HOMILY II
Concerning the kingdom of darkness,
that is, of sin, and that God alone is able to take away sin from us, and to
deliver us out of the bondage of the evil prince.
1. THE
kingdom of darkness, the evil prince, having taken men captive at the
beginning, enveloped and clothed the soul in the power of darkness, as a man
might clothe another. “And that they may make him king, and clothe him with
royal garments, so that from head to foot he may wear royal apparel.”[1] In
this manner the evil prince clothed the soul and all its substance with sin. He
defiled it all, and brought it all into captivity to his kingdom, leaving not
one member of it free from him – not the thoughts, not the understanding, not
the body; he clothed it all with the purple of darkness. For as it is the body
that suffers, not one part or member of it, but the whole is liable to suffer
together, so the whole soul suffered the passions of un-happiness and sin. The evil
one clothed the whole soul, which is the indispensable part or member of man, with
his own unhappiness, which is sin, and thus the body became liable to suffering
and decay.
