Skip to content

Course 20 · Lesson 5.3

The discernment of spirits from Antony and Cassian to Ignatius of Loyola

11 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 20 outline

Module 1: Spiritual Formation and the Doctrines Behind Prayer

  1. What spiritual formation means in Scripture and tradition
  2. How the Trinity, the Incarnation and grace shape Christian prayer
  3. A map of the prayer traditions: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant
  4. Ways and stages of growth: purgation, illumination and union, and their critics

Module 2: The Desert and Early Monasticism

  1. Anthony, Athanasius and the beginning of the desert movement
  2. The sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: how to read them
  3. John Cassian and the eight thoughts that trouble the mind
  4. From the hermit to the community: Pachomius, Basil and Benedict

Module 3: Praying with Scripture and with the Church

  1. Lectio divina: its history and the four movements
  2. The Psalms as the prayer of the church
  3. The Divine Office and the Liturgy of the Hours: hours, texts and structure
  4. Using the daily office alone, and the Protestant daily prayer tradition

Module 4: Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer

  1. Stillness and the prayer of the heart in the early Eastern church
  2. The Jesus Prayer: its words, its sources and its history
  3. Gregory Palamas and the fourteenth century controversy over light and energies
  4. Practice and cautions: the role of a guide and the warnings of the tradition

Module 5: Fasting, Discernment and Spiritual Direction

  1. Fasting in Scripture and in the three traditions
  2. Asceticism: its purpose, its dangers and its abuses
  3. The discernment of spirits from Antony and Cassian to Ignatius of Loyola
  4. Spiritual direction: the elder, the confessor, the pastor and the mentor

Module 6: Contemplation and Action

  1. Mary and Martha: how the church has read the two lives
  2. Prayer that issues in service: Benedict, Brother Lawrence and the Reformers on vocation
  3. When practice goes wrong: pride, quietism and spiritual experience without doctrine

Module 7: Building a Rule of Life

  1. What a rule of life is, and what the word rule meant for Benedict
  2. Choosing practices: Scripture, prayer, fasting, rest and service
  3. Dryness, failure and starting again
  4. Reviewing and adjusting a rule over time

All courses

Program / Course 20: Spiritual Theology / Lesson 5.3

What you will learn

  • Define discernment of spirits and its New Testament basis.
  • Summarize the teaching of Anthony, Cassian and Ignatius of Loyola on testing inner movements.
  • Describe how Protestant writers such as Jonathan Edwards tested religious experience.
  • State the limits of discernment and the role of Scripture, the church and wise counsel.

The big idea

Discernment of spirits is the practice of testing inward movements, thoughts, desires and experiences, to judge whether they lead toward God and love or away. The New Testament commands it (1 John 4:1), and the tradition developed it in three great stages. Anthony and the desert writers taught that thoughts and visions can be deceptive. Cassian taught that thoughts come from God, from the enemy and from oneself, and prized discretion. Ignatius of Loyola gave a detailed account of consolation and desolation. Protestant writers such as Edwards tested religious experience by its fruits and its agreement with Scripture.

Key terms

Discernment of spirits
The gift or skill of judging the origin and direction of inward movements and experiences. See 1 Corinthians 12:10.
Discretion
In Cassian, the virtue of right judgment that guards the other virtues from excess.
Consolation
In Ignatian teaching, an inner movement that increases faith, hope and love and draws a person toward God.
Desolation
In Ignatian teaching, an inner movement of darkness, restlessness or distrust that leads away from faith, hope and love.
Spiritual Exercises
A set of meditations and rules written by Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century and used for guided retreats.
Religious affections
In Jonathan Edwards, the deep inclinations of the heart, which he held to be the center of true religion and which must be tested.
Enthusiasm
In older usage, a claim to direct divine inspiration that cannot be tested, which Protestant and Catholic writers viewed with suspicion.

Background

Paul lists the discerning of spirits among the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10), and tells the Thessalonians to prove all things and hold fast what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). John writes: beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God (1 John 4:1). The Gospels warn of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing and are known by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20). The question is not abstract. Early Christian communities met people who claimed revelations, and needed ways to test them.

The desert writers gave the question a practical form. A monk meets thoughts, images and sometimes visions, and must know which to trust. This lesson follows the main line of Western and Eastern teaching, and then adds the Protestant approach. The previous lessons on thoughts and cautions in the Jesus Prayer belong here. Course 25 can supply practical tools. This lesson covers the history and the principles.

One note on language. The tradition speaks of angels and demons as real. Modern readers may translate some of this into psychological terms, and many writers, including Ignatius, treated the two as compatible: the movements are in the person, and Christians believe that God and evil also act through them. The tradition does not need to settle every metaphysical question to teach the practice.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Anthony

In the Life, Anthony teaches his disciples to recognize demons. He says that good visitations produce peace, joy and confidence, even if they begin with fear, while evil ones produce confusion, dread and pride. He warns against being impressed by miracles, and reminds the monks that demons can quote Scripture. The mark of the true is humility and love of Christ.

The principle is that the effect on the person, over time, tells the origin.

Step 2: Cassian

In the first and seventh Conferences, Cassian teaches that thoughts come from three sources: from God, from the enemy and from the person’s own self. The monk, he says, should be like a skilled money changer who tests coins and knows true from counterfeit. He pictures the mind as a mill that must grind the grain it is given and cannot stop, so that the work is to choose what to put in.

In the second Conference, Abba Moses teaches that discretion is the chief virtue, since without it even good practices go to excess. Cassian reports that many fell through excess of fasting and vigil, and that discretion is learned through humility, by telling one’s thoughts to an elder.

Step 3: Ignatius of Loyola

Ignatius, a Basque soldier who was wounded in 1521 and who founded the Society of Jesus, gave discernment a full structure in his Spiritual Exercises. He noticed from his own recovery that daydreams of worldly glory left him dry, while thoughts of following Christ left him at peace. He distinguished consolation, which strengthens faith, hope and love, from desolation, which weakens them. He advised that in desolation a person should not change earlier decisions made in consolation, should persevere in prayer and should recall that the desolation will pass.

He also taught that an enemy who is deceiving a person who is trying to do good will often present good things in appearance, and that the test is the direction of the whole course of thought: a good beginning, middle and end suggest a good source, and a path that ends in confusion or something less good gives a sign. He placed discernment within obedience to the church and the use of a director.

Step 4: Protestant tests

Protestant writers also addressed the question, especially in times of revival. Jonathan Edwards, in the 1740s, defended the Great Awakening while criticizing its excesses. In his Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, he proposed twelve signs of a gracious affection, including that it has a divine source, that it is marked by humility and that it bears fruit in practice. He held that vivid experiences or strong feelings are not themselves a proof. Wesley likewise tested claims by their fruit and Scripture. The Reformers insisted on the written word as the final test against private revelations, which they called enthusiasm.

Step 5: Principles and limits

Across traditions, several principles recur. A claim must agree with Scripture and the faith of the church. Its fruit should be love, humility, peace and obedience, not pride or division. It should be tested over time and with wise counsel. And no one should make a major decision on a single experience.

Limits also appear. Discernment is not reading minds or certain prediction. It does not replace medical care: voices, intense visions and sudden certainties may have medical causes and should be examined by a doctor as well as a pastor. The tradition values humility about one’s judgment, and the willingness to wait.

  1. How do I currently decide whether an inner prompting is from God?
  2. What fruits do I look for in myself over time?
  3. When I feel desolate, what do I tend to do?
  4. Whom would I tell if I thought I had received a message from God?
  5. What do I do with an experience that I cannot explain?
  6. How do I avoid both credulity and cynicism?

Examples

Ignatius’s two books

According to Ignatius’s own account, while recovering from his wound he read the lives of saints and a life of Christ, and found that thoughts of chivalry left him unsatisfied, while thoughts of imitating the saints left him with lasting peace. He saw this contrast as his first lesson in discernment.

A decision made in consolation

A woman has vowed, in a period of peace, to give a tenth of her income. In a bad season, she is tempted to give it up. An Ignatian guide would advise her not to revise a decision made in consolation while in desolation, and to wait and consult. (A constructed example.)

An excited certainty

A man in a revival meeting is certain that God has told him to leave his family and preach. His pastor does not mock him. He asks about his sleep, his health and his family, asks what Scripture says about his duties, and asks him to wait a month. (A constructed example.)

Different perspectives

Catholic

The Catholic tradition has a developed science of discernment, drawing on Ignatius, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. The Church teaches that private revelations, even approved ones, add nothing to the deposit of faith, which closed with the apostles, and that no Catholic is bound to believe them.

Orthodox

Orthodox teachers such as Climacus and Ignatius Brianchaninov teach that discernment is the fruit of humility and long experience, and that a person must not trust their own visions. They emphasize the guidance of an elder and the church’s testimony.

Protestant

Protestants treat Scripture as the final test of every claim. Edwards, Wesley and later evangelical teachers stress fruits and agreement with the word. Pentecostal and charismatic churches, which value spiritual gifts, also teach testing of prophecy, citing 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21.

Scholarly and clinical view

Historians of spirituality compare the traditions’ discernment rules and note their practical psychological insight. Clinicians stress that some experiences labelled spiritual have medical explanations, and advise cooperation between pastors and medical professionals, while respecting the person’s faith.

Why it matters

Everyone who prays long enough meets experiences that need interpretation. The tradition’s tools for discernment guard against both gullibility and dismissal, and give a structure for hard decisions. They also illustrate how different traditions, with different views of authority, reach similar practical advice.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Discernment means hearing a voice that gives clear instructions.

Correction: The tradition describes it as attention to the movements of the heart over time, tested against Scripture, the church and counsel. It seldom presents it as a voice.

Misunderstanding: A strong feeling of peace proves a decision is right.

Correction: Ignatius and Edwards both caution that feelings alone are not proof. Peace should be tested by fruit and consistency with Scripture.

Misunderstanding: Desolation always means I have done something wrong.

Correction: Ignatius lists several reasons, including neglect, testing and the reminder that consolation is a gift. Desolation also can come from fatigue or illness.

Misunderstanding: Only Catholics practice discernment.

Correction: Orthodox and Protestant writers also teach it, in their own terms, and the New Testament commands it.

Knowledge check

What are the three origins of thoughts in Cassian?

God, the enemy and the person’s own self. Cassian teaches that a monk must learn to tell them apart, like a money changer testing coins. He also teaches that discretion, learned with humility from an elder, is needed to keep even good practices from going to excess.

What is the difference between consolation and desolation?

In Ignatian teaching, consolation strengthens faith, hope and love and draws a person toward God, and desolation brings darkness, restlessness and distrust. Ignatius advised not changing a prior decision during desolation, persevering in prayer and remembering it will pass.

How did Edwards test religious experience?

In the Treatise Concerning Religious Affections he proposed signs of genuine grace, including a divine source, humility and fruit in practice. He held that intense feelings or vivid experiences are not proof, and defended the Awakening while criticizing its excesses.

Name three principles shared across the traditions.

A claim must agree with Scripture and the faith of the church. Its fruit should be love, humility and peace. And it should be tested over time with wise counsel, with no major decision resting on one experience. Medical causes of unusual experiences should also be considered.

Think it through

  1. What patterns have you noticed in your own consolations and desolations?
  2. Why might Anthony and Edwards, from different traditions, give similar tests?
  3. How would you counsel a friend who feels certain of a message from God?

Independent assignment

A discernment log

In your notebook, write 350 to 500 words. Recall one significant decision, a past one, and describe the inner movements that surrounded it: what drew you and what repelled you, and what the fruit was over time. Using Cassian’s three sources and Ignatius’s terms, write what you would now say about it, and which Scripture and counsel you would test it by. Do not share this with anyone.

Further study