Letter 283

To John the Monk. There are times when the demons, some doing one thing and some another, carry out various Satanic services for the tempting and harming of men. But there are also times when even a single demon contrives many vices. For just as it is possible for one man to be a farmer, and a carpenter, and a coppersmith, and a leatherworker, and a potter, and a painter, and the rest, so it is possible for one demon to work both anger, and fornication, and love of glory, and envy, and the rest. And observe how the same accursed and man-hating enemy held out gluttony, and vainglory, and love of money to Christ when He was tempted according to His human nature [an allusion to the three temptations of Christ in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1-11].

Ἔστι μὲν ὅτε καὶ ἄλλοι ἄλλας διαφόρους Σατανι- κὰς διακονίας ἐκτελοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες πρὸς πειρα- σμὸν, καὶ βλάβην τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ εἷς δαίμων πολλὰς τεκταίνει φαυλότητας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐγχωρεῖ τὸν ἕνα ἄνθρωπον γεωργὸν εἶναι, καὶ τέκτονα, καὶ χαλκέα, καὶ σκυτοτόμον, καὶ κεραμέα, καὶ ζωγράφον, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, οὕτως ἐγχωρεῖ ἕνα δαί- μονα καὶ θυμὸν, καὶ πορνείαν, καὶ φιλοδοξίαν, καὶ φθόνον, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ἐνεργεῖν. Καὶ πρόσεχε, πῶς ὁ αὐτὸς ἀλιτήριος, καὶ μισάνθρωπος ἐχθρὸς, καὶ γα- στριμαργίαν, καὶ κενοδοξίαν, καὶ φιλαργυρίαν τῷ Χριστῷ πειραζομένῳ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον προ- έτεινεν.