In stories of Early Christians engaging in spiritual warfare, such as one finds in Athanasius' Life of St. Anthony,
modern readers often struggle with the idea of evil personified in
beings, be it Satan or other demons. A common option is to treat them
either as genuine beings in enmity to God and humans, or as
psychological phenomena, an "inner demon" representing one's own enmity
with God and self. This need not be an either/or choice. Inasmuch as the
demons attack the psyche (considered as both soul and mind),
psychology, especially in the Jungian tradition, can provide useful
access to a deeper understanding of the experiences related in these
early stories. This communication will explore this possibility in the Life of St. Anthony.
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