Recognitions 4.19–5.11

“There is another error of the demons, which they insinuate into people's minds: that they think they suffer what they suffer from those who are called gods, so that by offering sacrifices and gifts to them, as if appeasing them, they establish the worship of false religion and flee from us who are working for their salvation, that they may be freed from error. But, as I said, they do this not knowing that the demons suggest these things to them so that they may not be saved. It is, then, in each one's power—since man was made with free will—whether he wishes to listen to us unto life or to demons unto destruction. To some the demons also appear in visions in various forms, sometimes threatening, sometimes promising cures for ailments, so that they may still plant in those they deceive the belief that they are gods, and it may not be known that they are demons. But they do not escape us, for we know the mystery of creation and why demons are permitted to do these things in the present age: to transform themselves into whatever shapes they wish, or to suggest evil thoughts, or to insinuate themselves, through food and drink consecrated to them, into the minds or bodies of those who partake of it, or to invent empty dreams for the veneration of some idol.

“And yet who is found so senseless as to be persuaded to worship an idol, whether it is made of gold or of any other metal? To whom is it not plain that it is the metal the craftsman wished? How then is divinity to be thought present in what would not exist at all if the craftsman had not wished it? Or how do they hope to have the future announced to them from where there is no understanding even of the present? Even if they divined something, they could not at once be held gods, for divination is one thing and divinity another. For the Pythons seem to divine, yet they are not therefore gods; indeed they are put to flight by Christian men. And how is he God who is put to flight by a man? But perhaps you say: ‘What of the fact that they effect cures and show how one may be healed?’ By that reasoning physicians too should be worshiped as gods, for they heal many, and the more skillful one is, the more he will heal.

“Hence it is clear that these, being demonic spirits, know some things much faster and much more perfectly; for they are not weighed down in learning by the slowness of a body. And so what physicians attain by long time and very great labor, they, as spirits, learn without any delay and without difficulty. It is no wonder, then, if they know something more than men; but this must be observed, that what they know they bring forward not for the salvation but for the deception of souls, so as to teach them by this the worship of false religion. But God, so that the error of such deception might not be hidden and he himself might not seem to be the cause for those who err—since he permitted them so much as to be able to deceive people through divinations, cures, and dreams—in his mercy provided a remedy for men and set out openly the distinction between false and true for those who wish to know it. This, then, is the distinction: what is said by the true God, whether through prophets or through various visions, is always true; but what is foretold by demons is not always true. It is therefore a plain sign that those things are not said by the true God in which there is sometimes a lie; for in the truth there is never a lie, but among those who lie something of the truth may sometimes be mixed in, by which the lies are seasoned.

“But if someone should say, ‘What need was there for this very thing, that they be permitted sometimes to tell the truth, and so to bring such great error upon mortals?’, let him hear in reply: if they had never been allowed to say anything true, they would not foretell anything at all; and if they did not foretell, it would not be known that they are demons. And if it were not known that there are demons in this world, the cause of our struggle and contest would have been hidden from us, and we would suffer openly what is done in secret—that is, if they were seen to have been granted only the power to act against us, and none to speak. But now, since things are said sometimes true and sometimes false, we ought to recognize, as I said above, that the answers are from demons and not from God, with whom there is never a lie.

“But if someone, going further out of curiosity, should say, ‘What need was there for such evil beings to be made by God, with such great determination to overthrow human minds?’, we shall answer one who puts this forward: we must first of all ask whether anything is evil in its substance. And although it would be enough to say to him that it is not fitting for the creature to judge the Creator—rather, it belongs to one who has similar skill or similar power to judge another's work—yet, so as not to use roundabout ways, we say absolutely that nothing is evil in substance. And if this is so, is not the maker of substances blamed in vain?

“But you will confront me and say: ‘Even if it came to this through freedom of choice, did not he who created them know that those he was creating would turn aside to evil? Then those whom he foresaw would stray from the path of justice ought not to have been created.’ Let those who argue so hear in reply that by such a course he wished to show why the wickedness of those who did not yet exist should not overcome the goodness of the Creator. For if, wishing to fill up the number and measure of his creation, he had feared the wickedness of those who were to be, and—as one who could find no other way of remedy and cure except this only—had drawn back from his purpose of creating, so that the wickedness of those who were to be might not be ascribed to him, what else would this teach but an unworthy weakness and unseemly frailty of the Maker, who so dreaded the acts of those who did not yet exist that he ceased from the creation he had purposed?

“But putting these things far away, let us consider this in our mind: that God, the maker of the universe, foreseeing the future differences in his creation, provided and foresaw for each creature, according to its own movements, which it would put forth from freedom of choice, different ranks and different offices; so that although all were of one substance according to the nature of creation, there would yet be diversity in ranks and offices according to the souls' own movements, put forth from freedom of choice. He foresaw, then, that there would be faults in his creatures, and the logic of his justice required that punishment should follow faults for the sake of correction. There had, then, to be ministers of punishments, whom freedom of choice would nevertheless draw into this rank; and besides, there had also to be those whom they might conquer who had undertaken the contests for heavenly rewards. So even the things thought evil are not without usefulness, since the conquered, though against their will, gain eternal rewards for those by whom they are conquered. But let these things suffice on this subject; for in the course of time even more secret things will be disclosed.

“Now then, since you do not yet understand how great a darkness of ignorance surrounds you, I wish meanwhile to explain to you how the worship of idols first came into this world. By idols I mean the lifeless images that you worship, whether of wood or clay or stone or bronze, or made from any other metals. Their beginning was this. Certain angels, leaving the course of their proper rank, began to favor the vices of men and in a way to render an unworthy service to their lust, so that by that service the men might the more indulge their own pleasures. And so that they might not seem to have stooped to unworthy services of their own accord, they taught men that demons could be made to obey mortals by certain arts, that is, by magical invocations; and as from a furnace and workshop of wickedness they filled the whole world with the smoke of impiety, the light of piety being withdrawn.

“For these and some other reasons the flood was brought upon the world, as has already been said elsewhere and as we shall say again; and all who were on the earth were destroyed, except the family of Noah, who survived with his three sons and their wives. One of them, named Ham, handed down the wickedly discovered discipline of the magic art to one of his sons, called Mesraim, from whom the race of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians is descended. The nations of that time called him Zoroaster, admiring him as the first author of the magic art; under his name there are also very many books on this subject. He, then, being much and often intent on the stars, and wishing to be thought a god among men, began to draw out, as it were, sparks from the stars and to show them to men, so that the rude and ignorant might be drawn into amazement at the marvel; and wishing to increase this opinion of himself, he attempted these things more often, until he was set on fire and burned up by the very demon whom he troubled too insistently.

“But the foolish men of that time, when they ought certainly to have thrown away the opinion they had formed of him, since they had seen it refuted by his penal death, exalted him all the more. Building a tomb in his honor, they dared to worship him as a friend of God, carried up to heaven on a chariot of lightning, and to venerate him as a living star. For from this, after his death, he was called by the name Zoroaster, that is, ‘living star,’ by those who, after one generation, had been filled with the speech of the Greek language. By this example, even now many honor with tombs those who have died by lightning and worship them as friends of God. He, then, began in the fourteenth generation and died in the fifteenth, in which the tower was built and the languages of men were divided many ways.

“Among these, the first to be called king, the magic art having likewise conferred it on him as by a flash, was one Nimrod, whom the Greeks also called Ninus, and from whose name the city of Nineveh took its name. So, then, the various and wandering superstitions took their beginning from the magic art. For since it was difficult to draw the human race away from the love of God and lead it to deaf and lifeless images, the magi used loftier contrivances, so that, by the signs and movements of the stars, presented as if brought down from heaven and by the will of God, men might be won over to wandering cults. And those who were first deceived collected the ashes of the pyre of the man of whom we spoke above, who had been burned up by the wrath of the demon to whom he had been too troublesome, as relics of the fire of lightning, and carried them to the Persians, so that they might keep them with perpetual watches as divine fire fallen from heaven, and worship it as a heavenly god.

“By a similar example the rest of men in other places also eagerly built temples, set up images, instituted mysteries, ceremonies, and sacrifices to those whom they had admired either in some arts or in virtue, or at least had held in very great love; and in every way they strove to hand down to posterity the fame of these as gods—chiefly because, as we said above, they seemed to be supported by certain phantasms of the magic art, so that by the invocation of demons something seemed to be done and moved by them for the deception of men. To these they added certain festivals and drunken banquets, in which men would indulge more willingly, and in which demons, carried in on surfeits as on vehicles, might mingle with their very bowels; and settled there, they would bend the acts and thoughts of men to their own will. So when errors of this kind had been introduced from the beginning, and were helped by lust and drunkenness, in which carnal men take the greatest delight, the religion of God, which consisted in self-control and sobriety, began to grow rare among men and almost to be abolished.

“For when from the beginning men worshiped God as just and seeing all things, they dared neither to sin nor to do injury to their neighbors, being sure that God saw the acts and movements of each one. But when the worship of religion was turned to lifeless images—about which they were sure that they neither saw nor heard nor moved at all—they began to sin freely and to go on to every crime, since they feared to suffer nothing from those they worshiped as gods. From this the madness of wars blazed up; from this came plunder, robbery, captivity, and freedom reduced to slavery, as each one could satisfy his lust and greed—although no power can satisfy greed. For as fire, the more wood it receives, the more it is kindled and grows strong, so the madness of greed is made greater and fiercer by what it obtains.

“Therefore begin now, with a better understanding, to resist yourselves in the things you wrongly desire, if by any means you may repair and restore in yourselves that purity of religion and innocence of life which was given to mortals by God from the beginning, so that through it the hope of immortal goods may also be restored to you; and give thanks to the Father, the giver of all things, through him whom he appointed King of peace and treasury of unspeakable honors; so that in the present time your sins may be washed away by the water of a spring or a river or even the sea, the threefold name of blessedness being invoked over you; so that by this not only may evil spirits be put to flight, if they dwell within you, but also, when you have ceased from sins and have believed God with full faith and full purity of mind, you may also put evil spirits and demons to flight from others and be able to free others from sufferings and illnesses. For the demons themselves know and recognize those who have given themselves to God, and sometimes they are driven away by their mere presence, as you saw a little earlier: when we had only spoken our greeting to you, at once the demons began to cry out because of the honor of our religion, and could not bear our presence for even a little time.

“Are we of another nature, some higher one, and is that why the demons fear us? We are of one and the same nature with you, but we differ in religion. And if you wish to be so too, we do not begrudge it; rather we urge you, and we want you to be sure, that when there is in you the same faith and religion and innocence of life that is in us, God rewarding your faith, you will have equal and the same power and strength against the demons. For as one who has soldiers under him, even if he is inferior and they superior in strength, nevertheless says to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to another, ‘Do this,’ and he does it—and he is able to do this not by his own strength but by fear of Caesar—so each believer commands demons, even if they seem to be far stronger than men, not because of his own strength but because of the power of God who has subjected them. For what we said, that Caesar is feared among all soldiers and in all camps and in every kingdom though he is one man and perhaps of slight strength, is brought about only by the power of God, who gives fear to all so that they obey one.

“This we certainly want you to know: that the demon has no power against a man unless he has willingly submitted himself to the demon's wishes. Hence even he who is the prince of wickedness approached that King of peace whom we spoke of, appointed by God, tempting him, and began to promise him all the glory of the world; for he knew that when he had offered this to others to deceive them, he had been worshiped. Impious and forgetful of himself—which is the proper mark of wickedness—he presumed that he would be worshiped by him by whom he knew he was to be destroyed. So our Lord, confirming the worship of the one God, answered him: ‘It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ Terrified by this answer, and afraid that the true religion of the one true God might be restored, he immediately hastens to send into this world false prophets and false apostles and false teachers, who would speak indeed in the name of Christ but do the will of the demon.

“Therefore take great care to believe no teacher unless he brings from Jerusalem the testimony of James the Lord's brother, or of whoever comes after him. For unless someone has gone up there and been approved there as a fit and faithful teacher for preaching the word of Christ—unless, I say, he brings testimony from there—he is not to be received at all. Nor should any prophet or apostle be expected by you at this time other than us. For there is one true Prophet, whose words we twelve apostles preach. For he is the acceptable year of God, having us apostles as his twelve months. But for what cause the world itself was made, or why the diversities in it have occurred, and why our Lord, coming to restore it, chose and sent us twelve apostles, will be explained more fully elsewhere. Meanwhile he ordered us to go out to preach and to invite you to the supper of the heavenly King, which the Father has prepared for the wedding of his Son, and to give you wedding garments, that is, the grace of baptism. Whoever has obtained it must keep it as a clean garment, with which he is to enter the King's supper, so that it may not be stained in any part by sin and he be cast out on this account as unworthy and reprobate.

“The causes by which this garment is stained are these: if anyone withdraws from God, the Father and maker of all, receiving another teacher besides Christ, who alone is the faithful and true Prophet and who sent us twelve apostles to preach the word; and if anyone thinks otherwise than is worthy about the substance of the Godhead, which surpasses all things—these are the things that stain the garment of baptism even unto death. Those that stain by deeds are these: murders, adulteries, hatreds, avarice, evil desire. And those that stain soul and body at once are these: to share the table of demons, that is, to taste things sacrificed, or blood, or a carcass that has been strangled, and anything else that has been offered to demons. Let this, then, be for you the first step of three, which step produces from itself thirty commandments; the second, sixty; the third, a hundred, as we shall explain to you more fully elsewhere.

When he had said this, and had told them to come together early the next day to the same place, he dismissed the crowds. When they did not want to leave, Peter said: “Grant me this favor because of the labors of yesterday's journey; go away now and come together early tomorrow.” And so they went away with joy. Peter, telling me to withdraw a little for prayer, afterwards ordered couches to be spread in a part of the garden covered by shade; and each of us, recognizing the place of his own rank as usual, we took food. Then, since some of the day still remained, he talked with us about the wonders of the Lord, and when evening came he went into his chamber and rested.

On the following day Peter, rising a little earlier than usual, found us asleep. When he noticed it, he ordered silence to be kept for him, as though he himself wished to sleep longer, so as to give us the chance to rest. When we had got up refreshed by sleep, we found him, his prayer finished, waiting for us in his chamber. As it was already twilight, he greeted us as usual and spoke briefly, and at once went out to the usual place to teach. When he saw that very many had gathered to hear, he first invoked peace on them according to the rite of religion and began to speak in this way:

“God, the creator of all, made man from the beginning in his own image, and gave him dominion over the earth and the sea and the air itself, as the true Prophet has told us and as the very nature of things teaches; for man alone is rational, and it follows that reason should rule over the irrational. So from the beginning, while he was still righteous, he was superior to all vices and all frailty; but when he sinned, as we taught yesterday, and became the slave of sin, he was at the same time made liable to frailty. This was written so that men might know that as they became subject to suffering through impiety, so through piety they can become free from suffering—and not only free from suffering, but able, by even a little faith in God, to heal the sufferings of others. For so the true Prophet promised us, saying: ‘Amen I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here, and it will move.’ Of this saying you yourselves have received proofs; for yesterday you saw how, while we stood by, the demons, together with the sufferings they had brought on men, moved away and were put to flight.

“Since, then, some men suffer and others heal those who suffer, the cause both of suffering and of healing must certainly be understood; and it is shown to be nothing other than unbelief in those who suffer and faith in those who heal. For unbelief, while it does not believe in the coming judgment of God, gives license to sin, and sin makes a man liable to sufferings. But faith, believing that the judgment of God is to come, keeps men from sin; and those who do not sin are not only free from demons and sufferings but can also put to flight the demons and sufferings of others.

“From all this it is gathered that the origin of all evil comes down from ignorance, and that it is the mother of all evils. It is begotten by carelessness and sloth, fed and increased by negligence, and rooted in men's minds; and if anyone teaches that it should be driven out, it is torn away with annoyance and indignation, as if from ancient and hereditary seats. So we must labor a little, tracking down the presumptions of ignorance and cutting them away by the reasoning of knowledge, especially in those who have been preoccupied by some less correct opinions, through which ignorance has rooted itself more strongly in them under the appearance, as it were, of some knowledge. For nothing is worse than when someone believes he knows what he does not know, and defends as true what is false. That is as if a drunk man thought himself sober: he does everything as a drunk man, yet thinks himself sober and wants to be called so by others. So too are those who, not knowing what is true, yet hold the appearance of some knowledge, do evil as if it were good, and hasten to ruin as if to salvation.

“Therefore above all we must hasten to the knowledge of the truth, so that, a light being kindled for us from it, we may drive away the darkness of errors. For ignorance, as we said, is a great evil; but since it has no substance, it is easily driven away by those who are diligent. For ignorance is nothing other than not having recognized what is profitable; and once you have recognized it, ignorance perishes. The knowledge of the truth, then, must be sought earnestly, and no one else can assign it except the true Prophet. For this is the gate of life for those who wish to enter, and the road of good works for those going to the city of salvation.

“If anyone hears the word of the true Prophet, it is in his own power whether he wishes to receive it or not, and to embrace his burden, that is, the commandments of life; for we are free in choice. For if it were the case that those who heard him no longer had it in their power to do otherwise than they had heard, there would be a kind of force of nature by which it would not be free to pass over to another view. Or again, if none of the hearers at all received it, this too would be a force of nature, compelling one thing to happen and giving no room to the other side. But now, since the mind is free to incline its judgment to whichever side it wishes and to choose the way it approves, it is plainly established that freedom of choice is present in men.

“So before anyone hears what is profitable for him, it is certain that he is ignorant, and in ignorance he wishes and desires to do what is not profitable; therefore he is not judged for this. But when he has heard the causes of his error and has received the account of the truth, then, if he remains in the errors by which he had long been possessed, he will rightly be called to judgment to pay the penalty, because he spent in the mockeries of errors the span of life he received for living well. But one who hears these things gladly receives them, rejoices that the teaching of good things has been brought to him, inquires more intently, and does not stop learning until he knows whether there truly is another age in which rewards are prepared for the good. And when he is sure of this, giving thanks to God for having shown him the light of truth, he directs his actions thereafter in all good works, whose reward he is sure is prepared for him in the future; wondering and astonished at the errors of other men in every respect, and that no one sees the truth set before their eyes. Yet he himself, rejoicing over the riches of wisdom he has found, longs to enjoy them insatiably and delights in the practice of good works, hastening to reach the age to come with a clean heart and a pure conscience, where he may also see God, the King of all.

“Ignorance alone causes us to lack and be cheated of all these things. For while men do not know how much good knowledge holds, they do not allow the evil of ignorance to be shut out of them; for they do not know how great a difference there is in exchanging the one for the other. Therefore I give this advice to each of the learners: lend your ear gladly to the word of God, and hear what we say with love of the truth, so that the mind, having received the best seed, may bring forth joyful fruits through good actions. For if, while I teach the things that pertain to salvation, anyone refuses to receive them and, with a mind occupied by perverse opinions, strives to resist, he will have the cause of his perishing not from us but from himself. For he ought to examine what we say with a just judgment and understand that we speak words of truth, so that, knowing things as they are and directing his life in good actions, he may be found a partaker of the kingdom of heaven, subjecting the desires of the flesh to himself and becoming their master, so that thus at last he himself may become the pleasing possession of the Ruler of all.

“For one who remains in evil and is the slave of evil cannot become a portion of the good while he remains in evil; because from the beginning, as we said before, God established two kingdoms, and gave each man the power to become a portion of that kingdom to which he has subjected himself in obedience. And since it is determined with God that one man cannot be the slave of both kingdoms, strive with all zeal to run together into the covenant and laws of the good King. For this reason, indeed, the true Prophet, when he was present with us and saw some of the rich negligent of the worship of God, disclosed the truth of this matter thus: ‘No one,’ he said, ‘can serve two masters; you cannot serve God and mammon’—calling riches ‘mammon’ in their native tongue.

“This, then, is the true Prophet who appeared to us in Judea, as you have heard; who, standing in public, by his command alone made the blind see and the deaf hear, drove out demons, gave health to the sick and life to the dead. And since nothing was impossible for him, he also saw through the thoughts of men, which is possible for no one but God alone. He proclaimed the kingdom of God; and we believe him in all that he said as the true Prophet, taking the firmness of our faith not only from his words but also from his works. For the sayings of the law, which had set forth his coming many generations before, were sealed in him; and the figures of the deeds of Moses, and before him of the patriarch Jacob, bore his type in every respect. The time of his coming, too—that is, the very time at which he came—is shown to have been foretold by them; and above all, that he was to be awaited by the nations is contained in the sacred writings. All these things have likewise been fulfilled in him.

“That the prophet of the Jews foretold that he would be awaited by the nations confirms faith in his truth beyond measure. For if he had said that he would be awaited by the Jews, he would not seem to have prophesied anything remarkable—that he whose coming had been promised for the salvation of the world should be hoped for by a kindred people and by his own nation; it would seem rather the logic of consequence that this should happen than prophetic grandeur. But now, since the prophets say that all that hope which is promised concerning the salvation of the world, and the newness of the kingdom which is to be established through Christ, and all that is declared concerning him, are to be transferred to the nations, the grandeur of prophecy is confirmed not according to the sequence of events but by an incredible outcome of the prediction. For the Jews had received by a most true tradition from the beginning that this man would one day come through whom all things would be restored; and meditating daily and looking out for when his coming would take place, when they saw that he had come and was fulfilling signs and wonders as had been written of him, blinded by envy they could not recognize as present the one in the hope of whose coming they had rejoiced while he was absent. Yet we few, who have been chosen by him, understood.