Why Does Anthony Do What He Did?

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According to this text, why did Antony do what he did?
To start off, Antony was raised in a Christian home. He grew up with moderate wealth, but he never took great advantage of it. His real desire was to live as a plain man in a plain home, like Jacob in Genesis 25:27. Antony was following the bible verse that said ““If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give it to the poor. Then come follow me, and you will have treasure in heaven.” He wanted to be like the ”Christians in Acts [that] sold their possessions and brought and laid them at the Apostles' feet for distribution” so that he could have “great hope in heaven”, and he wanted the rewards that come with giving up things in the temporal realm. He felt that God was calling …show more content…

Although Satan has no power because he has been defeated by Christ, he still makes a show of power, claiming to be strong, and tempting mankind with worldly pleasures. Antony recognized temptation in his own life, and thus he tried to live a life apart from the temptations, through his personal discipline. Antony’s personal discipline and devotion to God helped him to recognize the Devil’s weakness. Antony did not defeat the Devil, but Antony recognized that Christ had already been victorious, so through Christ’s victory Antony was able to resist any temptation of Satan, knowing that Satan had no power over Him. In this way Antony is not to be praised as the one who defeated the Devil, but Christ is to be praised for that. Antony’s devotion to Christ and personal transformation through discipline is to be commended not because it provided victory, but because it reminds those who practice such discipline that their victory is in Christ. In fully relying on Christ by his giving up of all other earthly things, Antony trusts in Christ’s victory and defeats the Devil through Christ. Because of that, Satan really doesn’t want good examples like Antony to shine because he is weak and strong people, like Antony, who are able to resist the temptations makes him even weaker. Antony’s discipline helps him focus on Christ and not on the devil, which in turn makes the devil try even

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