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Anger

“If we want God to abide in us we have to learn to be patient! The anger which so rapidly arises in us also creates the inner environment in which the devil thrives. We might think our anger at so many things is righteous, but more likely than not it just makes us a home for the devil (see James 1:19-20).” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)


“A man who fails to discern the devil’s wiles allows himself to become annoyed at everything, permitting anger to master him, and so he ‘gives place to the devil’. But a man who stifles every upsurge of anger resists the devil and repels him, and gives no place to him within himself. Anger ‘gives place to the devil’, as soon as it is regarded as something just and its satisfaction is felt to be lawful. Then the enemy immediately enters the soul and begins to suggest thoughts, each more irritating than the last. The man starts to be aflame with anger as though he were on fire. This is the fire of hell; but the poor man thinks that he is burning with zeal for righteousness, whereas, there is never any righteousness in wrath (James1:20).” (St. Theophan the Recluse)


“We live among people who are imperfect, with lots of passions and faults which are likely to irritate us enormously and make us upset. But we can’t change the way they behave, particularly their negative attitude towards us. Nobody changes their own disposition unless they want to. We can see this from ourselves. We might not express our anger, our discontent, our ill-will, our rejection and any other negativity we feel towards another person, and this can be effective, even if it involves repression of these feelings. But no-one can say that we can’t have them in our heart, nobody can forbid it, and no-one can make us any different, unless we wish to be so. The notion that other people are affected only by what’s expressed as actions and behavior seems not to be entirely true. Because there’s the mystic world of our soul which also affects people and things and has a positive or negative impact, whether we recognize this or not.” (Fr. Andreas Agathokleous)


“The man who is drunk is famously unaware of his surroundings. He stumbles physically, mentally and spiritually, barely aware of his own imbalance. The passions have the same ability to blind us. In anger we are aware primarily of our own anger. What we see, we see through the haze of the energy that pulses through our mind and body. All of the passions have this property. They consume us and become the primary lens through which we see the world and with which we react. Thus we are described as in “delusion.” Those who see the world through their passions do not see the truth of things. They see their own passions.” (Father Stephen Freeman)


“Suppressed anger can lead to feelings of depression. It can also lead to somatic symptoms such as headaches, back pain, joint pain, or general tension….Often, but not always, depression in adolescents is actually anger turned inward. If we are to heal from anger, it must come up and out as we deliberately work to resolve it. Suppressed anger—anger that is not processed with the intention of being free of it—will come out sideways…Forgiveness is the path that leads us out of anger. Forgiveness is the place of light and peace that we find ourselves in after having passed through the valley of grief.” (Fr. Joshua Makoul)


“A man who speedily overcomes wrath disperses this illusion and thus repels the devil as though by a strong blow in the chest. Is there anyone who, after extinguishing his anger and analyzing the whole business in good faith, does not find that there was something wrong at the basis of his irritation? But the enemy changes the wrong into a sense of self-righteousness and builds it up into such a mountain that it seems as though the whole world would go to pieces if our indignation is not satisfied.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)


“Our sense of being wronged by someone turns into a false sense of self-righteousness which feeds our sinful anger…this wrath directed at another is not righteous. If we cannot stop our anger from rising, then we have to learn how to turn the anger against the devil and real evil rather than direct it against a brother or sister in Christ.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)


“Do not be irritated with him who bears malice against you and often wounds you by finding fault with you, but be compassionate to him, love him, saying: It is not he or she that is so full of malice against me, but it is the Devil who rages against me through them, and they themselves, poor creatures, are only tempted by him. As soon as this temptation ceases they will be kind again.” (St. John of Kronstadt)


“…anger often finds its ground in a “pretense to rights.” That is, we think we deserve something else, something bigger, better, easier, more spiritual, more important, more interesting, more this, less that. We think we have a right to be treated better, recognized, thanked and respected. And when our rights are ignored, we become angry. This anger, however, is often hidden, as we are too proud to be honest.” (Fr. Michael Gillis) 


“Every attack against us isn’t solely wicked; it’s also a blessing. It helps us to become better, to acquire humility. A wicked tongue, a poisonous tongue is a ‘messenger from Satan’ as Saint Paul says (2 Cor. 12:7), sent by God to ‘give us a slap’, to stop us becoming conceited. To help us rein in our vanity, our high opinion of ourself, our self-satisfaction. God allows this in order to get us to take a good look at ourselves. Because it’s only when we gaze inwards, at our inner world, at the way we react to such verbal attacks, that we can understand what’s hidden inside us. Wrath and anger or kindness and meekness? If you answer curses directed at you and slander with resentment and bitterness, it’s obvious that you’re full of wrath and anger. If you answer with patience and forbearance, then you have inner peace and meekness.” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)


“If you fail to master your anger on the first day, then on the next day and even sometimes for a whole year you will still be dragging it out…Anger will cause us to suspect that words spoken in one sense were meant in another. And we will even do the same with gestures and every little thing…The Lord's intention is that we should remove the root of anger, its spark, so to speak, in whatever way we can, and not keep even a single pretext for anger in our hearts. Otherwise we will be stirred to anger initially for what appears to be a good reason and then find that our incensive power is totally out of control” (St. John Chrysostom, St. John Cassian).


“…one of the most subtle mistakes is to argue that we want things that are in themselves good and holy. For example, a mother may desire that her children be respectful and obedient to her and kind to one another. But when they do not fulfill these goals, even after her repeated encouragement or correction, she may feel frustrated, angry, or resentful. She needs to ask herself, “Why am I feeling this way? Is it a righteous anger that or is it a selfish anger?” In most cases, it will be a mixture of both. Part of her truly wants to see her children grow in the image of God, but another part of her is motivated by a desire for her own comfort and convenience. The question then becomes, which desire is really controlling her heart? If the God-centered desire is dominating the mother’s heart, her response to disobedient children would be similar to God’s discipline of us.” (Fr. John Mefrige)


“While the New Testament rejects anger as a damnable sin…Christians are not being told to repress their anger but rather to rechannel that energy into something positive rather than destructive. That includes apologizing to others and seeking their forgiveness in order to restore a relationship even temporarily broken by an outburst of anger. We are to learn to control our anger or repent if we don’t – thus acknowledging that our anger was wrong and out of line. There is an old popular wisdom which says: “Keep your anger to yourself as nobody else wants it.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)


“Eventually we will reach a point where we are ready to get the original anger up and out so that it does not disrupt the present anymore As Christians we might find this counterintuitive. This is understandable, as we are taught not to give free rein to passions such as anger. However, these exercises of releasing old anger are constructive, temporary, conducted in a controlled way so others are not stressed or hurt, and ultimately will lead the meanings we assign to the actions or words of others are not always accurate.” (Fr. Joshua Makoul)


“What concerns me about all of the anger today is just how seductive it is. It is so easy to take what is at first a righteous anger when facing the evils of society but then becoming so infected by it we start to hate and we become no better than those who hate us. It may sound trite, impractical, and even weak to love in the face of hate, but if we don’t we are not followers of Christ. It’s not a question of standing our ground, so to speak, on what we believe to be true, but more a question of how we do it.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)


“As we walk our individual life journeys, we pick up resentments and hurts, which attach themselves to our souls like burrs clinging to a hiker’s socks. These stowaways may seem insignificant at first, but, over time, if we do not occasionally stop and shake them free, the accumulation becomes a burden to our souls.” (Richard Paul Evans)


“The harder thing for me is to stop the argument in my head. It’s the argument in my head that more often than not throws me into confusion or depression or stirs up anger and frustration in me. The argument in my head drives away my peace. The argument in my head reveals, as St. John says, “something is of the devil.” A priest friend of mine once said that he experienced a moment of epiphany when he asked himself, “when I argue in my head, who is answering back to me?” It was at that point that he realized that he had been arguing with a demon…When an argument in my head causes me to become angry or frustrated and my peace flees from me and I cannot pray…I have allowed something of the devil into my mind.” (Fr. Michael Gillis)


“We may feel anger as a reaction to events happening around us, but as Christians we need to learn to control that anger rather than to vent it. Our anger is shaped by human sinfulness and is not righteous nor does it bring about the righteousness of God. We are wrong if we assume God would be angry about things that make us angry because then we assume our anger must be righteous. But our anger can lead to our sinning, and this is never righteous….Anger itself is not necessarily the problem or always wrong. It was what we do after we become angry that determines right from evil. For if our anger leads to our sinning (failing to be people of love), then we have in fact denied and abandoned God. If we let anger be our reaction to events, we do give opportunity to the devil to direct our thoughts and actions toward evil.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)


“One of the traits of maturity is self-mastery. And one of the greatest tests of self-mastery is the ability to control one’s temper… More than any of the vices, anger exposes the loss of control for all to see… we find that the battle with the passions is necessary to gain spiritual growth to maturity in Christ. When we ask ourselves what conditions and circumstances make us angry, we quickly discover the vices that we need to confront in our souls, whether they be such things as pride, greed, avarice, or egotism…The word “graceful” in Greek means noble or honorable…Those in charge of their temper have an elegance that is the opposite of the ugly upheavals of the enraged.” (Fr. Basil)


“Matthew 5:23-24 (leaving the gift at the altar) and 25-26 (making friends on the way to court) are both illustrations of the self-discipline of reconciliation, which is the antidote to anger. That is, the things that are condemned in 5:22 –anger and insults—are in 5:23-26 overcome by the offender making peace with the offended. So what the Sermon on the Mount here envisions is not isolated individuals seeking to subdue their passions but disciples going about the often awkward task of trying to right perceived wrongs. Perhaps in this the Sermon is wisely committing us to the mean between repression and expression, between ignoring our anger and venting it. Matthew 5:21-26, which assumes that anger does not have power over us unless we consent, tells us that anger is not to be hidden or disregarded. Nor should we foolishly act upon its impulses. Anger should instead be dealt with – by becoming the opportunity for repairing broken relationships. It is when rapport and harmony are established with the objects of anger that anger disappears.” (Dale Allison)


“Righteous anger is a natural human emotion experienced in the face of sin. While there is anger that is certainly sinful (Mt 5:22), there is also anger that is God-given and proper to humanity (Ps 4:4). Christ's anger here [Mark 3:1-6] is in response to people professing God, yet having such hardness in their hearts that they could not rejoice in the healing of one of their brothers.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Mark 3:5)


“The Fathers teach that anger in and of itself is not a sinful passion. Anger was instilled in human beings to be used for good….In itself, anger is a blameless passion, useful in turning one away from vice…But if this passion is out of control, it turns one to contention.” “Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good” (Rom. 12: 9), St. Paul teaches. In order to “abhor evil” one must have anger toward evil, toward all manner of sin and destructive behaviors, toward things that lead us away from God and into darkness. Unfortunately, as with many good things the Lord has given us, we use anger with misguided intentions and out of passion rather than choice.” (Constantina R. Palmer, Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 15:19)


“If angry emotions which spring from a love of what is good and from holy charity are to be labeled vices, then all I can say is that some vices should be called virtues. When such affections as anger are directed to their proper objects, they are following good reasoning, and no one should dare to describe them as maladies or vicious passions. This explains why the Lord himself, who humbled himself to the form of a servant [Php 2:7], was guilty of no sin whatever as he displayed these emotions openly when appropriate. Surely the One who assumed a true human body and soul would not counterfeit his human affections. Certainly, the Gospel does not falsely attribute emotions to Christ when it speaks of him being saddened and angered by the lawyers because of their blindness of heart.” (St. Augustine)


“Jesus got angry. He got angry with the moneychangers in the temple who had made the house of God a house of trade. He got angry with the Pharisees, even called them hypocrites a bunch of times because of their behavior. However, Jesus never raised His hand to strike someone. He didn’t set the temple on fire. There is a such a thing as righteous anger. But righteous anger is expressed righteously, in a way that actually honors God. If I were to get angry at my son for not studying and failing a test he could have passed, that is a righteous anger. If I beat him and demean him and don’t couch my anger within the context of love, then anger is abusive.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)


“…like all sin, anger or rage represents a perversion of something fundamentally good and God-given…God made us capable of sudden bursts of inner psychic energy—energy we need to respond when danger threatens.  In our fallen world, we feel such inner energy when faced not only with danger, but with evil, and we are righteously angry when faced with moral atrocity…how can we know whether the anger we feel at any given time is righteous indignation or unrighteous rage?  One clue comes from the measure of anger we feel.  If someone steals our parking space out from under us, we should feel annoyance and irritation.  But if we are consumed with fury and scream and turn the air blue with vituperation, that is not righteous indignation.  That is sin, for our response is out of all proportion to the offense.” (Fr. Lawrence Farley)


“Recently published scientific studies have shown that individuals who allow themselves to harbor hostility and anger to others are 5 times more likely to die prematurely from the ravages of heart disease. Science has come to validate the admonishes by the 37th Psalms "don't give in to worry or anger, for it only leads to worry and trouble.” (Fr. Andrew Demotses)

“An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” “The other is good–he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” (Fr. Stephen Powley)

“Lingering anger is very dangerous to our hearts and souls as well as to those to whom we direct our anger. The first murder, Cain killing Abel, was due to Cain’s anger and sorrow of which he could not let go of and turn over to God. Healthy anger alerts us to injustice. But lingering anger is more often than not the first cousin of pride, and pride is what provides the bricks we use to build a wall between us and God and between ourselves and others. Before we know it we have formed our own prisons of isolation as a result.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)

“The children of Israel forsook the Lord because an angry and wrathful temper took hold of them, for God cannot be known in that kind of disposition. He can only be known in and through the virtues, such as gentleness.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 3 Kingdoms (1 Kings) 19:10)

“Just as nothing is to be preferred to love, then, so also, on the other hand, nothing is to be less esteemed than rage and wrath. For everything, however beneficial and necessary it may appear, should nonetheless be put aside in order to avoid the disturbance of anger, and everything that may seem inimical [hostile] should be put up with and tolerated in order to maintain unharmed the tranquility of love and peace, for it must be believed that nothing is more destructive than anger and annoyance and nothing more beneficial than love.” (St. John Cassian)

“Anger is an expression of frustration, fear and hurt, and these feelings turn into anger in order to disguise what we are really feeling. Anger is a form of dishonest emotional expression.” (H. Norman Wright)

“All the conflicts in the world have their origin in unabated anger. One is angry and wounds the other, who then responds with greater violence and strength. Once this chain is begun, it cannot be stopped except through the appeal of prayer—genuine prayer.” (Elder George Calciu of Romania)

“If then we wish to receive the Lord's blessings we should restrain not only the outward expression of anger, but also angry thoughts. More beneficial than controlling our tongue in a moment of anger and refraining from angry words is purifying our heart from rancor and not harboring malicious thoughts against our brethren.” (St. John Cassian) “

Even men of discernment lose their discernment if they respond in kind to the anger of others. For this response clouds their ability to understand a matter. But a humble answer manifests a calm spirit and allows truth to penetrate the situation.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 15:1)

“In response to their anger, be ­gentle; in response to their boasts, be humble; in response to their slander, offer prayers; in response to their errors, be steadfast in the faith; in response to their cruelty, be gentle; do not be eager to retaliate against them. Let us show ourselves their brothers and sisters by our forbearance, and let us be eager to be imitators of the Lord.” (St. Ignatius of Antioch)

"…I need to take care, and watch my reaction to any polarizing and divisive issues, which can potentially wreak havoc both within me, and in my relationships with my immediate or larger community. Before I jump in and contribute to discussion, either in person or online, I need to ask myself: Is it worth it? Am I building up, or damaging? Am I leaving room for the grace of the Holy Spirit, or is my own agenda in the forefront, cutting me off from Him?" (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)

“How rarely we find goodwill and reconciliation around us today. Angry drivers scowl at each other in the streets. People fight to be first in line. Disgruntled employers and employees both demand their rights. But the common bond of God’s people should be goodwill. Those with goodwill think the best of others and assume that others have good motives and intend to do what is right.” (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 14:9)

“Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” (Prov 29: 11) …Because the “wise” can also have “rage.” For example, a righteous “rage” against injustice, which is a desire to rectify the unjust. But the “wise,” as distinct from “fools,” do not “give full vent” to their rage; that is, they do not self-indulgently get caught up in the rage itself, for example, by ranting and raving about the injustice. Such self-indulgent rage does not help things, because it only seeks to underline one’s own moral superiority.” (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)

“We must strive by every means to preserve peace of soul and not allow ourselves to be disturbed by offenses from others. In every way we must strive to restrain anger and remain attentive to our mind and heart.” (Abbot Tryphon)

“If you fail to master your anger on the first day, then on the next day and even sometimes for a whole year you will still be dragging it out. . . . Anger will cause us to suspect that words spoken in one sense were meant in another. And we will even do the same with gestures and every little thing. . . .” (St. John Chrysostom)

"If we are able to keep our mouth shut, even when we are upset, we are at least making a beginning of not giving in to anger." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)

“We dare not be careless with what we say, thinking we can apologize later, because even if we do, the scars remain. A few words spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to build. Before you speak, remember that words are like fire—you can neither control nor reverse the damage they can do.” (Life Application Study Bible, James 3:6)

“The Lord calls us to humble ourselves, to love one another, and to forgive as we are forgiven. Quarreling, resentment and discord are contrary to commitment in Christ.” (Dynamis 11/16/2012)

“Keeping our focus on Christ, we do not react, do not resent, and do not lose our inner peace.” (Abbot Tryphon)

“Anger itself is not wrong. It depends on what makes us angry and what we do with our anger...Use your anger to find constructive solutions rather than to tear people down.” (Life Application Study Bible, Mark 3:5)

“…the Lord often focuses attention on our disdain for one another. We encounter this common attitude in ourselves every day… Whenever there is antipathy, disdain, or anger in our hearts, reconciliation with God is our foremost need, followed by reconciliation with our brother.” (Dynamis 6/11/2014)

"Correction should be given calmly and with discernment, at seasonable times, according to the dictates of reason, and not at the impulse of anger." (Ven. Louis de Granada)

“If the Holy Spirit is peace of soul, as He is said to be, and as He is in reality, and if anger is disturbance of heart, as it actually is and as it is said to be, then nothing so prevents His presence in us as anger…The memory of insults is the residue of anger." (St. John Climacus)

“...resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other guy to die.” (Lillian Daniel)

"...there is a difference between the passion of anger and losses of temper. The latter is not always a sin and can sometimes be helpful both to the one who expresses his anger and the one on the receiving end of it. But anger that is concealed, bottled up, and allowed to fester is like a poison that runs through one’s entire body, lingering in the veins and darkening the intellect..." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)

“Time and anger are intertwined. The longer an offense goes unresolved, the more deep-seated it becomes. Then the heart becomes a hotbed for a root of bitterness." (Lisa Bevere)

“Cleanse your mind from anger, remembrance of evil, and shameful thoughts, and then you will find out how Christ dwells in you.” (St. Maximus the Confessor)

“Are you angry? Be angry at your sins, beat your soul, afflict your conscience, but strict in judgement and a terrible punisher of your own sins. This is the benefit of anger, wherefore God placed it in us.” (St. John Chrysostom)

“As fire is not extinguished by fire, so anger is not conquered by anger, but is made even more inflamed.” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

“There is a difference between uncontrolled rage and righteous indignation—yet both are called anger. We must be very careful how we use the powerful emotion of anger. It is right to be angry about injustice and sin; it is wrong to be angry over trivial personal offenses.” (Life Application Study Bible, John 2:15,16)

“Christians are right to be upset about sin and injustice and should take a stand against them. Unfortunately, believers are often passive about these important issues and instead get angry over personal insults and petty irritations. Make sure your anger is directed toward the right issues.” (Life Application Study Bible, Mark 11:15-17)

“Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.” (Saint Ephraim of Syria)

“Prayer if the flower of gentleness and freedom from anger…Whoever loves true prayer and yet becomes angry or resentful is his own enemy. He is like a man who wants to see clearly yet inflicts damage on his own eyes.” (Abba Evagrius the Solitary)

"Prayer silences the passions of the soul, assuages the rebellion of anger, dismisses envy, dissipates evil desire, withers the love of worldly things, and brings great peace and serenity to the soul." (Monk Moses)


“The Gospel teaches us to cut off the roots of our sins and not merely their fruits. When we have dug the root of anger out of our heart, we will no longer act with hatred or envy. ‘Whoever hates his brother is a murderer’ (1 John 3:15), for he kills him with the hatred in his mind. The blood of a man who has been slain by the sword can be seen by men, but blood shed by the hatred in the mind is seen by God, who rewards each man with punishment or a crown not only for his acts but for his thoughts and intentions as well.” (Orthodox Study Bible, I John 3:15) 


“Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer [1 John 3:15]. On one level it is easy to see how the author could say this; the person who hates his brother is one and the same with the person who murders his brother. Behind the usage here, however, is John 8:44, the only other occurrence of the Greek word translated murderer (ἀνθρωποκτόνος, anthrōpoktonos) in the NT, where the devil is described as a “murderer from the beginning.” John 8:44 refers to the devil’s role in bringing death to Adam and Eve, but even more to his involvement (not directly mentioned in the Genesis account, but elaborated in the intertestamental literature, especially the writings of Philo) in Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. This was the first incident of murder in human history and also the first outward demonstration of the full implications of sin’s entry into the world. Ultimately, then, the devil is behind murder, just as he was behind Cain’s murder of Abel. When the hater kills, he shows himself to be a child of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:10). Once again, conduct is the clue to paternity.” (NET Bible, 1 John 3:15) 


“Our love for our fellow Christians is in fact a form of God’s love for us because as far as the author of 1 John is concerned, all love comes from God (1 John 4:7-11). Therefore he can add the next line of 3:14, “the one who does not love remains in death.” Why? Because such a person does not have God’s love residing in them at all. Rather, this person can be described as a “murderer”—as the following verse goes on to do. Note also that the author’s description here of the person who does not love as remaining in death is another way of describing a person who remains in darkness, which is a description of unbelievers in John 12:46.” (NET Bible, 1 John 3:14) 


“There is always the temptation to return hate for hate, anger for anger, bitterness for bitterness – but such a response is death for our souls!” (Dynamis 1/24/2022)


“Let’s not let self-righteousness—and her children, fear, anger, and judgement—keep us from loving one another and believing the best of one another, even if we don’t see eye to eye on this or any other political or medical matter. Strong feelings quickly become passions. Let us not lose this opportunity to love our neighbor, especially the neighbor who doesn’t see things the right way (i.e., the way I see them).” (Fr. Michael Gillis) 

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