The City of God, Volume I

Augustine then addresses the Platonist claim that human souls become demons after death. He dismisses this as a whirlpool sucking men to moral destruction, as it might encourage wicked men to hope for divine honors as hurtful spirits after death. Returning to the logical structure of the Platonist theology, Augustine examines the three qualities that distinguish the extremes: gods have exaltation, eternity, and blessedness; men have lowliness, mortality, and misery. For demons to be truly intermediate, they must hold a middle position in these qualities. They possess an aerial body, which is a middle place between the ethereal and terrestrial. However, regarding the other qualities, they must either be blessed or miserable, mortal or immortal. Since Apuleius asserts they are eternal, they cannot receive mortality from men. Therefore, to maintain a middle position, they must receive misery from men. Thus, the Platonist definition logically compels the conclusion that demons are immortal and miserable. They are not “eudemons” (good demons), for if they were good and eternal, they would be blessed and thus indistinguishable from the gods in the most essential respects, losing their intermediate character. A true mediator between blessed immortals and miserable mortals would need to be either mortal and blessed, or immortal and miserable. The demons are the latter, and therefore cannot lead men to blessedness.

This leads Augustine to the heart of his argument: the identification of the true Mediator. He argues that if all men are mortal and miserable, as is probable, they need a mediator who is not only man but also God. This mediator must assume mortality to be assimilated to men, but not continue in mortality, lest he remain miserable. He must possess blessedness to be assimilated to God, but not be so remote as to be inaccessible. Jesus Christ fits this perfectly. He became mortal, assuming the infirmity of flesh without rendering His divinity infirm, and He raised that flesh from death, destroying mortality. By His transient mortality and permanent blessedness, He bridges the gap. Good angels cannot mediate because they are already blessed and immortal, sharing nothing with miserable mortals. Evil demons can mediate in a sense because they are immortal like the gods and miserable like men, but they use this position to separate men from God rather than unite them. Christ, the good Mediator, opposes them. He destroyed their power through the humility of His death and the benignity of His blessedness, cleansing the hearts of the faithful and freeing them from the impure dominion of the demons.

Augustine refutes the Platonic notion that the gods are too pure to have contact with men without being contaminated. He argues that if the supreme God, whom Plato himself struggled to describe, can visit the minds of the wise, why should the lower gods be unable to interact with men? He points to the visible gods—the stars and heavenly bodies—which shine upon the earth and are seen by men without being polluted. If the rays of the sun can touch the earth without defilement, surely God can interact with humanity. The idea that demons are necessary to prevent the pollution of the gods is absurd. If demons are contaminated by men, they cannot cleanse men; if they are not contaminated, they are better than the gods, whom the Platonists claim would be defiled by such contact. Augustine asserts that true divinity cannot be polluted by flesh, as proven by the Incarnation. Therefore, the way to blessedness is not through the aerial demons who are themselves impure, but through the incontaminable God who cleanses us from all pollution.

Augustine then explores the etymology and nature of the demons’ knowledge. The word “demon” is derived from the Greek word for knowledge. However, the Apostle Paul states that “knowledge puffs up, but charity builds up.” The demons possess knowledge—indeed, they possess a knowledge of temporal things and spiritual natures that exceeds that of many men—but they lack charity. This knowledge without love leads to pride. They demand the divine honors and religious services that are due only to the true God. Scripture records that demons recognized Jesus, crying out in fear, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us before the time?” They knew His power but did not love His righteousness. Augustine contrasts this with the knowledge of the holy angels. The angels contemplate eternal truths in the Word of God and, filled with the love of God, despise temporal things. They know the causes and principles of temporal events in the wisdom of God, whereas demons only foresee the future through signs and are frequently deceived. The angels are never deceived; the demons often are.

In the final section of the book, Augustine addresses the terminology of worship. He acknowledges that the Platonists might prefer to call good spirits “gods” rather than “demons,” and he notes that Scripture itself applies the term “gods” to holy angels and even to just men, as when God says, “Ye are gods, and all of you children of the Most High.” However, Augustine insists that the title “demon” is never used in a good sense in Scripture; it is reserved for wicked spirits. He argues that it is futile to dispute over names when the reality is clear. The blessed and immortal spirits, whether called gods or angels, are creatures who do not desire religious worship for themselves. They direct men to worship the Creator alone. The demons, on the other hand, are wicked mediators who grudge men the blessedness they have lost and seek to turn men away from the path of truth. Augustine concludes that the worship of the one true God is the only path to eternal life, and he prepares to show in the following book that the true blessed spirits—call them gods or angels—desire that worship be given to God alone.

Augustine opens the tenth book of The City of God by establishing the fundamental question that animates the entire discussion: to whom is that supreme worship due which leads to blessedness? He observes that while all rational beings desire happiness, philosophers have disputed endlessly about what constitutes true felicity and how it may be attained. Among the various schools, the Platonists merit particular attention because they perceived, with greater clarity than most, that the soul’s happiness depends entirely on participation in the unchangeable light of the one God who created all things. They understood that both angels and men must draw their blessedness from this same divine source. Yet Augustine identifies a fatal inconsistency: despite this profound theological insight, the Platonists accommodated themselves to popular error, permitting or even endorsing the worship of multiple deities and, in some instances, advocating sacrifice to demons. This contradiction raises the central inquiry of the book: what do the blessed and immortal spirits themselves desire regarding our worship? Do the holy angels, who love us and seek our eternal welfare, wish us to offer sacrifice to them, or do they direct us to adore the one God alone? The answer to this question determines the nature of true religion and reveals the way of salvation.