Letter 712

To the same person. The sword of the devil is at one time the base thought, at another worldly affairs, at another the sin carried out in deed, and at another the members of the body, which he uses like weapons to wall in the soul, having first bewitched the reasoning faculty. But the demons themselves also, serving him toward the accomplishment of his will, are named a sword.

Μάχαιρα τοῦ διαβόλου ὑπάρχει ποτὲ μὲν ἡ φαύλη ἐνθύμησις, ποτὲ δὲ τὰ κοσμικὰ πράγματα, ποτὲ δὲ ἡ πρακτικὴ ἁμαρτία, ποτὲ δὲ τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος, οἷστισι ὥσπερ ὅπλοις χρώμενος τὴν ψυχὴν καταφράττει, προκαταγοητεύσας τῷ λογισμῷ· ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ δαίμονες ὑπηρετοῦντες αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν θέλησιν, μάχαιρα ὀνομάζονται.