The Philokalia Volume One on Judgment

St. Mark the Ascetic - Letter to Nicholas the Solitary

How long shall we continue in this manner, our intellect reduced to futility, failing to make the spirit of the Gospel our own, not knowing what it means to live according to our conscience, making no serious effort to keep it pure? Lacking real knowledge, we still trust solely in the apparent righteousness of our outward way of life, and so lead ourselves astray, trying to please men, pursuing the glory, honour and praise which they offer. But the Judge who cannot be deceived will certainly come, and 'will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and reveal the purposes of hearts' (I Cor. 4-: 5). He neither respects the wealthy nor pities the poor, but strips away the outward appearance and reveals the truth hidden within. In the presence of the angels and before His own Father, He crowns those who have truly pursued the spiritual way and lived according to their conscience; and in the presence of the heavenly Church of the saints and of all the celestial hosts, He exposes those who possessed merely an outward pretence of devotion, which they displayed to men, vainly relying on it and deceiving themselves; and He banishes them in shame to outer darkness.

St. Diadochos of Photiki - On Spiritual Knowledge

18. A person who is not detached from worldly cares can neither love God truly nor hate the devil as he should, for such cares are both a burden and a veil. His intellect cannot discern the tribunal which will judge him, neither can it foresee the verdict which will be given at his trial. For all these reasons, then, withdrawal from the world is invaluable.

19. The qualities of a pure soul are intelligence devoid of envy, ambition free from malice, and unceasing love for the Lord of glory. When the soul has these qualities, then the intellect can accurately assess how it will be judged, seeing itself appear before the most faultless of tribunals.

20. Faith without works and works without faith will both alike be condemned, for he who has faith must offer to the Lord the faith which shows itself in actions. Our father Abraham would not have been counted righteous because of his faith had he not offered its fruit, his son (cf. Jas. 2:21; Rom. 4-:3).

21. He who loves God both believes truly and performs the works of faith reverently. But he who only believes and does not love, lacks even the faith he thinks he has; for he believes merely with a certain superficiality of intellect and is not energized by the full force of love's glory. The chief part of virtue, then, is faith energized by love.

22. The deep waters of faith seem turbulent when we peer into them too curiously but when contemplated in a spirit of simplicity, they are calm. The depths of faith are like the waters of Lethe, making us forget all evil; they will not reveal themselves to the scrutiny of meddlesome reasoning. Let us therefore sail these waters with simplicity of mind, and so reach the harbour of God's will.

81. Spiritual knowledge teaches us that there are two kinds or evil spirits: some are more subtle, others more material in nature'. The more subtle demons attack the soul, while the others hold tha flesh captive through their lascivious enticements. Thus there is n complete contrast between the demons that attack the soul and thosa that attack the body, even though they have the same propensity to inflict harm on mankind. When grace does not dwell in a man, thl~Y lurk like serpents in the depths of the heart, never allowing the sOld to aspire towards God. But when grace is hidden in the intellec;t, they then move like dark clouds through the different parts of thl1 heart, taking the form of sinful passions or of all kinds of day-dreams. thus distracting the intellect from the remembrance of God and cutting it off from grace. When the passions of our soul, especially presumption, the mother of all evils, are inflamed by the demons that attack the soul, then it is by thinking on the dissolution of our body that we grow ashamed of our gross love of praise. We should also think about death when the demons that attack the body try to make our hearts seethe with shameful desires, for only the thought of death can nullify all the various influences of the evil spirits by bringing us back to the remembrance of God. If, however, the' demons that attack the soul induce in us by this thought an excessive' depreciation of human nature on the grounds that, being mortal, it is valueless - and this is what they like to do when we torment them with the thought of death - we should recall the honour and glory of the heavenly kingdom, though without losing sight of the bittcr and dreadful aspects of judgment. In this way we both relieve our despondency and restrain the frivolity of our hearts.

100. Those of us who come to share in the knowledge of God will have to account for all our vain imaginings, even when they are involuntary. 'For Thou hast marked even my involuntary transgressions', as Job rightly says (Job 14: 17. LXX). For if we had not ceased from the remembrance of God and neglected His holy commandments, we would not have succumbed to either voluntary or involuntary sin. We must therefore offer to the Lord at once a strict confession even of our involuntary failings in the practice of our normal rule - and it is impossible for a human being to avoid such human failings - until our conscience is assured through tears of love that we have been forgiven. 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (I John I: 9). We should pay close attention to maintaining inward awareness during confession, so that our conscience will not deceive itself into believing that the confession it has made to God is adequate; for though we may not be aware that we have done anything wrong, the judgment of God is far more severe than our conscience. This is what Paul in his wisdom teaches us when he says: 'I do not judge myself; for although I am not conscious of anything against myself, yet I am not thereby acquitted. But it is the Lord who judges me' (I Cor. 4: 3-4).

If we do not confess our involuntary sins as we should, we shall discover an ill-defined fear in ourselves at the hour of our death. We who love the Lord should pray that we may be without fear at that time; for if we are afraid then, we will not be able freely to pass by the rulers of the nether world. They will have as their advocate to plead against us the fear which our soul experiences because of its own wickedness. But the soul which rejoices in the love of God, at the hour of its departure, is lifted with the angels of peace above all the hosts of darkness. For it is given wings by spiritual love, since it ceaselessly carries within itself the love which 'is the fulfilling of the law' (Rom. 13: 10). At the coming of the Lord those who have departed the present life with such confidence as this will be 'caught up' together with all the saints (cf. 1 Thess. 4: 17); but those who feel fear even for an instant at the moment of their death will be left behind with the rest of mankind to be tried by the fire of judgment (cf. I Pet. I: 7), and will receive from our God and King, Jesus Christ, the lot due to them according to their works. For He is the God of justice and on us who love Him He bestows the blessings of His kingdom through all the ages. Amen.

An interpretation of the phrase in Text 100, 'tried by the fire of judgment', given by St Maximos at the request of certain brethren: Those who have acquired perfect love for God and have through their virtues risen with the wings of the soul, will be 'caught up in the clouds', as the Apostle says (I Thess. 4-: 17), and will not be brought to judgment. On the other hand, those who have not acquired love in all its perfection, but have both sins and virtues on their account, will appear before the court of judgment. There they will be tried as it were by fire; their good actions will be put in the balance against the bad, and if the good outweigh the bad they will be delivered from punishment.

	From the Philokalia Volume I
	St. Mark the Ascetic - Letter to Nicholas the Solitary How long shall we continue in this manner, our intellect reduced to futility, failing to make the spirit of the Gospel our own, not knowing what it means to live according to our conscience, making no serious effort to keep it pure? Lacking real knowledge, we still trust solely in the apparent righteousness of our outward way of life, and so lead ourselves astray, trying to please men, pursuing the glory, honour and praise which they offer. But the Judge who cannot be deceived will certainly come, and 'will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and reveal the purposes of hearts' (I Cor. 4-: 5). He neither respects the wealthy nor pities the poor, but strips away the outward appearance and reveals the truth hidden within. In the presence of the angels and before His own Father, He crowns those who have truly pursued the spiritual way and lived according to their conscience; and in the presence of the heavenly Church of the saints and of all the celestial hosts, He exposes those who possessed merely an outward pretence of devotion, which they displayed to men, vainly relying on it and deceiving themselves; and He banishes them in shame to outer darkness. St. Diadochos of Photiki - On Spiritual Knowledge 18. A person who is not detached from worldly cares can neither love God truly nor hate the devil as he should, for such cares are both a burden and a veil. His intellect cannot discern the tribunal which will judge him, neither can it foresee the verdict which will be given at his trial. For all these reasons, then, withdrawal from the world is invaluable. 19. The qualities of a pure soul are intelligence devoid of envy, ambition free from malice, and unceasing love for the Lord of glory. When the soul has these qualities, then the intellect can accurately assess how it will be judged, seeing itself appear before the most faultless of tribunals. 20. Faith without works and works without faith will both alike be condemned, for he who has faith must offer to the Lord the faith which shows itself in actions. Our father Abraham would not have been counted righteous because of his faith had he not offered its fruit, his son (cf. Jas. 2:21; Rom. 4-:3). 21. He who loves God both believes truly and performs the works of faith reverently. But he who only believes and does not love, lacks even the faith he thinks he has; for he believes merely with a certain superficiality of intellect and is not energized by the full force of love's glory. The chief part of virtue, then, is faith energized by love. 22. The deep waters of faith seem turbulent when we peer into them too curiously but when contemplated in a spirit of simplicity, they are calm. The depths of faith are like the waters of Lethe, making us forget all evil; they will not reveal themselves to the scrutiny of meddlesome reasoning. Let us therefore sail these waters with simplicity of mind, and so reach the harbour of God's will. 81. Spiritual knowledge teaches us that there are two kinds or evil spirits: some are more subtle, others more material in nature'. The more subtle demons attack the soul, while the others hold tha flesh captive through their lascivious enticements. Thus there is n complete contrast between the demons that attack the soul and thosa that attack the body, even though they have the same propensity to inflict harm on mankind. When grace does not dwell in a man, thl~Y lurk like serpents in the depths of the heart, never allowing the sOld to aspire towards God. But when grace is hidden in the intellec;t, they then move like dark clouds through the different parts of thl1 heart, taking the form of sinful passions or of all kinds of day-dreams. thus distracting the intellect from the remembrance of God and cutting it off from grace. When the passions of our soul, especially presumption, the mother of all evils, are inflamed by the demons that attack the soul, then it is by thinking on the dissolution of our body that we grow ashamed of our gross love of praise. We should also think about death when the demons that attack the body try to make our hearts seethe with shameful desires, for only the thought of death can nullify all the various influences of the evil spirits by bringing us back to the remembrance of God. If, however, the' demons that attack the soul induce in us by this thought an excessive' depreciation of human nature on the grounds that, being mortal, it is valueless - and this is what they like to do when we torment them with the thought of death - we should recall the honour and glory of the heavenly kingdom, though without losing sight of the bittcr and dreadful aspects of judgment. In this way we both relieve our despondency and restrain the frivolity of our hearts. 100. Those of us who come to share in the knowledge of God will have to account for all our vain imaginings, even when they are involuntary. 'For Thou hast marked even my involuntary transgressions', as Job rightly says (Job 14: 17. LXX). For if we had not ceased from the remembrance of God and neglected His holy commandments, we would not have succumbed to either voluntary or involuntary sin. We must therefore offer to the Lord at once a strict confession even of our involuntary failings in the practice of our normal rule - and it is impossible for a human being to avoid such human failings - until our conscience is assured through tears of love that we have been forgiven. 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (I John I: 9). We should pay close attention to maintaining inward awareness during confession, so that our conscience will not deceive itself into believing that the confession it has made to God is adequate; for though we may not be aware that we have done anything wrong, the judgment of God is far more severe than our conscience. This is what Paul in his wisdom teaches us when he says: 'I do not judge myself; for although I am not conscious of anything against myself, yet I am not thereby acquitted. But it is the Lord who judges me' (I Cor. 4: 3-4). If we do not confess our involuntary sins as we should, we shall discover an ill-defined fear in ourselves at the hour of our death. We who love the Lord should pray that we may be without fear at that time; for if we are afraid then, we will not be able freely to pass by the rulers of the nether world. They will have as their advocate to plead against us the fear which our soul experiences because of its own wickedness. But the soul which rejoices in the love of God, at the hour of its departure, is lifted with the angels of peace above all the hosts of darkness. For it is given wings by spiritual love, since it ceaselessly carries within itself the love which 'is the fulfilling of the law' (Rom. 13: 10). At the coming of the Lord those who have departed the present life with such confidence as this will be 'caught up' together with all the saints (cf. 1 Thess. 4: 17); but those who feel fear even for an instant at the moment of their death will be left behind with the rest of mankind to be tried by the fire of judgment (cf. I Pet. I: 7), and will receive from our God and King, Jesus Christ, the lot due to them according to their works. For He is the God of justice and on us who love Him He bestows the blessings of His kingdom through all the ages. Amen. An interpretation of the phrase in Text 100, 'tried by the fire of judgment', given by St Maximos at the request of certain brethren: Those who have acquired perfect love for God and have through their virtues risen with the wings of the soul, will be 'caught up in the clouds', as the Apostle says (I Thess. 4-: 17), and will not be brought to judgment. On the other hand, those who have not acquired love in all its perfection, but have both sins and virtues on their account, will appear before the court of judgment. There they will be tried as it were by fire; their good actions will be put in the balance against the bad, and if the good outweigh the bad they will be delivered from punishment.
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From the Philokalia Volume I