I have had a persistent fascination with Evagrius of Pontus, ever since I read about him in John Mark Comer's book Live No Lies. His notebook entitled Antirrhetikos or Talking Back (translated by David Brakke, 2009) is a long list of specific tempting thoughts classified under eight headings, with each thought countered by a verse from Scripture.
Here are three of my favorites, creatively addressing the feelings of impatience, laziness, and loneliness that try to make me think of giving up the fight:
Against the thought that supposes that in a single hour the evil thoughts of fornication will flee from it:
'I will not cast them out in a year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the land multiply against you. Gradually I will cast them out from before you, until you have increased and will inherit the land' (Exodus 23:29-30).
Against the intellect that is contending with thoughts of fornication, but does not want to shake them off of it completely and does not recognize the fetter of sin and the anxiety of evils:
'And Delilah said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he woke up from his sleep and said, “I will go out just like every other time, and I will shake them off.” And he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. And the Philistines seized him, cut out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison house' (Judges 16:20-21).
Against the soul’s thought that succumbs to distress and sadness and supposes that it is the only one that is tempted so severely:
'Discipline yourselves, keep watch. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering' (1 Peter 5:8-9).
As Evagrius says in Praktikos 6, "There are eight general and basic categories of thoughts in which are included every thought. First is that of gluttony, then impurity, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory, and last of all, pride. It is not in our power to determine whether we are disturbed by these thoughts, but it is up to us to decide if they are to linger within us or not and whether or not they are to stir up our passions."
