The City of God stands as Augustine's masterwork of theological defense and construction, written over thirteen years in response to accusations that Christianity brought ruin upon Rome. This first volume contains the first ten books of sustained refutation—demolishing pagan claims that traditional worship secured either temporal prosperity or eternal happiness—followed by the beginning of his positive vision in Books Eleven through Thirteen, where he traces the origin of two societal orders to the primordial division among the angels. What emerges is not merely an apology for Christianity but a philosophy of history that subordinate the fate of empires to the hidden providence of the one true God, whose sovereignty extends from creation through the fall to the final judgment.
Augustine next critiques the concept of demonic mediation. Apuletius and his school claim demons are placed in the air to carry prayers from men to gods and return answers from gods to men, based on the premise that no god has intercourse with man. Augustine finds this absurd: why would good gods only communicate with men through wicked demons who love the crimes of magic and the obscenities of the stage? A chaste and innocent man, seeking the favor of the gods, would supposedly require the mediation of beings who love the very things he hates. Augustine argues that human modesty should not lead men to think shameful things are pleasing to the divinity, and he again cites Plato’s prohibition of poets as evidence against the demons’ love of theatrical fictions.
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.
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