The City of God, Volume I

Addressing the impiety of magic arts, which are dependent on demons, Augustine points to the severe legal penalties against sorcery. If these arts were divine and pious, they would not be punished by laws. He cites Virgil and the laws of the Twelve Tables to show that magic was considered a crime deserving of punishment. He notes that Apuleius himself, when accused of magic before a pagan judge, delivered a speech defending himself by denying the practice of these arts, affirming he was a stranger to them. If Apuleius truly believed these arts were divine, he should have confessed and gloried in them, as Christian martyrs confessed their faith in the face of death. Instead, Apuleius sought to prove his innocence by denying the charges, implying that these things could not be innocently committed. Augustine highlights the contradiction: Apuleius asserts that demons are necessary to present prayers to the gods, yet their works are magical arts that must be shunned. He asks what kind of prayers demons present to good gods—if magical prayers, the good gods will have none; if lawful prayers, they do not need such mediators. Furthermore, if a penitent sinner seeks pardon for sorcery, can he receive it through the intercession of the demons who instigated the sin? Augustine argues that demons never seek pardon for themselves, as their pride prevents them from the humility necessary for repentance.

Augustine then questions whether good gods are more willing to have intercourse with demons than with men. He mocks the idea that a god would refuse intercourse with a supplicating, penitent, or virtuous man, yet maintain intercourse with an arrogant, deceiving demon. He lists various scenarios—such as a man expelling poets or punishing magicians—where the gods are said to avoid the man but consort with the demon who promotes the opposite. This, Augustine argues, is a most pressing absurdity unworthy of the gods.

He examines the supposed necessity of this mediation: the claim that ethereal gods, concerned with human affairs, are ignorant of terrestrial things due to distance and require aerial demons to bring them intelligence. Augustine calls this a detestable error. If gods can perceive minds without the hindrance of bodies, they do not need messengers. If they rely on bodily indices, they could be deceived by demons. If the divinity cannot be deceived, it cannot be ignorant of human actions. Augustine presents a dilemma regarding what the demons tell the gods. Do they conceal their own lust for theatrical plays while reporting Plato’s prohibition of them? Do they conceal both? Do they report both? Or do they conceal Plato’s defense of the gods while reporting their own wickedness? Augustine argues that any of these alternatives leads to impious conclusions about the gods. If the gods know the truth but still permit the demons to act as mediators, they are complicit in evil; if they are ignorant, they are not truly gods. Therefore, none of these alternatives can be chosen, and the opinion that demons act as messengers must be rejected entirely.

Instead, Augustine asserts that demons are spirits eager to inflict harm, alien from righteousness, swollen with pride, and subtle in deceit. They dwell in the air as in a prison, cast down from the height of heaven for their transgression. They are not superior to men, who excel them through piety and the hope of the true God. Demons tyrannize over unworthy men, persuading them of their divinity through lying signs, or feigning to be messengers when they cannot persuade men they are gods.

Augustine then introduces the testimony of Hermes Trismegistus, the Egyptian, who held a different view. Hermes distinguished between gods made by the supreme God and gods made by men. He described the latter as visible and tangible images—statues—into which invisible spirits, invited by a certain art, have entered to dwell. These spirits have power to inflict harm or fulfill desires in exchange for honors. Hermes calls this the art of making gods, stating that just as the Lord and Father made the celestial gods, so man makes the gods who dwell in temples. He claims these statues are animated, full of sensation, prescient of the future, and capable of curing or causing diseases. However, Hermes also predicts a time when Egyptian worship will come to nought, and all their holy service will be found to be in vain. Augustine identifies this prophecy with the rise of Christianity, which is overthrowing these lying figments. He notes that Hermes speaks of this future with sorrow, whereas the prophets of God spoke of the destruction of idols with joy. Augustine argues that Hermes was compelled by a spirit to confess the error of his forefathers—who invented this art through incredulity and aversion to true divine worship—while simultaneously being influenced by a demon to bewail the destruction of that error. He contrasts Hermes’ mournful prophecy with the rejoicing of the prophets and the apostles, who recognized the true God in Christ.

Augustine emphasizes that Hermes explicitly confessed that his forefathers “erred very far” in the knowledge of the gods and invented the art of making gods through incredulity and lack of attention to divine service. If error and incredulity instituted these practices, then truth, faith, and conversion are rightly abolishing them. Augustine argues that it is impious to grieve over the destruction of a religion which one confesses to be error. He points out that this captivity to demons is being broken in all the earth, not just Egypt, as the true religion builds the house of the Lord. He cites the Psalms which declare that all the gods of the nations are demons, contrasting the “new song” of the Church with the old superstitions.

Augustine further addresses Hermes’ complaint that the land of Egypt would become full of sepulchres and dead men. He notes that pagans often accuse Christians of worshipping dead men in sepulchres, contrasting this with their own worship of gods in temples. However, Augustine demonstrates that pagan literature admits that many of their gods were once men to whom divine honors were paid after death. Hermes himself testifies that Aesculapius and Mercury were men who were worshipped as gods, and that their bodies lay in sepulchres while their “better parts” were said to have gone to heaven or to help mortals. Augustine argues that Hermes was thus compelled to confess that the land was already full of sepulchres and dead men who were worshipped as gods. The demons were sorrowing through Hermes because they foresaw their own punishment and the loss of their dominion over the worshippers.