In this video recording, Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae (✝1993), one of the greatest Romanian Orthodox theologians, talks about the twisted intelligence, pride, and cunning of the antichrist who deceives many while still bearing traces of God’s image. He also talks about the subtle and deceptive nature of evil, and the stark contrast between false progress and true goodness according to Orthodox teachings.
Fr. Dumitru was imprisoned for 5 years due to his faith during the oppressive Communist Regime in Romania. The Romanian Orthodox Church has approved the canonization of 16 new saints during the synodal sessions held on July 11-12th 2024. Holy Confessor Priest Dumitru Stăniloae is one of them. They will be officially recognized as saints in 2025.
Video source: Fundatia Anastasia, Bucharest, Romania
Interview: “Despre ziua a opta. Convorbire cu parintele Staniloae”, 1992-1993
Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAtIVTNpmBk
Fr. Dumitru:
Evil taken to the extreme, pride taken to the extreme, cunning, lies—that is why there is a certain understanding, a certain cleverness in him. God did not withdraw all His gifts or His image. We see in the Holy Fathers that Christ created man with his nature, and then, through the breath of the Spirit, gave him His image. But He gave His image only to man because he was able to receive it. So, man has by his nature something that sets him apart from animals, something capable of bearing the image, yet the complete image is given through the Holy Spirit.
Satan lost the Holy Spirit but kept this capacity to be in the image of God, which distinguishes him from animals. Satan is not like an animal; he doesn’t lose his intelligence completely. He still has it, but it’s twisted—everything is twisted. Everything becomes deceitful, cunning. A deceitful, lying intelligence is terrible, worse than an animal’s lack of understanding. An animal is not as dangerous as Satan. Many people are tempted by this intelligence. Man is made to be intelligent, to understand, and to value himself. He has his value, God gave each one their own value.
But man forgets that a man’s value lies in his connection to what he receives from God and in his kindness and altruism. “I am something not only because of myself, but also because of what I do for others.” Man forgets, believes he can find infinity within himself, and there’s a kind of thirst for infinity. He believes his satisfactions can go on infinitely. That is why he remains immortal; he does not perish completely. God does not let him perish completely. He leaves him as He made him—immortal—but immortal in this thirst for self, and in the thought that he can develop himself infinitely.
Satan still has this more than we do because Satan is closer to divine infinity, being without a body. Thus, he is somehow more capable of going ever further in this advancement towards a false infinity, for it is not truly a progression into infinity; it’s a progression into monotony, but it appears to be progress. Just like in godless culture, it appears to be progress, but in the end, it is not progress. It is monotony and boredom. People get bored with this so-called progress. True progress is only in goodness: “Do good, and you will feel happy!”