Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons

by Evagrius Ponticus, David Brakke (Translator)

How did the monks of the Egyptian desert fight against the demons that attacked them with tempting thoughts? How could Christians resist the thoughts of gluttony, fornication, or pride that assailed them and obstructed their contemplation of God? According to Evagrius of Pontus (345-399), one of the greatest spiritual directors of ancient monasticism, the monk should "talk back" to demons with relevant passages from the Bible. His book Talking Back (Antirrh?tikos) lists over 500 thoughts or circumstances in which the demon-fighting monk might find himself, along with the biblical passages with which the monk should respond. It became one of the most popular books among the ascetics of Late Antiquity and the Byzantine East, but until now the entire text had not been translated into English. From Talking Back we gain a better understanding of Evagrius's eight primary demons: gluttony, fornication, love of money, sadness, anger, listlessness, vainglory, and pride. We can explore a central aspect of early monastic spirituality, and we get a glimpse of the temptations and anxieties that the first desert monks faced.

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, Theology, Christian, Christianity, Faith, Nonfiction

201 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 26, 2009

About the author

Evagrius Ponticus (Greek: Εὐάγριος ὁ Ποντικός, "Evagrius of Pontus"), also called Evagrius the Solitary (345–399 AD), was a Christian monk and ascetic. One of the most influential theologians in the late fourth-century church, he was well known as a thinker, polished speaker, and gifted writer. He left a promising ecclesiastical career in Constantinople and traveled to Jerusalem, where in 383 he became a monk at the monastery of Rufinus and Melania the Elder. He then went to Egypt and spent the remaining years of his life in Nitria and Kellia, marked by years of asceticism and writing. He was a disciple of several influential contemporary church leaders, including Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macarius of Egypt. He was a teacher of others, including John Cassian and Palladius.

Reviews

[Nick Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satan is officially shaking in his boots

[Brother Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is by far one of the most interesting books I've read. First, one comment of criticism: A lot of the Bible references were wrong. I would go to look up the biblical reference in my Bible and it was not the same verse as in the 'Handbook'. This was annoying because then I would have to Google the verse to find the true reference.

There were some unusual things in here such as Evagrius' understanding of demons' manifestation in the physical realm. In one place (of many examples), he writes: "Against the soul that does not valiantly withstand the demon that at the time of prayer suddenly comes, lands on the shoulders and neck, scratches the ears, and punches the nose" (4.55). This was a shock to me and so I have embarked on a fresh journey to learn about early Christian demonology.

If you are to read this book, that is, the one translated by David Brakke, read all the footnotes! They will give you insights into Evagrius' interpretations of certain passages. You will be (and should be) impressed by the psychological insight that this 4th century monk provides. It is illuminating.

[Mariangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a kind of “notebook” for monks with annotations of biblical quotes that can be used against different kinds of temptations, grouped by the capital sins (which were 8 at the time it was written). Within each capital sin, more specific temptations are detailed, each with the corresponding verse to use as a weapon.

So it is not a book to be read cover to cover, but a manual to keep in hand and consult as needed.

[Lukas Stock · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 would take to Skellig Michael to fight demons with the brothers at the end of the world

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible insight into spiritual warfare & spiritual formation from a cosmic theological worldview that we have mostly lost in our western scientific-method understanding and Christian practice.

Another Church Father, I've forgotten who, said: "The glory of God is man fully alive". And that concept is the telos of the practices offered in this book. Practices that fight demons in ones thought life so we can know ourselves, the world and God as He really is. Alongside a disciplined lifestyle of fasting, silence, solitude, humility and praying the Psalms, the use of scripture to combat demonic thoughts in this book offer a battle-guide against that which would maar the image of God in man, and offer to ultimately restore the Glory of the likeness of God to man. And much, certainly not all, is eerily relatable to the thoughts we battle in our own lives today.

As has been mentioned in other reviews, this is more of a practical prayer book for spiritual warfare than an academic work -- but to incorporate it into practice I believe would bear much fruit.

[Josh Issa · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, let me say that this is not a book, but rather an instructional manual that is meant to be referred to constantly. Functionally, there is not much that is different between it and the final few pages of a Bible that list verses of comfort in times of anxiety. However, there is a lot of value in seeing how Evagrius draws on the whole corpus of Scripture, especially the Psalms, to extort the monk reading the manual.

Evagrius was clearly a strong believer in the power of Scripture to drive the Christian in spiritual formation. Even if you don’t want to read the whole manual, select one of the chapters and consider the wisdom within it.

[HK Matter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realize this book looks funky and a little out there, but it was actually very insightful! It’s incredibly old, so some of the situational stuff needs to be read in light of that, but I found that Evagrius’ intentionality with Scripture and with applying it to his daily life was really affirming of pursuing that in my own walk with Christ.

Considering making my own handbook that is more relevant to the temptations presented to me…

I heard about this resource through one of John Mark Comer’s books; I think it was “Ruthless Elimination of Hurry “? (Also PLEASE read that one)

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unique book, more of a compendium /collection of memory verses for specific thoughts or temptations.

It's definitely a cross cultural experience reading it, and at times it feels quite foreign. Whilst I have generally been moving towards an appreciation of scripture that looks for the context of each sentence and passage within the wider whole, this approach here is akin to sword drills and memory verses for the moment of temptation.

Some of the verses Evagrius uses to combat various thoughts just didn't make sense to me, but I suspect that's more to do with me than him.

This was my second attempt reading through it, and this time I took it one page a day and slowly meditated through them. Definitely better than trying to read it all through.

I think the value would be in using this as a guide in making one's own collection of verses for the challenges and battles that keep coming up.

[Derek Kreider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the scripture used seems really weird, but I appreciated the glimpse into Christian heritage AB’s enjoyed the forward explaining the historical situation.

[Jon Gossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick accessible handbook containing Scriptures for thwarting sinful thoughts and demonic temptations, (which boil down to 8 in the tradition of the Desert Fathers). The verses are translated form the Septuagint (which includes the deuterocanonical books), so do not fret if they don't match with your Bible. I only gave it four stars because I think the Western reader could benefit from a more in-depth understanding of what each sinful passion is. I got this book for my brother before he went to college.

[Adam Carnehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, practical manual written by a famous teacher and monk at the request of another (Loukios), Evagrius's "Antirrhetikos" ("talking back") is from the playbook of the Lord Himself when He combatted Satan in the wilderness, as is recorded in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The story is also in Mark 1 but there is no reported dialogue or specific temptations. It is notable that Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy three times to rebut the devil's temptations, even when the devil quoted from Scripture (Psalm 91) to tempt the Lord to jump from the corner of the temple. In every instance, the Lord quotes from Deuteronomy and drives the devil away. Evagrius presents here the eight logismoi, which are picked up in Western monasticism and modified by Gregory the Great into the infamous "Seven Deadly Sins." In Evagrius's thinking, the eight are observable and obvious: gluttony, fornication (lust), greed, melancholy (sadness), anger, acedia (listlessness), vainglory, and pride - the root of all the others. In each section, Evagrius works from Genesis through the Catholic epistles or epistles of John, offering Scriptural passages and statements that can directly counter - the way Jesus did - the tempting thoughts (logismoi) that the demons send a monk's way. Really a fascinating text, and one that contemporary Christians should read.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who know their Bible will remember when Jesus went into the wilderness to be tested. Repeatedly the devil appeals to Jesus's senses. To His fatigue and hunger. Repeatedly Jesus defeats these ploys by ... citing Scripture. This is the very tactic described in Talking Back.

Talking Back is interesting for a few reasons. One, it introduces the method of the Messiah for fending off the devil's trickery. Also, it's old. The monks of just a few centuries after the time of Christ penned these prayers. We get a bit of insight into their circumstances, and we see how they interpreted Scripture. This is where it was a little less helpful to me. While I think this strategy for fighting temptation is spot-on, I wouldn't pick the particular verses they do. It makes the book a bit less helpful as a reference and more of a delightful curiosity. Even as I'm absolutely going to put the principles to practice.

[Brad Dell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere along the way, we lost the realization of the power to be found in using scripture as a sword. Sure, we cut many fellow humans with it, painfully, but when do we use it to lash back at the surrounding darkness?

Ancient Desert Father Evagrius follows the tradition of Christ in the desert, wielding the sword of truth against those who pounce. He anticipated how demons might use scripture to throw us off course, and so provides us with the countering verses necessary to ward off the most intelligent evil.

Some verses seemed a bit of a stretch for his highly specific scenarios, but I really did feel more protected and determined while reading this manual. I’ll be pulling it out often to fight my own battles.

[Rhiannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about the monks of the Egyptian desert and how they made their quest for light and knowledge of God. It tells of their enemies and obstacles and indicates how to defeat the enemies of progress and overcome spiritual challenges. Focus of personal growth.

[Angeline Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Put the demons in their place!

[Luke Hedberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I practiced everything in this book I’d be a better person

[Joey Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evagrius gives you the courage to finally fight back against your demons.

[Sam U · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bathed in the Word of God

I wish one day I can be as well-versed in Scriptures as Evagrius is. His way of using Scriptures to combat evil thought is truly inspiring.

[Xavier Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A manual written by one of the great monastics of the early church, Evagrius lists Scripture passages that ‘talk back’ to demons in 8 areas: gluttony, fornication, love of money, sadness, anger, listlessness, vainglory, and pride (though some passages are directed towards the soul (be it tempted or weary or discouraged), and some are prayers towards God). One of Evagrius' disciples was St Cassian, whose writings influenced the great church father Gregory the Great (eg, Gregory reorganised these 8 areas into the 7 deadly sins).

It is refreshing to read a practical book which combats the enemy who prowls and hurls hateful darts (1 Pet 5:8, Eph 6:16), but without the baggage that has been strapped on to (some popular strains of) modern pentecostalism. There is no talk by the blessed monk of solar eclipses (and divining the future), angels pushing trucks when a demon stopped it (yes, a 'prophet' claimed he experienced this), associating everything from poor weather to IT difficulties to demons, (pseudo-)possession of Christians by demons (requiring exorcism with strange tongues and ecstatic behaviour), or theories about the nephilim. Rather, like a pastor ministering to his flock, Evagrius simply and masterfully pinpoints areas of temptation and weakness pressed and exploited by the enemy and tends to these wounds with the pure and simple Word of God.

A good pastoral work, grounded in biblical and historical theology, and an enlightening look at early church monasticism.

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that one does not technically "finish," this is a book that one refers to again and again to further help themselves fight the thoughts and temptations of the world around them. This book is written for Monastic Life, yet I do believe this book is helpful even for those who while living in the world do not want to be of the world and so this book is still helpful. Because God is Spirit, it would make sense that God would value more highly mortifications of the spirit before that of the body, since the body is meant to be at service for the soul.

There is nothing new under the sun and this book has a lot in common both with ancient stoic thought on dealing with problems as well as with modern Cognitive Behavioral Psychology methods for addressing maladaptive thought processes.

This book deals with those maladaptive thought processes which obstruct us from living a life with God. I wrote this review only after reading the introductory material at the beginning of the book and glancing over the content the book that deals with the various sections of the book broken up by the capital sins and their respective sub-sections of the book too. For those who wish to keep their spiritual life in order, keep this book close at hand.

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here Evagrius provides scripture passages to utter in response to the demons of anger, sloth, etc. This provides a great window into the lives of the Desert Fathers. It's a candid presentation of the temptations they faced, as well as their response (modeled on Jesus's own response to temptation). It was a much more important book than its obscurity suggests; although written in Greek, no Greek or Latin copies survive. Now it has finally been translated into English from Syriac and Armenian copies, and some Sogdian fragments.

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty helpful book, although some of these demons I don't bother to fight. It would also be salutary for today's "spiritual warfare" aficionados to see how it was done back in the day. These pre-modern, pre-Enlightenment monks were the original full-time demon fighters, and they...refute temptation by reciting scripture passages. That's it. No magic and special effects.

[A.L. Stumo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well assembled and translated.