ladder of divine ascent

Biblical Morality of Deceiving Those Who Suffer From Dementia In Order to Help Them
Biblical Interpretation

Biblical Morality of Deceiving Those Who Suffer From Dementia In Order to Help Them

09/06/2026 Bruce Strom 0

Often adult children just do not want to lie to their parents. They want to empower them and involve them in the decisions about their care. They expect their parents suffering from dementia to reason with them, and that is impossible.

On rare occasions, you are compelled to tell a white lie for their own good. The commandment is not worded: Do not lie. Rather, it is worded: Do not bear false witness against your neighbor. In part, this reflects the reality that ancient jurisprudence relied heavily on eyewitness testimony, unlike modern jurisprudence that relies more on forensic evidence. […]

Mental Illness, Demons, and Free Will in the Bible and Ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome
Dementia and Alzheimers Disease

Do We Have Free Will? Mental Illness and Demons in the Bible, Church Fathers, and the Ancient World

09/06/2026 Bruce Strom 1

Did the early Christians believe in free will? Or could demons rob them of their free will; just as dementia and mental illness rob modern patients today? The New Testament does not discuss whether we have free will, it simply accepts that we are subject to forces in the divine realm. Jesus often heals those who have lost their minds, driving out their demons. Also, St Paul in his epistles argues for divine determination, which St Augustine later develops into his doctrine of predestination. […]

St John Climacus on Demons, Blasphemy, and Mental Illness: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 23 ½
Ladder of Divine Ascent

St John Climacus on Demons, Blasphemy, and Mental Illness: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 23 ½

09/04/2026 Bruce Strom 1

We reflected on a puzzling section of St John Climacus’ step on his Ladder of Divine Ascent on first vainglory, then mad pride. He ponders how highly arrogant pride can lead to a type of madness that can lead to strange behavior. He wondered: Was this caused by demons? He recounts a puzzling situation where a monk starts cursing loudly in the middle of the Divine Liturgy.
However, our saint is reluctant to make a full-throated attack, as he likely sensed that his formerly devout monk was not in his right mind. When modern readers study this, they may wonder: Could this monk be suffering from Tourette’s syndrome, which involves involuntary cursing? Could this be symptomatic of dementia, or another mental illness or condition? These are the questions we will ponder in today’s reflection. […]

St John Climacus on Mad Pride and Vainglory : Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 22-23
Ladder of Divine Ascent

St John Climacus on Mad Pride and Vainglory: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 22-23

08/12/2026 Bruce Strom 1

What is the difference between vainglory and pride? Today, vainglory is an archaic word that has not been replaced in common usage, so we usually consider them to be synonymous. Although St John Climacus concedes they are similar, except vainglory progresses to mad pride. He examines vainglory in Step 22, and mad pride in Step 23.
Let us compare the definitions:
Step 22.1. “Some like to distinguish vainglory from pride, and to give it a special place and chapter.” “The only difference between them” is like the difference “between a child and a man, between wheat and bread: for the one is the beginning and the other the end.”
Step 22.2. “With regard to its form, vainglory is a change of nature, a perversion of character, a note of blame. With regard to its quality, it is a dissipation of labors, a waste of sweat, a betrayal of treasure, a child of unbelief, the precursor of pride, shipwreck in harbor, an ant on the threshing floor which, though small, has designs upon all one’s labor and fruit. The ant waits for the gathering of the wheat, and vainglory for the gathering of the riches of virtue: for the one loves to steal and the other to squander.” […]

FDR’s Inaugural Address and St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, on Fear & Cowardice, Step 21
Ladder of Divine Ascent

FDR’s First Inaugural Address and St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, on Fear & Cowardice, Step 21

08/06/2026 Bruce Strom 2

The chapter on fear is both one of the shortest and one of the most puzzling chapters of St John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent. In part, that is because there are many flavors of fears that spring from our most basal fears: the fear of the dark, the distressing, the dangerous.
More common are those fears that cause us to hesitate. Perhaps we fear what others think of us when we champion the good others do not see. Perhaps we fear rejection and failure. Perhaps we fear that past failures will rob us of future success. Perhaps we fear to do good when we are not encouraged. […]

St John Climacus on Insensibility, Sleep, Prayer, and Vigil: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 18-20
Ladder of Divine Ascent

St John Climacus on Insensibility, Sleep, Prayer, and Vigil: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 18-20

07/10/2026 Bruce Strom 1

Father John Mack teaches us: “The labor of prayer is a labor with the thoughts. Our minds are far too lazy and undisciplined. Instead of directing our thoughts and controlling them, we allow them to run free, here and there, wherever they wish to go. So, during prayer, we find ourselves thinking about all kinds of other things.”
We are called to prayer during Divine Liturgy. Do we complain that the service is over an hour? Do we watch our watch rather than our soul? Are we attentive in prayer, are we attentive during Divine Liturgy, paying attention to our prayers, not letting our mind wander, trying not to let our mind wander? We are bidden by Jesus in his Agony of the Garden of Gethsemane to stay awake and pray. […]

Plato’s Republic, Book 1, Reflecting on Old Age, Morality, and Justice
Aging

Plato’s Republic, Book 1, On Aging and Morality, a Better Word for Justice

12/27/2025 Bruce Strom 1

Reading Robin Waterfield’s translation was like breathing fresh alpine air. When I thought that Plato’s Republic was about justice, I reasoned that this was because Socrates sought to train Athenians to be better citizens in a direct democracy, a skill that would not be needed in the later totalitarian Roman Empire. But Robin Waterfield’s translation of the Republic makes more sense and is more in line with Stoic and Christian moral values. I demur from the conventional scholarly opinion that who the translator is does not matter. […]

Classical Christian Psychologist Paul Tournier on Old Age, Death, and Faith
Aging

Classical Christian Psychologist Paul Tournier on Old Age, Death, and Faith

08/26/2025 Bruce Strom 2

Tournier reminds us that we may experience many successes, but as we grow older, “success retreats, and escapes us, it is limited, unfulfilled.” “When one comes to the end, a man’s life is nothing much.” “Professional life is over, and it finishes unfinished. This is a prefiguration of death, in which the whole of life will finish it, too, being unfinished. That is the dramatic contradiction of death.” Quoting Robert Mehl: “An end, but not a fulfilment, that is the face of death.” […]

St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent Steps 16&17 Avarice and NonPossessiveness
Ladder of Divine Ascent

St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, On Avarice and Non-Possessiveness, Steps 16 & 17

04/11/2025 Bruce Strom 1

Avarice is the worst kind of drought and famine, for it is drought and famine in the midst of plenty. A Jewish story tells of a man taken on a tour of Hell, where he sees a huge banquet hall, with long tables lined with souls, each one ogling their plate heaped with roast beef, sausage, breads, fruits and pies. This sumptuous meal tormented each one, all were starving, for they had no elbows to feed themselves. Then he was shown the banquet hall in Heaven, same type of banquet hall, same meats, breads, fruits and pies, but here the mood was joyous. Like those souls in Hell, they had no elbows, but they were joyous because they were feeding each other. […]

St John Chrysostom On Reading Scriptures, Preaching, and Chariot Races
Eastern Church Fathers

St John Chrysostom On Reading Scriptures, Preaching, and Chariot Races

04/10/2025 Bruce Strom 1

“What are you saying, man? That attending to the Scriptures is not for you, since you are surrounded by a multitude of cares? Rather it is for you more than them. Monks do not need the help of the divine Scriptures as much as those who are involved in many occupations. The monks, who are released from the clamor of the marketplace and have fixed their huts in the wilderness, who own nothing in common with anyone, but practice wisdom in the calm of that quiet life, as if resting in a harbor, enjoy great security; but we, as if tossing in the midst of the sea, driven by a multitude of sins the continuous aid of the Scriptures.” […]