By Saints Barsanuphius and John Desert Fathers of sixth-century Palestine, the Elders cut right through common fantasies and misconceptions. They expose the nature of the vices—feigned humility, cold-hearted calculation, judgment, idleness, lack of inward vigilance, carnal thoughts, vainglory—and show the way to overcome them and acquire virtue. From the Elders’ words one can learn of the remarkable subtlety of demonic deception, and become aware of the painstaking carefulness with which a Christian must examine all his thoughts, words and deeds to see if they are of God.
