Steps to sin, Philokalia. Notes Holy Trinity faith study

 The Philokalia,  the spiritual  handbook of the Church, details for us  the path to temptation.  Below are the excerpts elucidating the steps to temptation  and predisposition to sin.

On a deeper level,  I invite the reader to analyze this from the standpoint of sexual infidelity.  These steps to temptation are analogous to  fornication.

1. We first see a person, then  perhaps the beauty captivates.  This is not guilty, it is a provocation.
2. There is a desire to go further,   imagining what could be.  This is a movement away from faithfulness to our spouse, and akin to flirting.
3.Then there is small talk,  homilia, a dallying with the idea.
4. There is consent to the act  of yielding to the other, what corresponds to consent in the steps to temptation. The actual act of union, communion in the steps, joining with the other,  is adultery.  Likewise, when we actually go ahead and enjoy this union with a forbidden  desire, we have separated ourselves from the Lord  and are joined in spirit not to Him, but have yielded to the wicked spirits.
5. Continual  exercise of our will this way  leads to a predisposition
6.  Ultimately, an almost automatic behavior,  a passion, results.

This analogy is one the Lord picks up, chiding Israel for being "a wicked and adulterous generation."  Not seeking her Lord, Israel  found herself  joined to idols. We may as well follow the same path  if we are not careful.

TEMPTATION (peirasmos):  a  suggestion from the devil, enticing man into sin. 

The Greek Fathers employ a series of technical terms to describe the process of  temptation. In detail, the chief terms employed are as follows: 

(1) Provocation (prosvoli): the initial incitement to evil. Mark the Ascetic defines this as an  'image -free stimulation in the heart'; so long as the provocation is not accompanied by images, it does not  involve man in any guilt. Such provocations, originating as they do from the devil, assail man from the outside  independently of his free will, and so he is not morally responsible for them. His liability to these provocations is  not a consequence of the fall: even in paradise, Mark maintains, Adam was assailed by the devil's provocations. 

Man cannot prevent provocations from assailing him; what does lie in his power, however, is to maintain  constant watchfulness (q.v.) and so to reject each provocation as soon as it emerges into his consciousness - that  is to say, at its first appearance as a thought in his mind or intellect (monologistos). If he does reject the provocation, the sequence is cut off and the process of temptation is terminated. 

(2) Momentary disturbance (pararripismos) of the intellect, occurring 'without any 

movement or working of bodily passion'  This seems to be more than the 'first appearance' of a provocation described in stage (1) above; for, at a  certain point of spiritual growth in this life, it is possible to be totally released from such 'momentary  disturbance, whereas no one can expect to be altogether free from demonic provocations. 

(3) Communion (homilia); coupling (syndyasmos). Without as yet entirely assenting  to the demonic provocation, a man may begin to 'entertain' it, to converse or parley with it, turning it over in his  mind pleasurably, yet still hesitating whether or not to act upon it. At this stage, which is indicated by the terms  'communion' or 'coupling', the provocation is no longer 'image-free' but has become a logismos or thought (q.v.);  and a person is morally responsible for having allowed this to happen. 

(4) Assent (synkatathesis). This signifies a step beyond mere 'communion' or 'coupling'. No 

longer merely 'playing' with the evil suggestion, a person now resolves to act upon it. There is now no doubt as to his moral culpability: even if  circumstances prevent him from sinning outwardly, he is judged by God according to the intention in his  heart. 

(5) Prepossession (prolipsis): defined by Mark- as 'the involuntary presence of former sins in the 

memory'. This state of 'prepossession' or prejudice results from repeated acts of sin which predispose a man to 

yield to particular temptations. In principle he retains his free choice and can reject demonic provocations; but  in practice the force of habit makes it more and more difficult for him to resist. 

(6) Passion (q.v.). If a man does not fight strenuously against a prepossession, it will develop into an evil