Page 121 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

T H E C R O S S A N D T H E S T R U G G L E A G A I N S T E V I L
The Cross and the Struggle against Evil
Orthodox Christians venerate the Holy Cross not as a sym-
bol alone, but as a living source of strength in the struggle
against the passions. Yet this raises a deeper question: why
does the Cross possess such power?
The Cross is the place where evil was confronted in its
fullness and defeated in its extremity. There, in the death of
Christ, the greatest struggle with evil in all history took place.
On the Cross, evil revealed its deepest intention—to war not
only against humanity, but against God Himself. And when
evil exhausted its power by striking even at God incarnate, it
revealed its own limits. Having done its utmost, it could do no
more. Thus, from that moment, the Cross became the decisive
and enduring victory over evil.
This is why, from the time of Constantine the Great, the
Cross has been received as a sign of triumph. The vision “Ἐν
τούτῳ νίκα” was not merely a historical episode, but an
unveiling of a deeper truth: that evil is not overcome by force,
but by the mystery of the Cross. The persecutions ceased, and
ever since, the Church has invoked the Cross as her weapon—
not of domination, but of victory through love.
The Church continues this same struggle. She blesses with
the Cross, she signs the sick with it, she invokes it against the
powers of darkness. Evil recoils before it—not because of
external power, but because the Cross reveals a power that evil
cannot endure.
But why was the Cross necessary? Could not God, in His
omnipotence, simply destroy evil? Two truths emerge.
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