus the righteous anger to which you referred.
"If, therefore, you desire to attain perfection and rightly pursue the spiritual way, you should make yourself a stranger to all sinful anger and wrath. Listen to what St. Paul enjoins: Rid yourselves of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and all malice (Eph. 4:31). By saying ‘all' he leaves no excuse for regarding any anger as necessary or reasonable. If you want to correct your brother when he is doing wrong or punish him, you must try to keep yourself calm; otherwise you yourself may catch the sickness you are seeking to cure and you may find that the words of the Gospel now apply to you: Physician, heal yourself (Luke 4:23), or Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother's eye, and not notice the beam in your own eye? (Matt. 7:3).
Thanks.
In contrast to this, we may feel anger at our kids when they transgress, but we are able to put the anger aside and correct them calmly and discipline them as necessary and helpful, without losing ourselves in the emotion of anger.
Anger can be a sign that something is wrong, but we must quickly observe it, use reason to pass judgement on ourselves and clarify the situation, then act calmly and lovingly to correct the situation if need be.
I think we must detach from emotional situations--see ourselves as not "of" them in order to react righteously to events. We feel passionate, emotional, rageful when we take things personally--to put it colloquially. The anger we might feel at an unjust situation--racist remarks, for instance--should quickly resolve into a loving correction and a realization that we are as sinful as the one toward whom we feel anger.
Of course, all this is easier said than done. I find myself feeling more anger at total strangers than at anyone I know--Democrats, for instance, and other drivers. I have to pray constantly for detachment--for not seeing anything that occurs in my life as ultimately important and for recognizing that God is in charge of all things. Then I can either let things go or work in a rational way to correct them.
"When you pray as you ought, there may come into your mind things about which it seems right to be angry with your brother. There is absolutely no anger against your brother which could be justified. If you look, you will find that the question can be settled quite well without anger. Therefore do your best not to be moved to anger."
Anger
The desire of vengeance. Its ethical rating depends upon the quality of the vengeance and the quantity of the passion. When these are in conformity with the prescriptions of balanced reason, anger is not a sin. It is rather a praiseworthy thing and justifiable with a proper zeal. It becomes sinful when it is sought to wreak vengeance upon one who has not deserved it, or to a greater extent than it has been deserved, or in conflict with the dispositions of law, or from an improper motive. The sin is then in a general sense mortal as being opposed to justice and charity. It may, however, be venial because the punishment aimed at is but a trifling one or because of lack of full deliberation. Likewise, anger is sinful when there is an undue vehemence in the passion itself, whether inwardly or outwardly. Ordinarily it is then accounted a venial sin unless the excess be so great as to go counter seriously to the love of God or of one's neighbour.
I think you may be somewhat misunderstanding what we mean by "just" in this context. It is not to say that the "just war" is a positive good, but rather a one in which we may engage without necessarily sinning. It is as opposed to an "unjust war", which is inherently sinful. It is for this reason Pope John Paul II has always preached against warfare: any resort to war, in order to settle some difference between nations, necessarily means that other, less destructive means, have failed. "Just" war is a last resort, not a first option, and is necessarily something that (as you say) is "inevitable ... thrust upon us and .. certainly practice[d] war against greater evils".
This perfectly summarizes how I view it. It goes without saying that anger is a last resort, but when all else has been exhausted, and when it is effected (at great danger to oneself), on behalf of the weakest among us, I would say it is possible that it is also noble.
Never forget that anger is also one of the seven Capital Sins. Any anger should be considered cause for a serious examination of conscience. IMO. It may turn out to be a righteous anger, but we must beware of deceiving ourselves.
But Orthodoxy says that all war is sinful, though forgivable certainly.
That's a somewhat problematic idea. Certainly all sins (yeah, I know) are forgivable ... but what of repentance, conversion, firm purpose of amendment? "Forgive me ... I have sinned: I shot the enemy, and I'm going to keep doing it until the war's over." If shooting the enemy was a sin yesterday, I should instead purpose not to do it tomorrow. Nor should I join the Army, nor should I financially support an army or any of the impedementia thererof. If waging war is inherently sinful then preparing to do so is also inherently sinful. Committing adultery with your neighbor's wife is sinful; so is preparing to do so by booking a room at the NoTell Motel.
Of course, you're welcome to swim the Tiber ... I can think of worse reasons to do so than agreement with the "Just" War concept.
Comments?
St. Jerome is the Patron Saint against Anger, and here's a little a something I found concerning that.
Jerome is the Patron Saint Against Anger Saint Jerome had a hot temper and was difficult to get along with. He was tactless, outspoken, satirical, and vindictive. As examples, Saint Jerome was in conflict with the bishop of Jerusalem, and was forced to leave Rome after his protector, Pope Damasus I, died, because Saint Jerome had made so many enemies by his thoughtless words.
Saint Jerome was born to a wealthy Christian family who sent him to Rome to be educated. While in Rome, Saint Jerome became a priest, and Pope Damasus I asked Saint Jerome to translate the bible from Hebrew into Latin which has come to be known as the Vulgate bible which we still use today.
After Saint Jerome left Rome, he went to Palestine and lived his last 34 years in Bethlehem until his death in the year 420.
Saint Jerome removed a thorn from a lion's foot, and the lion became Saint Jerome's pet.
Saint Jerome's feast day is September 30.
Kolo, is St. Jerome St. Gerasimos? Reason I ask is the same Lion story attached to both.
I can relate to that. I've learned to tone it down somewhat, in my old age, but ...
The Orthodox position is that war is always sinful -- i.e. it is the result of man's fall, and it there is always a better way. It is a part of our corrupt world, not a reflection of how it was intended to be. Obviously, that "better way" is not always available to us, so yes, we would agree that war is sometimes unavoidable as a last resort. But that does not make it "just."
One of the most famous stories in Russian Orthodoxy on this topic is that of St. Sergius of Radonezh -- a wonderworker whose sanctity is hardly in doubt. When the Tartars were bearing down on Russia, he told those monks in his large monastery who had formerly been soldiers to take up their swords again, and go defend the monastery and the people against the Muslim marauders.
But the story has some clues: he sent those who had that knowledge and skill, and he sent monks, not priests or other clergy. In the Orthodox Church, if you have killed some one -- even by accident, let alone in a "just" war -- the canons forbid one becoming a priest. If a priest kills someone accidentally (such as hitting them with a car he is driving), he can no longer serve the Divine Liturgy.
It is similar to our canons regarding marriage -- divorce is allowed, with up to a total of three marriages in the church, with proper justification. But priests are held to a higher standard -- they are to be "the husband of one wife." Even if their wife died, they cannot remarry if they are priests, and if a man has been widowed and remarried, the canons forbid him from being ordained.
Double standard? Not really. The Orthodox Church is big on iconography. Priests are to be icons of the Christian life, examples to the faithful, who are encouraged to emulate them.
Same with killing people. The church's prohibition on ordaining those who have killed someone is a reminder to all that these things shouldn't happen, and that they are the result of a sinful world.
Of course our sins are forgiven when we confess and repent. But there is a higher standard to which we are called -- to avoid sins in the first place.
I hope this adds something to your understanding of the Orthodox position, which is anything but pacifist. The text of one of our most famous hymns, the Apolytikion/Troparion of the Cross, is literally translated from the Greek as: "O Lord, save Thy people, and bless thine inheritance. Grant victory unto our king over the barbarians. And by the power of Thy Cross, preserve Thy commonwealth."
The Russian church changed it to "grant victory to our Orthodox emperor over his adversaries". Today it is usually sung in English as "grant victory to Orthodox Christians over their adversaries.
On the Feast of the Cross and on the Sunday of the Cross in Great Lent I always make sure I chant it at least once in Greek -- not only is the Byzantine melody haunting and moving, I think the "real" words need to be sung every year!
The Saturday of St. Demetrius was instituted in the Russian Church hundreds of years ago specifically to commemorate and pray for the souls of all soldiers who have died protecting Orthodox Christian countries against foreign invaders.
We pray multiple times in our cycles of services for the armed forces of whatever country we find ourselves living in.
We have countless saints in the early centuries of the church who were soldiers who were martyred. Their lives made clear that they did *not* leave military service when they became Christians, as the rare but tiresome truly pacifist Orthodox Christians claim (who predictably don't even know the facts of the lives of the saints that they are appealing to -- it's a liberal thing.) Frequently, they fought and won great battles for their pagan commanders and emperors against the foes of the Roman empire after they had become Christian. The familiar theme is that they were martyred either after refusing to participate in worship of the pagan gods, or after refusing to use their military units to persecute their fellow Christians.
War is a necessary evil, although we Orthodox would probably more emphasize the evil than the "necessary." We support and honor those who engage in it for their countries in good faith, and we look forward to the 2nd coming of the Prince of Peace.
Traditional Orthodox anthropology divides the powers of the soul into three faculties. One of these faculties is known as the "incensive" faculty (can't remember the Greek term.)
Each of the three faculties is proper to our nature, and has a way that it was intended to be used. Each has been corrupted by the fall.
The negative, fallen application of our incensive faculty is anger and hatred. It is directed at others, and sometimes at ourselves. it is always sinful.
The positive application or manifestation of the incensive faculty is manifested in our fervor and zeal to avoid sin, and in our willingness and determination to mortify our own flesh -- through fasting, standing, and keeping vigil at prayer -- in order to bring our souls and bodies into right order and into communion with God. As the Scripture says, "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force."
This violence is not directed at others -- but at our own sinful nature and weakness. It is like the marathon runner pushing on mile after mile in spite of weather, pain, and fatigue...
I'll try to find some of the source texts where this is discussed. It is really useful in gaining an understanding of the Orthodox mind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.