Read City of God (Penguin Classics) Online
Authors: Saint Augustine
16.
The Platonists’ denial of contact between men and gods
There is no truth in the statement, ascribed to Plato by Apuleius,
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that ‘the gods have no direct dealing with men’, with the addition that the principal mark of their sublimity is that they are not denied by any contact with humanity. This amounts to an admission that demons are thus contaminated; it follows that demons cannot purify those by whom they are contaminated, and both parties become equally impure, the demons by contact with men, men by contact with demons. Otherwise, if demons can have contact and intercourse with men without incurring defilement, they are proved to be superior to gods, since the gods would be contaminated by this intercourse. For this is alleged as the principal mark of divinity, that the
gods, in their sublimity, are aloof from human contact and cannot be contaminated by it.
Our philosopher assures us that when Plato spoke of the supreme God,
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the creator of all things, whom we Christians call the true God, his teaching was that God is the sole being who cannot be even remotely defined in words because of the poverty of human language. Yet it is just possible for men of wisdom, when, through a strenuous effort of the soul, they have withdrawn themselves from the body as far as may be, to receive an apprehension of this God, and for this illumination to shine on them at intervals, like a sudden flash of dazzling light in the depth of darkness.
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Then if God, who is truly supreme over all things, presents himself to the minds of wise men, when they have withdrawn themselves, as far as may be, from the body, revealing himself to the intellect in an ineffable manner (even if this happens only at intervals, and resembles a sudden flash of dazzling light) and if he can so present himself without possibility of contamination, why should they say that those other gods are established in a lofty dwelling, to prevent their pollution by human contact? Surely it would be enough merely to look at the stars whose light gives the earth illumination sufficient for its needs! The stars, according to our philosopher, are so many visible gods,
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and they are not contaminated by being seen; and the demons are not contaminated when men behold them, although they are seen from close at hand.
But perhaps it is by men’s voices that the gods might be contaminated, although not polluted by the glances of their eyes? Perhaps that is the reason why they employ the demons as intermediaries, so that they may have men’s words conveyed to them, while they remain far removed from men, completely sheltered from contamination? Is there anything to say of the other senses? The gods could not be contaminated through the sense of smell. If they were in the company of men, they could not be polluted by smelling the effluvia of living human bodies – any more than the demons, who are present, can be so polluted – if they are not contaminated by the stench of all those corpses in their sacrifices. As for the sense of taste, the gods have no need to restore mortal substance, so they are not likely to be driven by hunger to ask food from men. On the other hand, touching depends on them. For though, when we speak of contact, it seems as if it is touching that we have particularly in mind, the gods could, if they wished, have dealings with men only so far as seeing and being seen,
hearing and being heard are concerned. What need of touching? Men would not dare to desire it, when they were enjoying the sight of the gods – or of good demons – and conversation with them. And even if their curiosity went so far as to wish for physical contact, how could any man touch a god – or a demon – against his will, seeing that he cannot touch a sparrow until he has caught it?
The gods, then, could have bodily contact with men by seeing and offering themselves to be seen, by speaking and listening. If, on the other hand, the demons have dealings with men, as I said above, without contamination, while the gods would be contaminated by such intercourse, that would imply that the demons are exempt from pollution and the gods are not. If, on the contrary, the demons also incur pollution, how can they help men to attain a blessed life after death? If they are contaminated themselves, they cannot purify men so as to bring them into fellowship with the unpolluted gods, between whom and men they have been set as intermediaries. Or if they do not confer this benefit, what use to man is their friendly mediation? Is it so that after death men may not pass over to the gods, by the aid of the demons, but may live in the company of the demons, equally polluted and equally deprived of happiness? Perhaps it may be suggested that demons act like sponges or something of that kind. They cleanse their friends, and in the process become as much dirtier themselves as men become cleaner by their ‘washing’. If so, then the gods have dealing with demons, more polluted creatures, while they have shunned the proximity of men to avoid contamination! Or is it that the gods are able to purify the demons, polluted by men, without incurring pollution, and yet could not do the same for men?
Who could entertain such notions unless he were misled by the most deceitful of the demons? At this rate, if to see, or to be seen, brings defilement, there are gods who are seen by men – those gods whom Apuleius calls ‘visible’,
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the ‘shining lights of the world’
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and the other stars, while the demons are better protected than the gods from this contamination, since they cannot be seen, unless they wish it. Or if it is by seeing, not by being seen, that pollution is incurred, the Platonists have to deny that men are seen by those ‘shining lights of the world’ (whom they hold to be gods) although they extend their rays as far as the earth. And yet those rays are not polluted, although diffused over all those impurities. And would the gods be contaminated, if they were in contact with men, even if this contact were essential for bringing help to men? For the rays of the
sun and the moon touch the earth, without any contamination of their light.
17.
Christ the only sufficient mediator
It amazes me that such learned men, who have decided that all material things, discerned by the senses, are inferior in value to spiritual things accessible only to the intellect, should make any mention of physical contact, when the question concerns the life of felicity. What has become of that saying of Plotinus, ‘We must flee to our beloved country. There the Father is, and there is everything. Where shall we take ship? How can we flee? By becoming like God.’
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If man comes near to God in proportion as he grows more like him, then unlikeness to God is the only separation from him, and the soul of man is estranged from that immaterial, eternal and unchangeable being in proportion as it craves for things that are temporal and changeable.
For the cure of this condition we need a mediator, since there can be no direct meeting between the immortal purity on high and the mortal and unclean things below. But our need is not for a mediator with an immortal body, like the bodies on high, but with a diseased soul, like those below – for that disease would make him envious of our possible cure, and by no means ready to assist us towards health. We need a mediator linked with us in our lowliness by reason of the mortal nature of his body, and yet able to render us truly divine assistance for our purification and liberation, through the immortal justice of his spirit in virtue of which he has remained in his dwelling on high – not by spatial remoteness from us, but by his unique resemblance to God. It is unthinkable that God, who is incapable of defilement, should be afraid of contamination by the human nature in which he was clothed. For by his incarnation he showed us, for our salvation, two truths of the greatest importance: that the true divine nature cannot be polluted by the flesh, and that demons are not to be reckoned our superiors because they are not creatures of flesh. This mediator is, as the holy Scripture proclaims, ‘the mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus’.
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In respect of his divinity he is always equal to the Father, and by his humanity he became like us. But this is not the place to attempt (as far as our powers would allow) an adequate discussion of this doctrine.
18.
The deceitful promises of the demons
Those pretended and deceitful mediators, the demons (whose misery and malignity – the result of the impurity of their spirit – is clearly shown by their achievements) use every effort to distract us and divert us from spiritual progress, helped in their deceit by the distances of material space and by the lightness of their bodies of air. They do not help us on the way to God; they prevent us from keeping to the way. This supposed ‘road to God’ through physical space is utterly mistaken; it leads men completely astray. It is not the road taken by righteousness, since it is not by physical elevation, but by spiritual – that is incorporeal – likeness to God that we must ascend to God. It is a road designed by the friends of the demons, which mounts through the levels of the elements, the demons of air being set midway between gods of the ether and men of earth. And these philosophers suppose that the chief advantage afforded the gods by this ‘road’ is that of being shielded from polluting contact with mankind by the distance that separates them.
Thus they believe that demons are contaminated by men rather than that men are purified by demons and that the gods themselves might be contaminated, were they not protected by the elevation of their abode. Who is unfortunate enough to believe that he can attain purification by this road, where we are told that men contaminate, demons are contaminated, and gods capable of contamination? Who would not choose that way where demons who contaminate are avoided, and where the God who cannot be polluted purifies men from pollution so that they may enter into fellowship with unpolluted angels?
19.
The title
‘
demon
’
no longer has a good significance
But we should not like to appear to be disputing about words; and since some of these demonolators (to coin a word), including Labeo,
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claim that those whom they call ‘demons’ are identical with those called ‘angels’ by others, I see that I must say something about the good angels. Our opponents do not deny their existence, but they prefer to call them ‘demons’, rather than ‘angels’.
For our part, we abide by the language of Scripture, which is the basis of our Christian belief. And there we read of good and bad angels, but never of good demons. In fact, wherever this name is found
in the books of the Bible, whether in the form
daemones
or in the form
daemonia
, it always refers to malignant spirits. And this way of speaking has been so generally adopted, that even among those who are called pagans, who maintain that it is right to worship many gods and demons, scarcely anyone would be so literary and pedantic as to bring himself to say, even to his slave, by way of a compliment, ‘You are possessed of a demon.’ He would know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if he decided to say this to anyone it would inevitably be taken as a deliberate insult. Then why should we feel compelled to start by offending the ears of so many of our hearers, in fact almost all of them (who normally understand the term only in a bad sense), and then to go on to explain our meaning? By using the word ‘angel’ we can avoid the shock which the word ‘demon’ is likely to produce.
20.
The meaning of the word
‘
demon
’
However, the actual derivation of the word ‘demon’, if we consult the divine Scriptures, teaches us something very well worth learning. The word ‘demons’ is Greek; and demons are so called because of their knowledge.
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Now the Apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, ‘Knowledge inflates: but love edifies.’
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The only correct interpretation of this saying is that knowledge is valuable when charity informs it. Without charity, knowledge inflates; that is, it exalts man to an arrogance which is nothing but a kind of windy emptiness. There is in the demons knowledge without charity, and so they are inflated; that is to say, they are so arrogant that they have done their best to obtain for themselves the divine honours and the devout service which they know to be due to the true God. They still pursue this aim as much as they can and wherever they can. Against this arrogance of the demons, to which mankind was enslaved as a deserved punishment, is set the humility of God, revealed in Christ. But the power of humility is unknown to men whose souls are inflated with the impurity of inflated pride. They resemble the demons in arrogance, but not in knowledge.
21.
How God willed to be made known to the demons
The demons have also the knowledge which made them say, ‘What business have you with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to
destroy us?’
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Those words show clearly that they had so much knowledge, but lacked charity. They dreaded receiving their punishment from him; they did not love the righteousness that was in him. He made himself known to them to the extent he willed; and he willed to be made known to the extent that was fitting. But he was not made known to them as he is known to the holy angels; for the angels enjoy the participation in his eternity, in that he is the Word of God; to the demons he is known as he had to be made known to strike terror into them, for his purpose was to free from their tyrannical power (as we may call it) those who were predestined for his kingdom and glory, which is eternally true and truly eternal.