St. Ignatius’s rules for discernment are an integral part of the spiritual exercises. Bacht says, “what is most characteristic in them, what from the Saint 's own personal spiritual experience, has the most distinctively Catholic stamp and derives from a longstanding tradition. I refer to his remarks on the influence of good and evil spirits.” -(BACHT the way p 188) I believe that Ignatius’s belief in the influence of angels and demons is part of the church’s constant teaching and also beneficial for one’s spiritual life.
St. Ignatius lived in a culture that was aware of many spiritual influences. “The existence of an invisible world, inhabited by spirits both good and evil, was taken for granted by the men and women of sixteenth century …show more content…
Looking back over the last hundred years with all the war and violence, the influence of the devil helps explain these great atrocities. One often asks, how can humans do this to other humans? It’s hard to imagine that this much evil can originate in the human heart, but understanding the influence of the devil helps explain people like Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. More importantly it helps explain the origin of extreme thoughts in our own minds. These thoughts are so scary sometimes that we want to deny that they come from ourselves. Because we don’t have to claim them as our own, it gives us the freedom to talk about them.
When extreme thoughts originate from evil spirits, one feels much more confident in tackling the temptation. The idea of these extreme thoughts coming from deep within, for example lust or violence would leave me terrified and overwhelmed. Likewise in my experience with other people, I have noticed that they often say very hurtful things when they are upset which contradicts their normal stance of love. It’s much easier to believe that the idea originated from evil spirits even though they are responsible for expressing the ideas that came into their
St. Ignatius lived in a culture that was aware of many spiritual influences. “The existence of an invisible world, inhabited by spirits both good and evil, was taken for granted by the men and women of sixteenth century …show more content…
Looking back over the last hundred years with all the war and violence, the influence of the devil helps explain these great atrocities. One often asks, how can humans do this to other humans? It’s hard to imagine that this much evil can originate in the human heart, but understanding the influence of the devil helps explain people like Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. More importantly it helps explain the origin of extreme thoughts in our own minds. These thoughts are so scary sometimes that we want to deny that they come from ourselves. Because we don’t have to claim them as our own, it gives us the freedom to talk about them.
When extreme thoughts originate from evil spirits, one feels much more confident in tackling the temptation. The idea of these extreme thoughts coming from deep within, for example lust or violence would leave me terrified and overwhelmed. Likewise in my experience with other people, I have noticed that they often say very hurtful things when they are upset which contradicts their normal stance of love. It’s much easier to believe that the idea originated from evil spirits even though they are responsible for expressing the ideas that came into their