The Devil and Deception

Μέγα τι χάρισμα δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Λόγος, ὥστε μὴ ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων ἀπατᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον, κἂν ταῦτα κεκαλυμμένα τυγχάνῃ, διακρίνειν τῇ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτι. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὅλος ἐστὶ μισητὸς ὁ τῆς κακίας εὑρετὴς καὶ μέγας δαίμων ὁ διάβολος, μόνον τε φαινόμενος βάλλεται παρὰ πάντων, ὡς ὄφις, ὡς δράκων, ὡς λέων ζητῶν τινας ἁρπάσαι καὶ καταπιεῖν· διὰ τοῦτο ὃ μὲν ἔστιν αὐτὸς, ὑποκρύπτει καὶ σκέπει, τὸ δὲ παρὰ πάντων ποθούμενον ὄνομα ὑποκρίνεται πανούργως, ἵνα, ἀπατήσας τῇ φαντασίᾳ, λοιπὸν τοὺς πλανηθέντας τοῖς ἰδίοις περιπείρῃ δεσμοῖς. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις, ἀνδραποδίσασθαι θέλων ἀλλοτρίους παῖδας, ἀποδημούντων τῶν γονέων, ὑποκρίνηται τὰς ἐκείνων ὄψεις, καὶ ποθοῦντας τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀπατήσῃ, καὶ λοιπὸν ἀπαγαγὼν αὐτοὺς μακρὰν, ἀπολέσῃ· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ σκολιὸς διάβολος, οὐκ ἔχων μὲν αὐτὸς παῤῥησίαν, εἰδὼς δὲ τὸν εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔρωτα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὑποκρίνεται μὲν ταύτην τῇ φαντασίᾳ, τὸν δὲ ἴδιον ἰὸν ἐπιβάλλει τοῖς ἐπακολουθήσασιν αὐτῷ. Οὕτως καὶ τὴν Εὔαν ἠπάτησεν, οὐ τὰ ἴδιᾳ λαλῶν, ἀλλ' ὑποκρινόμενος μὲν τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥήματα, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν αὐτῶν παραποιῶν· οὕτω καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ Ἰὼβ ὑπέβαλε, πείσας αὐτὴν ὑπο κρίνασθαι μὲν φιλανδρίαν, διδάξας δὲ βλασφημεῖν εἰς τὸν Θεόν· οὕτως τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁ δόλιος παίζει ταῖς φαντασίαις, ὑποκλέπτων καὶ σύρων ἕκαστον εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τῆς κακίας βόθρον. Πάλαι μὲν οὖν ἀπατήσας τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ νομίσας δι' ἐκείνου ὑποχειρίους ἐσχηκέναι τοὺς πάντας, ἐνήλλετο θρασυνόμενος καὶ λέγων· Τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην καταλήψομαι τῇ χειρὶ ὡς νοσσιὰν, καὶ ὡς καταλελειμμένα ὠὰ ἀρῶ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς δια φεύξεταί με, ἢ ἀντείπῃ μοι. Ὅτε δὲ ὁ Κύριος ἐπεδήμησε, καὶ πεῖραν ἔσχεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης οἰκονομίας αὐτοῦ, μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἀπατῆσαι τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ φορουμένην σάρκα, τότε δὴ ὁ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην ἐπαγγελλόμενος καταλαμβάνειν λοιπὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ δι' ἐκεῖνον παίζεται καὶ ὑπὸ παιδίων, ὡς στρουθίον, ὁ ὑπερήφανος. Παιδίον γὰρ νῦν νήπιον εἰς τρώγλην ἀσπίδων βάλλον τὴν χεῖρα, γελᾷ τὸν ἀπατήσαντα τὴν Εὔαν· καὶ πάντες δὲ οἱ ὀρθῶς πιστεύοντες εἰς τὸν Κύριον πατοῦσι τὸν εἰπόντα· Θήσομαι τὸν θρόνον μου ἐπάνω τῶν νεφελῶν, ἀναβήσομαι, ὅμοιος ἔσομαι τῷ Ὑψίστῳ. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν πάσχει μετ' αἰσχύνης ἐκεῖνος· ὅμως δὲ, εἰ καὶ τολμᾷ πάλιν ὁ ἀναίσχυντος σχηματίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ γινώσκεται καὶ νῦν μᾶλλον ὁ τάλας ὑπὸ τῶν τὸ σημεῖον ἐν τῷ μετώπῳ φορούντων, καὶ δεινότερον ἀποστρέφεται τεταπεινωμένος καὶ κατῃσχυμμένος. Κἄν τε γὰρ ὡς ὄφις νῦν ἕρπων μετασχηματίσηται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς ὄνησιν ἕξει τὴν ὑπόκρισιν· πεπαιδεύμεθα γὰρ, ὅτι κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίσηται ἡμᾶς παρ' ὃ παρελάβομεν, ἀνάθεμα τοῦτον εἶναι. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Πρὸς Τους Ἐπισκοπους Αἰγυπτοῦ και Λιβης Ἐπισοτλὴ

What a great gift the Word has bestowed upon us, that we should not be deceived by appearances but that rather in whatever way these things are concealed we should distinguish them by the grace of the Spirit. For whereas the utterly hateful inventor of wickedness and great demon, the devil, showing himself is rejected by all, so as a serpent, as a dragon, as a lion seeking whom he may seize upon and devour, 1 he conceals and covers what he is, and cleverly impersonates that Name which all men desire, so that deceiving by appearance he may thus hold fast those deceived in his own chains. And it is as if a man wishing to kidnap the children of others, the parents being absent, should adopt their appearance, and so deceiving the affections of the children, should carry them far away and destroy them; and so in like manner this evil and crooked devil, having no honesty in himself, and knowing the desire which men have for the truth, adopts an appearance and so spreads his own poison among those that follow after him. Thus he deceived Eve, not speaking in his own words, but by taking up the words of God and perverting their meaning. Thus he suggested evil to the wife of Job, persuading her to feign affection for her husband, while teaching him to blaspheme God. 3 Thus does the crafty spirit play with men with displays, beguiling and drawing each one into his own pit of wickedness. When of old he deceived the first man Adam, thinking that through him he should have all men subject to himself, he exulted with great boldness and said, 'My hand has found as a nest the whole earth; and as abandoned eggs I gather them up, and there is none that shall escape me or speak against me. ' But when the Lord came, and the enemy made trial of His humanity, being unable to deceive the flesh which He had taken upon Him, from then he, who promised himself the occupation of the whole world, grasping the rest from it, is for His sake mocked even by children: the proud one is a sparrow. For now the infant child places his hand upon the hole of the asp, and laughs at the one who deceived Eve; and all that rightly believe in the Lord tread under foot the one who said, 'I shall place my throne in the clouds, I will ascend and I shall be like the Most High.' 2 Thus he suffers and is disgraced; and although he still ventures shamelessly to disguise himself, yet now, wretched spirit, he is known, or rather he is by those bearing the Sign on their foreheads, and he is rejected by them, and he is humbled and put to shame. For even if now as a serpent creeping, he transforms himself into an angel of light, yet his deception will not profit him; for we have been taught that: 'Though an angel from heaven preach to us any other gospel than that we have received, he is anathema.' 3   Saint Athanasius, from the Letter to the Bishops of Egypt and Libya 1 Pet 5.8 2 Is 14.14  3 Gal 1.8