06 — Diakrisis
Diakrisis (διάκρισις, Slavonic рассуждение) is discernment: the judgment that distinguishes one thing from another — good thought from bad, grace from counterfeit, the right measure from excess and from laxity. The desert called it the greatest of the virtues and the one without which the others become dangerous. This section treats it in its general sense as the keeper of measure, and in its specific sense as the discernment of spirits.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox
Everything in sections 03 through 05 generates a problem of judgment. If thoughts come from three sources, one must tell them apart. If ascetic labour can be undertaken beyond a person’s strength, one must know the measure. If consolations may be genuine or counterfeit, one must have a criterion. Diakrisis is the name of the faculty that does this, and the tradition’s estimate of it is very high: without it, ascetic effort damages rather than heals, and the case histories in the literature of monks destroyed by undiscerning zeal are numerous and are told without softening.
Discernment and the Measure treats the general virtue: the desert’s judgment that discernment is the greatest of the virtues, the “royal road” between excess and slackness, the concept of a person’s measure, and the reason a beginner who lacks discernment is given obedience instead. It also notes the awkward English rendering the standard translation uses.
The Discernment of Spirits treats the specific charism: the criteria by which the tradition judges whether a movement, thought, consolation, or vision is from God, from nature, or from the enemy; the classic marks given by St. Antony in the Life and by Diadochus of Photike; the disclosure of thoughts as the practical instrument; and the distinction between discernment and the separate gift of spiritual insight.
| File | Contents |
|---|---|
| Discernment and the Measure | Diakrisis defined and its translation as “discrimination”; Cassian’s Conference 2 and Antony’s verdict; the royal road; measure and obedience; discernment as gift and as acquisition; Brianchaninov on discernment in a weakened age |
| The Discernment of Spirits | The scriptural warrant; the three sources of thoughts and the money-changer; the marks of the good and the evil visitation in the Life of Antony; Diadochus; disclosure of thoughts; diorasis distinguished; where the criteria run out |
See Also
- The Logismoi — the material discernment judges
- Prelest — what happens where discernment fails
- Spiritual Direction (hub article) — the relationship in which discernment is learned
- The Desert Fathers: Penthos, Discernment, and Humility — the desert’s own teaching